Josh Land

Can Max Scherzer be the stopper? (with lineups)

August 04, 2015, 11:44am

The Nationals haven't won since Max Scherzer took the mound last Thursday. The right-hander spun another gem, throwing seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts in a 1-0 shutout in Miami. Tonight, they'll lean on their ace as they attempt to end a four-game losing skid, which has left them outside of the playoff picture looking in. The Diamondbacks send left-hander Patrick Corbin to the hill for his sixth start since coming off Tommy John surgery. The 26-year-old has been tough, yielding...

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Matt of Matt's Bats: Looking at Michael A. Taylor's contributions to the Nats

August 04, 2015, 5:30am

Nationals

Matt of Matt's Bats: Looking at Michael A. Taylor's contributions to the Nats

The Washington Nationals are in a tough position right now, having just been swept by the New York Mets to give up sole possession of first place in the National League East and they got blasted to smithereens by the Diamondbacks. The Mets blasted the Marlins too, and now the Mets are up one game. Aside from making the next two months of baseball really competitive and fun to watch, there is some good news for Nats fans. The injuries that haunted the team have mostly healed, and now the Nats...

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Matt Kremnitzer: What's gone wrong for Travis Snider?

August 04, 2015, 4:43am

Orioles

Matt Kremnitzer: What's gone wrong for Travis Snider?

When the Orioles traded for Travis Snider before the season, I was optimistic about the move. Some options on the free agent market, like Nori Aoki and Colby Rasmus, made sense. The O's showed more interest in Rasmus than Aoki for some reason, but they opted to go in a different direction altogether. In Snider, the O's thought they were picking up a corner outfield bat with decent power, who was also under team control through 2016. Unfortunately, things have not worked out as planned this...

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Offensive funk continues for Nats in four-game slide

August 04, 2015, 4:39am

Nationals

Offensive funk continues for Nats in four-game slide

No one would argue that the Nationals haven't faced some of the game's most imposing arms since the All-Star break - Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom - but Arizona's Zack Godley doesn't fall into that category. Yet the unheralded rookie baffled the Nats lineup Monday night, tossing six scoreless innings while yielding just three singles with six strikeouts in only his third major league start. "We're going through a spell right now where we're not scoring many...

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Sinking Nats fall out of first place while Fister's inconsistent season continues

August 03, 2015, 7:22pm

Nationals

Sinking Nats fall out of first place while Fister's inconsistent season continues

For the third straight night, a Nationals starter ran into trouble with the longball. This time it was the Diamondbacks shelling Doug Fister for three homers as the Nationals fell out of first place in the National League East for the first time since June 19 with a 6-4 loss. "(I'm) continuing to work through some of the trials that I've got," Fister said. "Just not executing every one of them. That's my biggest downfall right now is I've got to be more consistent. I started out OK and...

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Diamondbacks bomb Fister, Nats lose 6-4

August 03, 2015, 3:45pm

Nationals

Doug Fister rolled through the first two innings facing the minimum batters. With one out in the third, Fister fell behind 3-1, and then left a sinker out over the plate and Nick Ahmed pummeled it deep over the wall in left-center field. The solo shot was Ahmed's seventh homer of the year and the tenth longball allowed by Fister. The Nationals are still looking for their first base runner against Diamondbacks rookie right-hander Zack Godley. Update: A.J. Pollock singled to center to start the...

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Orioles recall right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk

August 03, 2015, 12:28pm

Orioles

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk. Wilson, 25, has gone 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA (17 IP, 4 ER) in five games (one start) with the Orioles this season. He made his major league debut on May 20 vs. the Seattle Mariners and his first career major league start on May 28 in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. In 16 starts with Triple-A Norfolk this season, the 2014 Orioles Jim Palmer minor league Pitcher of the Year...

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Orioles Orioles News Release

Doug Fister looks to build momentum on the mound (with lineups)

August 03, 2015, 12:23pm

Nationals

Doug Fister looks to build momentum on the mound (with lineups)

Fresh off one of his better performances of the season, veteran right-hander Doug Fister looks to build some momentum tonight against the Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. Fister tossed six strong innings last Wednesday in Miami, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts to claim the win. The Diamondbacks send rookie right-hander Zack Godley to the hill for his third career start. Godley, who made his major league debut on July 24, is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. With Godley on the mound, the...

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Nats hoping comforts of home lead to more runs

August 03, 2015, 9:03am

Nationals

Nats hoping comforts of home lead to more runs

The Nationals return to the comforts of their home ballpark tonight after a long 3-7 road trip over the past 11 days. They battled top flight pitching throughout the journey beginning with the likes Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole in Pittsburgh and finishing off with hot-shot young arms Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard in New York. Despite Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman rejoining the team on the trip after long stints on the DL, the offense continues to sputter,...

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No panicking for Nats after being swept out of New York

August 02, 2015, 8:28pm

Nationals

No panicking for Nats after being swept out of New York

FLUSHING, N.Y. - After a disastrous weekend in New York, the Nationals find themselves deadlocked atop the division and in a dogfight with the Mets for the remaining two months of the season. The finale unraveled in a flash for Jordan Zimmermann. The Mets unloaded with three homers off the right-hander in the third inning as New York went on to sweep the Nationals with a 5-2 win. To make matters worse, all the damage came with two outs against Zimmermann. Curtis Granderson started the assault,...

