Lord struck out two and allowed one walk and no hits over 2.1 innings of relief in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the Rockies.
Lord had started in each of his prior three appearances, but he was essentially deployed as an opener for all of those games, working no more than 2.2 innings on any occasions. The Nationals are still lacking a clear No. 5 starter, but Lord's usage in long relief Tuesday suggests that the club is planning on him filling a bullpen role for the time being. Washington will have Matt Waldron open Wednesday's contest in what would have been Lord's spot in the rotation.