Josh Land

Rendon quickly improving at the plate (with lineups)

June 16, 2015, 12:07pm

Bryce Harper returns to right field a night after going 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts as the designated hitter. Harper has calmed his strikeouts down considerably since the first month of the season. He has just six in 55 plate appearances in June and yesterday was his first game with multiple whiffs since May 27. With Yunel Escobar serving as the DH tonight, Anthony Rendon moves over to third base with Danny Espinosa at second. Rendon's timing seems to be improving 49 plate...

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Orioles agree to terms with draft pick, shortstop Ryan Mountcastle

June 16, 2015, 12:04pm

Orioles

The Orioles today announced that they have agreed to terms with their second selection in the first round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, shortstop Ryan Mountcastle of Hagerty (FL) High School. Mountcastle was selected with the 36th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 Draft. Mountcastle, 18, is a 6-foot-3, 180 pound, right-handed hitting shortstop. He was a 2015 Perfect Game First Team All-American and a Florida All-Region First Team. He was also named a 2014 Perfect Game...

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Orioles Orioles News Release

Matt of Matt's Bats: Trying to fix the Nationals bullpen

June 16, 2015, 5:40am

Nationals

The Nationals bullpen has been struggling. The most recent example of how the bullpen has cost the Nats a win was the Thursday game in Milwaukee, where the bullpen gave up too many hits to ruin a 5-1 lead. Last year, the Nationals bullpen was very good, but they had Craig Stammen (out for the rest of this year with an injury), and Tyler Clippard and Jerry Blevins (both traded in the offseason). Now the Nats bullpen sports a collective 3.61 ERA, which ranks 10th in the National League and 20th...

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Notes on Roark, Fister, Strasburg and Desmond

June 16, 2015, 4:28am

Nationals

Notes on Roark, Fister, Strasburg and Desmond

With the approaching return of Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg from the 15-day disabled list, it appears Tanner Roark's stint in the starting rotation is coming to an end. Depending on how Nationals manager Matt Williams chooses to slot out his starters for the remainder of the week, tonight could be Roark's last or at least second to last start for a while before heading back to the bullpen. Since Fister landed on the DL, Roark has started four games, posting a 4.63 ERA while walking four...

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Gonzalez's short outing leaves Nats frustrated in 6-1 loss

June 15, 2015, 7:39pm

Nationals

Gonzalez's short outing leaves Nats frustrated in 6-1 loss

Any thought that Max Scherzer's awesome performance would carry over into Gio Gonzalez's start was eliminated rather quickly tonight. A day after Scherzer pitched a complete-game one-hitter, Gonzalez managed to hang around for just 3 1/3 innings as the Rays went on to thump the Nationals 6-1. The Rays filled the bases in the first on a single and two walks before Gonzalez narrowly escaped the jam. In the second, though, Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier almost single-handedly put his team...

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bryce harper chris johnson denard span gio gonzalez matt williams nationals nationals pastime featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals2

Matt Kremnitzer: Another scrap heap success story for O's

June 15, 2015, 7:33pm

Orioles

Matt Kremnitzer: Another scrap heap success story for O's

The Orioles currently have three relief pitchers who have thrown more than 10 innings and posted sub-2.00 earned run averages. The first two, Zach Britton and Darren O'Day, are names you'd expect. But the third isn't, because his name is Chaz Roe. As MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski wrote in May, Roe thought his career was coming to an end a few years ago. A career minor leaguer up to that point with the Rockies (2006-2010) and Mariners (2011), he failed a drug test before the 2012 season,...

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Gonzalez roughed up in Nats' 6-1 loss

June 15, 2015, 4:36pm

Nationals

After quickly recording the first two outs, Gio Gonzalez labored through the remainder of the first inning. Gonzalez gave up a couple of walks and a base hit to load the bases before Danny Espinosa bailed him out of the jam. Rays first baseman Jake Elmore tapped a curveball back to Gonzalez, who fielded it well, then errantly threw to first base. Espinosa, making only his third career start at the position, calmly picked the one-hopper out of the dirt to close out the inning. Gonzalez wasn't...

