Mark Zuckerman

Rendon is nominee for Clemente Award (Nats lead 10-3)

September 12, 2019, 3:44pm

MINNEAPOLIS - Anthony Rendon is in the running for some major end-of-season awards for his on-field performance. Now he's also in the running for a major award for his off-the-field performance. Rendon was named today as the Nationals' nominee for the 2019 Roberto Clemente Award, which annually honors one major leaguer who "best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field." It's...

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Gomes starts six in a row, but Read likely to catch Saturday

September 12, 2019, 2:33pm

Nationals

Gomes starts six in a row, but Read likely to catch Saturday

MINNEAPOLIS - Yan Gomes starts his sixth consecutive game behind the plate tonight. That's not something the Nationals ever planned to do this season, not with Kurt Suzuki sharing time as part of a potent one-two catching punch. But with Suzuki now nursing a right elbow injury, the Nats have had little choice but to keep putting Gomes out there and hope for the best. It's been a hit-or-miss proposition. Literally. Gomes clubbed two homers during Sunday's win in Atlanta, but has otherwise...

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Game 145 lineups: Nats at Twins

September 12, 2019, 12:08pm

Nationals

MINNEAPOLIS - It's another gloomy, gray day here in the Twin Cities, and the rain is supposed to continue into the evening hours. It is, however, supposed to stop at some point. Which means the Nationals and Twins may have no choice but to sit around and wait so they can get tonight's series finale in as scheduled. Each team only has one remaining off-day, and they're not the same. So if they somehow can't play tonight, the only option for a makeup game would be Sept. 30, the day in between...

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Zimmerman producing - and playing - more than expected

September 11, 2019, 8:59pm

Nationals

Zimmerman producing - and playing - more than expected

MINNEAPOLIS - The Nationals had modest expectations for Ryan Zimmerman when he returned from the injured list 11 days ago. The veteran first baseman had played in only 33 games through the season's first five months, unable to keep himself active for any length of time due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Davey Martinez didn't sugarcoat his intentions for Zimmerman at that point. He'd start a few games, especially against left-handers, and be available off the bench to pinch-hit or...

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Nationals score early, avoid drama late in victory (updated)

September 11, 2019, 6:57pm

Nationals

MINNEAPOLIS - They got the early offense they've been seeking for most of the last week-plus. They got another quality, if a bit briefer than hoped, start from Stephen Strasburg. Now the Nationals needed three clean innings from their bullpen in order to beat a very good Twins club. That should be a nice, simple formula for success. But as anyone who has followed this team all season, it's never that nice or simple. Though they certainly came close to making it simple tonight. Getting nine...

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Piazza's post-9/11 moment still haunts Martinez (Nats up 5-2)

September 11, 2019, 3:07pm

Nationals

Piazza's post-9/11 moment still haunts Martinez (Nats up 5-2)

MINNEAPOLIS - Everyone has a 9/11 memory. Where they were. What they thought. How they felt afterward. And many post-9/11 memories involve baseball, which in many ways helped the United States heal through one of its darkest times and bring back some semblance of normalcy in the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks. Davey Martinez remembers all of it, because he lived through all of it. And he had a front row seat to one of that fall's defining baseball moments: Mike Piazza's dramatic...

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Game 144 lineups: Nats at Twins

September 11, 2019, 12:09pm

Nationals

MINNEAPOLIS - The Nationals really need a win tonight. Which means they need to score runs. Preferably early in the game. For what it's worth, this appears to be a favorable matchup against Twins left-hander MartÃn PÃ©rez. The Nats tend to hit lefties well (aside from last weekend's struggles against Max Fried and Dallas Keuchel). PÃ©rez has a 4.75 ERA and 1.463 WHIP. And a few Nats who have faced him before have good numbers, including Brian Dozier (5-for-12, two homers) and Adam...

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Is it time to use top relievers even when trailing late?

September 10, 2019, 8:25pm

Nationals

Is it time to use top relievers even when trailing late?

MINNEAPOLIS - It may not have mattered in the end, because the Nationals still needed to score if they were going to win Tuesday night's game, and they never did. Nonetheless, Davey Martinez's bullpen usage in the bottom of the eighth of what wound up a 5-0 loss to the Twins merits a closer look, and a thorough explanation from the manager, because it left more than a few people asking questions. The situation: The Nationals trailed the Twins 2-0, with both runs having scored on Mitch...

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SÃ¡nchez loses pitchers' duel, Nats lose again on road (updated)

September 10, 2019, 6:12pm

Nationals

SÃ¡nchez loses pitchers' duel, Nats lose again on road (updated)

MINNEAPOLIS - It doesn't matter how well the Nationals' starters pitch right now. If their teammates can't score any runs off opposing starters, it'll all be wasted. Which, alas, is exactly what's happening these days. The Nationals got another gem from AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez tonight. The veteran right-hander had the Twins' potent lineup eating out of the palm of his hand. But with his teammates unable to touch JosÃ© BerrÃos, SÃ¡nchez had zero margin for error. And so the one big...

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Gomes prepped for heavy workload til Suzuki returns (Nats down 2-0)

September 10, 2019, 2:45pm

Nationals

Gomes prepped for heavy workload til Suzuki returns (Nats down 2-0)

MINNEAPOLIS - Though Kurt Suzuki doesn't appear to have suffered a serious elbow injury, the Nationals do appear to believe the veteran catcher is going to need some time to make it back into the lineup and have told Yan Gomes to be prepared to start the majority of games for the foreseeable future. Suzuki, who had to depart Saturday night's game with what he described as "some tinglings, zings" in his right elbow, had an MRI which showed no structural damage. He was given anti-inflammatory...

