After brushback and plunking, Eaton defends his slide

After brushback and plunking, Eaton defends his slide
NEW YORK - Adam Eaton had not been in the Nationals' starting lineup against the Mets since Aug. 1, the day he slid hard into second base and wound up injuring Phillip Evans. (Evans suffered a non-displaced plateau fracture of the left tibia and remains on the disabled list 3 1/2 weeks later.) And given Mets manager Mickey Callaway's reaction to the play a day later - "I think the guy slid in late, and I think his hand actually came off the bag," Callaway said, adding: "We have an injured...
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Nats shut out three straight games for first time ever (updated)

Nats shut out three straight games for first time ever (updated)
NEW YORK - The Nationals have played 2,234 games in nearly 14 seasons since arriving in the District. And most of the first 1,000 or so of those games were played by losing teams, many of them with lineups severely lacking in talent. Never before, however, had this team failed to score a run in three consecutive games. Not during the Lastings Milledge Era. Not during the days of Cleanup Hitter Austin Kearns. Not during meaningless late-September days when Jeff Kobernus led off, Scott Hairston...
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Madson rejoins club, could rejoin roster in days (Nats down 2-0)

Madson rejoins club, could rejoin roster in days (Nats down 2-0)
NEW YORK - Ryan Madson rejoined the Nationals today after a week spent with his personal trainer in Phoenix. Whether the veteran reliever will be ready to rejoin the Nationals' active roster in the next few days depends on how he comes out of a planned bullpen session before Sunday's game. Out since August 12, when he served up a walk-off grand slam at Wrigley Field and afterward revealed he had shooting back pain that went down his leg and hindered his ability to pitch, Madson spent the week...
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Game 130 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 130 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - We know the Nationals' offensive production has been awfully hit-or-miss - no pun intended, though actually, yes pun intended - this season, and we got a good glimpse of that Friday night when a group that has been pretty effective over the last month was completely shut down by underwhelming left-hander Jason Vargas. What reason is there to believe today will be different? Well, for starters the Nats are facing a different starter, one they've enjoyed much success against over the...
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Lefty matchup backfires late in Friday's loss

Lefty matchup backfires late in Friday's loss
NEW YORK - Davey Martinez was talking Friday afternoon about one benefit of his ever-changing bullpen: the ability to bring in one or two left-handers to matchup for one or two batters late in a game. That wasn't the case only a few weeks ago, when Sammy Solís was the only lefty used in that kind of situation (despite his reverse splits that showed he was more effective against right-handed batters) and Matt Grace was forced into a long-relief role. Now, since Solís was demoted to...
  181 Hits

Nationals shut out again, fall back under .500 (updated)

Nationals shut out again, fall back under .500 (updated)
NEW YORK - It was one thing when the Nationals were shut out Thursday afternoon by Aaron Nola and Pat Neshek. It was quite another thing when they did the exact same thing tonight against Jason Vargas, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman. So much for any positive momentum to come out of their back-to-back, come-from-behind wins over the Phillies to begin the week. Since Ryan Zimmerman's dramatic walk-off homer Wednesday night, the Nationals have been shut out twice, capped by tonight's lifeless 3-0...
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Strasburg will make next start on regular turn (Nats down 1-0)

Strasburg will make next start on regular turn (Nats down 1-0)
NEW YORK - Though his return from the disabled list earlier this week raised some red flags, Stephen Strasburg will make his next scheduled start for the Nationals early next week. Strasburg, who returned from a month-long stint on the DL due to a neck injury and lasted only four innings against the Phillies with diminished velocity, threw a between-starts bullpen session this afternoon and emerged feeling well, according to manager Davey Martinez. Strasburg threw roughly 40 pitches during the...
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Game 129 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 129 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - Gio Gonzalez's season has, by every measure, been a colossal disappointment. If you want to compile a list of things that went wrong this year, the lefty's performance ranks high. One positive constant remains for Gonzalez, though: He still dominates the Mets. Gonzalez enters tonight's start at Citi Field the owner of a 15-5 record and 2.90 ERA in 25 career starts versus New York. And that includes a 1-0 record and 2.53 ERA in his two head-to-head matchups this season. Both of...
  338 Hits

Bullpen steps up to make late heroics possible

Bullpen steps up to make late heroics possible
For 8 2/3 innings Wednesday night, the most significant thing that happened at Nationals Park was Stephen Strasburg's worrisome return from the disabled list, a shaky four-inning start that raised questions about the right-hander's health and stamina. Then with one dramatic swing, Ryan Zimmerman stole the show and added to his already impressive legacy with the 11th walk-off homer of his career, propelling the roller coaster that is the 2018 Nationals to back-to-back wins over the Phillies...
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The kid and the veteran team up for one shining moment

The kid and the veteran team up for one shining moment
The first time he did it, way back on Father's Day 2006 off the Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang, Ryan Zimmerman was a 21-year-old rookie third baseman, with a whole career still ahead of him and no clue how winding a path he would take despite spending all of it as a National. Juan Soto? He was a 7-year-old kid in Santo Domingo who perhaps already had dreams of one day playing in the major leagues but surely could not have envisioned playing alongside Zimmerman in a ballpark in Washington that had...
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Zimmerman to the rescue with 11th career walk-off homer

Zimmerman to the rescue with 11th career walk-off homer
There is plenty still for the Nationals to be concerned about, most notably Stephen Strasburg's health after a worrisome performance in his return from the disabled list tonight. But remarkably, there are still reasons for this team to have some optimism no matter how hopeless their situation appears, and tonight an old friend provided the moment that helped raise those hopes another notch. Trailing with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Zimmerman launched a game-ending, two-run homer...
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What's the state of Nats bullpen entering tonight's game?

