Happy Cinco de Mayo, Nats fans. If you're heading to the game Wednesday night, you should definitely swing by Walters for some dinner and a spicy margarita made all-toes silver, fresh lemon and lime juice, agave, and D.C. May Chochco, a jalapeno-infused a garguardiente. It's the perfect drink for today and throughout the summer.

Walters has a great new outdoor deck, which is perfect for hanging out

with friends when the weather is nice. The O-1. Swing in a high drive, dead center field. Robles

going back. I don't believe it. It's a grand slam home run for the pitcher, Wascar I know it.

It is 6-0 AtlantaN-Lana. And welcome to Nats chat for Wednesday, May 5th, 2021. Happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone, along with Nationals Insider, Mark Zuckerman of Mass and Sports.com. I'm Al-Galdi host of the Al-Galdi podcast. Well, a few weeks ago, when the Nats got shut down by Jacob de Grom, I used DeGromm's name as a verb. I said the Nats had gotten de Grombed. I suppose we have to say that the Nationals on Tuesday night got Uaskar Enoad, because he dominated the nationals in basically every possible way. Who knew that Uazcar I Noah was Shohay Otani? One run, unearned in seven innings, a two-out grand slam off Tanner Rainey and the top of the six. Nationals four-game winning streak over, a six-one loss of the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park in game one of a big three-game series on a day on which the Nationals activated both Juan Soto and Will Harris. I think you said it all right there. I don't know what to add to that. It was a day that started with good vibes. You know, they're on a four-game winning streak. You've activated your best player, a key reliever. The Braves have lost four in a row. You're thinking, all right, maybe there's a chance here, keep a momentum going and, you know, kind of show the Braves that things

are going to be a little different this year. And it just did not play out that way at all. They had no answer for Eanoa. And remember, they faced him back in the first series in that doubleheader, and he tossed five shut out innings that day. So it took until their, what, 12th inning against him this season before they finally scored a run off the guy and it was unearned after all that,

and then gave up the grand slams. I mean, that was about as bad of all around as you could ask for for the nationals. I mean, what should have been an uplifting day turned into a pretty depressing day, actually. Yeah, man, and baseball is so cruel. The brave starting pitching has been struggling. The

Nationals' offense has been better. Nats face a guy in Oskar I know, is not an immortal. I mean, he's someone you should be able to get to. And instead, he gets you. And he hits a grand slam off you. That's pretty brutal. He homered his last game, though. No, I didn't realize just until after the fact, because why would I look up Wascarino's batting stats?

But he's like five for his last eight.

He's doing something. He homered his last game, though. No, I didn't realize just to laugh at the fact because why would I look up Wascarino's batting stats?

But he's like five for his last eight. He's doing something right. And he's got a good arm. I mean, he was throwing upward 90s. But that's not the guy you're really expecting to be shut down by I wouldn't think. No, no way. All right. So the Nets did get back Juan Soto on Tuesday. So that's very good news.

Reinstated from the 10-day injured Lissy, been on that since April 20th due to a left shoulder strain. Nats end up going seven and three over the 10 games that Soto misses. He apparently is not available to start in this series, or at least they don't trust him to throw. So he came off the bench on Tuesday. Are we going to see just Soto as a pinch hitter in this series, or might we actually see him start a game, do you think? I think reading between the lines, we're probably not going to see him in the field. We talked to him after the game, and he said they're still building up the throwing, is going to try from 120 feet, maybe then finally try to start throwing to bases. But I think there's a realization

on everyone's part that because they're playing the Yankees this weekend in the Bronx and they're

going to need a DH, that that sets up nicely for him to do that. So why push it and have him

play, even if it's just one game in the field this week against the Braves? Why bother with that?

Get him a couple of at-bats. He feels fine swinging. He did pinch hit and he struck out in his one at bat. Maybe get him, you know, one at bat a day for these three days, work on the arm to the extent they can, let him DH all weekend against the Yankees, and then next week put him back in the field. That's reading between the lines. I think what they're planning to do here

and recognizing, again, as we've said all along, they just don't want to take any chances and let this

become something bigger. He said that it's fine. He's not worried about this in the long term,

but I think he probably would not be activated yet, if not for that Interleague series coming up

this weekend. It was a pretty cool moment, him coming up to pinch hit in the game on Tuesday night.

Nobody out but a runner on first.

And after down six, one top of the eighth.

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