Nationals thrilled to open postseason at home

Nationals thrilled to open postseason at home
The Nationals tried to insist all along that home field advantage for the National League Division Series really didn't matter all that much. They would have liked their chances against the Dodgers just the same had they been forced to open next weekend's series in Los Angeles. But once it actually was clinched today, once they finished off a 2-1 victory over the Marlins and the Giants beat Clayton Kershaw 3-0 at AT&T Park, the Nationals did admit that, yes, they preferred this scenario...
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Nats beat Marlins 2-1, secure home field advantage for NLDS

Nats beat Marlins 2-1, secure home field advantage for NLDS
For the third time in as many trips to the postseason, the Nationals will have home field advantage in the National League Division Series. Now, they just need to prove they can take advantage of it this time around. Games 1 and 2 (and a potential Game 5) will be played in the District thanks to the Nationals' 2-1 victory over the Marlins this afternoon, though the Dodgers' 3-0 loss to the Giants would have done the trick as well. It'll be the Dodgers traveling east for Game 1 on Friday at a...
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Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)

Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)
Jayson Werth insisted late Friday night he hadn't suffered any kind of significant injury when he departed the Nationals' game against the Marlins in the eighth inning with what the club termed "tightness in his back." Werth even went so far as to say: "If I'm not in there tomorrow, I'd be surprised." Well, he's not in there, but the Nationals are still insisting he's not significantly injured. "Jayson's OK," manager Dusty Baker said before today's game. "I think. He just came...
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Murphy, Scherzer, Zimmerman earn Nats' first-ever annual awards

Murphy, Scherzer, Zimmerman earn Nats' first-ever annual awards
Daniel Murphy and Max Scherzer's dominant seasons have made each a candidate for baseball's top annual awards: MVP and Cy Young. Those won't be announced until mid-November, but today each player was recognized as the best the Nationals had to offer in 2016. Murphy was named winner of the club's first-ever Player of the Year Award, while Scherzer earned the first-ever Pitcher of the Year Award. Ryan Zimmerman was also honored as the first recipient of the "Good Guy" Award, given "to a...
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Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
It's yet another gray, dreary, rainy day here in the nation's capital. If I didn't know any better, I would swear I've been in a coma the last 12 years and MLB actually relocated the Expos to Portland instead of Washington. As has been the case all week, the Nationals will do everything they can to try to get today's game in. The Dodgers, if you weren't up real late last night, lost 9-3 to the Giants. So the Nats still hold a two-game lead with two to play, and thus their magic number to...
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Nationals trying to balance health vs. home field

Nationals trying to balance health vs. home field
This is a tricky weekend for the Nationals. Yes, they would like to secure home field advantage for the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. They'd also like to do everything to make sure they're as healthy as possible for that five-game series with so much at stake. How, then, to strike a balance between taking care of their bodies while also keeping a foot on the gas pedal? "This is the time of the season, that's tough," left fielder Jayson Werth said after tonight's 7-4...
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Nats fall 7-4 to Marlins, home field advantage still up for grabs

Nats fall 7-4 to Marlins, home field advantage still up for grabs
The Nationals may yet secure home field advantage over the Dodgers in next week's National League Division Series. But they aren't quite there yet, and they're going to bring this race right down to the final weekend of the regular season. With a 7-4 loss to the Marlins tonight, the Nationals missed an opportunity to potentially ensure Games 1, 2 and 5 of the NLDS would be played in the District. They needed a Dodgers loss in San Francisco as well, but now the best they can do is reduce...
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Baker: No platoon for Zimmerman in NLDS (Nationals lose 7-4)

Baker: No platoon for Zimmerman in NLDS (Nationals lose 7-4)
It's no secret that Ryan Zimmerman has been the Nationals' most disappointing player this season, and Dusty Baker has given his veteran first baseman no shortage of opportunities to try to hit his way out of a months-long funk. With the postseason now nearly upon the Nats, there has perhaps been some reason to wonder whether Zimmerman will actually be part of the Nationals starting lineup, or whether Baker might consider some kind of platoon situation involving Clint Robinson or Stephen...
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Harper returns to lineup, Heisey away following birth of child

Harper returns to lineup, Heisey away following birth of child
Bryce Harper wanted to return to the Nationals lineup Wednesday night. Dusty Baker made his young slugger wait two more days, just to be safe. Harper, who jammed his right thumb on an awkward slide into third base Sunday in Pittsburgh after the Pirates' Jung Ho Kang pretended to tag him even as the ball sailed wide, was dealing with swelling and some pain in the thumb for a few days. An X-ray, revealed no fractures, however, and doctors were confident the injury occurred in a different...
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Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
The final weekend of the regular season has arrived, and so it is now, as Dusty Baker described it the other day: "Hero Time." That means it's time to play through nagging ailments and push yourself to do more than you might have during the vast majority of the season. In that vein, Bryce Harper is back in the lineup tonight. Harper had missed the last four games with a swollen right thumb suffered on that slide in Pittsburgh when Jung Ho Kang faked the tag. He said he was ready to play...
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Thursday morning Q&A from rainy D.C.

