Pete Kerzel

Dusty Baker on tradition, teaching and teamwork

March 09, 2016, 7:22am

LAKELAND, Fla. - Nationals manager Dusty Baker has a fondness for this central Florida city known for the citrus and phosphorus mining industries and for being an important intrastate transportation hub. His father was born here and one of Baker's early Grapefruit League games came here against the Tigers, when a youngster quickly realized the size and abilities of the competition. "They were all guys that were built like my dad and I called my dad and I said, 'Dad, I don't think I'm going...

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Dusty Baker weighs in on Danny Espinosa's offensive struggles

March 08, 2016, 12:10pm

Nationals

Dusty Baker weighs in on Danny Espinosa's offensive struggles

VIERA, Fla. - The presumed opening day Nationals shortstop has played in only three of the team's first seven Grapefruit League games and has yet to reach base. Danny Espinosa is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts, yet all signs still point to him manning the position when the Nats open in Atlanta on April 4. If there are any signs of concern, they aren't evident. Espinosa may be stumped by his slow start at the plate, and he certainly doesn't want to waste an opportunity, not with promising...

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Taking stock of a 4-2 victory and 6-1 spring start

March 08, 2016, 11:41am

Nationals

Taking stock of a 4-2 victory and 6-1 spring start

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Dusty Baker smiled at the mention that the Nationals had just won their fourth straight spring training game, improving to 6-1 in Grapefruit League play. "That's fine with me," Baker said. "I'll take it." A lineup populated with few players who will head north with the Nationals dispatched the Astros 4-2 on Tuesday afternoon. Luckily, the battery of right-hander Max Scherzer and Jose Lobaton was mostly in synch, even if Scherzer did have to battle through a 37-pitch...

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Despite high pitch count in short start, Scherzer savors battle (Nats win 4-2)

March 08, 2016, 9:57am

Nationals

Despite high pitch count in short start, Scherzer savors battle (Nats win 4-2)

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 4, Astros 2 Recap: Max Scherzer struggled through two innings - throwing 37 pitches in the first inning alone, 13 in one at-bat against A.J. Reed - but allowed only one run on three hits in his second spring start. Yusmeiro Petit tossed three scoreless innings of relief, striking out four. Jose Lobaton drove in the first two Nationals runs. The others scored on Logan Schafer's RBI single and a run-scoring double by Scott Sizemore. Left fielder Tony Campaga...

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Baker likes how new addition Petit embraces multiple roles

March 08, 2016, 7:23am

Nationals

Baker likes how new addition Petit embraces multiple roles

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - At 6-foot-1 and a mailbox-like 250 lbs., with a perpetual all-business look on his face, Yusmeiro Petit looks like anything but a Swiss Army knife. A linebacker, maybe. Perhaps a barroom bouncer who's made a living at keeping the peace. But mention Petit's name to Dusty Baker and the Nationals manager's face lights up. Baker knows Petit, who inked a one-year, $3 million deal with the Nats in December after being non-tendered by the Giants, is potentially one of the most...

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Scherzer faces Fister as Nats hit the road to play Astros

March 08, 2016, 1:42am

Nationals

Scherzer faces Fister as Nats hit the road to play Astros

KISSIMMMEE, Fla. - The Nationals will see an old friend in today's exhibition game against the Astros. Right-hander Doug Fister, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal with Houston in the offseason, will make the start for the home team. Washington counters with righty Max Scherzer, who will be making his second start of the spring. Once again, not a lot of regulars on the trip. The Nationals are excited to play the Astros, who are only an hour away and the closest opponent on the Grapefruit...

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A little more on Dusty Baker's sharp learning curve

March 07, 2016, 1:49pm

Nationals

A little more on Dusty Baker's sharp learning curve

VIERA, Fla. - We're going to learn a lot about Dusty Baker during the course of spring training - how he uses his starting pitchers, which situations he thinks call for bunts, how long a leash he'll give a reliever who's struggling with his control. Answering those questions are all part of a manger's genesis into a particular job. But yesterday's postgame media session with Baker shed some light on how he approaches players young and old, as well as hitters and fielders, during this time...

