(TAMI CHAPPELL - REUTERS) Nationals right-handed starter Chien-Ming Wang was placed back on a minor league rehab assignment and is scheduled to make a start on Thursday night for Class AA Harrisburg, the affiliate announced.

Wang was pulled off his previous rehab assignment on Aug. 8 because of hip soreness — a re-injury of the right hip he was rehabbing in the first place.

After allowing six runs in 4 2/3 innings on Aug. 7 of his latest rehab tour, Wang was shelved again. The Nationals placed Wang on the disabled list on July with a strained right hip, which they believed to be hindering his delivery and preventing his trademark sinker from diving down.

(MIKE STONE - REUTERS) In calling doctors and medical experts around the country to ask about the impending shutdown of Stephen Strasburg, I came across the case of Los Angeles Angels reliever Jason Isringhausen. You may remember him from his run as one of the game’s best closers while on the St. Louis Cardinals, and who ranks third on the active career saves list.

But he’s also known for another rare distinction: He is in elite company as one of the few players to have three Tommy John surgeries, and he’s still pitching now. He’s weeks away from turning 40. Unusual, huh?

I thought it would be interesting to hear what Isringhausen, although a reliever, felt about the recovery process from Tommy John surgery, if there’s a need to limit a player’s workload as they return and about the Strasburg limit.

The Nationals, even with so much to consider about their place in the league and teams surrounding them, play each game with blinders. They don’t focus on the standings or evaluate milestones, like the end of their 8-2 road trip yesterday. Much later, perhaps this winter, they will allow themselves to relive it all. “I think we can look back and say, ‘Man, that was a nice stretch,’ ” first baseman Adam LaRoche said.

When they look back on the past 10 days, the Nationals will review what has been, to date, the most significant stretch of Washington baseball of the past 79 years. In one road trip, the Nationals established their dominance and all but ensured a trip to the postseason. Barring a horrendous collapse, the Nationals may look back to their three-city romp against the Astros, Diamondbacks and Giants as the time they cinched a playoff spot.

Back on the morning of Aug. 6, the Nationals left for their road swing three games ahead of the Braves and 3 ½ games in front of the second wild card with 54 games to play. Right now, they are 4 ½ games ahead of the Braves and nine games clear of the final playoff position with 44 games to play.

The crucial part of the trip is the “games to play” part. The Nationals exhausted six percent of the season without giving the Braves any chance ground. If the Nationals go .500 from here on out, the Braves will have to go 27-18, .600 ball, to equal them.

The division still promises to be a dogfight. But here’s the part that makes meaningful October baseball a virtual certainty: If the Nationals finish out the string at .500, the Braves would have to play .600 ball AND either the Cardinals or the Pirates would have to finish at least 31-14 to put the Nats on the outside looking in.

Say the Nationals bomb out and go 18-26 down the stretch. The Braves would still have to go 23-22. Atlanta would probably pass them, but they would still win 91 games. Either the Pirates or Cardinals would still have to finish 27-18 to catch them.

You can see how important each game becomes this time of year, and how meaningful running off eight of 10 on the road is. Because of that, the players on the field will not be doing any such calculations. “What we need to go back to is, it’s one game at a time,” Stephen Strasburg said. “We can’t focus on the finish line. We’ve got 40-something games left.”

But fans can dream. After the Nationals’ latest road trip, it probably feels a lot more like reality.

FROM THE POST

James Wagner speaks with team doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals about Stephen Strasburg’s innings limit.

The Nationals’ 6-4 victory over the Giants showed both how good Stephen Strasburg can be and why the Nationals can win without him.

Dan Steinberg reports on the booming ratings for the Nationals games on MASN.

FROM YESTERDAY’S JOURNAL

Lombardozzi, Espinosa delivered

Desmond ready

Davey gets Strasburg talk

Innings limit refresher

NATS MINOR LEAGUES

Syracuse 1, Toledo 0: Sandy Leon went 1 for 1 with a home run and a walk. Jeff Mandel allowed no runs over six innings on two hits and a walk, striking out five. Christian Garcia allowed no runs in one relief inning on one hit and no walks, striking out one.

Toledo 4, Syracuse 3: Corey Brown went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. Eury Perez went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Akron 5, Harrisburg 2: Anthony Rendon went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Jimmy Van Ostrand went 2 for 3 with a walk. Destin Hood went 2 for 4 with a double. Trevor Holder allowed four runs in one innings on seven hits and two walks, striking out none.

Wilmington 9, Potomac 1: Blake Kelso went 2 for 4. Matt Skole went 1 for 4. Rick Hague went 2 for 4. Robbie Ray allowed six runs in 2/3 of an inning on three hits and three walks, striking out none.

Hickory 14, Hagerstown 7: Adrian Nieto went 2 for 3 with two doubles. Khayyan Norfork went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk.

Mahoning Valley 5, Auburn 4: Estarlin Martinez went 3 for 5. Brandon Miller went 1 for 3 with a double and two walks.

(Jeffrey Phelps - AP) I had postulated recently that Steve Lombardozzi may be the player sent down when Ian Desmond returns, and I was flat wrong about that. Lombardozzi has been too good lately to not be on the roster for every game, even if he is coming off the bench or moving around the diamond.

Lombardozzi went 4 for 5 with two doubles in the Nationals’ 6-4 victory over the Giants today, his second-four hit game this week to go with a three-hit game in between. Given the chance to play his natural position every day, rather than left field in a platoon, Lombardozzi has blossomed. In the 25 games Desmond has missed, Lombardozzi has hit .308 with seven extra-base hits.

“The more consistent a-bs you get, the more comfortable you’re going to feel out there,” Lombardozzi said. “Getting more and more consistent at-bats from both sides is going to help, not just getting them from one side. Anytime you can get a couple from each side in the game, that’s a plus.”

(J Pat Carter - AP) Today could be the final game the Nationals play this year without Ian Desmond. Manager Davey Johnson said he hoped to activate Desmond at Nationals Park on Friday if all went well with his workouts, and this afternoon Desmond said he is ready to go.

“If my name’s in the lineup, I’m going to play,” Desmond said. “If he wants me, that’s what I’m up for. Whenever my name is in the lineup, I’ll be ready to play. Baseball is baseball. I’d rather be out there helping my team than anywhere else.”

Desmond has been on the disabled list since July 22 with a strained left oblique. He went through full workouts Monday and today, and Tuesday he took early batting practice. The Nationals expected Desmond to miss roughly five weeks, but he has healed enough that the Nationals feel comfortable taking him off the disabled list.