nationals

Miguel Gonzalez outdueling Gio Gonzalez early (Nats lose 3-1)

June 09, 2016, 5:15pm

CHICAGO - Gio Gonzalez has been perfect since struggling in the first inning. But Miguel Gonzalez has been perfect from the moment he took the mound tonight, leaving the Nationals in trouble early in their series finale against the White Sox. The Nationals don't have a baserunner in four innings against Miguel Gonzalez, the former Orioles right-hander given an opportunity to start for the White Sox tonight after left-hander Carlos Rodon was scratched with neck and shoulder stiffness. There...

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Nationals select third baseman Sheldon Neuse 58th overall in 2016 First-Year Player Draft

June 09, 2016, 8:02pm

Nationals

The Washington Nationals selected third baseman Sheldon Neuse out of the University of Oklahoma with the 58th-overall selection in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo and assistant general manager & vice president of scouting operations Kris Kline made the joint announcement. A 6-foot, 195-pound junior, Neuse hit .369 (73-for-198) with 15 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs, 48 RBIs, 39 walks, 12 stolen bases and 42...

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Five-day layoff doesn't slow down productive Zimmerman

June 09, 2016, 3:01pm

Nationals

Five-day layoff doesn't slow down productive Zimmerman

CHICAGO - From a personal standpoint, Ryan Zimmerman couldn't have timed his paternity leave much better. Zimmerman's wife, Heather, gave birth to the couple's second daughter Thursday (an off-day for the Nationals). Then Zimmerman missed his team's three-game series in Cincinnati while officially on the paternity leave list. Then he got to take advantage of another off-day for the Nationals before rejoining them here Tuesday night for the opener of their interleague series against the...

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Nationals select shortstop Carter Keiboom and right-hander Dane Dunning with first two selections in 2016 First-Year Player Draft

June 09, 2016, 6:29pm

Nationals

The Washington Nationals selected prep shortstop Carter Kieboom out of Walton (GA) High School with the 28th-overall pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and followed that selection with collegiate right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning out of the University of Florida with the 29th-overall selection. Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo and assistant general manager & vice president of scouting operations Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Kieboom,...

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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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Thursday morning Q&A from Chicago

June 08, 2016, 9:05pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - Well, well, well ... look what team suddenly has one of the most potent lineups in baseball? Did you know the Nationals now lead the National League in home runs? It's true. They've hit 81 of them, one more than the Cardinals. Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon finally look like Zimmerman and Rendon. Bryce Harper is starting to look like Harper again. Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos, meanwhile, have looked like George Brett and Mike Piazza all season. Tonight, the Nationals will seek...

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District 34 podcast: Turner, Papelbon and the draft

June 09, 2016, 6:13am

Nationals

District 34 podcast: Turner, Papelbon and the draft

The Nationals offense is hot coming into the summer months! After their third straight 10-run game and victory, the Nats are looking to close out this 11-day road trip with a sweep of the White Sox before returning home. It's an exciting and eventful time in the baseball calendar with the First-Year Player Draft starting tonight. The Nationals hold the 28th, 29th and 58th overall picks in the first two rounds, so Byron Kerr and I give you a brief preview of the possible areas general manager...

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David Huzzard: No early pick for Nationals, but Murphy good consolation prize

June 09, 2016, 5:18am

Nationals

Unlike years past, and by now I mean years passed, the Washington Nationals do not hold the first overall pick in tonight's MLB First-Year Player Draft. They don't even have a top-10 pick. They do, however, have two picks in the first round, but will have to be a little patient. The Nationals currently hold the 28th and 29th overall selections in this year's draft. But despite the lack of an "early pick" in the sport's yearly mid-season opportunity to improve an organization, the...

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Nats cruise to another lopsided win, 11-4 over White Sox

June 08, 2016, 7:18pm

Nationals

Nats cruise to another lopsided win, 11-4 over White Sox

CHICAGO - They played the full nine innings at U.S. Cellular Field tonight, but that was merely to preserve the integrity of the official major league ballgame. There is no mercy rule at this level, even if the Nationals and White Sox happily would have agreed to one, probably after three innings. With an onslaught of offense against a woefully ineffective James Shields in his Chicago debut, the Nationals jumped out to a seven-run lead and never looked back, cruising to a 11-4 victory that felt...

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Contributions come from entire lineup in blowout victory

June 08, 2016, 8:56pm

Nationals

Contributions come from entire lineup in blowout victory

CHICAGO - On nights like this, when he is handed a comfortable lead and can actually take a few moments to watch his own teammates hit, Max Scherzer can't help but be impressed by what he sees. Then again, what wasn't to like about the Nationals' 11-4 thumping of a shell-shocked James Shields and the rest of the White Sox? "Man, one through nine we did a great job against Shields tonight," Scherzer said. "All the guys were just fouling off pitches, and any time there was a mistake, they...

