Mark Zuckerman

Nats enjoy life on the road again, trounce Mets (updated)

August 10, 2020, 6:10pm

Life on the road in 2020 is nothing like life on the road in 2019. With one exception: The Nationals are still winning. There may not be fans in the stands or anywhere to go for breakfast, lunch or postgame entertainment, but the Nationals kicked off their delayed first road trip of the season with an all-too-familiar result: a lopsided victory over the Mets. Two home runs by AsdrÃºbal Cabrera, a solo shot by Trea Turner and a 463-foot blast by Juan Soto that cleared the big apple behind...

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Scherzer ready, Eaton rests, first taxi squad deployed

August 10, 2020, 1:34pm

Nationals

Scherzer ready, Eaton rests, first taxi squad deployed

After throwing two days ago and testing out his hamstring, Max Scherzer went up to Davey Martinez and said he could pitch that night. The manager chucked today as he recalled the story and the three-time Cy Young Award winner who would make such a ridiculous offer. "Your day is coming up," Martinez told him. "So be ready." That day is Tuesday. Scherzer will start against the Mets at Citi Field, making his scheduled turn in the rotation as promised when he had to depart his last outing after...

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Game 13 lineups: Nats at Mets

August 10, 2020, 11:39am

Nationals

The Nationals' remarkable run to a championship last October was defined by victories away from Washington. The Nats won Game 5 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium. They won Games 6 and 7 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park. All told, they went a stunning 8-1 on the road during the postseason, the only loss coming in their first NLDS game in Los Angeles. For whatever reason, this team was really comfortable playing on the road. Which brings us to tonight, when the...

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For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip

August 09, 2020, 9:11pm

Nationals

For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip

The Nationals woke up this morning in a vaguely familiar, yet wholly foreign place: in a hotel room in New York. It's the first time anyone with the team has spent the night anywhere other than his Washington-area place of residence since summer training camp opened more than five weeks ago. That's an unprecedented stretch for any baseball club not to travel in-season, made possible only by the unprecedented nature of the 2020 season. The Nats should have gone to Toronto and Miami by now....

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Voth takes important step in five-inning start

August 08, 2020, 7:28pm

Nationals Orioles

Voth takes important step in five-inning start

Had things played out the way the Nationals wanted them to Saturday night, we'd be talking this morning about Austin Voth's impressive start. Of course, by the end of a disastrous, 5-3 loss to the Orioles, Voth's outing was an afterthought, bumped by Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson's eighth-inning meltdown. In the bigger picture, though, Voth's performance was significant. The second-year starter continues to show he has the stuff to be effective at this level. He just needs to show he...

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Faith in bullpen goes haywire during gut-punch loss (updated)

August 08, 2020, 5:34pm

Nationals Orioles

Faith in bullpen goes haywire during gut-punch loss (updated)

Asked Friday if Sean Doolittle's struggles might force him to shift the veteran late-inning reliever into a lower-leverage role, Davey Martinez was adamant in showing faith in the left-hander who has been an integral member of the Nationals bullpen for three years now. "In order for us to pull this off," Martinez said, "we need Sean Doolittle." Barely 24 hours later, the Nationals manager admitted he may have no choice but to start devising a plan for success in 2020 that doesn't include...

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Scherzer throwing off mound, lined up to start Tuesday

August 08, 2020, 11:11am

Nationals Orioles

Scherzer throwing off mound, lined up to start Tuesday

The Nationals believe Max Scherzer is on track to make his next start Tuesday against the Mets at Citi Field. Scherzer, who has been dealing with what he calls a "tweaked" right hamstring, is throwing a standard bullpen session this afternoon. It's exactly what he would do three days before starting a game, under normal circumstances. "He's treating it as if he's getting ready for his next start," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. The veteran...

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Game 11 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles

August 08, 2020, 10:02am

Nationals Orioles

Nothing went right for the Nationals Friday night during an 11-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Orioles. They can only hope for a better result tonight in the second game of the weekend series. Most of Davey Martinez's lineup remains the same, with two exceptions: Eric Thames is back at first base, because the Nats are facing a right-hander (Thomas Eshelman), and AsdrÃºbal Cabrera is back at third base instead of Carter Kieboom. That lineup had better have the right approach against...

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Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits

August 07, 2020, 9:17pm

Nationals Orioles

Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits

There are any number of factors you can point to when trying to explain the Nationals' inconsistent start to this season at the plate, but as is so often the case with this lineup it's always appropriate to start at the top. As Trea Turner goes, so go the Nationals. That was especially obvious in 2019, when the club's early season struggles coincided with the leadoff man's finger injury and the subsequent resurgence coincided with his return to the active roster. There's no injury this...

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Nationals roughed up by Orioles in lopsided shutout (updated)

August 07, 2020, 5:05pm

Nationals Orioles

Nationals roughed up by Orioles in lopsided shutout (updated)

An opening month of fits and starts for the Nationals re-started tonight with the first of 13 straight scheduled game days, a development Davey Martinez was excited about, hoping it might finally provide some sense of normalcy and consistency in a season that is anything but normal or consistent. After a lopsided loss to the Orioles, Martinez might want to revisit that line of thinking. The Nationals didn't look excited to be out there tonight at all. It showed both on the scoreboard and on...

