Mark Zuckerman

Big names rise to occasion, rally Nats to victory (updated)

July 20, 2021, 6:01pm

If they're going to make their move over the next week and a half and convince their general manager he should buy at the trade deadline, the Nationals are going to have to win games on the shoulders of their stars. That's what Mike Rizzo said this afternoon in discussing how his roster, depleted by injuries, could still find a path to contention in a wide-open National League East. "The more your core guys get hurt, the more pressure is put on your star players," Rizzo said in a pregame...

248 Hits

Comments

Tags:

Rizzo: Nationals don't plan for Castro to return to team

July 20, 2021, 2:25pm

Nationals

General manager Mike Rizzo spoke out forcefully against Starlin Castro and the recent domestic violence allegation made against the Nationals third baseman, accepting responsibility for signing him despite a previous allegation of sexual assault and saying he does not expect Castro to return to play for his team. "I am not planning on having Starlin Castro back," Rizzo said this afternoon outside the dugout at Nationals Park, taking questions from beat reporters for the first time since...

534 Hits

Comments

Tags:

mark zuckerman mlb nationals nationals pastime starlin castro featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game 94 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

July 20, 2021, 11:15am

Nationals

The Nationals couldn't have gotten their week off to a better start than they did Monday night, thrashing the Marlins 18-1 and getting seven scoreless innings out of Jon Lester. Tonight we find out if that was the start of something big, or just a one-night blip. It's probably too much to ask Paolo Espino to toss seven scoreless innings himself, but the journeyman right-hander has proven capable of pitching five strong frames more than once this year. And he's facing a Marlins lineup that...

316 Hits

Comments

Tags:

lineups mark zuckerman miami marlins nationals nationals pastime paolo espino ryan zimmerman tres barrera frontstory_nationals1

What it would take for Bell and Zimmerman to start together

July 19, 2021, 10:03pm

Nationals

What it would take for Bell and Zimmerman to start together

Given the losses his team has sustained elsewhere around the field, Nationals manager Davey Martinez has been toying with the idea of using Josh Bell in left field on occasion as a means of getting Ryan Zimmerman into the lineup alongside his usual first base platoon partner. But in order for that plan to work, not only does Bell have to prove he can handle the outfield for the first time since he was a rookie in Pittsburgh, but Zimmerman has to prove he can rediscover the swing that produced...

280 Hits

Comments

Tags:

davey martinez josh bell mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime ryan zimmerman featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Nats hammer Marlins behind Lester's arm and bat (updated)

July 19, 2021, 6:00pm

Nationals

Nats hammer Marlins behind Lester's arm and bat (updated)

They knew the schedule was about to ease up. They just needed to get through a daunting 14-game stretch against the National League West's three contenders, sandwiched around the All-Star break, and then hope the tide would begin to turn once they had a chance to start facing lesser competition. And if tonight's 18-1 thrashing of the last-place Marlins is a sign of things to come, the Nationals might just have another run in them. And Jon Lester might not have to worry about his immediate job...

465 Hits

Comments

Tags:

jon lester josh bell juan soto mark zuckerman miami marlins nationals nationals pastime trea turner tres barrera featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Strasburg throwing off mound again with no issues

July 19, 2021, 2:06pm

Nationals

Strasburg throwing off mound again with no issues

There are still several more steps he'll need to take - critical steps - before he's ready to pitch for the Nationals, but Stephen Strasburg took an important one today when he threw 32 pitches off the bullpen mound and had no complaints afterward about his neck. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow, but he threw the ball well," manager Davey Martinez said in his Zoom session with reporters prior to tonight's series opener against the Marlins. "The ball came out fairly well and we'll see...

301 Hits

Comments

Tags:

davey martinez mark zuckerman miami marlins nationals nationals pastime stephen strasburg featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game 93 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

July 19, 2021, 11:30am

Nationals

At last, the Nationals have completed the toughest portion of their schedule, a 17-game gauntlet against the Mets, Rays, Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Padres (again) that proved every bit as difficult as you'd have thought, even moreso given their depleted roster. They finished that stretch 6-11, though against the National League West contenders, they were 3-11. Not very good. Fortunately, the schedule finally eases up beginning tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the...

