nationals

Albers, Romero and Taylor shine in series-clinching win

May 05, 2017, 4:45am

For all the handwringing about the Nationals bullpen, they did a nice job of bouncing back in the Diamondbacks series. In the Colorado series, the pitching staff allowed 29 runs in five games. Nineteen of those runs came in the late innings. Against Arizona, the bullpen allowed two runs in the first game, none on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The final scores of the last two games were 2-1 and 4-2. Far cry from the 23-5, 15-12 and 16-5 games they had been a part of within the last 10 days. The...

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Opposite dugout: Phillies coming along, but have plenty to work on

May 04, 2017, 7:45pm

Nationals

Opposite dugout: Phillies coming along, but have plenty to work on

Manager: Pete Mackanin (3rd season) Record: 12-15 Last 10 games: 4-6 Who to watch: 2B CÃ©sar HernÃ¡ndez (.336 average with 39 hits), 3B Maikel Franco (.231 average with 5 HR, 25 RBIs), RHP Jeremy Hellickson (4-1, 3.18 ERA), RHP HÃ©ctor Neris (0-1, 3 saves) Season series vs. Nationals: 3-3 Pitching probables: May 5: RHP Stephen Strasburg vs. RHP Nick Pivetta, 7:05 p.m., MASNMay 6: TBA vs. RHP Vince Velasquez, 7:05 p.m., MASNMay 7: RHP Tanner Roark vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson, 2:35 p.m.,...

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Nationals to recognize 2017 Honorary Bat Girl Contest winner on Mother's Day

May 05, 2017, 11:34am

Nationals

Yesterday, Major League Baseball announced the winners of the 2017 Honorary Bat Girl contest, which recognizes baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and have demonstrated a commitment to battling the disease. This year's Honorary Bat Girl for the Washington Nationals is Melissa Green of Arlington, Va. She will be honored during the pregame ceremony before the team plays the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, May 14 at 1:35 p.m. For a Q&A with our 2017 Honorary Bat Girl, visit...

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David Huzzard: Nats dispelling some back luck by racking up wins

May 05, 2017, 5:34am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Nats dispelling some back luck by racking up wins

Adam Eaton is out for the season, Bryce Harper left yesterday's game with a groin strain, the back end of the rotation is a mess with a career minor leaguer just being inserted as the fifth starter and then there's the bullpen, and I think we all know the problems there. Yet the Nationals are 19-9, the best record in the major leagues. The Nationals are having the same bad luck with starters staying healthy they've always had and now have issues with pitching depth. And yet they just keep...

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Bryce Harper left game with groin tightness, listed as "day-to-day"

May 04, 2017, 2:01pm

Nationals

Bryce Harper left game with groin tightness, listed as "day-to-day"

The Nationals dropped the Diamondbacks 4-2 Thursday afternoon at Nats Park to win the series, and they now head off to Philadelphia to begin a five-game two-city road trip. That was all well and good, but the biggest postgame concern centered around the health of right fielder Bryce Harper who left the game in the seventh inning. Harper was replaced by Chris Heisey after finishing 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. His diving catch in right field of a liner from Diamondbacks starting pitcher...

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Scherzer helps his own cause (Nats win 4-2, Harper exits early)

May 04, 2017, 9:57am

Nationals

Scherzer helps his own cause (Nats win 4-2, Harper exits early)

For the second game in a row, the Nationals starting pitcher again helps his own cause to get his club on the board. On Wednesday night in the third and his team down 1-0, Gio Gonzalez fought hard to make contact with one out and Michael A. Taylor on third base. His grounder to shortstop scored Taylor to tie the game at 1-1. The Nationals went on to win 2-1. Thursday afternoon with two outs and the bases loaded in the second frame, Max Scherzer sent a dribbler on the infield grass toward third...

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Baker on J. Turner, Taylor and Kelley

May 04, 2017, 8:16am

Nationals

The Nationals have announced their pitching probables for the weekend series in Philadelphia. Friday it will be Stephen Strasburg facing former Nationals property Nick Pivetta. They have listed "to be announced" for Saturday's game against Vince Velasquez. Manager Dusty Baker had said Wednesday night after Jacob Turner pitched four innings that A.J. Cole would pitch Saturday. Sunday's series finale will have Tanner Roark against Jeremy Hellickson. Turner was the hot subject of Thursday's...

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Game 28 lineups: Diamondbacks at Nats

May 04, 2017, 5:49am

Nationals

The Nationals are seeking their fourth home series victory today on Weather Day at Nats Park. National League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer faces his former club, looking for his fourth win of the season. He arrives 3-2 with a 2.94 ERA. Scherzer pitched in Arizona in 2008-09. Right-hander Braden Shipley makes his first start of 2017 for the Diamondbacks, called up from the minors. He is 4-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 11 career starts (13 games). Shipley is a 2013 first-round selection out of...

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Zimmerman starts off May how he ended April

May 03, 2017, 8:04pm

Nationals

Zimmerman starts off May how he ended April

Ryan Zimmerman found out Wednesday afternoon he had been named National League Player of the Month for April. Then he took the field for his second game in May and picked up right where he left off. Zimmerman went 2-for-3 and drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double, helping lead the Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. In doing so, he extended his hitting streak to 10 games, his multi-hit streak to six games and raised his batting average to a major league-best...

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Gonzalez not worried about all the walks, glad team earned win

May 03, 2017, 7:26pm

Nationals

Gonzalez not worried about all the walks, glad team earned win

The story line for the Nationals' 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks Wednesday centered around the four shutout innings from Jacob Turner. Despite seven walks from left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez, the veteran did manage to keep his club in the game with a chance to win. Gonzalez ended up allowing only one run on three hits. But that is what Gonzalez wanted to talk about after the game: the victory. Not his season-high seven walks. "A win. Flat out, I don't know what to say," Gonzalez said. "He...

