Rendon, bullpen save the day as Nationals rally to 9-7 victory

Rendon, bullpen save the day as Nationals rally to 9-7 victory
They weathered a laborious (and brief) start from Gio Gonzalez, used Anthony Rendon's grand slam to get back in the game, rode their expanded bullpen through a string of scoreless innings and then watched as their lineup sealed the deal late. Suffice it to say that the Nationals' 9-7 victory over the Braves tonight had a little bit of everything. Tied in the bottom of the eighth, the Nationals took the lead for good when Atlanta catcher Tyler Flowers airmailed a throw to third base on Ben...
Continue reading

Nationals still mum on Wednesday night's starter

Nationals still mum on Wednesday night's starter
The Nationals are remaining mum about the identity of Wednesday night's starting pitcher, though Dusty Baker hasn't ruled out the possibility of Stephen Strasburg coming off the disabled list to face the Braves. Strasburg appeared lined up to make that start, his first since landing on the DL with a sore elbow on Aug. 21. But the right-hander threw off the bullpen mound at Nationals Park this afternoon, and that's not typically what a pitcher would do the day before he starts. Baker didn't...
Continue reading

Game 138 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Giolito, Difo recalled)

Game 138 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Giolito, Difo recalled)
It hasn't drawn a lot of attention, but Gio Gonzalez has been pretty darn consistent over the last month and a half, righting a season that had threatened to go off the rails. In nine starts since the All-Star break, the left-hander is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Six of those have been quality starts. And in five of his last starts, he has issued zero or one walk. The Nationals certainly hope Gonzalez will keep this up through the final stretch, beginning tonight when he takes the mound against the...
Continue reading

Nats frustrated by weekend woes with men on base

Nats frustrated by weekend woes with men on base
NEW YORK - The Nationals, in the big picture, have not been particularly bad at hitting with runners in scoring position this season. They rank fifth in the National League in that category, ahead of fellow contenders like the Cubs, Giants, Dodgers and Mets. But it does seem like when they go cold in those situations, they go ice cold. And it doesn't get any colder than the last two nights at Citi Field, when the Nationals went a combined 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, losing a...
Continue reading

Lopez still learning what it takes to beat big league lineups

Lopez still learning what it takes to beat big league lineups
NEW YORK - Reynaldo Lopez has made six big league starts. Two of them have ended in victories for both the rookie right-hander and the Nationals. Each of those, however, came against the Braves, owners of the worst record in the National League and earlier today officially eliminated from the race for a division title. Lopez's four other starts all have come against teams contending for postseason berths: the Dodgers, Giants, Orioles and Mets. And the results in those four games have been...
Continue reading

Nationals drop second straight (plus series) to Mets 5-1

Nationals drop second straight (plus series) to Mets 5-1
NEW YORK - Reynaldo Lopez still doesn't look quite ready for the big stage. The Nationals lineup, meanwhile, looked lost with runners in scoring position this weekend. Lopez labored again tonight against a quality opponent, lasting only four innings in a nationally televised Sunday night game against the Mets. Fellow rookie right-hander Seth Lugo had no such stage fright in mowing down the Nationals over seven strong innings en route to New York's 5-1 victory at Citi Field. With a chance to...
Continue reading

Rookie starters being tested on Sunday night (Nationals lose 5-1)

Rookie starters being tested on Sunday night (Nationals lose 5-1)
NEW YORK - The Nationals and Mets already were looking at a late night with an 8:08 p.m. start on Sunday Night Baseball and then travel to Washington and Cincinnati, respectively, for Labor Day matinee games. The way both lineups have made Reynaldo Lopez and Seth Lugo work early, they're going to be even sleepier than initially feared when they get to the park Monday. Lopez and Lugo have been put to the test in this nationally televised matchup of dueling rookies. Lopez needed 25 pitches a...
Continue reading

Strasburg on track to return Wednesday vs. Braves

Strasburg on track to return Wednesday vs. Braves
NEW YORK - Stephen Strasburg is on track to rejoin the Nationals rotation Wednesday night, though the rehabbing right-hander hasn't been 100 percent cleared for that assignment yet. Strasburg threw off the bullpen mound at Citi Field this afternoon, his fourth such session in the last week, and reported no issues. That lines him up to pitch Wednesday, which appears to be the Nationals' plan for now, barring any setbacks. "Possibly," manager Dusty Baker said when asked if Strasburg would...
Continue reading

Game 136 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 136 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - So, about that massive hurricane that was supposed to wreak havoc with tonight's series finale at Citi Field ... yeah, that was a whole lotta nothing. As I type this from the press box, staring out at the stadium, there isn't a cloud in the sky. There's a bit of a breeze, but hardly anything of consequence. In other words, the Nationals and Mets will be perfectly good to go tonight on Sunday Night Baseball. This is the Nats' lone Sunday night appearance of the season, which is...
Continue reading

Sunday morning Q&A from New York

Sunday morning Q&A from New York
NEW YORK - Sorry for the sporadic execution of what at one time was a weekly Thursday Q&A feature here - even one of the Nationals players asked me yesterday when I was going to do another one of these - but the schedule recently hasn't been real conducive. The good news is that the Nationals' first Sunday Night Baseball appearance of the season does offer up a good opportunity to bring the Q&A back, seeing as how there's nothing to do on Sunday morning for the first time all...
Continue reading

