Mark Zuckerman

Game 37 lineups: Nats at Padres

May 08, 2018, 2:31pm

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...

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Kelley activated off DL, Zimmerman expects to return Tuesday

May 07, 2018, 5:11pm

Nationals

Kelley activated off DL, Zimmerman expects to return Tuesday

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals have Shawn Kelley back in their bullpen tonight. And they expect to have Ryan Zimmerman back in their lineup Tuesday night. Kelley was activated off the 10-day disabled list this afternoon, one day after completing a six-pitch rehab assignment for Single-A Potomac and only 14 days after he walked off the mound in San Francisco suffering from what some feared was a significant elbow injury. Kelley, who twice has had Tommy John surgery in his career, was relieved to...

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Game 36 lineups: Nats at Padres

May 07, 2018, 2:41pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - It's about 70 degrees, without a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze coming off the bay ... yes, this is a tough assignment for the next three night, but someone had to do it. The Nationals open their second West Coast trip in three weeks tonight, beginning here in San Diego and continuing this weekend in Arizona. Having already visited Los Angeles and San Francisco in late April, they'll have played all of their games in the Pacific Time Zone for 2018 by mid-May, an odd scheduling...

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On Rendon's return, Gott's injury and Adams' robbery

May 04, 2018, 8:16pm

Nationals

On Rendon's return, Gott's injury and Adams' robbery

Some news and notes to tide you over before the Nationals return to the field this afternoon against the Phillies, seeking to extend their winning streak to seven games ... * Though nothing was formally announced Friday night, Anthony Rendon is all but certain to be activated off the disabled list today. The Nationals third baseman completed his second rehab game with Single-A Potomac, going 3-for-4 with a double and playing in the field for the first time since fouling a ball off his left big...

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Nats remind Phillies who's still boss with sixth straight win

May 04, 2018, 6:33pm

Nationals

Nats remind Phillies who's still boss with sixth straight win

For six years, the Phillies - once the titans of the National League East - have been forced to watch the Nationals seize control of this division and undergo their own long and painful rebuild. That dynamic could change at some point, though, and the folks from Southeast Pennsylvania are hoping this is the year it happens, with a young and talented roster beginning to take shape and getting off to a strong start. There are still nearly five months for this all to play out, but in their first...

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Harper and Adams still launching homers (Nats win 7-3)

May 04, 2018, 4:13pm

Nationals

Harper and Adams still launching homers (Nats win 7-3)

Bryce Harper is never going to want to give up the leadoff spot in the Nationals' lineup. And Matt Adams is never going to want to give up the No. 3 spot. The two left-handed sluggers are doing it again tonight, combining for three home runs through the first two innings of what is already shaping up to be another Nats rout. Harper led off the bottom of the first with an opposite-field homer, part of a three-run splurge by the Nationals against Phillies starter Nick Pivetta. Then he took...

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Rendon could return Saturday, Kelley and Grace getting closer

May 04, 2018, 1:54pm

Nationals

Rendon could return Saturday, Kelley and Grace getting closer

Anthony Rendon is playing third base for the Potomac Nationals tonight. If all goes well, he'll be playing third base for the Washington Nationals tomorrow. After taking five plate appearances as the designated hitter Thursday night in Woodbridge, Rendon is again in the P-Nats' lineup tonight, batting third and this time playing third base. Manager Davey Martinez said he will get three or four at-bats, and assuming there are no problems with his bruised left big toe, Rendon will "probably"...

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Game 33 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

May 04, 2018, 11:19am

Nationals

The Nationals already have had a chance to take on two of their potential challengers in the National League East division this season in the Mets and Braves. Tonight they'll get their first look at the Phillies, who after a long and at times painful rebuild appear to have turned the corner and look ready to contend. Gabe Kapler's first week on the job was a disaster, but since a 1-4 debut his team has gone 16-9 (though they do come to D.C. having lost 6-of-9). This team has some intriguing...

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How Doolittle made sure he could handle a five-out save

May 03, 2018, 8:42pm

Nationals

How Doolittle made sure he could handle a five-out save

As he entered from the bullpen and took the mound with one out in the top of the eighth Thursday afternoon, Sean Doolittle knew two things to be true: 1. He was going to need to record five outs to earn the save and seal a Nationals victory over the Pirates. 2. Before he could even think about the final three outs, he was going to need to pitch his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Which made for an interesting mind game for Doolittle in his first multiple-inning save opportunity in...