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There's an interesting history behind Joe Ross' new splitter

March 07, 2016, 12:28pm

Nationals

There's an interesting history behind Joe Ross' new splitter

VIERA, Fla. - Every pitch has a pedigree, and the lineage of the splitter Joe Ross unveiled in game for the first time Monday afternoon is a doozy. It was born in a conversation with a teammate, probably somewhere along State Road 528, the route affectionately known as the Beachline, when a group of the Nationals were heading out to bond over a Golden State Warriors-Orlando Magic basketball game last month shortly after spring training started. That pitcher learned it from a former teammate who...

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Wilson Ramos sees a big difference after LASIK surgery (Nats top Marlins)

March 07, 2016, 4:31am

Nationals

Wilson Ramos sees a big difference after LASIK surgery (Nats top Marlins)

NATIONALS GAME WRAP Score: Nationals 7, Marlins 4 Recap: Clint Robinson homered, stole a base and drove in three runs, his mammoth shot to right part of a three-run third inning of ex-National Edwin Jackson, who yielded all five runs. Catcher Pedro Severino had two hits, pushing his spring average to .571. Starting pitcher Joe Ross went 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits, and wasn't helped by an error by second baseman Daniel Murphy. Ross, who fanned four, left when he'd thrown 51...

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Ross to start, Roark to follow against Marlins (with lineups)

March 07, 2016, 3:46am

Nationals

Ross to start, Roark to follow against Marlins (with lineups)

VIERA, Fla. - Right-hander Joe Ross will get the start for the Nationals today, with righty Tanner Roark set to follow him to the mound. Both pitchers are expected to throw about 50 pitches, with a maximum of three innings. Both Ross and Roark have designs on spots in the starting rotation, so today's game amounts to a little head-to-head competition. Jose Fernandez starts for the Marlins in his Grapefruit League debut. Jonathan Papelbon is scheduled to pitch today for the Nationals, so it...

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Loud blasts off Scott Sizemore's bat are hard to ignore

March 06, 2016, 12:23pm

Nationals

Loud blasts off Scott Sizemore's bat are hard to ignore

VIERA, Fla. - Opportunity is knocking for Scott Sizemore, and the 31-year-old is answering loudly. Every time his bat connects with a pitch over the past week, Sizemore has made an emphatic statement. He may be one of many non-roster players in Nationals camp inked to minor league deals, but the veteran of four major league campaigns who signed late last season and finished 2015 at Triple-A Syracuse is making the most of his chances to impress. A well-struck double in Sunday's win over the...

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Trea Turner's speed is just what Dusty Baker ordered

March 06, 2016, 12:03pm

Nationals

Trea Turner's speed is just what Dusty Baker ordered

JUPITER, Fla. - When he was asked at the Winter Meetings what the Nationals most needed, Dusty Baker pointed to speed as a necessary ingredient in the lineup. It's no secret Baker likes to put pressure on a defense, and fleet feet on the basepaths can also translate into meaty fastballs thrown to a slugger as opponents try to neutralize the running game. Baker has known for a while that he has a burgeoning burner in Trea Turner, easily the fastest man on his roster. But the manager has stopped...

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Treinen breaks out changeup to confound Cardinals lefties (Nats win 5-2)

March 06, 2016, 10:14am

Nationals

Treinen breaks out changeup to confound Cardinals lefties (Nats win 5-2)

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 5, Cardinals 2 Recap: Blake Treinen worked two scoreless innings, retiring all four left-handed hitters he faced and allowing only one hit. The Nationals scored twice in the second off starter Deck McGuire and twice in the third off closer Trevor Rosenthal, and the outbursts came without benefit of an extra-base hit. Right-hander Burke Badenhop was touched for two runs on three hits and a walk in the fifth. Scott Sizemore continues to rake - his...

