Mark Zuckerman

Wieters placed on 10-day DL, Kieboom promoted (updated)

May 11, 2018, 2:18pm

PHOENIX - The Nationals, as expected, placed Matt Wieters on the 10-day disabled list today with a left hamstring strain, though the club has not yet announced what this morning's MRI of the catcher's injured left leg revealed. Wieters hurt himself rounding first base during the top of the second inning of Thursday night's 2-1, 11-inning win over the Diamondbacks, his left leg buckling. Afterward, he said he was hopeful the injury was confined to his hamstring, though the MRI was scheduled...

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Game 40 lineups: Nats at Diamondbacks

May 11, 2018, 2:15pm

Nationals

PHOENIX - It was only a few weeks ago when the Nationals kept needing Max Scherzer to be their stopper and put an end to losing streaks. Now they just want their ace to keep the team rolling while it's playing some exceptional baseball. Tonight the Nationals seek their 11th win in 13 games, a sustained hot streak that has allowed them to move from five games under the .500 mark to three games over. And who better to have on the mound than Scherzer, who comes into this game 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA...

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Doolittle rides bullpen cart, raves about its benefits

May 11, 2018, 12:38am

Nationals

Doolittle rides bullpen cart, raves about its benefits

PHOENIX - It wasn't anywhere close to the most important thing that happened Thursday for the Nationals, paling in comparison to Adam Eaton's ankle surgery, Matt Wieters' hamstring and/or knee injury, Tanner Roark's outstanding seven-inning start, Matt Adams' RBI single in the 11th or the overall bullpen effort that made the Nationals' 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks possible. But it certainly qualified as the most fun moment of the night: Sean Doolittle's entrance for the bottom of the...

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Nats pull out 11-inning win after Wieters suffers injury

May 10, 2018, 10:32pm

Nationals

Nats pull out 11-inning win after Wieters suffers injury

PHOENIX - The day began with news that Adam Eaton had arthroscopic surgery to remove a flap of cartilage causing pain in his left ankle, a procedure that will keep the injured left fielder out for an indeterminate amount of time longer than the month he already has missed. Then came the top of the second, and the latest malady for a Nationals club that has experienced too many of them through the first quarter of the season: Matt Wieters' left leg buckling as he rounded first base on a single,...

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Wieters departs with apparent knee injury (Nats win 2-1 in 11)

May 10, 2018, 6:30pm

Nationals

Wieters departs with apparent knee injury (Nats win 2-1 in 11)

PHOENIX - A Nationals club that already has dealt with long-term injuries to multiple key regulars this season just saw another one go down to a potentially serious injury. Matt Wieters appeared to injure his left knee after taking a wide turn around first base on his second-inning single tonight at Chase Field, leaving a Nats organization woefully thin on catching depth in a possible jam. With one out in the top of the second, Wieters singled through a hole on the left side of the infield made...

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Eaton has surgery to remove cartilage flap from ankle

May 10, 2018, 4:41pm

Nationals

Eaton has surgery to remove cartilage flap from ankle

PHOENIX - A month after losing him to what they hoped was a minor ankle injury, the Nationals finally figured out what exactly was wrong with Adam Eaton. That's the good news. The bad news: It required surgery to figure it out. Eaton had arthroscopic surgery today in Green Bay, Wis., to remove a flap of cartilage that didn't show up in any of the three imaging tests the Nationals gave the outfielder over the last month but was the source of his pain any time he tried to run. General manager...

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Game 39 lineups: Nats at Diamondbacks

May 10, 2018, 2:18pm

Nationals

PHOENIX - To say it's slightly warmer here than it was in San Diego when last we spoke is a mild understatement. It's 104 degrees at the moment - it was 67 degrees at first pitch last night at Petco Park - but the good news is they just closed the massive roof here at Chase Field (which it appears won't be the home of the Diamondbacks for much longer, by the way, but that's a different story). The Nationals come here having taken two of three from the Padres, but they'll face a much...

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On middle relief woes and Harper's chance that never was

May 09, 2018, 9:28pm

Nationals

On middle relief woes and Harper's chance that never was

SAN DIEGO - Some more thoughts, observations and reactions from Wednesday night's 2-1 loss to the Padres before heading to Arizona for a four-game weekend series ... * The Achilles' heel of the Nationals' roster is no secret. It's been on display throughout the season's first month-plus, and it's a carryover from the 2017 season: the middle portion of their bullpen. And it reared its ugly head again during Wednesday's loss. In a 1-1 game, and with Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler having...

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With chance to sweep Padres, Nationals lose another close one

May 09, 2018, 8:53pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - On a night when Bryce Harper was held out of the lineup for the first time this season, when Gio Gonzalez needed 59 pitches just to get through his first two innings and the Nationals managed only one run off a rookie starter, the mere fact they were in prime position to beat the Padres late was telling. The fact they couldn't take advantage of that position and wound up losing 2-1 also was telling. Unable to get a clutch hit from those who did start and unable to get clean innings...

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Gonzalez up to his old tricks escaping jams (Nats lose 2-1)

May 09, 2018, 6:52pm

Nationals

Gonzalez up to his old tricks escaping jams (Nats lose 2-1)

SAN DIEGO - At this point, there's no sense agonizing when Gio Gonzalez gets himself into early jams and racks up a high pitch count. It may frustrate everyone wearing a Nationals uniform, or rooting for them, but Gonzalez has shown time and again he'll find a way to get out of the trouble with minimal, if any, damage. Gonzalez is up to his old tricks again tonight against the Padres. Despite allowing five batters to reach base in his first two innings, the left-hander posted zeros on the...

