lineups - Blog

Game 62 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

June 11, 2016, 5:26am

Slowly but surely, the Nationals are building their resume, piling up wins at a rate faster than any other big league club than the Cubs. They've now won eight of their last 11, moving to a season-best 13 games over .500. They're getting contributions from up and down their lineup. Their pitching staff continues to be among the best in the majors. And their defensive play remains outstanding. So the Nats will try to keep the ball rolling today, with an early 12:05 p.m. start against the...

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Game 60 lineups: Nats at White Sox

June 09, 2016, 12:42pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - The good news: It's warmer today than it was either of the previous two days, when temperatures never got out of the 60s. The bad news: It's raining. And it's not supposed to stop all night. What that means for the series finale between the Nationals and White Sox: This could be dicey. The problem is that the Nats don't return to Chicago again this season. So a postponement would require a special trip back here at some point. Which nobody ever wants to do. But the Nats also...

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Game 59 lineups: Nats at White Sox

June 08, 2016, 12:29pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - They piled up 10 runs against John Moscot and the Reds bullpen. Then they piled up 10 runs against Mat Latos and the White Sox bullpen. Now the Nationals will try to keep their offensive surge going tonight against James Shields, the newest member of Chicago's rotation, plus this same relief corps. Shields, acquired from the Padres over the weekend, is trying to rediscover the form that made him one of baseball's most consistent starters for years before things surprisingly fell...

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Game 58 lineups: Nats at White Sox

June 07, 2016, 12:22pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - Hello from the South Side, where the Nationals are appearing for the first time since the John McLaren Era. For those who have forgotten, that was June 24-26, 2011, when McLaren served as Nats manager for three games following Jim Riggleman's surprise resignation and before Davey Johnson took over, and proceeded to go 2-1 against the White Sox. That technically makes McLaren the most successful manager in team history, at least based on that .667 winning percentage. But anyways, that...

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Game 54 lineups: Nats at Phillies

June 01, 2016, 11:35am

Nationals

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals are going for a series sweep tonight at Citizens Bank Park, but they'll have to do it without the services of Bryce Harper once again. Harper remains out of the lineup, two days after taking a fastball off the outside of his right knee. This again isn't a huge shock. Harper said the knee didn't feel any better yesterday than it did the night before, and Dusty Baker hinted that he might try to take advantage of the team being off Thursday in order to give Harper...

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Game 53 lineups: Nats at Phillies

May 31, 2016, 11:27am

Nationals

PHILADELPHIA - Let's get right down to it, because this is what you really want to know: Bryce Harper is not in the Nationals lineup tonight. That's not a huge surprise after Harper took a fastball off the outside of his right knee in the seventh inning last night, ultimately departing after trying to run the bases. Though he officially was diagnosed with a contusion, the 23-year-old slugger was still in some obvious pain postgame, walking gingerly around the clubhouse. Nobody believes the...

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Game 52 lineups: Nats at Phillies

May 30, 2016, 11:33am

Nationals

PHILADELPHIA - Hello from Citizens Bank Park, where tonight the Nationals open a three-city, nine-game road trip with a Memorial Day opener against the Phillies. This, of course, is the same Philly club that shockingly swept the Nats last month in D.C., but it's not exactly playing like the same club. After winning a bunch of one-run games early in the year, the Phillies have now lost seven of their last nine games and desperately are trying to maintain a winning record. The Nationals will try...

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Game 51 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

May 29, 2016, 6:44am

Nationals

Since the Nationals have lost only three series this season, this isn't a familiar position for them today, needing to beat the Cardinals to salvage a four-game split and avoid a 2-5 homestand. So there's a little bit of pressure on them this afternoon after back-to-back losses. The good news: Stephen Strasburg is pitching for the Nats, and he has been fantastic, with eight quality starts in 10 tries this season. In seven of those starts, he has allowed two or fewer earned runs. Five times he...

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Game 50 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

May 28, 2016, 11:20am

Nationals

It's a hot, muggy Saturday here in the District, as sure a sign as we've experienced yet that summer has arrived. Which, the Nationals can only hope, means the ball is going to fly out of the park tonight. Dusty Baker has insisted all along he thinks he's got a warm-weather lineup. We saw it earlier in the week when the Nats hit five homers on another warm night. We'll see if it holds true tonight. That Nationals lineup will be facing an ace in Adam Wainwright, though this isn't the...

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Game 49 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

May 27, 2016, 11:10am

Nationals

You wouldn't necessarily think it, given the number of potent left-handed bats in their regular lineup, but the Nationals actually are more productive when facing left-handed pitchers than right-handed ones this season. They enter play tonight with an .812 team OPS against lefties, fifth-best in baseball. It helps that the Nationals' two best lefty hitters (Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy) fare quite well against southpaws. And then, of course, it helps that right-handed hitters like Ryan...

