Game 40 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 40 lineups: Nats at Cubs
After a crazy Wednesday night in Chicago, the Nationals are back at it this afternoon, looking to win their series finale against the Cubs and split the four-game set. It took a lot of effort to pull off their 4-3 victory, which came by the skin of its teeth. And they'll go into today's game with a depleted lineup. Victor Robles, who injured his right ankle rounding first base on an RBI single, is not starting today. That's not surprising, given how scary the play looked and how Robles...
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Turner, Martinez steamed by yet another interference call

Turner, Martinez steamed by yet another interference call
The play looked vaguely familiar. The interference call on Trea Turner that followed most definitely looked familiar. And the tirade Davey Martinez subsequently went on in defense of his shortstop certainly brought back some familiar memories, until the Nationals manager took his displeasure to a whole new level with an epic tirade. Yes, Turner, Martinez and the Nats were victimized yet again by Rule 5.09a(11), which allows an umpire to call a batter running down the line out if he does not...
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Nats cap eventful night with tight win at Wrigley (updated)

Nats cap eventful night with tight win at Wrigley (updated)
Maybe it's Wrigley Field. The Friendly Confines just seem to bring out the highest of drama when the Nationals are in town, and have so for many years now. From epic playoff games to devastating walk-off grand slams to intentional walk records to wild back-and-forth contests, the Nationals and Cubs have experienced it all at the corner of Clark and Addison streets on Chicago's North Side. Add tonight's 4-3 victory to the list. Maybe the stakes weren't as high as some of the previous...
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Fedde, Rainey placed on COVID-19 IL after positive test (updated)

Fedde, Rainey placed on COVID-19 IL after positive test (updated)
The Nationals had to place pitchers Erick Fedde and Tanner Rainey on the COVID-19 injured list before tonight's game in Chicago after one tested positive for the coronavirus and the other was deemed a close contact to that player. The club didn't specify which of the two tested positive, but manager Davey Martinez said that player was vaccinated, is asymptomatic and is feeling fine. The player deemed a close contact, however, is unvaccinated and now is subject to quarantine up to 10...
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Game 39 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Cubs
Remember how we all wondered if Max Scherzer would ever be able to pitch at a Cy Young Award-caliber level again? Well, guess what? He's doing it right now. The Nationals ace has been nothing short of magnificent so far season, entering tonight's game against the Cubs seventh in the National League in ERA (2.10), third in WHIP (0.760), fourth in walk rate (1.4 per nine innings) and fourth in strikeouts (68). And when he's been good, he's been really, really good: In six of his eight starts,...
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Why has the Nationals offense been grounded?

Why has the Nationals offense been grounded?
One by one, they swung at hittable pitches. And one by one, they pounded the ball into the ground. Whether leading off an inning, trying to get something going with two outs or trying to drive in a runner from scoring position, the Nationals kept meeting the same fate during Monday night's 7-3 loss to the Cubs: Groundball outs. How bad was it? Through the seventh inning, the Nats had put 18 balls into play. Only four of them were hit in the air, and all of those resulted in hits (two singles,...
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Cubs give Lester, Schwarber love, then beat them (updated)

Cubs give Lester, Schwarber love, then beat them (updated)
Tonight's series opener at Wrigley Field was always going to be about Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber, one way or the other. The return of the two former Cubs to their old stomping grounds as members of the Nationals for the first time had been wildly anticipated for days in Chicago. And the North Side faithful showered both players with love all night. Lester and Schwarber were touched by it all, to be sure. They appreciated the warm welcome home from the crowd of 11,144. But more than...
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Strasburg joins Nats in Chicago, but no decision yet

Strasburg joins Nats in Chicago, but no decision yet
The Nationals haven't decided yet if Stephen Strasburg will come off the injured list this weekend, but the fact the right-hander has rejoined the club in Chicago offers a hint they're hoping to do just that. Fresh off a 75-pitch rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Rochester in Trenton, N.J., Strasburg flew to Chicago and will be with the Nationals for their four-game series against the Cubs. He'll throw what manager Davey Martinez termed an "extended" bullpen session Tuesday afternoon, and...
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Game 37 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 37 lineups: Nats at Cubs
The Nationals have been involved in their share of dramatic games at Wrigley Field in recent years. The last time they played on the North Side of Chicago in August 2019, they swept the Cubs in a wild series that many saw as the first real evidence this team was capable of winning the World Series. One year earlier, their playoff chances essentially were crushed on David Bote's walk-off grand slam off Ryan Madson. And, of course, in October 2017, Stephen Strasburg pitched one of the best games...
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Lester ready for emotional return to Wrigley Field

Lester ready for emotional return to Wrigley Field
Jon Lester never got to have his farewell moment at Fenway Park, that final walk off the mound accompanied by a roar from a crowd that knew this was his last appearance there in a Red Sox uniform, because he was traded to the Athletics on July 31, 2014, an off-day for the team. Nor did he get to have that kind of moment at Wrigley Field last fall, even though he knew his contract was ending and the Cubs might not re-sign him, because there were no fans in the stands anywhere in 2020. So excuse...
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Fedde's zeros, Hernandez's late homer lift Nats (updated)

