Mark Zuckerman

Up four runs quick, Nats then go silent in San Diego (updated)

June 06, 2019, 9:19pm

SAN DIEGO - The first 22 minutes of tonight's ballgame at Petco Park were just lovely for the Nationals. Sure, the sky was overcast and the gametime temperature of 63 degrees wasn't exactly what an outsider was looking for on an early summer evening in San Diego. But the four-spot posted by the visitors in the top of the first more than made up for anything else and seemingly had this road trip off to a rousing start. By the time the Padres wrapped up a 5-4 victory three hours later, the...

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One more outing for Rosenthal before decision (Nats down 5-4)

June 06, 2019, 7:34pm

Nationals

One more outing for Rosenthal before decision (Nats down 5-4)

SAN DIEGO - It looks like the Nationals will send Trevor Rosenthal to the mound one more time for Harrisburg before making a final decision whether to bring the erratic reliever back to the majors or cut ties with him. Rosenthal pitched back-to-back games at Double-A on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first time he's done that since beginning a rehab assignment four weeks ago. Manager Davey Martinez said the right-hander will take a couple days off, then is scheduled to pitch again this...

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Nats face daily bullpen dilemma: Who's available?

June 06, 2019, 5:37pm

Nationals

Nats face daily bullpen dilemma: Who's available?

SAN DIEGO - Just as he does after batting practice each evening, Davey Martinez planned to meet with each of his relievers and find how everyone's arm was feeling. Find out who's available to pitch in tonight's series opener against the Padres. And find out if anyone might be unavailable to pitch because of excessive usage the last few days. It's a daily routine, and there's always one or two guys whose status is up in the air, but it felt like there were even more question marks today,...

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Game 62 lineups: Nats at Padres

June 06, 2019, 2:44pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - It's an overcast, cool afternoon here at Petco Park, kind of a disappointment for anyone expecting fun in the sun on this road trip. Then again, give me a cool marine layer over East Coast humidity any day of the week. The Nationals, on the heels of an oh-so-brief, two-game homestand (and sweep) against the White Sox, are back on the road. They've got four games against the Padres this weekend, then head to Chicago for a return two-day gig with the White Sox. And they're feeling...

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Lineup delivers another big rally as Nationals stay hot (updated)

June 04, 2019, 6:39pm

Nationals

If the Nationals are going to claw their way back into a pennant race that seemingly left them in the dust 10 days ago, this is how they're going to have to do it: With offense. Lots and lots of offense. As much as they talk about building a championship contender behind a dominant rotation, the Nationals' biggest strength at this moment - believe it or not - is their lineup. It's nearly at full health again. It has speed at the top, power in the middle and depth at the bottom. And as the...

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Nats face rehab decision on Rosenthal at week's end

June 04, 2019, 1:54pm

Nationals

Nats face rehab decision on Rosenthal at week's end

Trevor Rosenthal is slated to make another rehab appearance tonight for Double-A Harrisburg, once again trying to put together the kind of clean inning of relief that convinces the Nationals he can be trusted to return to the big league bullpen again. This has been going on for nearly four weeks now, but it cannot go on long enough to reach a fifth week. The Nats have managed to delay this decision as long as they can, but they're about to be forced into making it, one way or the other. MLB's...

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Game 60 lineups: Nats vs. White Sox

June 04, 2019, 11:06am

Nationals

Don't blink or you might miss the Nationals' homestand. Seriously, it's only two games and tomorrow's finale against the White Sox is a matinee. Not sure I can ever remember a homestand that brief. The Nats and White Sox actually will face each other four times over the next week-plus, with a two-game series on the South Side coming up next Monday and Tuesday. So maybe it's better to think of this as a four-game series with a long break (in San Diego) in the middle. Whatever the case,...

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How the Nats are inching their way back into the race

June 03, 2019, 8:41pm

Nationals

How the Nats are inching their way back into the race

What seemed impossible only 10 days ago suddenly looks significantly more plausible today. Yes, the Nationals still face an incredibly daunting challenge as they try to turn their season all the way around, but they're actually taking steps in the right direction (with some help from the rest of the division). Winners of seven of their last nine, the Nats are finally starting to play a better brand of baseball and getting rewarded for it. And thanks to a suddenly freefalling Phillies club, the...

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Will new voting format help or hurt Nats' All-Star chances?

May 30, 2019, 7:47pm

Nationals

Will new voting format help or hurt Nats' All-Star chances?

For all their difficulties as a collective unit so far this season, the Nationals do have a host of players enjoying success on an individual level. Which means they could wind up with much better representation at the All-Star Game than you might normally expect from a team that resides closer to the bottom of the standings than the top. Even if their two All-Star mainstays from recent seasons don't figure into the picture the way they used to. Bryce Harper, an All-Star in six of his seven...

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With improved health and depth, Nats lineup finally clicking

May 29, 2019, 10:06pm

Nationals

With improved health and depth, Nats lineup finally clicking

ATLANTA - If there was one aspect of the Nationals roster that seemed most likely to improve as the season progressed, it was a lineup that was short on results for the better part of two months but wasn't short on talent. Injuries to the likes of Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Adams left the lineup a shell of its best form, but even as some of those players began to return to the active roster there were nights when it just didn't seem to click. That wasn't...