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Marty Niland: Crazy deadline day for ex-Nat Michael Morse

August 02, 2015, 5:52pm

Nationals

Marty Niland: Crazy deadline day for ex-Nat Michael Morse

Baseball fans love the thrill of the trade deadline as players move from one team to another, sometimes in head-spinning fashion. One guy whose head may still be spinning from the flurry of deadline deals is former National Michael Morse, who was a member of three different teams, and went from East Coast to West Coast and then back east again, in a span of 48 hours. Here's how it all went down: Morse, who played for the Nationals from 2009-2012, started this season with the Miami Marlins....

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Andrew Stetka: Gausman's importance never higher to O's

August 02, 2015, 4:26pm

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: Gausman's importance never higher to O's

It'd be insane for anyone to claim that the fate of a contending team relies on one player over the next two months, and that's especially the case if that player only takes the field every five days, but I can't help but shake the feeling that Kevin Gausman is of the utmost importance to the Orioles down the stretch. That may be a lot of pressure to put on a 24-year-old, who only has 31 career starts under his belt, but being inserted into the rotation on a full-time basis right now carries...

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Zimmermann pounded for three homers, Nats lose 5-2

August 02, 2015, 4:25pm

Nationals

Zimmermann pounded for three homers, Nats lose 5-2

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Anthony Rendon wasted no time giving the Nationals offense a much-needed early spark. Rendon drilled a 98-mph heater from Mets starter Noah Syndergaard to straightaway center for a solo homer with one-out in the first. The umpires initially ruled that the ball stayed in the park, but after a brief crew chief review, the call was overturned and Rendon was awarded his first home run of the season. Update: Jordan Zimmermann breezed through the first two innings before issuing a...

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Nationals game blog: Pressure-packed finale in the Big Apple

August 02, 2015, 3:27pm

Nationals

FLUSHING, N.Y. - With 60 games left in the season, the Nationals hold a slim one-game lead over the Mets in the National League East heading into tonight's series finale. Washington has been on the wrong side of two narrowly contested one-run ballgames the last two days in playoff-type atmospheres. "I think it's great," said Jayson Werth after the second-largest crowd in Citi Field history showed up Saturday night. "It's been a long time since we've come to play the Mets and they've had...

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Jordan Zimmermann aims to avoid sweep (with lineups)

August 02, 2015, 1:07pm

Nationals

Jordan Zimmermann aims to avoid sweep (with lineups)

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals send Jordan Zimmermann to the mound looking to hold off the Mets in the National League East. Washington will need more offense to avoid the sweep after plating a combined three runs in the first two losses of the series. The Nats have scored two or fewer runs in five of their last six games. The Nationals have won six of Zimmermann's last seven starts dating back to June 24 with the right-hander pitching to a 2.62 ERA over the stretch. He has faced the Mets more...

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Orioles option right-hander Jorge Rondon to Triple-A Norfolk

August 02, 2015, 1:01pm

Orioles

The Orioles today announced that they have optioned right-hander Jorge Rondon to Triple-A Norfolk. Rondon, 26, was recalled from the Tides on August 1 and made his Orioles debut this afternoon against the Detroit Tigers, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out one.

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Orioles Orioles News Release

Composed and confident, rookie Joe Ross continues to impress

August 02, 2015, 7:06am

Nationals

Composed and confident, rookie Joe Ross continues to impress

FLUSHING, N.Y. - For the second time in less than two weeks, Nationals rookie right-hander Joe Ross went toe-to-toe with Mets ace Jacob deGrom, last year's National League Rookie of the Year. Ross was stingy, dominating eight of the nine batters in the Mets lineup. Lucas Duda, the lone exception, was the difference in the game. "He pitched well," Nationals manager Matt Williams said about Ross. "A couple of swings from Duda, other than that he pitched really well for us. He gave us a...

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Division lead down to one after Lucas Duda makes Nats pay on late gamble

August 01, 2015, 8:25pm

Nationals

Division lead down to one after Lucas Duda makes Nats pay on late gamble

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The second largest crowd in Citi Field history watched Mets first baseman Lucas Duda basically beat the Nationals single-handedly in New York's 3-2 come-from-behind win on Saturday night. After plating two early runs in the first off All-Star Jacob deGrom, the Nats bats went silent and the shoulders of rookie Joe Ross got heavier. Ross sped through the Mets order in the first three innings without yielding a hit. But in the fourth, Duda pulverized a sinker over the center...

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Denard Span looking to "rev it up"

August 01, 2015, 4:02pm

Nationals

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Denard Span joined the Nationals this afternoon as his rehab progresses. The veteran center fielder picked up a bat for the first time since back spasms forced him to the 15-day disabled list on July 7. Span took around 30 swings off the tee in the indoor cage at Citi Field before going outside to throw. "I've been doing a lot of physical therapy," Span said. "A lot of, seems like elementary, tedious type exercises trying to strengthen up my core and my back muscles. I'll...

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Lucas Duda, Mets take down Nats 3-2

August 01, 2015, 3:38pm

Nationals

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals were all over Mets ace Jacob deGrom out of the gates. Back-to-back one-out singles from Yunel Escobar and Bryce Harper gave the Nats runners at the corners. After Ryan Zimmerman drilled a ball right at Curtis Granderson, Jayson Werth worked a walk to load the bases. Ian Desmond then delivered a clutch two-out broken bat liner up the middle, which just squirted past Ruben Tejada. Escobar and Harper scored easily on the base knock. Wilson Ramos grounded out to end...