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Game 48 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

May 26, 2016, 11:07am

Nationals

It was four weeks ago when the Nationals embarked on what looked like one of the toughest road trips they've ever faced, the first leg of a prolonged stretch of games against mostly tough competition. That trip began in St. Louis, previously a house of horrors for this team. But the Nats flipped the script, sweeping the Cardinals for the first time in their history and kicking off that tough stretch in impressive fashion. Now the Cardinals come to D.C. for a four-game weekend series in what...

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Game 46 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

May 24, 2016, 11:09am

Nationals

As we saw last night, just because two starting pitchers are facing each other for the second time in six days, there's no guarantee the result will stay the same. And yet, the Nationals will be hoping for just that tonight when Stephen Strasburg faces Matt Harvey in a rematch of Thursday night's 9-1 victory for the Nats at Citi Field. They will hope Strasburg continues his torrid start to the season, which is really just a continuation of his torrid conclusion to last season. For those who...

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Game 45 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

May 23, 2016, 11:08am

Nationals

OK, let's get the answer to your most important question out of the way: I don't know. The question: Are they going to be able to play tonight? You know as much as I know. And if you don't, just click on any weather forecast and look at the Doppler map. It's probably going to rain, pretty hard, at some point late this afternoon/early this evening. It's probably not going to rain straight through the night. Will it not rain long enough for the Nationals and Mets to be able to play their...

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Orioles and Angels lineups

May 22, 2016, 9:37am

Orioles

The Orioles go for the sweep today in Anaheim with Nolan Reimold in left field, Joey Rickard in right field and Mark Trumbo as the designated hitter. Even with right-hander Jered Weaver pitching for the Angels, Pedro Alvarez is taking a seat on the bench. Ubaldo Jimenez is pitching for the Orioles, with Caleb Joseph behind the plate. With Joseph as his batterymate, Jimenez has a 3.32 ERA in 39 games. For the OriolesJoey Rickard RFManny Machado SSAdam Jones CFChris Davis 1BMark Trumbo DHNolan...

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Game 41 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

May 19, 2016, 11:42am

Nationals

NEW YORK - It's rare you get two legitimate marquee pitching matchups in the same series, but the Nationals and Mets are the rare teams with the rotation depth to be able to pull that off. And so two days after Max Scherzer and Noah Syndergaard dueled, Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey will attempt to the same in tonight's series finale at Citi Field. Strasburg, of course, has been outstanding for the Nats so far, becoming the first pitcher in club history to open a season 6-0 and going 12-2...

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Game 40 lineups: Nats at Mets

May 18, 2016, 11:33am

Nationals

NEW YORK - It's a new day at Citi Field, where the sun has come out and the Nationals hope their bats break out tonight against Bartolo Colon and the Mets. It's been a rough couple days for the Nats lineup, which over the last two games has scored a total of two runs while striking out 28 times. Of course, when the opposing pitchers those games are Jose Fernandez and Noah Syndergaard, it's a bit of a challenge scoring runs. So perhaps the task will be a bit easier tonight with Colon taking...

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Game 39 lineups: Nats at Mets

May 17, 2016, 11:23am

Nationals

NEW YORK - The first game of the season between the Nationals and Mets would be a big deal regardless, but there's added intrigue tonight because Max Scherzer is taking the mound for the first time since his record 20-strikeout game. That game on Wednesday, as you might expect, took a lot out of Scherzer, who threw 119 total pitches in beating the Tigers. How has his arm felt since? "Let's just say I'm happy that we had six days (between starts)," the right-hander said with a laugh. If...

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Game 38 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins (Murphy scratched)

May 15, 2016, 6:18am

Nationals

Game 38 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins (Murphy scratched)

What a strange few weeks of weather the Nationals have experienced. It seems like the conditions have alternated just about every day, from warm and muggy to mild and rainy to cold and windy. We've got the latter this afternoon for the Nats' series finale against the Marlins, with temperatures in the 50s and a strong, steady wind blowing from left to right fields. That may help the ball carry for left-handed batters today, which might not be a bad thing for the Nationals, who are going up...

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Game 37 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

May 14, 2016, 1:50pm

Nationals

And we're back for the nightcap of this day-night doubleheader. Game 1 ended in a downpour, with Jonathan Papelbon striking out Giancarlo Stanton to preserve a 6-4 victory for the Nationals. Game 2 will begin under blue skies, believe it or not, though the temperature has dropped considerably and it's going to be quite chilly throughout this one. The Nationals will be going for the doubleheader sweep with a depleted lineup. Bryce Harper is out after dropping the appeal of his one-game...

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Game 35 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

May 13, 2016, 11:08am

Nationals

It's been a dreary couple of weeks in D.C., but here's some good news: The skies are supposed to clear later this afternoon and there may even be a bit of sunshine when the Nationals take the field at 7:05 p.m. for the opener of their weekend series with the Marlins. This is a four-games-in-three-days series, with a day-night doubleheader tomorrow to make up the game that was rained out way back in the season's first week. The Nationals haven't yet announced who's pitching when tomorrow,...