Fedde's zeros, Hernandez's late homer lift Nats (updated)
Davey Martinez had one simple piece of advice this morning for Erick Fedde, who took the mound in Arizona knowing Stephen Strasburg had just made a rehab start for Triple-A Rochester and might be deemed ready to take back his spot in the Nationals rotation. "Make my decision tough," the Nats manager said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "That's what I want him to go out there and do." It would be tough for Fedde to have made the decision any tougher on Martinez, general...
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After 75-pitch rehab start, Nats face decision on Strasburg

After 75-pitch rehab start, Nats face decision on Strasburg
Stephen Strasburg appears to have done what he needed to do in today's rehab start for Triple-A Rochester. Now, the Nationals have to decide if it's enough to activate the right-hander off the injured list. Strasburg threw 75 pitches over 4 1/3 scoreless innings this afternoon in Trenton, N.J., temporary home of the Buffalo Bisons while their ballpark is being prepped for the Blue Jays. Making his first official minor league rehab start after pitching in two simulated games at Nationals Park...
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Game 36 lineups: Nats at D-backs

Game 36 lineups: Nats at D-backs
The Nationals' series finale in Arizona this afternoon is important, because they're trying to win the series and head to Chicago on a positive note. But there's another important event taking place this afternoon, across the country in Trenton, N.J., where Stephen Strasburg is making a rehab start for Triple-A Rochester. It's important, of course, for Strasburg to emerge from his start (planned for five innings and 75-80 innings) healthy, because if that happens, he may be deemed ready to...
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Groundball-heavy Soto believes he's close to breaking out

Groundball-heavy Soto believes he's close to breaking out
Any discussion of Juan Soto being in a slump has to include the qualifier that a Soto slump isn't like any other hitter's slump. Other hitters go 1-for-30 with 17 strikeouts, and that's clearly a slump. Soto goes 6-for-30 with six strikeouts and we start worrying about him. Soto has set the bar for himself extraordinarily high. But having said that, it's not inappropriate to point out he's not hitting like himself right now. And hasn't been for a while. In his first 10 games since coming...
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Ross roughed up as Nationals fall in Arizona (updated)

Ross roughed up as Nationals fall in Arizona (updated)
Davey Martinez knew what Joe Ross had been getting away with in recent starts before tonight's game in Arizona, and so the Nationals manager knew exactly what his right-hander needed to do to be successful in this outing. "The pitches are up," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "When he's down, he's really effective." As such, it wasn't hard to figure out why Ross wasn't effective tonight during an 11-4 trouncing at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Plain and...
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Gomes producing at the plate despite heavy workload

Gomes producing at the plate despite heavy workload
Yan Gomes had come up to bat with a chance to hit for the cycle before. Four times, in fact, as a big leaguer. But never like this. On those four previous occasions (once with the Nationals, three times with the Indians), Gomes needed a triple to complete the cycle. And in each case, he had only one at-bat at the end of the game to try to do it. So imagine how surreal it felt for the 33-year-old catcher when he stepped up to bat in the top of the sixth Friday night in Arizona, having already...
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Game 35 lineups: Nats at D-backs

Game 35 lineups: Nats at D-backs
The Nationals lineup had its best night of the season Friday in Arizona. Why not stick with it again tonight, right? That's Davey Martinez's thinking, and it's hard to fault the manager for that philosophy, especially after he spent the better part of the last month tinkering every single day with a new-look batting order. So tonight the Nats will again go with Trea Turner and Josh Harrison at the top, Josh Bell in the No. 6 spot and Victor Robles at the bottom, behind the pitcher. It's a...
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Nats explode for 17 runs in desert rout of D-backs (updated)

Nats explode for 17 runs in desert rout of D-backs (updated)
After an unseasonably cool spring on the East Coast that more often than not left their bats ice-cold, the Nationals might well have stepped onto the tarmac at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix late Thursday night, breathed in the scorching hot, dry desert air and wondered if they could just head straight to Chase Field to begin their series against the Diamondbacks early. Nothing fixes an unproductive lineup like temperatures in the upper 90s and a relative humidity of 10 percent....
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Still thriving, Hudson tries to enjoy every moment he's got left

Still thriving, Hudson tries to enjoy every moment he's got left
Daniel Hudson was sitting at home in Arizona last winter, contemplating his memorable 2019 run to a World Series title and the frustrating and surreal 2020 that followed, and made a vow to himself to enjoy the 2021 season no matter what. Why? Because he has no idea at this point if he'll even get a chance to be on a big league mound in 2022. "This is the last year on this contract, and I don't know what's going to happen next year. I really don't," the 34-year-old Nationals reliever said...
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Strasburg to start Sunday for Rochester in Trenton

Strasburg to start Sunday for Rochester in Trenton
Stephen Strasburg will make a rehab start for Triple-A Rochester on Sunday, potentially the right-hander's final tune-up before he rejoins the Nationals rotation, this start coming on the road against Buffalo, even though the game will be played in Trenton, N.J. Confused enough yet? You're not alone. The most pertinent detail: Strasburg is going to face opposing hitters in an actual ballgame instead of teammates in a simulated game, the first time he will have done so since landing on the...
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