Soriano tossed a scoreless ninth inning against Arizona on Thursday to earn his second straight win. Soriano hasn't been scored upon in each of the last two days, after struggling in three of his previous four outings. He'll continue to take the ball in the ninth inning for the Nationals.

Soriano tossed a scoreless ninth inning Wednesday and earned his third victory of the season. Used in a tied game during the top of the ninth inning, Soriano reaped the benefits of the Nats' ability to play the winning run in the bottom of the frame. After giving up runs in each of his previous two appearances, Soriano's rebound Wednesday is a step in the right direction as he looks to ease concern regarding his hold of the closer role in Washington. It's also worth noting that Soriano followed Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen into Wednesday's game.

Soriano blew his fifth save of the season Sunday in the Nationals' extra-inning victory over the Pirates. He has struggled of late, but manager Matt Williams stated after the game that Soriano remains the Nationals' closer. "He's been our closer all year and I don't see that changing right now," Williams said. Questions about Soriano's job have been raised with him giving up nine earned runs in his last nine games, but Williams is sticking with Soriano as his closer for now. Soriano's job will be safe if he can get back on track over his next couple outings, but if his struggles continue, that could open the door for Tyler Clippard and/or Drew Storen to see save opportunities.

Soriano's availability for Saturday is uncertain after he pitched each of the previous three days. Soriano hasn't pitched on four consecutive days at any point this season, so manager Matt Williams figures to turn elsewhere should a save opportunity present itself Saturday. With Tyler Clippard also having pitched three straight days, Drew Storen seems the top candidate to fill in during the ninth inning.

Soriano made things interesting on Friday, giving up three hits and a run before nailing down his 29th save of the season. Despite his occasional ninth inning adventures Soriano's still got a 1.90 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, and has been one of the most statistically impressive closers in baseball this season.

Soriano tossed a perfect ninth inning against the Mets on Thursday to pick up his 28th save of the season. Soriano needed 22 pitches to get through the ninth, but it was uneventful otherwise. Although he hasn't had as many save opportunities as previous seasons, he's been very effective in 2014.

Soriano gave up a solo homer in the ninth inning Wednesday against the Mets, but righted the ship to secure his 27th save of the season. After Soriano gave up a leadoff homer, he allowed singles in two of the Mets' next three at-bats, putting the winning run in scoring position with only one out. Soriano then buckled down and allowed a fielder's choice grounder that nabbed a runner at home, and cleanly fielded a groundout back to himself to record the game's final out. The veteran reliever may miss out on his third straight 40-save campaign, but he's pitched much more effectively than a season prior, as his 1.94 ERA and 0.97 WHIP would suggest.

Rafael Soriano took his fourth blown save and his first loss of the year after giving up four runs in the ninth Monday against the Marlins. This one hurts. Soriano saw his ERA jump all of the way from 1.10 to 1.96 after retiring just one of the six batters he faced. He had been scored upon just four times in 41 previous appearances this year, giving up five runs total.

Rafael Soriano delivered a scoreless ninth inning Friday against the Reds for his 24th save of the season. It wasn't easy, as Soriano gave up a double and a walk, but he managed to avoid any serious damage. He struck out two batters in the frame and now owns a microscopic 1.13 ERA in 40 appearances this season to go along with a 39/13 K/BB ratio over 40 innings.

Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless ninth inning against the Rockies on Tuesday to earn his 23rd save of the season. Soriano bounced back from blowing a save opportunity his last time out to put down the Rockies with relative ease. Soriano worked around a leadoff double to get Charlie Blackmon swinging before inducing two fly ball outs to end the game. The hiccup in his previous outing appears to have been just that, and Soriano still owns a stellar 1.15 ERA and 0.87 WHIP going forward.