WASHINGTON -- When the Nationals acquired Kyle Barraclough from the Marlins in the offseason, they envisioned using him in situations like the eighth inning of Friday¡¯s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers. Barraclough was brought into a high leverage situation with the game on the line -- two runners on with two outs in a tie game -- and he promptly surrendered a three-run homer to Justin Turner to catapult the Dodgers to victory.

One day after that outing, the Nationals sent Barraclough back to Double-A Harrisburg, calling up infielder Adrian Sanchez prior to Saturday afternoon¡¯s game against the Dodgers to give manager Dave Martinez a four-man bench. Barraclough had been promoted from the Minors the day before after piecing together a few successful outings at Double-A, but that success has not translated with the Nats.

Barraclough¡¯s first season in Washington has been a disaster, posting a 6.66 ERA in 33 games with a 1.75 WHIP and a 30-to-12 (2.50) strikeout to walk ratio.

¡°You just try and keep moving forward,¡± Barraclough said after Friday¡¯s game. ¡°It's the first time I¡¯ve been in the Minor Leagues for three years and I feel like I made some really positive things. I haven't been 94-96 [mph] all year and to come out and just have that in the tank and see that some of the stuff's working, now it¡¯s just a matter of getting into games¡­ obviously the box score results weren¡¯t there, but some of the mechanical things I've been working really hard on were.¡±

Sanchez¡¯s return gives Martinez more options off the bench as he attempts to navigate Saturday¡¯s bullpen day.

¡°It¡¯s tough not having that extra guy on the bench,¡± Martinez said. ¡°It gives us an opportunity to pinch-hit earlier if we need to.¡±