298 Hits

Comments

Tags:

andrew stevenson jon lester lineups mark zuckerman miami marlins nationals nationals pastime tres barrera frontstory_nationals1

Soto carrying Home Run Derby success into second half

July 18, 2021, 9:27pm

Nationals

Soto carrying Home Run Derby success into second half

It was supposed to be a joke, the notion that the Home Run Derby might actually fix Juan Soto's swing after a first half that saw the Nationals slugger pound baseballs into the ground and fail to elevate them into the air. But Soto himself suggested he thought the idea had some merit. And when he promptly eliminated fan favorite Shohei Ohtani in the first round of the exhibition last week at Coors Field, it started to gain some momentum. And now, following a blistering weekend at the plate for...

452 Hits

Comments

Tags:

home run derby juan soto mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime san diego padres featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Escobar's ninth-inning hit caps emotional win for Nats (updated)

July 18, 2021, 2:48pm

Nationals

Escobar's ninth-inning hit caps emotional win for Nats (updated)

At the end of a weekend dominated by tragic events that occurred outside Nationals Park, the energy level inside the ballpark was understandably down. Some of that had to do with circumstances out of the home team's control, but some of it also had to do with the performance that team had put forth against a Padres club that clearly looked superior throughout the series. A wild, back-and-forth affair that saw the Nationals blow the lead, then retake it, then blow it again left everyone in the...

250 Hits

Comments

Tags:

alcides escobar brad hand daniel hudson juan soto mark zuckerman max scherzer nationals nationals pastime san diego padres featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game 92 lineups: Nats vs. Padres

July 18, 2021, 10:40am

Nationals

There is one more game to play today, one more game for the Nationals before they are through a grueling stretch against the National League West's three contenders that has left their season on the brink. They've gone 2-11 against the Dodgers, Giants and Padres entering this series finale with San Diego. It's been pretty ugly. But there's a chance to salvage one win now, with Max Scherzer on the mound for today's originally scheduled nine-inning game. Scherzer, of course, looked great for...

333 Hits

Comments

Tags:

lineups mark zuckerman max scherzer nationals nationals pastime san diego padres frontfeatured_nationals

Shaken by shooting, Nats return and lose suspended game

July 18, 2021, 10:19am

Nationals

Shaken by shooting, Nats return and lose suspended game

Nationals Park public address announcer Jerome Hruska thanked D.C. Police, Fire and EMS responders, stadium personnel and fans themselves for the way they responded to Saturday night's shooting on South Capitol Street and the subsequent chaos inside the ballpark. The smaller-than-usual crowd in attendance applauded. And then the Padres took the field, Pierce Johnson began his warm-up tosses, Victor Robles made his way to the plate and at 1:08 p.m., the bottom of the sixth began some 15 hours...

267 Hits

Comments

Tags:

davey martinez mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime san diego padres shooting featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

A Saturday night at the ballpark unlike any other

July 17, 2021, 10:09pm

Nationals

A Saturday night at the ballpark unlike any other

It happened a split second after Kyle Finnegan struck out Wil Myers to end the top of the sixth. As the Nationals started to make their way off the field at the conclusion of a frustrating half-inning that saw their 5-4 deficit to the Padres balloon into an 8-4 deficit, the shots could clearly be heard. There were maybe five or six of them in rapid succession, emanating from our left as we looked down from the press box high above Nationals Park. We looked at each other, asked "Did you hear...

234 Hits

Comments

Tags:

emergency mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime san diego padres suspended game featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game suspended after three shot outside Nats Park (updated)

July 17, 2021, 6:16pm

Nationals

Game suspended after three shot outside Nats Park (updated)

The Nationals' game against the Padres tonight came to an abrupt halt after a shooting took place outside Nationals Park following the top of the sixth inning. Moments after Kyle Finnegan struck out Wil Myers to end the half-inning around 9:30 p.m., with the Padres leading 8-4, a series of approximately five or six gunshots could be heard emanating from behind the third base stands. Within a minute or so, a group of fans could be seen racing along the main concourse toward the center field...

