Mark Zuckerman

Scherzer vs. Kershaw: "I don't expect for it to be a blowout"

October 06, 2016, 1:57pm

Sometimes a postseason series matchup doesn't have to be hyped up any more than with a simple mention of last names. Schilling vs. Clemens. Halladay vs. Carpenter. Bumgarner vs. Syndergaard. And now ... Scherzer vs. Kershaw. It would be difficult to conjure up a better pitching showdown for Game 1 of the National League Division Series than the one that will be on display later this afternoon at Nationals Park. Clayton Kershaw is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, an MVP and just put together...

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Difo makes roster, three lefties in 'pen, no Game 2 starter yet

October 06, 2016, 11:58am

Nationals

Difo makes roster, three lefties in 'pen, no Game 2 starter yet

The Nationals' roster for the National League Division Series will include Wilmer Difo on the bench and three lefties in the bullpen. It probably won't include both Clint Robinson and Ben Revere, though, with room only for one of those reserves. Dusty Baker revealed some aspects of his club's roster for the NLDS against the Dodgers during today's news conference at Nationals Park, but the manager couldn't reveal everything. Baker also acknowledged some decisions have yet to be made,...

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Nats have many factors to weigh on final NLDS roster decisions

October 05, 2016, 9:05pm

Nationals

Nats have many factors to weigh on final NLDS roster decisions

The Nationals have until 10 a.m. Friday to submit and announce their roster for the National League Division Series. Don't be surprised if they take every last minute available to them before finalizing which 25 players will take the field against the Dodgers. These decisions are easier said than done, and Dusty Baker, Mike Rizzo and everyone else involved in the process have some legitimately tough decisions to make. "Do you keep some veterans?" Baker asked rhetorically on Wednesday. "Do...

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Nats add live BP to workout, Murphy passes running test

October 05, 2016, 12:27pm

Nationals

Nats add live BP to workout, Murphy passes running test

The Nationals added another element to today's pre-playoffs workout: live batting practice. And Daniel Murphy added more elements to his personal workout in an attempt to return from injury and start Game 1 of the National League Division Series: hard running in both the outfield and on the bases. By all accounts, both went according to plan, leaving everybody as ready as they could reasonably expect to be at this point for Friday's series opener against the Dodgers. All of the Nationals'...

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Spotlight will shine on Nationals lefties during NLDS

October 04, 2016, 9:50pm

Nationals

The Dodgers do many things well. They pitch well. They hit for power. They play good defense. There is, however, one thing they really don't do well: hit left-handed pitchers. No team in baseball was less productive against lefties than the Dodgers, whose .213 batting average was 21 points worse than anybody else in the majors, and whose .622 OPS was 55 points worse than anybody else in the sport. And so the spotlight will shine brightly on few during the National League Division Series more...

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Murphy on track for Game 1, Scherzer officially named starter

October 04, 2016, 11:39am

Nationals

Murphy on track for Game 1, Scherzer officially named starter

For most of the Nationals roster, which still stands at 40 for now until final decisions are made before Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday, today's workout was an exercise in the routine and mundane. Pitchers fielded bunts. Infielders took grounders. Everybody took batting practice. For Daniel Murphy, more was at stake. The Nationals second baseman and MVP candidate hasn't done anything other than pinch-hit since straining a buttocks muscle 2 1/2 weeks ago, but today he...

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Turner earns another NL Rookie of the Month honor

October 03, 2016, 12:04pm

Nationals

Turner earns another NL Rookie of the Month honor

Trea Turner's odds of winning National League Rookie of the Year are nearly nonexistent, not because of his performance, but because he spent less than half of the season in the big leagues while Corey Seager played the entire year for the Dodgers and posted dynamic numbers across the board. Turner, though, can take solace knowing he clearly was the league's best rookie through the season's final two months. Having previously won NL Rookie of the Month honors for August, Turner today was...

