nationals

Werth's veteran leadership not lost on young players

May 17, 2017, 3:46am

Wilmer Difo smacks a home run. Trea Turner gets a double and a stolen base. Bryce Harper crushes another homer. The Nationals are growing as a team with their young players making plays and delivering in clutch situations. It's no secret that these young players watch how the veterans act on and off the field and try to mimic their actions so that they can be consistent major league ballplayers themselves. Brian Goodwin said it the first day he returned to the club early this season. He said...

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Treinen, Romero, Glover combination works for Nats this time

May 16, 2017, 8:05pm

Nationals

Treinen, Romero, Glover combination works for Nats this time

PITTSBURGH - It's only one game, and lord knows we've been teased a few times already this season by one strong performance from the Nationals bullpen into thinking it's a sign of better things to come. So don't put too much stock in what took place over the final three innings of tonight's 8-4 victory over the Pirates. But don't ignore it altogether, either, because it did include some notable developments that could possibly portend more good things to come. Start with Blake Treinen,...

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After brief hiccup, Nationals seize 8-4 victory from Pirates

May 16, 2017, 6:36pm

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - Just when it looked like the Nationals would be asking yet another unproven reliever to notch a save in a tight situation, a Bryce Harper blast provided some much-appreciated cushion. Harper's two-run homer that nearly left PNC Park in the top of the ninth turned a two-run lead into a four-run lead and allowed Koda Glover to pitch the bottom of the inning in a non-save situation. The rookie reliever removed any more drama from the proceedings, finishing off an 8-4 victory for the...

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Fedde will get look in Harrisburg bullpen (Nats win 8-4)

May 16, 2017, 3:46pm

Nationals

Fedde will get look in Harrisburg bullpen (Nats win 8-4)

PITTSBURGH - How significant is the Nationals' need for reliable relief pitching? Significant enough that they're moving their top prospect to the bullpen and will consider promoting him to the big leagues at some point to help shore up the club's biggest problem area. Erick Fedde is due to pitch in relief for Double-A Harrisburg tonight and will continue to get a look in that role, according to organizational sources. The Nationals have no immediate plans to promote the 24-year-old to the...

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Opposite dugout: Pirates have gone from contender to sinking ship

May 15, 2017, 1:47pm

Nationals

Opposite dugout: Pirates have gone from contender to sinking ship

Manager: Clint Hurdle (7th season) Record: 16-22 Last 10 games: 4-6 Who to watch: 3B Josh Harrison (.288/.354/.455 with 5 HR, 12 RBIs), 1B Josh Bell (7 HR, 13 RBIs), CF Andrew McCutchen (6 HR, 17 RBIs), RHP Gerrit Cole (1-4, 3.06 ERA, 47 Ks), LHP Felipe Rivero (0.87 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 9 holds, 22 Ks), LHP Tony Watson (1.62 ERA, 8 saves) Season series vs. Nationals: First meeting (2-4 in 2016) Pitching probables: May 16: RHP Stephen Strasburg vs. RHP Chad Kuhl, 7:05 p.m., MASN May 17: RHP Jacob...

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Nationals "very confident" Scherzer will make next start

May 16, 2017, 2:36pm

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - Take a glance at Max Scherzer's left knee, and you might not even notice it's anything less than 100 percent healthy right now. There's virtually no swelling, and the only outward evidence of the 100 mph line drive he took off the knee Sunday night is a small red mark with the faint sign of baseball stitching. "I'm feeling great," Scherzer said this afternoon. And so are the Nationals, who are breathing a huge sigh of relief that there do not appear to be any lasting concerns...

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Minor league pitcher Jefrey Rodriguez suspended 80 games for PED violation

May 16, 2017, 2:38pm

Nationals

Minor league pitcher Jefrey Rodriguez suspended 80 games for PED violation

Major League Baseball announced that high Single-A Potomac right-hander Jefry Rodriguez has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for a metabolite of Clomiphene, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Rodriguez was off to an outstanding start with the P-Nats. The 23-year-old was recently honored as the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for May 1-7. He has a 3-2 record with a 3.51 ERA in seven...

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#LetsGoRendon: CareFirst Fan Challenge returns featuring Anthony Rendon

May 13, 2017, 4:17pm

Nationals

#LetsGoRendon: CareFirst Fan Challenge returns featuring Anthony Rendon

The CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Fan Challenge is back! And look who's stepping to the plate this year ... Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon! We're leaving the actual challenge up to you, so take him on in anything! Think you can beat Tony Two Bags at tic-tac-toe? Can you take down the third baseman at cornhole, checkers or a cook-off? Maybe a board game or bocce? Whatever it is, tweet us @masnNatonals with pictures, videos, descriptions, etc. of your challenge using #LetsGoRendon. The...

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Johansen released, Valdez to DL in Nats' minor league moves

May 16, 2017, 12:25pm

Nationals

Johansen released, Valdez to DL in Nats' minor league moves

The Nationals announced they have released right-handers Jake Johansen and Mark Blackmar. The club has assigned right-hander Taylor Hill to Double-A Harrisburg from Triple-A Syracuse. Also, catcher Nick Rickles and right-handers Andrew Robinson and Derek Eitel have been assigned to Harrisburg from extended spring training. Johansen is the biggest name of those released today as a 2013 second-round selection. Early on, some in baseball circles envisioned a one-two punch of the 6-foot-6 Johansen...

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Game 38 lineups: Nats at Pirates

May 16, 2017, 11:28am

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - Hello from beautiful PNC Park, where the sun is shining and it's going to be very toasty the next three days as the Nationals and Pirates square off. The stakes aren't quite as high for this series as that other series between teams from Washington and Pittsburgh the last couple weeks, but these are important games for the Nats, who are hoping to avoid the kind of late-inning fiascos that were an issue pretty much every single night last week. Stephen Strasburg is on the mound...