258 Hits

Comments

Tags:

emergency mark zuckerman nationals nationals park nationals pastime san diego padres featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Rehab for Strasburg, Ross slowed by discomfort

July 17, 2021, 1:40pm

Nationals

Rehab for Strasburg, Ross slowed by discomfort

Stephen Strasburg's return from a neck injury has been slowed after the right-hander felt discomfort after facing live hitters last week prior to the Nationals' game in San Francisco. Strasburg made it through his July 9 simulated game against teammates at Oracle Park without any significant issues, manager Davey Martinez said, but the problem in his neck cropped up after the fact. "After talking to him, the conversation was it just didn't feel right," Martinez said today during his...

214 Hits

Comments

Tags:

joe ross jon lester mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime paolo espino san diego padres stephen strasburg tanner rainey featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game 91 lineups: Nats vs. Padres

July 17, 2021, 11:22am

Nationals

You couldn't have drawn up a worse script for the first day coming out of the All-Star break from the Nationals' perspective that what transpired before and during Friday night's 24-8 loss to the Padres. So on some level, you have to be confident tonight has to be better, right? First and foremost, though, the Nats desperately need a quality start after Erick Fedde retired only four batters on Friday. That task falls on Patrick Corbin, who simply needs to be better in the second half than he...

301 Hits

Comments

Tags:

lineups mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime patrick corbin ryan zimmerman san diego padres frontstory_nationals1

Rivera thrown into fire as latest catcher to join Nats

July 16, 2021, 11:16pm

Nationals

Rivera thrown into fire as latest catcher to join Nats

RenÃ© Rivera has played for 10 different major league clubs over 13 seasons, none of them for more than a total of 130 games, so it's not exactly unusual for the veteran catcher to find himself scrambling to get to know a new team on the fly. Still, what Rivera experienced Friday night hours after signing with the Nationals - catching a 4-hour, 15-minute marathon on a sweltering night, and watching the Padres beat his new club 24-8 - could hardly be considered ordinary for even the...

264 Hits

Comments

Tags:

alex avila mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime rene rivera san diego padres tres barrera yan gomes featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Nats ransacked by Padres in second-half opener (updated)

July 16, 2021, 7:21pm

Nationals

Nats ransacked by Padres in second-half opener (updated)

Had this performance come last weekend, with the Nationals on fumes at the end of a brutal stretch heading into the All-Star break, it might've been understandable. Annoying, but understandable, given the circumstances. But for this to happen in the first game out of the break? With everyone refreshed and ready to go again? That isn't going to sit well with anyone employed by the Nationals who had to watch tonight's 24-8 beatdown at the hands of the Padres, a game that featured all kinds of...

197 Hits

Comments

Tags:

andres machado erick fedde juan soto mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime paolo espino rene rivera san diego padres featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Nats change tune on Castro after domestic violence allegation

July 16, 2021, 2:33pm

Nationals

Nats change tune on Castro after domestic violence allegation

When Starlin Castro needed to leave the club for two days last month to deal with what was referred to as a "family matter," Nationals manager Davey Martinez did not hesitate to throw his full support behind the veteran infielder. "I 100 percent support him," Martinez said June 16 during a Zoom session with reporters. "We all support him here with the Nationals." This afternoon, after Castro had been placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball, which is investigating an...

284 Hits

Comments

Tags:

davey martinez jordy mercer mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime starlin castro featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Game 90 lineups: Nats vs. Padres

July 16, 2021, 1:21pm

Nationals

And we're back. The second half of the season gets underway tonight on South Capitol Street, and before Erick Fedde throws the first pitch, there's already been plenty of news. For those who didn't see it earlier: Starlin Castro has been placed on administrative leave while Major League Baseball investigates an allegation of domestic violence. Jordy Mercer has been activated off the 10-day injured list and will start at third base tonight against the Padres. Also, the Nationals signed...

324 Hits

Comments

Tags:

erick fedde jordy mercer lineups mark zuckerman nationals nationals pastime rene rivera san diego padres featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals1

Castro goes on administrative leave, Nats add catcher Rivera

July 16, 2021, 11:31am

Nationals

Castro goes on administrative leave, Nats add catcher Rivera

Major League Baseball placed Starlin Castro on administrative leave this afternoon while the league investigates an allegation that the Nationals third baseman committed domestic violence. In a brief release announcing the transaction, MLB said Castro has been placed on leave "under the Joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy." Per the policy, the initial period of administrative leave may last up to seven days, though an extension is allowed. MLB said it...