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Why Martinez chose tonight to sit Harper for the first time

May 09, 2018, 4:31pm

Nationals

Why Martinez chose tonight to sit Harper for the first time

SAN DIEGO - Bryce Harper joked a few times recently about wanting to be an "Iron Man" and play in all 162 of the Nationals' games this season. Deep down, the star slugger knew that wasn't going to happen. It was only a matter of time before he got a day off. And that day is today. With a left-hander on the mound for the Padres and Harper mired in an 0-for-19 slump, manager Davey Martinez decided to sit him down for tonight's series finale at Petco Park. That decision came only after a pair...

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Game 38 lineups: Nats at Padres

May 09, 2018, 1:44pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - It was going to happen eventually. And given the circumstances, tonight made a lot of sense for Bryce Harper to get his first day of the season off. Manager Davey Martinez made the decision to rest Harper, who is on an 0-for-19 slump and now batting only .230 (albeit with a .410 on-base percentage and .951 OPS). With left-hander Joey Lucchesi on the mound for the Padres, this series already captured and a four-game series on tap this weekend against the very good Diamondbacks, this...

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On Harper's slump, Hellickson's stuff and Madson's early usage

May 08, 2018, 10:17pm

Nationals

On Harper's slump, Hellickson's stuff and Madson's early usage

SAN DIEGO - Some more thoughts, observations and reactions after Tuesday night's 4-0 win over the Padres ... * On a night in which all of the Nationals' runs were driven in by guys batting sixth (Matt Adams), seventh (Pedro Severino) or eighth (Jeremy Hellickson, Andrew Stevenson), Bryce Harper again took an oh-fer out of the leadoff spot. With an 0-for-4, two-strikeout game, Harper extended his recent slump to 0-for-19, a stretch during which he has drawn only one walk. He did legitimately...

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Behind gem from Hellickson, Nats win for ninth time in 10 games

May 08, 2018, 9:49pm

Nationals

Behind gem from Hellickson, Nats win for ninth time in 10 games

SAN DIEGO - It's easy to gloss over Jeremy Hellickson in a star-studded Nationals rotation. He doesn't have the stuff to match Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg. He doesn't have the wipeout curveball of Gio Gonzalez. He doesn't have the bulldog reputation of Tanner Roark. Here's what Hellickson does have: motivation. After sitting around all winter and the majority of the spring looking for work on the heels of a frustrating 2017 campaign in Philadelphia and Baltimore, the 31-year-old...

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Hellickson dominating Padres at Petco Park (Nats win 4-0)

May 08, 2018, 7:33pm

Nationals

Hellickson dominating Padres at Petco Park (Nats win 4-0)

SAN DIEGO - If Jeremy Hellickson wanted to make sure he gets to face a lineup for the third time, he's sure doing everything he can tonight to keep Davey Martinez in the dugout and the Nationals bullpen quiet. Hellickson has retired the first 15 Padres batters he's faced, cruising through five perfect innings on only 69 pitches. The veteran right-hander, who has pre-emptively been pulled from his last two starts before being allowed to face the opposing lineup a third time through, is making...

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How Matt Wieters has become an elite throwing catcher again

May 08, 2018, 5:28pm

Nationals

How Matt Wieters has become an elite throwing catcher again

SAN DIEGO - Managers will always say a pitcher is more responsible for the opposition's success stealing bases than the catcher who actually makes the throws. If a pitcher can't vary his timing and can't deliver the ball to the plate in short order with a runner on base, the catcher can't do much to make up for lost time, no matter how strong his arm. So a good amount of the credit for the Nationals' success at stopping the running so far this season - they've thrown out 48 percent of all...

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Game 37 lineups: Nats at Padres

May 08, 2018, 2:31pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals have a chance tonight to win their third consecutive series, and Jeremy Hellickson has a chance tonight to actually receive his first decision of the season and maybe even face an opposing lineup a third time. Hellickson has pitched quite well for the Nats, posting a 3.00 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in four starts. But he has yet to complete six innings, mostly because Davey Martinez has deployed a really quick hook on the right-hander, not wanting to let him face a lineup the...

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Turner finally makes debut in San Diego ... and homers

May 07, 2018, 10:45pm

Nationals

Turner finally makes debut in San Diego ... and homers

SAN DIEGO - Trea Turner had hit at Petco Park once before, in September 2014, when the Padres brought their first-round draft pick to town at the end of his abbreviated first minor league season to get a look at him and give him a chance to take batting practice in the ballpark everyone assumed he'd be calling home in short order. Nearly four years later, Turner finally returned to this gem of a ballpark outside San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. And in his first official at-bat here, he homered....

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Adams caps brilliant week with another big night in Nats' 8-5 win

May 07, 2018, 10:18pm

Nationals

Adams caps brilliant week with another big night in Nats' 8-5 win

SAN DIEGO - Matt Adams signed with the Nationals over the winter, understanding what would be expected of him from his new team. There wasn't a guaranteed starting job for the big slugger, only the promise that he'd get some starts at first base and in left field and a whole lot of pinch-hit appearances late in games against right-handed relievers. There was, however, a reason general manager Mike Rizzo chose to give $4 million to Adams rather than picking up Adam Lind's $5 million option....

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Turner goes deep in long-awaited Petco Park debut (Nats win 8-5)

May 07, 2018, 7:25pm

Nationals

Turner goes deep in long-awaited Petco Park debut (Nats win 8-5)

SAN DIEGO - Padres fans always expected to watch Trea Turner do something special in his first game at Petco Park. They just wish it didn't happen wearing a visiting team's jersey. Turner, the former San Diego first-round pick dealt along with Joe Ross to the Nationals in the controversial 2014 trade, connected for a first-inning homer tonight to give Washington an early 1-0 lead and remind everyone around here what they gave up 3 1/2 years ago. Turner connected off Tyson Ross, Joe's older...