Nationals: The dog days of summer arrived Saturday at Nationals Park. Bruce, a 21-month-old Golden Retriever, fetched a bat during a ceremony before the Nationals’ game against the Marlins as part of a Pups in the Park promotion. He retrieved bats the last two seasons with the Rochester Red Wings, Washington’s Triple-A affiliate. Bruce, wearing a bandana with an “MLB debut” patch he received when he arrived at the stadium, was presented a commemorative bat. He then took a circuitous route from the dugout toward first base after Nationals reliever Zach Brzykcy dropped the bat in foul territory before the bat dog collected his quarry to the delight of a crowd wowed by his work and enthusiasm. “Look at this dog and try not to smile,” said Josh Snyder, Bruce’s owner. “He’s great. He’s goofy. I think he’s the perfect candidate for Rochester, the Red Wings and now the Nationals.” Snyder, who wore a No. 25 Nationals jersey with “Bruce” on the nameplate, said he drove through the night with Bruce and arrived in Washington around 3 a.m. Saturday. But it was anything but a rough morning and early afternoon for Bruce, who casually lapped up attention as he walked through the tunnel in the stadium. Bruce spent about 50 minutes on the field before the ceremony, where he was hounded by well-wishers. He also did a couple practice bat retrievals with Snyder’s assistance before Nationals catcher Riley Adams stopped to pet him on his way out for pregame work. He won’t work during the actual game, however, and will return to Triple-A duties afterward. Bruce is Snyder’s second dog work to with the Red Wings, following the late Milo, and both participated in campaigns to raise money for Rochester’s Veterans Outreach Center and Honor Flight of Rochester. This week — which included an announcement from the Nationals on Tuesday that Bruce had worked his tail off to earn a promotion — generated plenty of buzz even before Saturday’s debut. “Social media, everything like that seems like it’s seriously blown up, and we love it,” Snyder said. “Really good publicity with our goal and our mission of bringing people together. It shows it’s just doing that.”

Pirates: Pirates catcher Endy Rodríguez is going to get a platelet-rich plasma injection for his ailing right elbow. Rodríguez got a second opinion from Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. “(The) recommendation was for a PRP injection that he’ll get next week and then four weeks of complete rest before he starts to ramp back up,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said before Saturday’s game against the Cubs. “So unfortunately, it’ll be a little while.” The 25-year-old Rodríguez, who also plays first base, was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 7 with elbow inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL on Friday.

Astros: The Astros placed rookie outfielder Jacob Melton on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a sprained right ankle. Melton was injured playing defense in Friday’s win over the Twins. The 24-year-old hit .241 with a triple and six RBIs in 11 games this season.

Reds: Tyler Stephenson hit a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning and the Reds beat the Tigers 11-1 on Saturday. Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer and Matt McLain also homered for the Reds, who had been outscored 22-7 in the last two games. The American League-leading Tigers are 4-2 in their last six games but have given up double-digit runs in each loss.

Marlins: Jesús Sánchez homered in the seventh inning, and the Marlins held off the Nationals 4-3 on Saturday. The Marlins clinched their sixth series victory of the season and first since taking two of three from the Angeles Angels on May 23-24. The Marlins have won consecutive games for the first time since May 24-25. The Nats scored two runs in the ninth off Anthony Bender and had the bases loaded with none out. But Bender got Amed Rosario to fly out to shallow left, and Calvin Faucher earned his seventh save when he induced James Wood to pop up to shortstop.