Jason Bergmann

's month-long slide, capped by last night's seven-runs-in-2 1/3-innings performance has landed the right-hander in the Nats' bullpen. Manny Acta said Bergmann (2-11, 5.23 ERA) will try to work his problems out as a reliever the rest of the way.

"At the end, you look at the final results and you put them all together," Acta said. "We're not going to be hand-picking two or three good starts in June or two good weeks from a position player in May. At the end, you just have to look at the bottom line."

Bergmann knows it's too late now to turn his season around, but he wants to focus on the nice stretch he had earlier this summer and take that performance into next year.

"I know my record's not outstanding," he said. "But I think there was a stretch there where I threw the ball pretty well. That's what I want to remember the season by, not a couple of poor outings at the end."

Taking Bergmann's place in the rotation will be Shairon Martis, the 21-year-old who looked impressive in his five-inning, big-league debut Thursday night against the Braves. No word yet on when Martis' next start will come, but it will probably be sometime next weekend at the Marlins.

"Going into spring training, we'll have a clearer picture what this guy really fits into our plan as a starter or in the pen, or if he's ready to compete in spring training for a spot of if he's going to have to go back to Triple-A," Acta said. "He's only 21, but we are going to give him the shot."

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