Game 4 begins with back-and-forth early runs (Dodgers win 6-5)

Game 4 begins with back-and-forth early runs (Dodgers win 6-5)
LOS ANGELES - In Game 1 of the National League Division Series, Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw struck out the side. With Kershaw starting Game 4 on three days' rest, the Nationals got off to a much better start. Trea Turner laced the first pitch into left field. Bryce Harper then battled through a nine-pitch at-bat to earn a free pass and put men on first and second with no outs. Daniel Murphy followed with an RBI single to right field and the Nats scored first for the first time in the...

It's Ross vs. Kershaw in Game 4

It's Ross vs. Kershaw in Game 4
We now know who will take the mound for Game 4 of the National League Division Series between the Nationals and Dodgers, set to begin at 5:05 p.m. EDT. Dusty Baker will send out right-hander Joe Ross for his first career postseason start, while Dave Roberts will call upon left-hander Clayton Kershaw on short rest and facing elimination. The Nationals' 8-3 win in Game 3 on Monday not only gave them a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five series, but also gave them flexibility in setting their rotation...

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals today have the opportunity to do something they've never done before, not to mention something no major pro sports franchise in D.C. has done in a long time. With a victory in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, they would advance to their first National League Championship Series. In doing so, they would become the first D.C. team to reach the semifinals of its sport since the 1998 Capitals went to the Stanley Cup Final. So no pressure today, guys....

Starters still unnamed as countdown to Game 4 looms

Starters still unnamed as countdown to Game 4 looms
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals and Dodgers knew all along they'd be playing Game 4 of the National League Division Series this afternoon. They just didn't know who the starting pitcher for either team would be. Or what time the game would begin. As they woke up this morning, they still hadn't revealed the identities of the starting pitchers. But at least they knew the game time. Thanks to the Giants' dramatic 13-inning victory that ended at 2:45 a.m. EDT, Game 4 at Dodger Stadium will begin at...

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS
LOS ANGELES - Shawn Kelley likes to walk around the clubhouse at Nationals Park wearing a T-shirt bearing a simple message: "Relievers are people, too." Too often the guys who occupy big league bullpens are anonymous to the masses, a revolving door of arms brought into games only when the higher-profile starter can't do his job. The game, though, is changing. Bullpens matter more than ever, and doubly so in the postseason, when it's not uncommon to see managers rely on relief corps to...

Zimmerman on his offensive resurgence: "It's no fun not helping"

Zimmerman on his offensive resurgence: "It's no fun not helping"
LOS ANGELES - Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman had another stellar performance in the National League Division Series Monday as his club dropped the Dodgers 8-3 in Game 3. Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. He is hitting 5-for-11 (.455) in the series after hitting just .218 during the season. Zimmerman actually fell below .200 in June, July and August before slightly rebounding in September and early October to .222. But this series, he looks more like...

Nationals offense flexes muscles in 8-3 win over Dodgers

Nationals offense flexes muscles in 8-3 win over Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals offense exploded with two big innings in their 8-3 series-altering victory over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Monday. Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman each contributed two RBIs as the Nationals scored four runs in the third and ninth innings. They were the biggest innings the Nationals had ever enjoyed in a postseason game since their return to D.C. in 2005. The four-run ninth inning blew open a tense 4-3 contest for...

Rendon's big blast leads rally (Nats win 8-3, lead series 2-1)

Rendon's big blast leads rally (Nats win 8-3, lead series 2-1)
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals made Kenta Maeda work in the top of the first but were unable to tally a run to begin Game 3 of the National League Division Series. Jayson Werth singled, and Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon forced walks. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ryan Zimmerman struck out. The Dodgers' Corey Seager gave his club the lead in his first at-bat for the third straight game on the series. Justin Turner walked against lefty Gio Gonzalez with one out in the bottom of the...

Nats ride early offense, then bullpen to 8-3 victory in Game 3

Nats ride early offense, then bullpen to 8-3 victory in Game 3
LOS ANGELES - They played a four-hour game Sunday afternoon in cold, windy D.C., then flew across the country, then woke up and played another four-hour game Monday afternoon in warm, sun-baked L.A. But this is the postseason, and you do whatever is required of you this time of the year, physical and mental toll and sleep patterns cast aside for the moment. And right now, the Nationals are doing whatever is asked of them in an attempt to win the first playoff series in club history. Score four...

Baker not giving up on Espinosa just yet

Baker not giving up on Espinosa just yet
LOS ANGELES - Shortstop Danny Espinosa has struggled to get on track in the National League Division Series. He is 0-for-5 with a run scored in the first two games of the series. In Game 1, he struck out his first three times up and then popped up to third base. In Game 2, Espinosa was hit by a pitch in each of his first two plate appearances, but then struck out in the sixth and eighth innings. So with five strikeouts in the first two games of the NLDS, manager Dusty Baker was asked if he...

