The Washington Nationals have had a difficult season in many regards, with their bullpen being one of the worst units in the league and their offensive producti

Phillies starter Aaron Nola returned from injury and struggled, which ballooned his ERA to 6.92 in just 10 starts.

The Mets took two of three from the red-hot Mariners over the weekend, including a 7-3 win on Sunday night during the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was the first series the Mets had won since sweeping the San Francisco Giants from July 25-27.

Aaron Nola hit another wall in his return, but the Phillies were able to overcome it to split a four-game set in D.C., though now with the high uncertainy of Zack Wheeler's status looming.

Saturday night, news dropped that the Phillies were placing ace righty Zack Wheeler on the injured list due to a blood clot in his shoulder area. More on that in a second.  Sunday, veteran right-hander Aaron Nola returned from a lengthy stint on the injured list.

At 11:15 a.m. ET Sunday, Aaron Nola stepped out of the dugout and into the sunlight. And as he walked to the bullpen, a section of early-bird Phillies fans cheered. They hadn’t seen him in a while. But there wasn’t much time to get reacquainted.

The Phillies entered the weekend with one of the best rotations in the league. Much of that stability changed in about 24 hours.

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals face the Philadelphia Phillies, leading the series 2-1. Washington is 24-37 at home and 50-73 overall. The Nationals have gone 29-15 in games when they did not allow a home run.

The Philadelphia Phillies' rotation is suddenly in a weird spot, and Aaron Nola needs to perform better than he did on Sunday.