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Game 143 lineups: Nats at Twins

September 10, 2019, 12:06pm

Nationals

MINNEAPOLIS - For the first time since 2008, the Nationals are playing a game in Minnesota. And for the first time ever, they're playing a game at Target Field. This is the only currently active ballpark in the majors that has never hosted the Nats before, so they're about to be 30-for-30. (By the way, can you name the only two Nationals pitchers ever to win games in the state of Minnesota? Why, it's Jason Simontacchi and Levale Speigner, of course!) This is a big series for both clubs. The...

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Daunting September stretch continues in Minnesota

September 09, 2019, 7:37pm

Nationals

Daunting September stretch continues in Minnesota

The Nationals had a rough weekend in Atlanta. Their next stop on this road trip could be just as rough. Though there was plenty of attention - and rightfully so, given the division race - on the Nats' four-game series against the Braves, this next series against the Twins deserves just as much of the spotlight. The Twins are one of the best teams in baseball, and have been throughout the season. They took over first place in the American League Central on April 20, and they haven't given it...

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Bad weekend for Nationals at least ends on positive notes

September 08, 2019, 2:14pm

Nationals

Let's not try to sugarcoat this: The Nationals had a bad weekend in Atlanta. They lost three winnable games, fell at one point a full 10 games back in a division race that's all but over now and saw their once comfortable cushion in the wild card race shrink. They lost Kurt Suzuki and Roenis ElÃas to injuries. They couldn't do squat against the Braves rotation for three nights. All of that makes for a bad weekend. That doesn't mean it was a lost weekend. Sunday's events at SunTrust Park...

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"Super emotional" Barrett completes journey back to majors

September 04, 2019, 8:57pm

Nationals

"Super emotional" Barrett completes journey back to majors

By the time Aaron Barrett walked into the Nationals clubhouse Wednesday morning, his story had already gone viral. While he was calling family members and friends the previous afternoon with the news and making travel arrangements for them to get to D.C. in the next 24 hours, the video clip posted by the Harrisburg Senators of manager Matt LeCroy telling Barrett he was being called up to the big leagues was being shared and liked and viewed 1.2 million times. Nationals fans already knew...

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No late heroics this time from Nats, who fall to Mets

September 04, 2019, 12:31pm

Nationals

No late heroics this time from Nats, who fall to Mets

Recent history - in other words, history that occurred within the previous 18 hours - suggested the Nationals had the Mets right where they wanted them late this afternoon. Yes, the Nats trailed the entire way, by as many as six runs in the sixth inning. But given what happened Tuesday night on South Capitol Street, that hardly felt like an insurmountable deficit. Thing is, seven-run rallies really don't happen all that often. Shoot, Tuesday's epic comeback in the bottom of the ninth was a...

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Soto getting X-rays, Cabrera getting starts over Dozier (down 7-4)

September 04, 2019, 8:27am

Nationals

Soto getting X-rays, Cabrera getting starts over Dozier (down 7-4)

Lost in the shuffle of Tuesday night's record-breaking comeback win was the fact Juan Soto took a fastball off his right elbow in the sixth inning and was in serious pain. Not serious enough to prevent Soto from playing a big role in the Nationals' late comeback, but serious enough to necessitate an X-ray this morning. The club is awaiting word of that test, but Soto is in the lineup for today's series finale against the Mets. And even if he is hurt, it didn't prevent him from delivering...

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Game 138 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

September 04, 2019, 5:53am

Nationals

So, who's ready for another ballgame? Last night sure was fun, but the Nationals don't have any time to revel in their record-setting comeback win, because they've got a series finale with the Mets to play this afternoon. It's now the rubber game of the series, and it's an important one for the Nats, who can't afford to lose any ground to the Braves before heading down to Atlanta for this weekend's four-game series that could represent their last best chance at making the National League...

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Suzuki's walk-off homer caps stunning comeback (updated)

September 03, 2019, 6:34pm

Nationals

Suzuki's walk-off homer caps stunning comeback (updated)

Davey Martinez has been imploring his Nationals to "stay in the fight" all summer long, no matter how many games back they've been in the standings, no matter how many runs they've trailed by in any particular game, no matter how big a hole their bullpen puts them in late. "Think positive, that's all I can tell you," the second-year manager said. "If you let this game go like this (motioning up and down) it's not going to be good. Just stay right here (motioning a straight line) and...

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MRI reveals bone bruise on side of Eaton's right knee

September 03, 2019, 2:10pm

Nationals

MRI reveals bone bruise on side of Eaton's right knee

Adam Eaton has a "bad bone bruise" on the side of his right knee, according to manager Davey Martinez, an injury that will continue to keep the Nationals right fielder out of the lineup for an indeterminate amount of time. Martinez described Eaton's status as "day-to-day" but acknowledged the best he could offer right now is to serve as an emergency pinch-hitter, his knee still preventing him from running the bases or playing the field. "It's the running that gets him," Martinez said....

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Game 137 lineups: Nats vs. Mets (Taylor, Difo recalled)

September 03, 2019, 11:12am

Nationals

Game 137 lineups: Nats vs. Mets (Taylor, Difo recalled)

The Nationals promised more September call-ups, and they have delivered with two more additions today: Michael A. Taylor and Wilmer Difo. Taylor's promotion from Double-A Harrisburg isn't surprising, given Adam Eaton's lingering knee injury (we will hopefully know more about that soon). Taylor hit only .248 with a .324 on-base percentage and 69 strikeouts in 57 minor league games, but he did get hot down the stretch, hitting .383 with six doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs in his last 12 games...