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With quick hooks, Nationals are getting Hellickson's best

May 03, 2018, 1:20pm

Nationals

Time was when 61 pitches through 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball wouldn't prompt anyone seated in a bullpen to so much as stretch his legs. These, however, are different times. Teams across the sport are pulling their starters - especially fourth and fifth starters - before they have a chance to face an opposing lineup the third time through, no matter how effective and how efficient they've been to that point. And the Nationals are now one of those teams. Especially when Jeremy...

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Nats ride late homers, bullpen escape act to sweep of Pirates

May 03, 2018, 11:47am

Nationals

Nats ride late homers, bullpen escape act to sweep of Pirates

The exact situation practically was proposed to Davey Martinez 90 minutes before Jeremy Hellickson threw his first pitch of the day. Given the right-hander's propensity to fade quickly when he faces an opposing lineup for the third time in a game, Martinez was asked before today's series finale what he would do if Hellickson was performing well with a low pitch count when the Pirates lineup came up to bat a third time. "We will have to really think about it," the first-year Nationals...

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Martinez hopes to find days off soon for Harper, Turner

May 03, 2018, 8:37am

Nationals

Martinez hopes to find days off soon for Harper, Turner

The 162-games-a-year player is nearly extinct. Five big leaguers actually did it last season (Joey Votto, Rougned Odor, Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar, Freddy Galvis) but that was the league's highest total in a decade. Only one player in Nationals history has done it: Ryan Zimmerman in 2007. And only two others have even reached the 160-game mark in club history: Austin Kearns in 2007, Danny Espinosa in 2012. So the odds of anybody making it all the way through this season without getting a day...

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"Neighborhood Play" reviews irk Strasburg, Nats

May 02, 2018, 7:37pm

Nationals

"Neighborhood Play" reviews irk Strasburg, Nats

For more than a century, the "Neighborhood Play" existed in baseball as sort of an accepted form of breaking the official rules of the game. By the letter of the law, an infielder turning a double play must have his foot on the bag with the ball in his possession before making the throw to first. But throughout the vast majority of the history of this sport, umpires looked the other way when a guy cleared his feet away from the base a microsecond before making his throw, in the process...

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Tweaked lineup stays red-hot in Nats' 9-3 win (updated)

May 02, 2018, 6:01pm

Nationals

Tweaked lineup stays red-hot in Nats' 9-3 win (updated)

The unorthodox lineup the Nationals unveiled Tuesday night was supposed to be a temporary one, but perhaps Davey Martinez is going to have to reconsider its long-term potential now. Because although the Nationals' out-of-nowhere offensive explosion of the last 48 hours might be temporary, there just might be some staying power here as well. With Bryce Harper again leading off, Matt Adams batting third and Wilmer Difo batting ninth, the Nationals ransacked the Pirates pitching staff again...

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Murphy admits he can't run well enough to play yet

May 02, 2018, 2:12pm

Nationals

Murphy admits he can't run well enough to play yet

Daniel Murphy today confirmed what was pretty obvious to anyone who watched him work out at Nationals Park yesterday afternoon: His surgically repaired right knee is still in pain when he tries to run, which has left his potential return from the disabled list up in the air. "I'm not in a position where I can run right now to play," the veteran second baseman said in his first session with reporters since he returned from extended spring training earlier this week. Murphy, who had...

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Scherzer wins another NL Pitcher of the Month Award

May 02, 2018, 11:28am

Nationals

Scherzer wins another NL Pitcher of the Month Award

We might be becoming numb to it at this point, but it's good to be reminded every once in a while: Max Scherzer is great. And he's showing no signs of letting up. The 2016 and 2017 National League Cy Young Award winner is already starting to make his case for consideration this season, with a dominant April that today earned him NL Pitcher of the Month honors. Scherzer, who carried a shutout into the seventh inning last night before surrendering a two-run homer during what ended up being a...

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Game 31 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates

May 02, 2018, 11:13am

Nationals

After watching the team explode for 12 runs with Bryce Harper in the leadoff spot last night, Davey Martinez said he would probably "let it ride" for at least another day. Well, the Nationals manager is a man of his word, because tonight's lineup looks very similar. Harper indeed is back in the leadoff spot, with Trea Turner and Matt Adams behind him. Ryan Zimmerman is getting the night off, so Howie Kendrick bumps up to the cleanup position, with Andrew Stevenson in left field while Adams...