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Everything goes Nats' way in blowout of Braves (updated)

May 29, 2019, 6:33pm

Nationals

Everything goes Nats' way in blowout of Braves (updated)

ATLANTA - Draw up a best-case scenario for the first five innings of tonight's game from the Nationals' perspective. Now multiply whatever outcome that came to mind by a factor of three. And then think up an even better scenario than that. Seriously, what more could the Nationals have done through five innings tonight at SunTrust Park? They scored 14 runs, batting around in both the top of the first and top of the second. They saw AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez retire all 15 batters he faced in his...

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Hellickson shut down with sore shoulder (Nats up 14-4)

May 29, 2019, 3:17pm

Nationals

Hellickson shut down with sore shoulder (Nats up 14-4)

ATLANTA - The Nationals have shut down Jeremy Hellickson from throwing after the right-hander was continuing to experience shoulder soreness while on the injured list. Hellickson, who went on the IL on May 21 with a strained right shoulder, was already throwing long toss that afternoon and believed he could keep himself sharp during what he hoped would be a brief stint off the active roster. But the right-hander wasn't responding to the throwing sessions as well as he wanted, so the club...

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Nationals sign veteran lefty Venters to minor league deal

May 29, 2019, 2:23pm

Nationals

ATLANTA - In their ongoing search for more bullpen help, the Nationals are taking a flier on veteran Jonny Venters, hoping the former Braves lefty can rediscover the form that made him effective last season but eluded him this year. The Nats signed Venters to a minor league contract and assigned him to Double-A Harrisburg, where he'll attempt to get himself on track and perhaps merit a promotion at some point. "He's a prominent left-handed pitcher who pitched well in some high-leverage...

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Game 56 lineups: Nats at Braves

May 29, 2019, 11:45am

Nationals

ATLANTA - The Nationals, as surely you know by now, have not swept a series yet this season. Shoot, they just finally completed their first three-game winning streak last weekend. But if they can beat the Braves again tonight, they will have crossed that off list at last. Yes, it's only a two-game series, but beggars can't be choosers. A win tonight would be no small task. The Nationals would have to win a game started by AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez, something they've done only twice in nine...

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Doolittle ditches toe tap, returns to peak form

May 28, 2019, 10:24pm

Nationals

Doolittle ditches toe tap, returns to peak form

ATLANTA - The toe tap was gone. The results were back to normal. Sean Doolittle looked like his old self again Tuesday night during a scoreless bottom of the ninth that preserved the Nationals' 5-4 win over the Braves. He faced four batters, struck out three of them and emerged with his 10th save in a game his team desperately needed. And for the first time in 2019, he did it without his front foot touching dirt before taking his full stride toward the plate. That seemingly innocuous move...

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Strasburg dominates for seven, Doolittle closes out Braves (updated)

May 28, 2019, 6:43pm

Nationals

Strasburg dominates for seven, Doolittle closes out Braves (updated)

ATLANTA - They got the dominant start they needed from Stephen Strasburg. They got both the power and the patience they needed from their lineup to give them a late lead. They got a near-disaster in the eighth inning from one of the usual suspects out of the bullpen. But when they got an overdue clean ninth inning from Sean Doolittle, the Nationals escaped SunTrust Park with a 5-4 victory over the Braves that felt as needed as any victory they've had in a while. "Gosh darn it, that was a...

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SÃ¡nchez will return to start Wednesday's finale (Nats up 4-2)

May 28, 2019, 2:16pm

Nationals

SÃ¡nchez will return to start Wednesday's finale (Nats up 4-2)

ATLANTA - They waited to make a final decision until after tonight's game, but the Nationals did decide to start AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez in Wednesday night's series finale against the Braves, believing the right-hander's hamstring is fully healed even if he hasn't built his arm all the way back up to a full workload yet. SÃ¡nchez, who strained his left hamstring May 16 against the Mets, was slated to go through a pregame workout this evening at SunTrust Park. If he got through this workout...

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Game 55 lineups: Nats at Braves

May 28, 2019, 11:44am

Nationals

ATLANTA - The Nationals have already faced the Mets 13 times this season. They've faced the Phillies eight times. They've faced the Marlins seven times. Tonight, they finally face the Braves for the first of 19 head-to-head matchups this season. And it's only a two-game series before they pack up and leave for Cincinnati. Weird schedule, to say the least. The Braves, seeking back-to-back division titles, got off to a ragged start themselves. And they've had their share of bullpen woes. But...

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More on Sunday's win over the Marlins

May 26, 2019, 9:17pm

Nationals

More on Sunday's 9-6 victory over the Marlins, which gave the Nationals their first three-game winning streak of the season ... * Howie Kendrick's value to this team can't be overstated. The veteran utility man has come through so many times for the Nationals when they've needed him to, and has proven to be so much more than a nice bat off the bench. Kendrick, who got things started Sunday with a solo homer in the bottom of the second and then drove in two more runs in the third, now has 28...

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Nats finally get first three-game win streak of year (updated)

May 26, 2019, 1:05pm

Nationals

Nats finally get first three-game win streak of year (updated)

It took two months of agonizing starts and stops, encouraging moments followed by devastating meltdowns, series with contenders and series with also-rans. But this weekend it finally happened: The Nationals won three games in a row. It's a modest achievement, to be sure. But the Nationals were the only team in the majors that had yet to win back-to-back-to-back games in 2019. And though it happened against the worst-in-baseball Marlins, that matters not a bit to a ballclub that simply needs to...