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Martinez trying to find spots to help Doolittle get right

August 07, 2020, 11:19am

Nationals Orioles

Martinez trying to find spots to help Doolittle get right

Sean Doolittle is healthy. The Nationals coaching and training staffs keep asking him, and he keeps replying there's nothing physically wrong with him. Something, though, is out of whack when Doolittle attempts to pitch right now. The veteran reliever didn't look right during intrasquad games and the brief exhibition season. And he hasn't looked right during his three appearances since the regular season began. "He says he feels fine," manager Davey Martinez said today during his pregame...

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Game 10 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles

August 07, 2020, 10:01am

Nationals Orioles

They've had more days off than days on recently, but that changes tonight for the Nationals, who begin a stretch of 13 consecutive days with games on the schedule with the opener of a weekend series against the Orioles. There's still uncertainty about the status of the top two members of the Nats rotation, so that puts some added pressure on the guys beneath them to do their job in the interim. Tonight that responsibility falls upon AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez, who makes his second start of the...

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Nats announce makeup games vs. Marlins, starters vs. Orioles

August 06, 2020, 7:21pm

Nationals Orioles

Nats announce makeup games vs. Marlins, starters vs. Orioles

They've had a bunch of days off in the last week, but the Nationals are going to make up for it with a bunch of doubleheaders later in the season. Major League Baseball announced a slew of schedule changes Thursday to account for all the games lost due to coronavirus outbreaks among the Marlins and Cardinals. And in order for the Nats to make up their postponed weekend against Miami, they're going to have to play three doubleheaders in two cities before season's end. The Nationals and...

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Nine games in, Nats pitching staff is far from healthy

August 05, 2020, 6:49pm

Nationals

Nine games in, Nats pitching staff is far from healthy

Whatever concern the Nationals had about their veteran pitchers' ability to make it through the 2020 season healthy after a grueling 2019 that didn't end until they hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy on Oct. 30 seemed to vanish once it became clear the 2020 season wouldn't start until midsummer and would be severely reduced in length. What a perfect opportunity for Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez, Sean Doolittle, Daniel Hudson and even former Astro Will...

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Loss to Mets made worse by early loss of Scherzer (updated)

August 05, 2020, 4:50pm

Nationals

Loss to Mets made worse by early loss of Scherzer (updated)

The images were unusual and alarming. Max Scherzer, throwing at less than full velocity and with less than full extension. Looking uncomfortable as he walked off the mound at the end of a laborious top of the first. Talking with the training staff upon returning to the dugout as Erick Fedde began furiously warming up in the bullpen. The Nationals lost tonight's ballgame, 3-1 to the Mets. They can only hope they didn't also lose their ace to a significant injury, not that any injury is...

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Scherzer out after one labored inning with apparent injury

August 05, 2020, 2:49pm

Nationals

Scherzer out after one labored inning with apparent injury

Max Scherzer threw 112 pitches in his last start, most by any major leaguer so far in 2020. Tonight, the Nationals ace threw only 27 pitches before departing with what appears to be a physical ailment. Scherzer was pulled after one laborious inning against the Mets, unexpectedly replaced by Erick Fedde in the top of the second. The Nationals didn't immediately announce a reason for Scherzer's departure, but he could be seen talking to a trainer in the dugout after his one inning of work....

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Game 9 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

August 05, 2020, 10:44am

Nationals

Juan Soto last came up to bat in an official major league game 280 days ago. You may or may not remember this, but he actually made the final out of the 2019 season for the Nationals, flying out to center field to end the top of the ninth in Game 7 of the World Series. He, of course, had drawn a critical walk off Zack Greinke in the top of the seventh and then delivered an RBI single in the top of the eighth, so it's not like there was any reason to remember that final at-bat. Tonight, Soto...

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Early offense, late escape acts give Nats another win (updated)

August 04, 2020, 7:29pm

Nationals

Early offense, late escape acts give Nats another win (updated)

The Nationals burst out of the gates tonight to take a quick five-run lead on the Mets. Then they decided to find out if they could make those five runs hold up behind Patrick Corbin and four relievers, with a rain delay thrown into the middle of it all for good measure. The answer: They could. By the skin of their teeth. Tonight's 5-3 victory over New York didn't quite go according to script. Not that Davey Martinez could've predicted this particular script, which included an out-of-nowhere...

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Strasburg to pitch simulated game before making 2020 debut

August 04, 2020, 12:35pm

Nationals

Strasburg to pitch simulated game before making 2020 debut

Stephen Strasburg wants to face hitters in a real game as soon as possible. But before he can do that, he feels like he needs to face hitters in a simulated game. Thus, Strasburg will pitch against his Nationals teammates Wednesday afternoon, perhaps the right-hander's final step before returning from a nerve impingement in his wrist to make his delayed season debut. After Strasburg threw 31 pitches off the bullpen mound Sunday, manager Davey Martinez gave him the option of throwing another...

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Game 8 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

August 04, 2020, 11:43am

Nationals

The 2020 Major League Baseball season is now 19 days old, and for the first time the Nationals are playing a division opponent. Add that to the list of strange facts about this strange season. After three games with the Yankees and four games with the Blue Jays (followed by three postponed games with the Marlins) the Nats finally face the Mets tonight in the opener of a two-game series between National League East rivals. The Nationals haven't played in five days. The Mets just snapped a...