Lack of production from bottom of lineup remains a concern

Lack of production from bottom of lineup remains a concern
NEW YORK - Tonight's 3-1 loss to the Mets shouldn't have a dramatic impact on the Nationals' ultimate fortunes. They still lead the National League East by 9 1/2 games with 27 to play. Their magic number remains 18. But the manner in which the Nats lost this game might raise some red flags and may offer some evidence of one of the club's few problem areas that could come back to haunt the team if and when they start playing in October. It takes clutch hitting to win in the postseason, and...
Continue reading

Nationals can't deliver big hits in 3-1 loss to Mets

Nationals can't deliver big hits in 3-1 loss to Mets
NEW YORK - Unable to convert countless opportunities with men on base, or keep the Mets from delivering themselves in clutch situations, the Nationals took a 3-1 loss tonight at Citi Field to momentarily halt the expansion of their hefty division lead. The Mets got a big two-run single from Curtis Granderson off Tanner Roark, added another insurance run later and rode their pitching staff to victory. In the process, they reduced the Nationals' cushion in the National League East to 9 1/2...
Continue reading

Streak of first-inning success continues (Nationals lose 3-1)

Streak of first-inning success continues (Nationals lose 3-1)
NEW YORK - The Nationals seem to have this top-of-the-first thing down pretty well now. For the fifth time in as many games on their current road trip, the Nationals scored in their opening frame, handing their starting pitcher a lead before he ever took the mound. They jumped on the Mets again tonight, taking a quick 1-0 lead after loading the bases against rookie right-hander Robert Gsellman and then getting Anthony Rendon's sacrifice fly to bring home Trea Turner with the game's first...
Continue reading

Nats will give Scherzer extra day off, start Lopez on Sunday

Nats will give Scherzer extra day off, start Lopez on Sunday
NEW YORK - The Nationals will give Max Scherzer an extra day off, bumping his originally scheduled start from Sunday night against the Mets to Monday afternoon against the Braves. Reynaldo Lopez, who will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, will start the series finale at Citi Field in Scherzer's place ... provided the weather cooperates. (The edges of Tropical Storm Hermine could impact the New York area at some point Sunday and Monday.) There's nothing physically wrong with Scherzer, who...
Continue reading

Game 135 lineups: Nats at Mets (Turner wins rookie of month)

Game 135 lineups: Nats at Mets (Turner wins rookie of month)
NEW YORK - They took last night's series opener in impressive fashion. Now the Nationals try to take the series from the Mets and expand their growing lead in the National League East beyond their current 10 1/2-game cushion. It'll be Tanner Roark on the mound tonight at Citi Field, and he has been awfully good against the Mets this season (one earned run, five hits in 9 1/3 innings). Rookie Robert Gsellman (whose name apparently is pronounced like "Gazelle-Man") makes his second career...
Continue reading

Power to left field offers further evidence of Harper's resurgence

Power to left field offers further evidence of Harper's resurgence
NEW YORK - Want the surest sign yet that Bryce Harper has at long last snapped out of his months-long slump? He's now racking up opposite-field doubles. There has been mounting evidence of Harper's resurgence over the last couple of weeks, ever since he took five days off to rest an ailing neck injury. But the last few days have bolstered the argument, and Friday night's performance during the Nationals' 4-1 victory over the Mets was among the best examples yet. Harper went 2-for-3 in the...
Continue reading

Rookies shine brightest for Nationals in key win over Mets

Rookies shine brightest for Nationals in key win over Mets
NEW YORK - The 2016 Nationals are built to win, first and foremost, with experienced stars. Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Daniel Murphy, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman are supposed to lead the way and (in the best-case scenario) lead this franchise to the promised land come October. But Mike Rizzo is, at his core, a development guy. And so the general manager has attempted to infuse his veteran-laded roster with a handful of young players that can inject life and energy to the...
Continue reading

Nats take opener from Mets 4-1, reduce magic number to 18

Nats take opener from Mets 4-1, reduce magic number to 18
NEW YORK - While fellow prospects Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez leapfrogged him on the organizational depth chart and got the first opportunities to pitch for the Nationals this summer, A.J. Cole hung around and waited for his turn. Who would have guessed "Option C" would prove more reliable at this point? Cole turned in another impressive performance tonight, holding the Mets to one run and three hits over six innings, putting himself in position to earn his first career win. The...
Continue reading

Rizzo on rehabbing players, den Dekker DFA (Nationals win 4-1)

Rizzo on rehabbing players, den Dekker DFA (Nationals win 4-1)
NEW YORK - Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross have both passed recent tests on their injured arms and both remain on track to rejoin the Nationals' active roster within the next week or so. Strasburg threw another bullpen session this afternoon at Citi Field, his third in the last week. He continues to ramp things up, but given the fact he hasn't missed much time with a sore elbow, the Nationals believe he'll be able to return without making any minor league rehab starts. "Everything looked...
Continue reading

Burnett and Latos appreciative of chance to return to majors

Burnett and Latos appreciative of chance to return to majors
NEW YORK - Sean Burnett and Mat Latos each has been a successful big league pitcher, yet each found himself on the outside looking in all summer, for different reasons. So when each pitcher found himself inside the visitors clubhouse at Citi Field this afternoon, a Nationals uniform waiting in each locker, there were no shortage of emotions, not to mention some genuine gratitude for an opportunity neither necessarily thought would be afforded. "It's incredible," Burnett said. "It's...
Continue reading