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Namath visits Nats, plus Baker on Treinen, Ramos, Papelbon, Zimmerman

March 06, 2016, 7:05am

Nationals

Namath visits Nats, plus Baker on Treinen, Ramos, Papelbon, Zimmerman

JUPITER, Fla. - Dusty Baker was running late for his pregame meeting with the media, though the reason became readily apparent when he ambled down the left field line at Roger Dean Stadium alongside NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath, another in the seemingly endless string of celebrities the new Nationals manager considers a friend. "I used to go hang in his places in Fort Lauderdale back in the day when I was 19, 20 years old. ... And then him and Dick Allen were from the same area, so they grew...

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It's Treinen's turn to make an impression (with lineups)

March 05, 2016, 12:39pm

Nationals

It's Treinen's turn to make an impression (with lineups)

VIERA, Fla. - The bus is about ready to pull away from Space Coast Stadium, bound for Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter and today's spring training game against the Cardinals. It's the second time this week the Nationals have journeyed south to Palm Beach County, which will be their home next spring if there are no delays in construction at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, but their first game against St. Louis. Don't get too married to that name. Hearing there are naming rights in play here,...

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Sammy Solis' escape act earns praise from Dusty Baker

March 05, 2016, 12:05pm

Nationals

Sammy Solis' escape act earns praise from Dusty Baker

VIERA, Fla. - Sammy Solis couldn't get his fastball down, and in the blink of an eye, he'd loaded the bases. A 6-4 eighth-inning Nationals lead looked precarious, but you'd never know it by what happened next on Saturday afternoon at Space Coast Stadium. The late innings of Grapefruit League games are renowned for strange occurrences. Big leads disappear quicker than pizza at a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. Veteran pitchers are treated rudely by hitters with dubious pedigrees. Games that...

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Zimmermann all business in first start against his former team

March 05, 2016, 10:01am

Nationals

Zimmermann all business in first start against his former team

VIERA, Fla. - It was strictly by the luck of the draw that ex-Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann's first start of the Grapefruit League campaign with his new squad came against his former team in the familiar surroundings of Space Coast Stadium. Zimmerman's outing included both the kind of pitch efficiency familiar to Nats fans - he needed only 26 pitches to maneuver through two innings and came out for the third, something unusual in spring training debuts - and an opportunity for the...

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Orioles individual game tickets go on sale March 9 at 10 a.m.

March 03, 2016, 9:14am

Orioles

Individual tickets for Orioles regular season games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards will go on sale Wednesday, March 9, at 10:00 a.m. ET. It is recommended that fans purchase tickets online. Fans interested in individual game tickets or those wishing to receive additional Orioles ticket information may call the Orioles Fan Services Department at 1-888-848-BIRD. Individual tickets for Orioles home games at Oriole Park may be purchased in the following ways: * ONLINE: Tickets can be purchased...

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MASN announces 2016 Washington Nationals broadcast schedule

March 02, 2016, 6:50am

MASN, the television home of the Washington Nationals, today announced its Major League Baseball schedule for the 2016 season. Once again, all Nationals games broadcast by MASN will be available in crystal-clear high definition, including the season opener against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on Monday, April 4. Other highlights of MASN's 2016 Nationals schedule include interleague series against the Baltimore Orioles (Aug. 22-23, Aug. 24-25), and games versus the Minnesota Twins (April...

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MASN announces 2016 Baltimore Orioles broadcast schedule

March 02, 2016, 6:46am

MASN, the television home of the Baltimore Orioles, today announced its Major League Baseball schedule for the 2016 season. Once again, all Orioles games broadcast by MASN will be available in crystal-clear high definition, including the season opener at Camden Yards against the Minnesota Twins on Monday, April 4. Other highlights of MASN's 2016 Orioles schedule include interleague games against the Washington Nationals (Aug. 22-23, Aug. 24-25), and meetings with the San Diego Padres (June...