Nats must decide who starts Game 3, who starts at second base

Nats must decide who starts Game 3, who starts at second base
HOUSTON - The decision to start Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in Games 1 and 2 of the World Series was easy for Davey Martinez and the Nationals. The tougher decision is how to line up Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez after that, not to mention how to assemble a lineup for these games in an American League ballpark. Martinez didn't reveal the rotation plan beyond Game 2, and it sounds like the Nationals genuinely don't know yet who they'll give the ball to for Game 3 in D.C. on...
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Scherzer gets ball for Game 1 of World Series (updated)

Scherzer gets ball for Game 1 of World Series (updated)
HOUSTON - The Nationals could've gotten cute with their World Series rotation, sticking with the order that led them to a National League Championship Series sweep of the Cardinals and saved up their two best horses for potential Games 6 and 7. In the end, manager Davey Martinez decided to keep thing simple and just go with his best guys right out of the chute against the Astros' comparable aces. Max Scherzer will start Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Tuesday night, with Stephen Strasburg on...
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Nats vs. Astros: World Series tale of the tape

Nats vs. Astros: World Series tale of the tape
The matchup is now set. After a thrilling Game 6 victory over the Yankees late Saturday night, the Astros captured their second American League pennant in three years and thus advanced to the 2019 World Series to face the very well rested Nationals, who today will work out and meet with a throng of media members at Minute Maid Park, with Game 1 of the Fall Classic set for 8:08 p.m. Tuesday. This World Series may not appeal as much to casual observers and television executives as, say,...
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How the 2001 D-backs served as a model for the 2019 Nats

How the 2001 D-backs served as a model for the 2019 Nats
Mike Rizzo has worked in professional baseball for 36 seasons, and until this current campaign he had worked for a team that reached the World Series only once. That was in 2001 with the Diamondbacks, for whom Rizzo served as scouting director. It's Rizzo's favorite team, from a professional standpoint, and for good reason. It provided him his lone World Series ring, which he wears in public only one day a year: Draft day, to remind him what the whole point of this crazy endeavor is. That...
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Nats have several decisions to make before start of Series

Nats have several decisions to make before start of Series
This extended break between the National League Championship Series and the World Series offers the Nationals a chance to rest their overworked pitchers and a chance to figure out how to make sure their hitters stay in a rhythm without facing live pitching in actual games for six days. It also offers ample opportunity for the Nats to consider all their roster, lineup, bullpen and bench options for either potential opponent. Maybe too much opportunity. "Do our homework," general manager Mike...
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Nats trying to maintain edge during long break before World Series

Nats trying to maintain edge during long break before World Series
On Tuesday night, they celebrated like they'd never celebrated before. Which was appropriate, considering they'd never won the National League pennant before. So what did the Nationals do on Wednesday? "Nothing," reliever Sean Doolittle said. "Nothing. I woke up at like 11, I took the dogs for a walk and grabbed some bagels from Bethesda Bagels, and then realized that I didn't have anything to do. So I went back to bed and slept until 5:30." Suffice it to say, the Nats happily took a day...
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Revisiting our opening day predictions

Revisiting our opening day predictions
So, traditionally we've run this feature right after the Nationals' season ends. But until now, that's always happened by this point of the year. Obviously, the season isn't over yet. But since all but one of the prediction categories from opening day has already been settled, and since we're still trying to fill this long gap between National League Championship Series and World Series, this feels like a good time to revisit our annual media predictions. In case you don't remember, a...
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Thursday morning World Series Nats Q&A

Thursday morning World Series Nats Q&A
We're in uncharted waters here, folks. Everything from here on out is brand new, and there's no road map to show us the way. The Nationals are going to the World Series for the first time ... but they're now in Day 2 of a six-day layoff before they take the field again at either Minute Maid Park or Yankee Stadium. What do we do to fill all this free time? We answer your questions, that's what we do! I know you've got plenty of them stored up, whether looking back on the regular season or...
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15-year journey to the World Series was worth the wait

15-year journey to the World Series was worth the wait
On March 30, 2008, a wide-eyed young third baseman named Ryan Zimmerman christened the brand-new Nationals Park with a walk-off homer against Braves reliever Peter Moylan. In that moment, as the 23-year-old "Face of the Franchise" circled the bases to a thunderous roar, it was impossible not to wonder if this was merely first of many more thrilling moments to come in that ballpark. Surely there would be pennant races and October clinchers and maybe even a World Series contested on these...
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Pennant party: Nats sweep Cards, reach first World Series (updated)

Pennant party: Nats sweep Cards, reach first World Series (updated)
For a team that had to scratch and claw its way back from a 19-31 start to the season, that had to excel in late September to clinch a spot in the National League wild card game, that had to come from behind to win that do-or-die game against the Brewers and that had to come from behind again to win a do-or-die game against the Dodgers to capture its first ever postseason series, this felt too easy. Up seven runs in the first inning in search of a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series?...
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Lerner never considered firing Martinez, wants to re-sign Rendon