Thursday morning Q&A from rainy D.C.
It was only five days ago when the Nationals were spraying champagne and beer all over each other in the clubhouse at PNC Park, celebrating their third division title in five years and looking ahead to what they hoped would be a deep October run. That feels like more than five days ago because a lot has happened since then, and most of it has not been good. Bryce Harper jammed his thumb Sunday in Pittsburgh and hasn't played since. Daniel Murphy still hasn't returned from his strained...
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Gonzalez's difficult week ends with another loss

Gonzalez's difficult week ends with another loss
There is no way to truly know what emotions swirled through Gio Gonzalez's mind this evening when he took the mound at Nationals Park, only three days removed from learning his friend and fellow big league pitcher Jose Fernandez had been killed in a boating accident in Miami. Gonzalez, who will be leaving the club Thursday to attend Fernandez's funeral, has declined so far to speak about the accident. But those who have been around him these last few days, and anyone who saw him shed tears...
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Nationals drop rain-shortened 3-0 game to Diamondbacks

Nationals drop rain-shortened 3-0 game to Diamondbacks
Given the discouraging forecast - not only for tonight but for Thursday, as well - the Nationals had to feel fortunate to get five full innings in against the Diamondbacks this evening. If only the score at the end of those five innings didn't favor Arizona. The Nationals were left to suffer a 3-0 loss after the game was called in the top of the sixth with heavy rain falling at the ballpark. The rain-shortened loss leaves the Nationals with a 92-66 record, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers, who...
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Would Nats make up games on Monday? (Nats lose 3-0)

Would Nats make up games on Monday? (Nats lose 3-0)
The Nationals may well need to complete this week's series against the Diamondbacks in order to determine home field advantage for the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. And it may well require a return trip to D.C. from the Diamondbacks on Monday to get those games in. With rain already falling in the area and expected to continue well into Friday, the Nationals have delayed the start of tonight's game. Whether there's enough of a window to get any or all of it played...
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Nationals won't work on NLDS rotation, roster til later in week

Nationals won't work on NLDS rotation, roster til later in week
The Dodgers wasted no time revealing their planned rotation for the National League Division Series, announcing Tuesday afternoon that ace Clayton Kershaw will start Game 1 against the Nationals, with fellow left-hander Rich Hill in Game 2, right-hander Kenta Maeda in Game 3 and possibly rookie left-hander Julio Urias in Game 4. The Nationals, who clinched their berth in the NLDS a day before the club they'll be facing next week, won't be making such an announcement yet. "No, just cause they...
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Game 158 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

Game 158 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks
So, here are the answers to the two questions on everyone's mind right now: 1) It's going to rain this evening. Hard. And it's not supposed to stop until Friday morning. 2) According to a Major League Baseball official, any postponed games that could impact home field advantage for the National League Division Series must be played before the postseason begins. What that means: The Nationals, who currently lead the Dodgers by two games with five to play (but would lose a tiebreaker based on...
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Solis impresses in return to big league mound

Solis impresses in return to big league mound
Sammy Solis hadn't faced a big league hitter in 43 days, so the left-hander was perhaps a bit jittery when he took the mound in the seventh inning at Nationals Park last night and promptly threw a first-pitch fastball to the Diamondbacks' Socrates Brito that sailed more than a foot over the top of the strike zone. "I would say a few butterflies in there," Solis admitted afterward. "But once I got past the first pitch, it was all good. Right back to the comfort zone of being on the...
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Rendon's 19th homer sets up Scherzer's 19th win

Rendon's 19th homer sets up Scherzer's 19th win
Max Scherzer was cruising. After a shaky start to his night that included a leadoff homer in the first and a pair of doubles off the center field wall in the third, the Nationals ace had retired 11 of the last 13 Diamondbacks batters he'd faced, eight of them via strikeout. But with the Nats trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth and the pitcher's spot due up, Dusty Baker did what he had to do: He pulled Scherzer back and sent Wilmer Difo to the plate as a pinch-hitter, despite some...
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Cole suspended five games for retaliation pitch (Nats win 4-2)

Cole suspended five games for retaliation pitch (Nats win 4-2)
Major League Baseball has suspended A.J. Cole five games for intentionally throwing at Jung Ho Kang's head during the Nationals game Sunday in Pittsburgh. Cole, who also was fined an undisclosed amount, has appealed the suspension, so he remains on the Nationals active roster until a hearing can be held and ruled upon. He's tentatively lined up to start Friday night against the Marlins, his final outing of the regular season. The five-game suspension is a fairly standard punishment for...
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Ramos tears ACL again, Nats try to replace All-Star catcher

Ramos tears ACL again, Nats try to replace All-Star catcher
The reaction among everyone in the Nationals dugout Monday night when Wilson Ramos crumpled to the ground and motioned for a trainer suggested an immediate recognition of the severity of what had just happened. Confirmation, though, came this afternoon when an MRI of Ramos' right knee indeed revealed a torn ACL, a crushing blow for the All-Star catcher, who suddenly will enter free agency coming off the second reconstructive surgery of his career, and for the Nationals, who suddenly have to...
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