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Baker on lack of bullpen changes, Rivero's struggles vs. lefties

June 08, 2016, 3:23pm

Nationals

Baker on lack of bullpen changes, Rivero's struggles vs. lefties

CHICAGO - After the Nationals needed to ask for 11 total innings out of their bullpen over the last two games, it was fair to wonder if they would need to bring in a fresh arm before tonight's game against the White Sox. The short answer: No. "We didn't even talk about it," manager Dusty Baker said. The thinking behind such a move: Blake Treinen just threw 66 pitches over three innings, leaving him out of commission for several days, and Sammy Solis threw three innings Sunday in Cincinnati,...

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Shields ransacked in Chicago debut (Nats win 11-4)

June 08, 2016, 5:15pm

Nationals

Shields ransacked in Chicago debut (Nats win 11-4)

CHICAGO - On the bright side for James Shields and the White Sox, there's nowhere to go but up from here. The Nationals are putting a hurting on Shields in his White Sox debut, pounding out six runs on seven hits (three of them homers) in two innings to open up a commanding 6-0 lead at U.S. Cellular Field. Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa all homered in their first at-bats, the latter two prompting the crowd to boo their recently acquired veteran right-hander. Shields, just...

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Harper slips to second in All-Star voting, Ramos up to fourth

June 08, 2016, 10:06am

Nationals

Harper slips to second in All-Star voting, Ramos up to fourth

CHICAGO - Bryce Harper has slipped behind Dexter Fowler in All-Star balloting, but the Nationals star remains comfortably in position to earn a starting spot in the outfield for the National League in next month's Midsummer Classic. Harper, who led all NL outfielders in the first round of voting released by Major League Baseball last week, has since fallen slightly behind Fowler. The Cubs center fielder currently has received 1,170,718 votes to Harper's 1,119,168. The Mets' Yoenis Cespedes...

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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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On Ross' short start and Treinen's long relief appearance

June 08, 2016, 5:35am

Nationals

On Ross' short start and Treinen's long relief appearance

CHICAGO - When the night began, the Nationals certainly weren't expecting Joe Ross to last only four innings. And they really weren't expecting Blake Treinen to then throw three innings of relief after that. Sometimes you've got to adjust on the fly, though, and that's exactly what last night's 10-5 victory over the White Sox required. Ross' uncharacteristic command issues early forced the young starter out of the game early and left the Nationals to ask Treinen to do something out of the...

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Happy Strasmas anniversary: Remembering Strasburg's debut

June 08, 2016, 12:23pm

Nationals

Happy Strasmas anniversary: Remembering Strasburg's debut

Six years ago today, Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 batters in his big league debut for the Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Nationals won the game 5-2 before 40,315 fans at Nationals Park. The Nationals moved to D.C. from Montreal in 2005. At the time, Strasburg's debut was the biggest baseball event in Washington since the 1933 World Series. Among the highlights: * Fans stood six deep to watch Strasburg warm up in the bullpen before the game. Then, as he and Nationals pitching...

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Lineup finally coming together with back-to-back 10-run games

June 07, 2016, 9:32pm

Nationals

Lineup finally coming together with back-to-back 10-run games

CHICAGO - Though it perhaps hasn't happened as frequently as they would like, the Nationals have known all along their lineup is capable of scoring runs in bunches on a regular basis, more than enough to overcome even a moderate deficit on any given night. As Bryce Harper put it: "When we're down, we're never down." They've now proven that in consecutive games. Two days after storming back from a five-run deficit to beat the Reds, the Nationals stormed back from a three-run deficit to...

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Nats storm back from early deficit to beat White Sox 10-5

June 07, 2016, 7:46pm

Nationals

Nats storm back from early deficit to beat White Sox 10-5

CHICAGO - Joe Ross' worst start of the season wound up an afterthought tonight, and all it took for that to happen was another double-digit offensive explosion from the Nationals' suddenly explosive lineup. Behind another big showing from Anthony Rendon and some long-awaited clutch hits from Bryce Harper and Michael A. Taylor, the Nationals dug themselves out of the early hole Ross dug and wound up running away with a 10-5 victory over the White Sox. The Nats trailed 5-2 after two laborious...

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Charlie Fliegel: LASIK isn't the only reason Ramos has improved at the plate

June 07, 2016, 8:23pm

Nationals

Charlie Fliegel: LASIK isn't the only reason Ramos has improved at the plate

You'd be forgiven if, before this season started, you were concerned with the Nationals' catching situation and really wanted them to address it. At least I'd forgive you because I certainly felt that way. In 2014 and 2015, Wilson Ramos managed a sub-100 OPS+ and wRC+, hitting below the league average. 2015 was especially tough for him. But he wasn't always that bad. From 2011-2013, he hit a very respectable .269/.327/.449. He was a promising young hitter, then it seemed to all go away....

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Uncharacteristic command dooms Ross early (Nats win 10-5)

June 07, 2016, 5:30pm

Nationals

Uncharacteristic command dooms Ross early (Nats win 10-5)

CHICAGO - When Joe Ross walked the night's first batter, it was immediately noted as out-of-character for the right-hander. When he walked the night's second batter as well, it seemed more than just out-of-character. And when Ross proceeded to give up two runs in the bottom of the first and then three more in the bottom of the second to the White Sox, the red flag officially was raised on the young Nationals starter. Ross certainly picked an inopportune moment to put forth his worst outing of...