Game 4 starters still undecided by both clubs

Game 4 starters still undecided by both clubs
LOS ANGELES - They of course still need to play Game 3 this afternoon, but the Nationals know that no matter the outcome they will be playing Game 4 of the National League Division Series here at Dodger Stadium sometime Tuesday (either 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. EDT, depending on the status of the Cubs-Giants series). So the Nationals will need a starting pitcher for Game 4. They just haven't revealed the identity of that person yet. Conventional wisdom says Joe Ross would get the nod, as originally...

NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - Greetings from Chavez Ravine, where it is an absolutely perfect day for postseason baseball in Southern California. It is expected to be 83 degrees at first pitch at Dodger Stadium. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez is 0-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three playoff starts. In his last matchup against the Giants in 2014, Gonzalez tossed four innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout. He made it known Saturday he doesn't want to look back to his up-and-down...

Gonzalez not looking back, focused on Game 3 start

Gonzalez not looking back, focused on Game 3 start
LOS ANGELES - In Game 1 of the National League Division Series, when Max Scherzer lost to left-hander Clayton Kershaw by a single run, and the Nats rebounded in Game 2, the responsibility for the Nationals to go ahead in the series with the Dodgers turned to southpaw Gio Gonzalez this afternoon. It has not been Gonzalez's best season, but if he can come through with a solid start today in Game 3, all those shaky outings of 2016 will fade away. Gonzalez looks to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead in...

With surprise homer, Lobaton gets monkey off Nationals' backs

With surprise homer, Lobaton gets monkey off Nationals' backs
The reaction the moment Jose Lobaton made contact wasn't joyous. There was no instantaneous celebration in the Nationals dugout, nor in the batter's box when Lobaton connected with Rich Hill's 1-1 curveball in the bottom of the fourth inning and sent it soaring toward left field. Any other day, the Nationals would have been jumping up and down and Lobaton would have been flipping his bat before a triumphant trip around the bases. But with a persistent 25 mph wind blowing in from left field...

Baker makes deft use of bullpen to get 14 outs, even series

Baker makes deft use of bullpen to get 14 outs, even series
The Nationals finally had the lead, courtesy of Jose Lobaton's three-run homer in the fourth inning, and manager Dusty Baker didn't want to take any chances when starting pitcher Tanner Roark started scuffling in the fifth. With his pitch count mounting and the Dodgers locking in on the right-hander, Baker made the call to the bullpen. Well, the first of many calls. Baker asked his relief corps to get the final 14 outs of a game and prevent the Nationals from going into an 0-2 hole in the...

Marty Niland: Lobaton's homer was no October surprise to Baker

Marty Niland: Lobaton's homer was no October surprise to Baker
The National League Division Series between the Nationals and Dodgers may be knotted at one game apiece, bit when it comes to drama and momentum, the Nats are clearly ahead after Sunday's 5-2 victory And while fans are rightly cheering backup catcher Jose Lobaton as the unlikely hero the team needed to even the series, let's not overlook one clear advantage the Nats have in this series that made his momentous fourth-inning swing possible: manager Dusty Baker. It's easy to criticize a...

Lobaton's blast, bullpen's dominance help Nats win Game 2

Lobaton's blast, bullpen's dominance help Nats win Game 2
It had to come eventually. The Nationals simply couldn't keep squandering every single scoring opportunity they had in the postseason, right? No, there actually is enough talent in this lineup to deliver big hits in big spots. But who in their wildest dreams expected the guy to deliver the biggest hit of them all to be Jose Lobaton? The longtime backup catcher, pressed into a high-profile role after teammate Wilson Ramos tore his ACL during the final week of the regular season, indeed came...

Baker on Nationals' "upside-down" pitching options

Baker on Nationals' "upside-down" pitching options
The skies have cleared - apparently, all of those gusty winds are good for something - and there will be baseball today at Nationals Park. But there's little clarity in the Nationals' postseason rotation past left-hander Gio Gonzalez's start in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Monday at Dodger Stadium. Manager Dusty Baker said during his Sunday morning media briefing that the Nationals remain undecided who will start Games 4 and 5 of the NLDS, and that how the Nationals...

Hill laments Dodgers leaving D.C. with only a split in NLDS

Hill laments Dodgers leaving D.C. with only a split in NLDS
Pitcher Rich Hill knows that a 1-1 split is a good road series in October. But he also knows that the Dodgers had a chance for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five National League Division Series with the Nationals. "I'm disappointed because if I execute, our team is in a good position," Hill said after the Dodgers lost 5-2 to the Nationals in Game 2 of the NLDS on Sunday. But it wasn't all Hill. The Dodgers couldn't hit with runners in scoring position. They left 12 runners on base. Through...

Lobaton's homer gives Nats first lead (Nationals win 5-2)

Lobaton's homer gives Nats first lead (Nationals win 5-2)
Well, it didn't take long for the Dodgers to take a lead in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. And they followed a familiar script. Corey Seager, the second batter of the game, blasted a 93 mph 3-0 fastball from Tanner Roark over the wall in right-center for a 1-0 lead. Seager did the same in Friday's series opener, connecting off Max Scherzer. This time, he went deep three pitches after Roark sailed an uh-oh pitch over his helmet. The wind didn't really aid Seager's shot, but...