ATLANTA — The Washington Nationals, weary after a long night of celebrating their second National League East title in three seasons, rested their regulars on Wednesday night against the vanquished Atlanta Braves.
In Miami on Thursday night the Nationals will get serious again, though.
The team knows the value of playing at home in the postseason and wants to finish with the best record in the National League.
“It’s important,” said manager Matt Williams, whose team’s 46-28 record at home is the best in the league.
The Nationals are 87-64, while the Los Angeles Dodgers lead the NL West at 86-66.
“We have some guys that are limping around a little bit, so we’ll try to give them some breaks here and there,” Williams said. “But we still want to compete. We want to stay as sharp as possible. That’s a challenge.”
Ryan Zimmerman, out for two months with a severe hamstring strain, is playing in the Florida instructional league and could rejoin the team as early this weekend. That would give Williams a chance to evaluate which role he could play in the postseason.
“There are questions,” Williams said of his postseason roster. “Zim’s one of them.”
The Nationals also would like to get Rafael Soriano, who lost his job as closer to Drew Storen, back on track.
After all, the team doesn’t want its celebration for winning the NL East to be the only one it has this season.
“We have three more (rounds),” Bryce Harper said. “We are trying to reach that next level. This is just the start.”