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Tuesday morning Nats thoughts and observations

May 15, 2017, 7:50pm

Nationals

Tuesday morning Nats thoughts and observations

Some thoughts and observations on this Tuesday morning before hitting the road for Pittsburgh (with a mandatory rest stop in Breezewood, Pa., of course) ... * Trea Turner is proving to be a far better shortstop than most of us probably figured he'd be, at least in his first big league season there. Nearly one-quarter of the way through the season, Turner has been charged with only one error. He joins the Padres' Erick Aybar as the only big league shortstops with fewer than two errors to date....

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Brown gets the call to the majors to fulfill lifelong dream

May 15, 2017, 11:22am

Nationals

Brown gets the call to the majors to fulfill lifelong dream

Every baseball play-by-play announcer has dreams of announcing a Major League Baseball game. Just like baseball players, many of them toil in the minors for most of their careers and sometimes never get that chance. But the opportunity has presented itself for Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown. The Syracuse graduate got the call in February that the Nationals needed his services to substitute for Charlie Slowes on 106.7 The Fan. Turns out one of Slowes' sons is...

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Turner and Taylor's improved hitting will spark Nats offense

May 15, 2017, 3:56am

Nationals

Turner and Taylor's improved hitting will spark Nats offense

Here are some promising hitting notes for Trea Turner and Michael A. Taylor. In Sunday's first game, Turner hit the ball hard which was a good sign after an unusually quiet week. Turner was 0-for-13 at Philadephia and 2-for-11 against the Orioles. In Game 1 on Sunday at home against the Phillies again, Turner crushed a two-run homer, finishing only 1-for-5. But manager Dusty Baker said the hitting statistics don't tell the whole story. "He hit three balls on the nose," Baker said. "Had...

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Taylor finding way to deliver big hits between strikeouts

May 14, 2017, 8:43pm

Nationals

Taylor finding way to deliver big hits between strikeouts

Michael A. Taylor knows he's going to be the Nationals' everyday center fielder for the foreseeable future, with Adam Eaton out for the season after tearing his ACL and no other viable in-house options for the Nationals as currently constructed. That has helped Taylor take some pressure off himself, the kind he knows he succumbs to more than he'd like as he tries to prove he belongs in the big leagues. "Definitely, I feel like I've done that this year," he said. "In years past, things...

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Marty Niland: Ideal closer for Nats might already be on the roster

May 15, 2017, 5:02am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Ideal closer for Nats might already be on the roster

Sunday was another torturous day for Nationals fans as they watched the team's erratic late-inning relief corps blow leads in both ends of a split doubleheader, wasting fine performances from starters Gio Gonzalez and Max Scherzer. Only Michael A. Taylor's eighth-inning homer--a shot that glanced off the left-field foul pole--and Matt Albers' second appearance of the day saved the Nats from a sweep at the hands of a Phillies team that entered the day trailing the Nats by nine games in the...

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Taylor's late homer bails out bullpen, Nats hold on for 6-5 win

May 14, 2017, 6:41pm

Nationals

Taylor's late homer bails out bullpen, Nats hold on for 6-5 win

They can get the gutsiest of performances from their ace. They can scratch out runs and take a lead into the late innings. It doesn't matter what happens up to that point, though, because every single Nationals game these days is decided in the eighth inning or later, good or bad. And you can now add tonight's doubleheader finale to the good column. Despite blowing a one-run lead in the top of the eighth, the Nationals stormed back in the bottom of the inning, getting a two-run homer from...

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Scherzer OK after comebacker scare

May 14, 2017, 8:18pm

Nationals

There is much that could be said about the Nationals bullpen right now. And yet, what else can be said about that group except that it is a mess and requires nightly manipulating by Dusty Baker that occasionally works and frequently does not. The Nationals won tonight's doubleheader finale over the Phillies, 6-5, thanks to Michael A. Taylor's two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth that made up for Matt Grace and Jacob Turner blowing a lead moments earlier. And they won because the last man...

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Scherzer stays in after comebacker off knee (Nationals win 6-5)

May 14, 2017, 4:49pm

Nationals

Few images would cause the Nationals and their fans to clutch their hearts right now more than the sight of Max Scherzer writhing in the ground in pain. Thus, the reaction inside Nationals Park tonight in the top of the fourth when the ace right-hander went down in a heap after taking a comebacker off his left knee was one of shock and then panic. Scherzer stayed in the game and completed the inning, though not until after several tense minutes in which he convinced manager Dusty Baker and head...

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Kelley loses lead in ninth leaving bullpen questions for Baker again

May 14, 2017, 1:59pm

Nationals

Kelley loses lead in ninth leaving bullpen questions for Baker again

The ending was set up again for the Nationals. Nursing a two-run lead into the ninth they handed the ball over to their closer. But it didn't work out as planned. The Phillies rallied for three runs off of Nationals closer Shawn Kelley in a 4-3 comeback win. It was only the third time in 21 games the Nationals had relinquished a lead after eight innings. With the Nationals leading 3-1, the Phillies Aaron Altherr led off with a solo homer to cut the advantage to 3-2. After a pop out to the...

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Game 37 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

May 14, 2017, 2:00pm

Nationals

On the heels of another in a growing list of soul-crushing losses suffered so far this season, the Nationals are right back out on the field tonight for the second half of their doubleheader with the Phillies, hoping to salvage one game and win the weekend series. The good news: Max Scherzer is on the mound. To ask for a complete game would be to ask for too much. But to ask for at least seven innings, with the possibility of more if his pitch count isn't bad, is perfectly reasonable right...