nationals

Rare defensive miscues cost Nats in loss to Cubs

May 05, 2016, 9:09pm

CHICAGO - They had been a stellar defensive team throughout the season's first month, entering play last night with fewer errors than any other club in the National League. Which only made the Nationals' defensive miscues during their 5-2 loss to the Cubs all the more striking. From a purely official standpoint, the Nats were not charged with any errors. They still lead the NL with only nine in 28 games so far this year. From an unofficial standpoint, they were quite shaky in the field. It...

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Ross effective vs. Cubs, but Nats lose 5-2

May 05, 2016, 7:42pm

Nationals

Ross effective vs. Cubs, but Nats lose 5-2

CHICAGO - The opener of a marquee series between the National League's top two teams featured plenty of big names, plenty of dominant pitching performances and some highlight-reel defense. What it didn't include was very much offense. The Cubs managed to pull off a 5-2 victory over the Nationals thanks to Ben Zobrist's two-run single to right in the bottom of the fourth and two-run homer off Felipe Rivero in the bottom of the eighth. Addison Russell added an RBI double in the eighth, as...

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Taylor's struggles get magnified during key strikeout

May 05, 2016, 8:46pm

Nationals

Taylor's struggles get magnified during key strikeout

CHICAGO - The Nationals didn't want to make Michael A. Taylor bat leadoff on a daily basis, and with Ben Revere about to return from the disabled list, they probably won't need to ask Taylor to do it much more. But no matter where he bats in the Nats lineup, no matter how many or how few opportunities he gets moving forward, Taylor has to prove he can transform himself into the kind of hitter his team can trust in big spots. Taylor found himself in one of those spots tonight during a 5-2 loss...

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Cubs strike first in opener of marquee series (Nats lose 5-2)

May 05, 2016, 5:21pm

Nationals

Cubs strike first in opener of marquee series (Nats lose 5-2)

CHICAGO - Joe Ross showed no fear in staring down the Cubs lineup in his first career start at Wrigley Field. But you can't hold these guys down forever, and Chicago's big bats got to Ross in the fourth inning tonight to take a 2-0 lead on the Nationals. Ben Zobrist's single to right brought home the first two runs of this highly anticipated series and sent Ross' ERA "soaring" over the 1.00 mark for the first time. The inning featured some shaky defense - Michael A. Taylor couldn't haul...

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Revere looks ready, but Nats will wait til Friday to activate him

May 05, 2016, 3:14pm

Nationals

Revere looks ready, but Nats will wait til Friday to activate him

CHICAGO - Ben Revere joined the Nationals at Wrigley Field today, put on his uniform and participated fully in all pregame drills before the opener of a big, four-game series against the Cubs. But he didn't suit up for the game itself and remains on the disabled list for another day, a decision the club made to remain cautious with their returning leadoff man and center fielder. Given the fact Revere hasn't played in a big league game since straining his right oblique muscle 31 days ago, and...

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Nationals shut out by Cubs, 5-2, in opener of key series

May 05, 2016, 6:43pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - The opener of a marquee series between the National League's top two teams featured plenty of big names, plenty of dominant pitching performances and some highlight-reel defense. What it didn't include was very much offense by the visitors. The Cubs managed to pull off a 5-2 victory over the Nationals thanks to a pair of big hits by Ben Zobrist: His two-run single to right in the bottom of the fourth, then his two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling a mostly strong...

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Game 28 lineups: Nats at Cubs

May 05, 2016, 12:28pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - Good afternoon from the one and only Friendly Confines here at the corner of Clark and Addison on the North Side. There truly is no place in baseball (or really all of sports) like Wrigley Field, and this weekend there's no better place to be, with the top two teams in the sport going head-to-head for a four-game series that is being built up big time by the Chicago media. The Cubs have been utterly dominant so far this season, with a .769 winning percentage and a run differential of...

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Thursday morning Q&A from Chicago

May 04, 2016, 6:17pm

Nationals

CHICAGO - This has turned into quite some road trip, hasn't it? First the Nationals swept the Cardinals in St. Louis, despite Bryce Harper going 0-for-11. Then they nearly swept the Royals in Kansas City, missing out on that only by one Jonathan Papelbon blown save. Now the toughest road trip of the season reaches its final (and toughest) leg. The Nats will face the blistering-hot Cubs each of the next four days, a battle of the National League's two best teams to date. Yes, it's only May,...

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After 13-run explosion, Nationals lineup rounding into form

May 04, 2016, 3:23pm

Nationals

KANSAS CITY - Nobody would suggest the Nationals lineup has functioned as one complete, perfectly in-sync unit at any point yet in this young season. At least one key hitter has been mired in a slump on any given day. And leadoff man Ben Revere has been out since his first at-bat of the season, only now on the verge of rejoining the team from the disabled list. Yet the Nats have had more than their share of days like this, days when they score runs in bunches and coast to victory, as they did...

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David Huzzard: Jonathan Papelbon really isn't a big problem for Nats

May 05, 2016, 5:26am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Jonathan Papelbon really isn't a big problem for Nats

It isn't difficult to find weakness with the 2016 Nationals, which is a bit odd, because at 19-8 they have the second- best record in baseball. Just ask Nats fans and they'll tell you the team could be even better if it weren't for that darn closer, Jonathan Papelbon. The thing about closers is they all blow saves and they all struggle at times, but theirs is a position that when they struggle their team losses. Of all the Nats closers, the only one that I could think of that maintained his...