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bryce harper chris johnson denard span gio gonzalez michael a. taylor nationals nationals pastime frontfeatured_nationals

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Devil in the White City"

June 15, 2015, 3:34pm

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson is a two-for-one read. The story is that of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, a colossal undertaking with equally colossal results. This is also the story of H.H. Holmes, a serial murder of the most wretched variety, who used the World's Fair to attract those he would murder and cause to disappear. The egos, manipulations, fraud and amazing results of the fair are the stuff of human history. This fair introduced electric lights, Cracker Jack, the...

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enoch pratt free library gary thorne hitting the books kwabena sarfo

Bryce Harper returns, will DH vs. Rays (with lineups)

June 15, 2015, 12:20pm

Nationals

Bryce Harper returns, will DH vs. Rays (with lineups)

Bryce Harper missed his second game of the season yesterday after catching a fastball on the inside of his left knee in the ninth inning on Saturday. Harper is set to return tonight as Nationals manager Matt Williams has the 22-year-old penciled in as the designated hitter for the interleague contest against the Rays. It will be the first time Harper will serve as the DH in his four-year career. The Nationals will obviously welcome Harper's bat back to the lineup. He is slashing .529/.636/.941...

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Ryan Zimmerman hosting sixth annual A Night at the Park to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis

June 15, 2015, 9:53am

Nationals

Ryan Zimmerman hosting sixth annual A Night at the Park to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis

The face of the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman serves as a veteran presence in the clubhouse, a potent bat in the middle of the order and an anchor at first base. However, he also brings so much more to the club and Washington D.C., area beyond the basepaths. Zimmerman's biggest impact can be seen through his work to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis through his foundation, the ziMS Foundation. Since its inception in 2006, the ziMS Foundation has made a strong impact on those diagnosed with...

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Marty Niland: Dealing Desmond, prospects might put Nats over the top

June 15, 2015, 5:10am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Dealing Desmond, prospects might put Nats over the top

A banged-up, scuffling Nationals team has gotten up off the mat to win back-to-back games for the first time in almost three weeks and stay within spitting distance of the equally banged-up and scuffling New York Mets in the National League East. Now it's time for general manager Mike Rizzo to show us what he has and give his team the tools to put the division away. It's fair to say that the Nats have medium to long-term needs that can only be filled through a trade, as do their main division...

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guest blogger guestblogger ian desmond marty niland mike rizzo nationals nationals buzz

Max Scherzer wasn't perfect, but still scored 100

June 15, 2015, 4:51am

Nationals

Max Scherzer wasn't perfect, but still scored 100

Max Scherzer wasn't perfect yesterday, but he did achieve a score of 100. That lofty number in statistician Bill James' Game Score metric is actually rarer than throwing a perfect game. Twenty-three men have thrown perfect games in baseball history, but only 11 had reached the century mark for Game Score before Scherzer's 16-strikeout, one-hit, one-walk complete game shutout yesterday. Digging deeper, just five pitchers - Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Matt Cain, Clayton Kershaw and Kerry Wood -...

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Nearly perfect still left Scherzer feeling sweet in one-hit shutout

June 14, 2015, 2:43pm

Nationals

Nearly perfect still left Scherzer feeling sweet in one-hit shutout

It has long been said that baseball is a game of inches. Nationals ace Max Scherzer can relate to that better than anyone today after a broken-bat blooper from Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez floated just beyond the webbing of second baseman Anthony Rendon's glove, falling safely into right field and spoiling Scherzer's perfect game bid in the seventh inning. "I put some hair on that fastball, but he was able to get it in there and fall," Scherzer said on MASN's "Nats Xtra" postgame...

