“This is something we have to take care of,” Rizzo said in the doorway to the visitors’ clubhouse before the series opener. “We are certainly — when we get all the results back, we will have a game plan in place and get him back here as soon as we can.”

Martinez, 54, left the Nationals’ 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday during the sixth inning. He wasn’t feeling well and his condition worsened over the course of the afternoon, so the team’s training staff decided it was best for Martinez to be checked out at a nearby hospital. He was replaced by bench coach Chip Hale, and Hale will continue as the Nationals’ interim manager until Martinez is back. Hale managed the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015 and 2016 and had a 148-176 record before he was fired.

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Cardiac catheterization, according to the Mayo Clinic, “is a procedure used to diagnose and treat certain cardiovascular conditions. During cardiac catheterization, a long, thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in your groin, neck or arm and threaded through your blood vessels to your heart. Using this catheter, doctors can then do diagnostic tests.”

Rizzo spoke with Martinez after the procedure Monday and said the manager was “upbeat” and in good spirits. Rizzo repeatedly referred to it as a “minor procedure.” The general manager added that there will be more test results that will determine Martinez’s status moving forward.

“He’s going to be kept there for some routine bloodwork and examination, and he’ll be back with the team when he feels up to it,” Rizzo said. “We have no other information. We have to wait until we get all the tests.”

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With Hale stepping in as manager, Tim Bogar will be his bench coach and Joe Dillon, the club’s assistant hitting coach, will replace Bogar as first base coach. Hale spoke with reporters Monday afternoon and mentioned that Martinez texted in the lineup for the night’s game against the Cardinals. He expects Martinez to remain involved from afar, and he even joked that Martinez could send messages through clubhouse attendants if he wants Hale’s attention.

Hale otherwise stuck with the simple approach of keeping everything the same. He didn’t get dressed in the manager’s office. He still bounced around the field during batting practice as he typically does, chatting with other coaches with his glove on. He wants the entire staff to have input on decisions, whether it be bullpen moves, pinch hitters or other situations throughout the game.

“Whether it’s a player or a coach, somebody in the organization, the first thing you want is for everybody to be healthy and be able to do what they want to do,” Hale said. "So it’s scary. But obviously things are going well, and everything they’ve put him through, everything’s been great. We expect to get him back soon.”

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To this point of his second season managing the Nationals, a stretch of 310 games, Martinez had only ever missed innings by being ejected. So it will be different for the players to not see him perched on the dugout steps Monday at Busch Stadium. They began asking Sunday afternoon why Martinez wasn’t around. After the game, before boarding buses to the team charter, Rizzo gathered the team and explained that Martinez was undergoing tests for chest pains.

Then the Nationals flew west toward another game. Their pregame routines didn’t change. There was just one person missing.

“You’re used to the same guy being there, telling us what he expects from us, for the most part,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “I know [the] whole staff is there, but just having him at the top of it, it will be a little different without him.

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“We’re going to have to battle just like any other day and play the game hard, and hopefully we’ll get a win for him.”

LINEUPS

Nationals (82-66)

Trea Turner SS

Adam Eaton RF

Anthony Rendon 3B

Juan Soto LF

Asdrúbal Cabrera 2B

Ryan Zimmerman 1B

Victor Robles CF

Yan Gomes C

Stephen Strasburg P

Cardinals (83-66)

Dexter Fowler RF

Kolten Wong 2B

Paul Goldschmidt 1B

Marcell Ozuna LF

Paul DeJong SS

Yadier Molina C

Tommy Edman 3B

Harrison Bader CF

Dakota Hudson P