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Jacob Turner comes to the rescue: "He saved our bullpen"

May 03, 2017, 7:39pm

Nationals

Jacob Turner comes to the rescue: "He saved our bullpen"

Before their team takes the field every night, Dusty Baker and Mike Maddux come together and map out a pitching plan for that particular game. They know who's starting and how much can be expected from him. They know who is available and who isn't available out of the bullpen. And they know which reliever they ideally want to turn to for each potential scenario. When they mapped out the plan for tonight's game against the Diamondbacks, Baker and Maddux knew they had a short bullpen. Shawn...

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Turner's dominant relief holds D-backs down 2-1

May 03, 2017, 5:59pm

Nationals

Turner's dominant relief holds D-backs down 2-1

Their starter walked seven batters in five innings. Their emergency starter pitched four scoreless innings of relief, taking over all the setup roles and the closer's job by himself. This isn't how the Nationals envisioned pitching their way to a 2-1 victory, but hey, whatever works, right? Behind five ragged-but-effective innings from Gio Gonzalez and then four surprising and dominant innings from Jacob Turner, the Nationals defeated the Diamondbacks tonight, and perhaps found themselves a...

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Gonzalez lifted after five innings (Nats win 2-1)

May 03, 2017, 4:56pm

Nationals

Gonzalez lifted after five innings (Nats win 2-1)

The Diamondbacks used the long ball to jump out ahead in the top of the first. With one out, Chris Owings took a 2-1 Gio Gonzalez offering and deposited it 15 rows up in the left field section. It was his fifth homer of the season. Gonzalez wasn't out of the hot water just yet. Paul Goldschmidt singled and Jake Lamb walked. With two men on, only one out and a run in, Gonzalez bore down and struck out Yasmany TomÃ¡s and Brandon Drury. Robbie Ray, a former Nats prospect, struck out the side in...

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Zimmerman named NL Player of the Month

May 03, 2017, 9:36am

Nationals

Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman was officially recognized for his remarkable April this afternoon when he was named National League Player of the Month. It was a worthy capper to a dominant month for Zimmerman, who entered the season facing major questions about his ability to bounce back from the worst year of his career and proceeded to put those questions to rest in emphatic fashion. Zimmerman ended April leading the majors in batting average (.420), homers (11), RBIs (29), hits (37),...

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Andrew Stevenson gets a hit in Triple-A debut

May 03, 2017, 2:43am

Nationals

Andrew Stevenson gets a hit in Triple-A debut

Center fielder Andrew Stevenson made his Triple-A debut Tuesday night in Syracuse's 3-1 loss to Pawtucket. The lefty hitter went 1-for-4. Stevenson was called up Tuesday and Isaac Ballou assigned to Double-A Harrisburg from extended spring training. Syracuse needed a center fielder after Rafael Bautista was called up to the Nationals to replace the injured Adam Eaton. Starter Austin Voth (1-3) went seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, including a solo homer. He gave up just one...

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Baker on Zimmerman's award, Blanton's homer problem

May 03, 2017, 2:46pm

Nationals

Baker on Zimmerman's award, Blanton's homer problem

Dusty Baker has managed more than a few guys who won their league's Player of the Month award. Shoot, you don't even have to go back to his previous jobs to compile a deep roster of honorees. When Ryan Zimmerman was named National League Player of the Month today, he became the Nats' fourth different starter to earn such an honor in the last seven months, joining Bryce Harper (April 2016) and Daniel Murphy (May and July 2016). "I didn't even know that," Baker said when informed. "That...

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Game 27 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

May 03, 2017, 11:29am

Nationals

As impressive as Ryan Zimmerman was in April, there was no bigger surprise on the Nationals roster in the season's first month than Gio Gonzalez. After a ragged 2016, Gonzalez burst onto the scene to begin this year, going 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA in five starts. Now we find out if the lefty can keep it going and not fall back into the same traps that befell him last season after a strong start. He'll face a tough challenge tonight in the Diamondbacks, who, as we saw last night, can grind out...

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Struggling Treinen seeks more strikes, faster pace

May 02, 2017, 8:41pm

Nationals

Struggling Treinen seeks more strikes, faster pace

In their quest to fix what ails Blake Treinen right now, the Nationals coaching staff isn't looking as much at the reliever's mechanics or pitch selection as the slow pace in which all those pitches are being delivered to the plate. "I'd like to see him pick up the pace," manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday night after Treinen struggled again during the Nats' 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. "He's very deliberate. It looks like he's thinking while he's throwing versus just throwing." The...

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Zimmerman named NL Player of the Month for April

May 03, 2017, 10:58am

Nationals

Zimmerman named NL Player of the Month for April

On the heels of his first National League Player of the Week award since 2012, Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman continued his early-season haul with the National League Player of the Month award for April. Major League Baseball made the announcement on MLB Network. Zimmerman, who set a Nationals record (2005-present) for RBI in a month with 29, entered May hitting .420 and leading the Major Leagues in batting average, slugging percentage (.886), RBI (29), OPS (1.345), home runs (T1st,...

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Luke Erickson: What it means to be the next man up on the farm

May 02, 2017, 6:30pm

Nationals

Luke Erickson: What it means to be the next man up on the farm

For those of you interested in gambl ... er, fantasy baseball, you're probably well aware of the depth charts that are created for the minors for dynasty leagues. But even if you're not, the Nationals have made you aware of who's the supposed next man up with their inability to dodge injuries. Adam Eaton is the latest starter to be lost for the season, and for now, the plan is to give backup Michael A. Taylor the chance to win the center field job for the third season in a row. This hasn't...