CINCINNATI - Looking to fortify a bullpen that has blown more than a third of its save chances, the Washington Nationals acquired relievers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the Oakland Athletics for right-hander Blake Treinen and a pair of prospects.
Left-hander Jesus Luzardo and infielder Sheldon Neuse were sent to Oakland as part of Sunday's deal.
A 36-year-old right-hander, Madson has a 2.06 ERA and is seventh among relievers in hits plus walks per inning at 0.79. He has not allowed any of the seven inherited runners to score in his past 13 appearances and has held opponents to a .188 batting average.
Doolittle is a 30-year-old left-hander who has held left-handed batters hitless in 23 at-bats this year with 12 strikeouts and no walks. He is 1-0 with three saves, a 3.38 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 211/3 innings.
"We got two quality human beings who are great teammates," Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said. "They can pitch at the end of games and get three outs. We can stabilize our entire bullpen."
Rizzo said he wasn't sure when Madson and Doolittle would be joining the Nationals.
NL East-leading Washington has a strong rotation led by Max Scherzer (11-5), Stephen Strasburg (9-3) and Gio Gonzalez (8-4) but has converted just 22-of-36 save chances. Bullpen issues helped lead to the Nationals' elimination in the NL Division Series in 2012, 2014 and 2016. The Montreal Expos/Nationals franchise has never reached the World Series.
Washington manager Dusty Baker said he had talked to Madson and Doolittle by the time the Nationals finished their 14-4 win Sunday against the Reds.
"They're extremely excited to get into the mix and pitch for a contender," Baker said, choosing not to name one of them the closer. "They both have had arm problems, so it could be both of them."
Daniel Murphy, who homered twice Sunday, was also excited about the new additions.
"It's always nice to add two quality players, and those guys are really good players," he said. "You hate to give up a guy like Blake, but you're not going to get anything for free. We gave up one quality player and got two."