Lerner never considered firing Martinez, wants to re-sign Rendon
During those dark days of late May, when the Nationals owned the second-worst record in the National League and calls for change were growing from outside the organization, Mark Lerner did exactly what the clubhouse did. He stuck with his guys, especially manager Davey Martinez. "It never crossed my mind to dismiss Davey, no matter all the pressure that was put on us," Lerner, the Nationals' managing principal owner, said this evening before Game 4 of the National League Championship Series....
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NLCS Game 4 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

NLCS Game 4 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
The Nationals have played 2,456 games during their 15 years of existence. Many of those games carried little to no meaning. A decent number of them were significant but not historic. Twenty-eight of them have come in the postseason. None have featured the stakes that are on the table tonight. For the first time in their history, the Nats are playing for a pennant. One more win over the Cardinals and they'll win the National League Championship Series and reach the World Series. And if they do...
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With pennant in grasp, Nats turn to Corbin to keep it rolling

With pennant in grasp, Nats turn to Corbin to keep it rolling
Yes, Patrick Corbin signed with the Nationals last winter because they offered him more years and more dollars than any of the other contenders for the free agent's services. But he also came to Washington because of what he knew he could be a part of: A rotation that would rival any other in baseball, and a team that expected to play in October. All of that stood out to Corbin, who after coming through the Angels' farm system and then pitching six years in the majors for a Diamondbacks team...
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With Game 3 rout, party's on at Nationals Park (updated)

With Game 3 rout, party's on at Nationals Park (updated)
Surely there were some among the throng of 43,675 on South Capitol Street tonight who saw the home team holding a 6-0 lead over the visiting Cardinals in a postseason game and felt a sudden shiver go down their spines. Those folks must still be shell-shocked by the events of Oct. 12, 2012, a day that lives in infamy around these parts because of what happened after the home team took a 6-0 lead on the Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. That night has haunted this...
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Robles returns to lineup, schedule could force tricky decisions

Robles returns to lineup, schedule could force tricky decisions
Davey Martinez had been saying for days Victor Robles would return to the Nationals lineup once his hamstring was healed enough to ease any concern about more serious injury. Tonight, the Nats manager and medical staff decided it was safe for the rookie center fielder to take the field again. Robles, who hasn't played since straining his right hamstring during Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 4, will start tonight in center field and bat eighth for Game 3 of the NL...
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NLCS Game 3 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

NLCS Game 3 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
You couldn't conjure up a better forecast for the first National League Championship Series game played in the District of Columbia. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature at gametime will be in the upper 60s, dropping into the low 60s later in the evening. This is what October is supposed to look and feel like. Nationals Park should be rocking tonight, starting with the pregame festivities that will include the ceremonial first pitch thrown out by Parker Staples, a pediatric cancer...
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After climbing uphill for months, Nats suddenly out in front

After climbing uphill for months, Nats suddenly out in front
They spent the better part of five months playing with their backs against the wall. There was the infamous 19-31 start. Then a slow climb back into the race. Then a missed opportunity to catch the Braves in the National League East. Then a down-to-the-wire surge to ensure home-field advantage for the wild card game. Then that winner-take-all game against the Brewers, in which they trailed with four outs to go. Then a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit in the best-of-five National League Division Series...
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Bullpen duo has become strength, not weak link, for Nats

Bullpen duo has become strength, not weak link, for Nats
ST. LOUIS - The weak link of the Nationals roster, it is well known, is a bullpen that ranked among the majors' worst all season and simply cannot be trusted to close out games. Except that's not entirely true. The weak link of the Nationals roster is the rank-and-file portion of the bullpen, the guys who pitch the sixth and seventh innings, or the guys who have to fill in later when the main arms are unavailable. In the postseason, that portion of the bullpen has barely seen action....
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Behind another gem, Nats take commanding lead in NLCS (updated)

Behind another gem, Nats take commanding lead in NLCS (updated)
ST. LOUIS - Another day, another no-hit bid by a member of the Big Four rotation. And thanks to those dynamite performances, plus a couple of clutch hits and more lights-out work from the back end of the bullpen, the Nationals are heading home in complete control of the National League Championship Series. If they win two of their next five games, they're going to the World Series. As closer Daniel Hudson put it earlier today - on a completely different, and far more important, matter: "Hey,...
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Martinez still doesn't want to chance it with Robles (Nats win 3-1)

Martinez still doesn't want to chance it with Robles (Nats win 3-1)
ST. LOUIS - Victor Robles strained his right hamstring eight days ago, way back in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. He still hasn't seen action since. Robles was out of the Nationals lineup for the fifth straight game this afternoon with an injury that has been described as "mild" but apparently not mild enough to risk taking the field for a postseason game. "For me, it's just about Victor's health and getting him healthy," manager Davey Martinez said. "I don't want him...
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