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bryce harper chris johnson clint robinson matt williams max scherzer nationals nationals pastime featured_sidebar frontstory_nationals3

Andrew Stetka: On Buck Showalter's Baltimore legacy

June 14, 2015, 1:30pm

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: On Buck Showalter's Baltimore legacy

Buck Showalter created another milestone this weekend by moving into third place on the Orioles' managerial wins list. The skipper now has 408 wins and passed Hank Bauer, who helped lead the Orioles to their first World Series title in 1966. If he sticks with it, Showalter will have a chance to pass Paul Richards for second place on the list. Showalter has a long history as a manager outside of Baltimore, but it's time to start viewing him as an Oriole before anything else. Showalter came to...

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Nobody's perfect, but Max Scherzer was close in Nats' 4-0 win

June 14, 2015, 11:18am

Nationals

Nobody's perfect, but Max Scherzer was close in Nats' 4-0 win

The Nationals jumped on the scoreboard first this afternoon. Denard Span bounced a single up the middle to lead off the third and then picked up his sixth stolen base. Danny Espinosa gave the Nats runners at the corners with a line drive just over the outstretched glove of Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett and into right field. Anthony Rendon followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right field that easily scored Span for the game's first run. It's Rendon first RBI on the season. Meanwhile,...

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anthony rendon chris johnson danny espinosa denard span max scherzer nationals nationals pastime frontfeatured_nationals

Nationals acquire infielder Trea Turner

June 14, 2015, 9:04am

Nationals

The Washington Nationals acquired infielder Trea Turner from the San Diego Padres on Sunday, completing the Dec. 18, 2014 three-team trade in which Washington acquired right-handed pitcher Joe Ross and a Player to be Named from the Padres. In exchange, the Nationals sent outfielder Steven Souza Jr. and Minor League left-handed pitcher Travis Ott to the Tampa Bay Rays. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Turner, 21, joins the Nationals after...

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Nationals Nationals News Release

Nats without Bryce Harper in finale (with lineups)

June 14, 2015, 8:25am

Nationals

Nats without Bryce Harper in finale (with lineups)

Bryce Harper is out of this afternoon's lineup after being nailed by a 95 mph on the inside of his left knee during his final plate appearance in the ninth inning yesterday. The third-pitch heater from Brewers right-hander Michael Blazek ran in hard on Harper, leaving the young star hobbled and unable to continue in the game. It's the second time this season that Harper has been forced out of the starting lineup the day after being hit by a pitch. Harper missed a May 30 contest in Cincinnati...

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Orioles recall right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk, option left-hander T.J. McFarland to Triple-A Norfolk

June 14, 2015, 8:19am

Orioles

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned left-hander T.J. McFarland to the Tides. Wilson, 25, made his major league debut with the Orioles on May 20 vs. Seattle, tossing a scoreless inning in relief. In three appearances with the Orioles this season, including his first career Major League start on May 28 vs. Chicago (AL) in Game 1 of a doubleheader, Wilson is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA (8.0IP, 3ER). In 10 starts with...

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Orioles Orioles News Release

The long wait for Trea Turner is over (updated)

June 14, 2015, 6:45am

Nationals

The long wait for Trea Turner is over (updated)

A day after rookie Joe Ross was stunning while snatching his first major league win, it appears the Nationals are primed to receive the final piece of the haul resulting from last December's three-team trade with the Padres and Rays. Highly regarded Padres shortstop prospect Trea Turner was widely known as the deal's player to be named, who would eventually join Ross with the Nationals once an antiquated Major League Baseball restriction on his departure expired. San Diego selected Turner...

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Ross impresses in first major league win (Harper injury update)

June 13, 2015, 4:55pm

Nationals

Ross impresses in first major league win (Harper injury update)

After a couple of weeks of erratic baseball, the Nationals seemed to rally around right-hander Joe Ross in a dominant and complete effort to help the rookie nab his first career major league win in a 7-2 victory over the Brewers. Milwaukee scored two on Ross in the second, but that was it as the 22-year-old went on to blank them for the next six frames while allowing seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts over eight innings in just his second big league start. "It's not easy,"...