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Starting times for NLDS Games 1 and 2 announced

October 03, 2016, 11:40am

Nationals

Starting times for NLDS Games 1 and 2 announced

The Nationals and Dodgers will be battling not only aces on the mound, but possibly late-afternoon shadows and the emergence of the Sun Monster when they open the National League Division Series with a pair of contests later this week. Game 1 of the best-of-five series will start at 5:38 p.m. Friday, Major League Baseball announced today. First pitch for Game 2 is slated for 4:08 p.m. Saturday. Starting times for the remainder of the series (Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles and a potential Game 5...

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Revisiting those opening day media predictions

October 03, 2016, 10:47am

Nationals

Revisiting those opening day media predictions

As sportswriters, the most important thing we ask of the athletes and coaches we cover is accountability. It's easy to do interviews after you hit a game-winning homer. It's not nearly as easy to do them after you give up a game-winning homer. But it's part of the job, and so we ask them to stand up and take the heat when they lose. But it would be entirely unfair of us to ask those we cover to be accountable for their mistakes if we are not willing to be accountable for our own mistakes. Of...

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Nationals now face long wait til NLDS opens Friday

October 02, 2016, 9:50pm

Nationals

Baseball is a sport played every day. Or almost every day. Yet here are the Nationals and Dodgers, champions of their respective divisions, ready to do battle in their best-of-five National League Division Series ... and they're forced to take the next four days off before finally returning to the field. It's an unfortunate, but necessary, part of the modern postseason schedule. With the two wild card games set to be played Tuesday and Wednesday, the Division Series can't commence until...

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With 20th win in the books, Scherzer now looks to postseason

October 02, 2016, 4:34pm

Nationals

With 20th win in the books, Scherzer now looks to postseason

Twenty wins means different things to different people. And its meaning has changed significantly throughout the course of baseball history, with most around the sport now fully acknowledging how many better ways there are to evaluate a pitcher's season than mere wins and losses that are so dependent on the performances of others. But 20 wins does still mean something to those who wear the uniform. And if you doubt that, just go back and watch the reactions in the Nationals dugout during each...

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Could Murphy pinch-hit and win batting title? (Nationals win 10-7)

October 02, 2016, 10:13am

Nationals

Daniel Murphy has taken only two at-bats in the last two weeks, with the Nationals trying to give their MVP candidate as much time as possible to recover from a strained buttocks muscle and be ready for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday. Murphy, though, might have good reason to try for one at-bat at some point in today's series finale. Murphy enters the day with a batting average of .3472, narrowly behind the Rockies' D.J. LeMahieu's .3478 for the NL lead. LeMahieu...

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Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

October 02, 2016, 8:06am

Nationals

And so we have reached Game 162, always a big day on the baseball calendar. This, of course, isn't the end of the 2016 season for the Nationals, who have far more important things still to come later this week. But it's officially the day to turn the page from the regular season to the postseason. What's at stake today: Max Scherzer is going for his 20th win and perhaps one last push for Cy Young Award votes. Daniel Murphy isn't expected to play, but if he does get a pinch-hit appearance,...

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With four-out save, Melancon starts prepping for postseason

October 02, 2016, 4:25am

Nationals

With four-out save, Melancon starts prepping for postseason

There are few roles as defined in baseball as the closer's role. Is your team leading by one, two or three runs entering the ninth inning? OK, you're in. And the overwhelming majority of the time the last two seasons, Mark Melancon has been used just like that. So when the right-hander came bounding out of the bullpen yesterday with two outs in the eighth, it certainly raised an eyebrow or two around Nationals Park. Including inside the dugout, where a certain ace right-hander caught Dusty...

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Nationals thrilled to open postseason at home

October 01, 2016, 4:51pm

Nationals

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

October 01, 2016, 3:09pm

Nationals

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)

October 01, 2016, 1:02pm

Nationals

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

October 01, 2016, 12:31pm

Nationals

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

October 01, 2016, 8:51am

Nationals

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

September 30, 2016, 9:12pm

Nationals

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...