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Washington Nationals’ lineup for Game 1 of today’s doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies...

Two with the Phillies today. Game 1 starts at 12:05 PM ET.

By Patrick Reddington
Washington Nationals v Philadelphia Phillies Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

Davey Martinez acknowledged last night that he and GM Mike Rizzo had a lot of work to do with four players (and eight staff members) testing positive for COVID-19, leading to the 3rd game of 4 against the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park being postponed over their outbreak, with a doubleheader scheduled for this afternoon (starting at 12:05 PM ET).

There were a lot of spots that needed to be filled, especially with two games to be played in one day today.

But in the immediate aftermath of this setback for the ballclub, his main concern was to get his players out of the clubhouse and back to their hotels while they waited for more tests to come back.

“We all took rapid tests today,” Martinez said.

“We’ll follow up. We’ll get some additional results tomorrow. So, but hopefully no one else will test positive, but there is some concern here right now.

“As soon as the game was canceled, I got everybody out of here on a bus and back to the hotel.

“I want to do the same thing myself and get back there and get out of here so they can clean this place up and we get ready for tomorrow.”

Asked how he was holding up amidst a barrage of bad health news, Martinez said, “I’m okay.”

“I’m just worried about the guys, I really am. I mean, like I said, it’s been a tough go. This doesn’t make it any easier. But like I said, hopefully tomorrow’s results, everybody comes back negative and we go back to playing baseball, which we all love to do, and so I hope that everybody is okay.”

As of the time he spoke last night, however, whether they would be able to play today was still a question.

“We’re going to have to wait until we get these results back and hopefully we’ll have them early tomorrow morning and then we’ll go from there,” Martinez said.

“But as I explained to our players, be ready to play tomorrow, expect to play tomorrow and then we’ll go from there.”

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ MAKESHIFT LINEUP FOR GAME 1 OF 2 IN CBP:

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