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Opposite dugout: Dominant Cubs welcome red-hot Nationals for four-game set

May 04, 2016, 4:00pm

Nationals

Manager: Joe Maddon (2nd season) Record: 20-6 Last 10 games: 8-2 Who to watch: CF Dexter Fowler (.348/.470/.587 with 15 RBIs), 3B Kris Bryant (.303/.395/.495 with 4 HR, 17 RBIs), 1B Anthony Rizzo (9 HR, 27 RBIs), RHP Jake Arrieta (6-0, 0.84 ERA), RHP Jason Hammel (4-0, 1.24 ERA), RHP Hector Rondon (1.00 ERA with 4 saves) Season series vs. Nationals: First meeting (4-3 in 2015) Pitching probables: May 5: RHP Joe Ross vs. RHP Kyle Hendricks, 8:05 p.m., MASN2 May 6: RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP John...

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Glover off to quick start in promotion to Double-A

May 04, 2016, 7:00pm

Nationals

Glover off to quick start in promotion to Double-A

Reliever Koda Glover, an eighth-round selection out of Oklahoma State in 2015, has not allowed a run in his first nine games. After stonewalling the Carolina League for seven games, Glover was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg on April 29. In his two games for Harrisburg, Glover has fired three innings without allowing a run. He has struck out five and walked none on just two hits. He pitched in the seventh inning in his first Double-A appearance, then the seventh and eighth innings on May 2...

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Some notes on Daniel Murphy

May 04, 2016, 4:19pm

Nationals

The Nationals' new second baseman is on a hitting rampage. He's hit in 23 of 26 Nationals games. He has 13 multi-hit games, has RBIs in six consecutive games and in Kansas City, he became the 10th player to get his 1,000th career hit wearing a Nationals uniform. Here are things to know about Murphy: * Murphy, a left-handed batter, hit a career-high 14 home runs for the Mets last season, eight in the final two months, four each in August and September. Mets batting coach Kevin Long worked with...

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Latest first-inning explosion plates six runs (Nats win 13-2)

May 04, 2016, 11:35am

Nationals

Latest first-inning explosion plates six runs (Nats win 13-2)

KANSAS CITY - If anyone was worried the Nationals might suffer from a hangover in the wake of last night's gut-punch loss to the Royals, they wasted no time alleviating those fears this afternoon. Six-run first innings have a way of easing the pain. And then four more runs in the third finish the job. The Nats burst out of the gate in today's series finale, knocking Kris Medlen all around Kauffman Stadium and taking advantage of some more sloppy Kansas City defense. Bryce Harper, who had been...

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Nationals throttle Royals 13-2 to capture another road series

May 04, 2016, 1:09pm

Nationals

KANSAS CITY - They marched into St. Louis and swept the Cardinals. Now they've marched into Kansas City and taken two of three from the Royals, coming within a blown save of another sweep of the defending World Series champs. Wasn't this supposed to be the most daunting road trip the Nationals had ever faced? Not to this point. With a 13-2 drubbing of the Royals this afternoon, the Nats added yet another impressive victory to their growing list, their fifth win in six days in Missouri. Next...

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Ben Revere finishes rehab, will join Nationals in Chicago

May 04, 2016, 9:27am

Nationals

KANSAS CITY - The Nationals are getting their leadoff man back at last. Now they hope he helps complete a lineup that has sorely missed him for the last month. Ben Revere has completed his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse and will meet the Nationals in Chicago tonight, manager Dusty Baker said. The club won't decide for sure when to activate the center fielder off the disabled until he is checked out in person, but there's a good chance he'll be in the lineup for Thursday night's...

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Game 27 lineups: Nats at Royals

May 04, 2016, 7:19am

Nationals

KANSAS CITY - Hello one last time from Kauffman Stadium, where the Nationals will try to bounce back from their gut-punch of a loss last night, win today's matinee against the Royals and thus take the interleague series. The clubhouse mood was really low after last night's 7-6 loss, as low as it has been at any point so far in this young season. Obviously that was an especially tough loss, with Jonathan Papelbon blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, but in the big picture this...

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Harper's slump continues, now 1 for his last 23

May 03, 2016, 9:35pm

Nationals

Harper's slump continues, now 1 for his last 23

KANSAS CITY - Let's get this out of the way, because it needs to be said right off the bat: Bryce Harper is going to start hitting again, and most likely sometime soon. He's going to start hitting like the menace to opposing pitchers he has been for the vast majority of the last two seasons. That said, he sure isn't hitting like that guy right now. With another feeble performance at the plate last night - 0-for-5 with three strikeouts - Harper's sudden and dramatic slump continued. He's...

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Blown save exposes Jonathan Papelbon's biggest red flag

May 03, 2016, 9:10pm

Nationals

Blown save exposes Jonathan Papelbon's biggest red flag

KANSAS CITY - Because he had been quite effective at his job, successfully recording saves in nine of his first 10 opportunities this season, the Nationals had been able to overlook the other red flags attached to Jonathan Papelbon's name. But on nights when Papelbon isn't effective - and he certainly wasn't tonight in blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth and sending the Nationals to a disheartening, 7-6 loss to the Royals - it becomes much easier to point out his flaws. And...

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Revere plays nine innings with Syracuse, nearing return to Nats

May 04, 2016, 4:26am

Nationals

Revere plays nine innings with Syracuse, nearing return to Nats

Ben Revere had his longest rehab outing this season Tuesday, going 1-for-5 with a single, in Triple-A Syracuse's 8-3 win over Rochester. The nine innings by Revere were more than he had played since joining the Chiefs. Revere had played several games of five or seven innings as he attempts to return from a strained right oblique suffered in the opening game of the season at Atlanta. Revere has gone 3-for-16 (.188) with a walk and a stolen base in five starts for the Chiefs. Manager Dusty...