What's the state of Nats bullpen entering tonight's game?
Tuesday night's 10-4 win over the Phillies took a lot out of the Nationals. They only got three innings out of Tanner Roark because of a 1-hour, 45-minute rain delay that prevented the starter from retaking the mound. That forced an already makeshift bullpen to churn out six innings, with no true long man available after Tommy Milone threw four innings in garbage time during Sunday's blowout loss to the Marlins and then landed on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. Davey...
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Game 127 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

Game 127 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies
It's been a strange, eventful summer for the Nationals, and it has only grown stranger and more eventful in recent days - and that's not going to change tonight. Because in the wake of everything else that has gone on around here lately, Stephen Strasburg is coming back from the disabled list to make only his second start in 2 1/2 months, looking to help the Nats gain another game on the Phillies. What can we expect from Strasburg? Hard to say. He didn't make a rehab start, only a 70-pitch...
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Young Nats who might get a closer look the rest of the season

Young Nats who might get a closer look the rest of the season
If the Nationals truly have waved the white flag on 2018 - whether they have depends on your interpretation of Tuesday's trades and subsequent statements made by Mark Lerner, Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez - then their focus for the remaining 5 1/2 weeks of the season is going to have to shift at least somewhat toward preparing for 2019. What, though, does that mean from a practical standpoint? What players might we see the rest of the way who might not otherwise have received this kind of...
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Replacements come through in win over Phillies (updated)

Replacements come through in win over Phillies (updated)
Hours after watching their front office trade away two popular veterans and their owner issue a statement that all but served as a concession speech for the 2018 season, the Nationals took the field tonight to face a Phillies team that is very much in a pennant race for the first time in seven years, then sat through a 1-hour, 42-minute rain delay in the third inning before re-taking the field in front of a crowd with a vibe not felt around here since maybe 2010. With Daniel Murphy on his way...
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Nats send Murphy to Cubs, Adams to Cards (updated)

Nats send Murphy to Cubs, Adams to Cards (updated)
The general manager and manager stopped short of calling it a concession on the remainder of a disappointing season. The owner's statement, though, was more forthright in its admission that today's dumping of Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams came about once Nationals officials decided it simply wasn't going to happen in 2018. "I believed in this team, and would have loved to see them all play healthy together this season," managing principal owner Mark Lerner said in that prepared statement...
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Previewing the Nats' last-ditch series vs. Philly

Previewing the Nats' last-ditch series vs. Philly
If the Nationals have any hope whatsoever of storming back to win their fifth National League East title in seven years - and yes, we fully acknowledge the odds of it are rather slim at this point - they're going to have to win a whole lot of their remaining games with the Phillies and Braves. Twelve of the Nats' final 37 games come against the two teams they've been chasing in the NL East all summer, nine of those against Philadelphia. They enter play tonight 7 1/2 games back of the Braves,...
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What happened to the Nationals?

What happened to the Nationals?
It's the most pervasive question in Washington this summer, at least in the realm of sports: What happened to the Nationals? The answer isn't nearly as simple as many would like. If only there was one concrete reason for the Nationals' slow descent from division favorites to a sub-.500 club trying to hang on for dear life. But the truth is, a combination of things had to come together this season to create this mess. Alter any one of them, and the story of the 2018 Nats might be totally...
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Nats lose series in dud vs. Marlins (updated)

Nats lose series in dud vs. Marlins (updated)
The Nationals desperately want their 12 remaining games with the Phillies and Braves to be meaningful. The way they've been playing against the Marlins suggests those games with the National League East's top two contenders aren't going to matter. In their latest - and most aggravating - performance vs. the division's cellar-dwellers, the Nationals were trounced by Miami 12-1 this afternoon, capping an ugly weekend with one of the ugliest losses of a season that is on the verge of being...
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Nats will start Roark, Strasburg, Scherzer vs. Phillies

Nats will start Roark, Strasburg, Scherzer vs. Phillies
The significance of the series, given the Nationals' current predicament in the standings, can be debated. But if nothing else, they can take some solace in knowing they'll finally be able to send their three best starting pitchers to the mound this week against the Phillies. Davey Martinez confirmed as much this morning when he announced that Stephen Strasburg will return from the disabled list and start Wednesday night's game at Nationals Park. The rehabbing right-hander will be surrounded...
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