“We’re trying to put some X’s on some people, which means that they’re eliminated,” Dusty Baker said Wednesday. “You eliminate them one at a time.”

While the Nationals cannot eliminate the Brewers this weekend, they can move closer to clinching their own division during these four games at Miller Park.

STARTING A SIX-MAN ROTATION?

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The Nationals announced their pitching probables for their four-game series with the Brewers, and they included an unexpected “TBA” for Saturday’s game.

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When Max Scherzer returned from the disabled list Monday, he restored the natural order of the Nationals’ rotation. Everyone is healthy. Everyone could pitch on regular rest. Saturday’s would be Scherzer’s turn in the rotation, and he’d be on regular rest. But he’s listed to start Sunday, with an extra day of rest. Scherzer threw a bullpen Wednesday, and the neck trouble that pushed him to the disabled list does not appear to be a problem.

“It’s late in the year, and we hope to have a lot of baseball in front of us,” Baker said. “So we’re going to try to give them all an extra day. We’re even flirting with, if there’s enough able bodies and if they’re all healthy, that maybe we would even go to a six-man [rotation], just to have the innings held to a minimum but win as many games as we can in the process.”

Erick Fedde, who pitched Sunday, seems the likeliest fit for Saturday’s start. Normally, players must wait 10 days after being sent down to return to the big leagues. But since Fedde was called up as the 26th man for Sunday’s doubleheader, he does not have to wait and can count from the day he was originally optioned. A.J. Cole, who pitched Friday, would not be eligible by Saturday, since he was optioned regularly and will not have spent 10 days with Class AAA Syracuse by that time.

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The decision should allay some concerns about the high pitch counts to which Nationals starters have pushed this season. No National League rotation has thrown more pitches. Baker often fields a great deal of criticism for that, but it is also a product of their ability to pitch late into games across the board. That the Nationals are planning to rest their starters somewhat in September, starting this weekend, should help reduce their workload significantly enough to matter in October.

THE BREW CREW

The Brewers did not make any major in-season additions that will render them unrecognizable from the team the Nationals beat twice in three games at Nationals Park earlier this season. But they did pick up a familiar face in former Mets second baseman Neil Walker, who has offered a jolt similar to the one Howie Kendrick has given the Nationals since they acquired him. Walker is hitting .318 since joining the Brewers.

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Travis Shaw leads the Brewers in OPS (.893), though he and Eric Thames are the only Brewers in baseball’s top 50 in that category. The Nationals, by comparison, have four players in the top 20. Emerging center fielder Keon Broxton, who made a game-saving catch to end the Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday, is also having a strong season.

WERTH THE WAIT, TURNING THE TIDE?

The returns of Werth and Turner boosted the Nationals’ spirits this week. Now comes the hard work of getting both of them back into offensive rhythm. Turner was further behind Werth in terms of offensive timing, as he was unable to hit while recovering from his wrist injury.

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Werth homered in his first game back. Turner doubled in his. Werth doubled off the center field wall Wednesday, while Turner went hitless. Any adrenaline provided by first games back often dissipates into the reality of the gap between minor league pitching and big league pitching. The gap is wide, the adjustment major, and neither Werth nor Turner should be expected to find their groove immediately.

While Turner will almost certainly hit leadoff because of his game-changing speed, Werth is not yet hitting in the second spot he occupied effectively earlier this season. Perhaps Baker will move him up as he settles in, and lineup construction is certainly something to watch now that the Nationals are nearly whole again — minus, of course, Bryce Harper.

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PITCHING PROBABLES

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Thursday: LHP Gio Gonzalez vs. RHP Zach Davies

Friday: RHP Tanner Roark vs. RHP Jimmy Nelson

Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Brandon Woodruff

Sunday: RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP Matt Garza