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Nats fall to Marlins 5-1 to split series

April 21, 2016, 11:57am

MIAMI - When Bryce Harper launched his latest in a torrid string of home runs in the top of the first inning this afternoon, the Nationals had every reason to be optimistic about the early tone of their series finale against the Marlins. But when Max Scherzer took the mound for the bottom of the first and promptly served up a towering, three-run shot to Marcell Ozuna, the entire complexion of this game changed in a hurry. And it never tilted back in the Nationals' favor. Behind that...

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Nationals homestand highlights April 22-28

April 21, 2016, 9:37am

Nationals

Washington Nationals Homestand Highlights vs. Minnesota Twins (April 22-24) & Philadelphia Phillies (April 26-28) The upcoming homestand includes complimentary tickets for military service members, a giveaway item featuring Racing President Teddy and a visit from a NASA astronaut. There will also be several fun family activities, including Kids Opening Day, Scout Day and a celebration of Screech's birthday. As always, the Budweiser Terrace will feature daily happy hour specials, including...

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David Huzzard: No surprise Harper is becoming the best player in baseball

April 21, 2016, 4:48am

Nationals

David Huzzard: No surprise Harper is becoming the best player in baseball

We're going to talk about Bryce Harper. I know by this point you've read hundreds upon hundreds of articles about Harper, but I'm going to write yet another one and like most of them this will contain no new information or provide you with any insight. It is very likely that you already know that Harper is great, and there is a reason he is the most talked about Nationals player and becoming the most talked about baseball player. There is a chance that by the end of the year Bryce Harper...

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Nationals grind out workmanlike 3-1 win over Marlins

April 20, 2016, 5:51pm

Nationals

MIAMI - They lost their starting pitcher after two innings, then their starting left fielder after four innings. No matter, the Nationals still went about their business and beat the Marlins 3-1 tonight, thanks to some early clutch hits and some impressive relief work. Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper each delivered two-out RBI doubles to stake Joe Ross to an early lead, but the right-hander had to depart after that due to a blister on his right middle finger. Three innings later, Jayson Werth...

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Revere begins running, taking light swings

April 20, 2016, 1:51pm

Nationals

Revere begins running, taking light swings

MIAMI - Ben Revere has begun running and taking light swings, his first baseball-related activities since straining his right oblique muscle on opening day 2 1/2 weeks ago. Revere, who suffered the injury on his very first swing with the Nationals, ran in the outfield at Marlins Park this afternoon, then also took some light, right-handed swings in the cage to test his side. He emerged feeling confident about his recovery, albeit sore from the layoff. "Everything felt good. I just need to get...

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Ross departs after two innings with blister (Werth out, too)

April 20, 2016, 4:22pm

Nationals

Ross departs after two innings with blister (Werth out, too)

MIAMI - Joe Ross departed his start tonight against the Marlins after two scoreless innings after a blister developed on his right middle finger, the Nationals announced. Ross showed no obvious ill effects of the blister during his abbreviated, 33-pitch outing. He allowed one hit, one walk and hit one batter, but never let a Miami runner reach second base. Ross was allowed to hit for himself in the top of the third inning and wound up drawing a walk, then scoring on Bryce Harper's two-out...

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With dominant start to 2016, Strasburg putting it all together

April 19, 2016, 8:20pm

Nationals

With dominant start to 2016, Strasburg putting it all together

MIAMI - Stephen Strasburg was utterly dominant last night against the Marlins, tossing eight innings of scoreless, three-hit ball. This, however, shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Strasburg pitch so far in 2016. He's now 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA, after all. But, if you've really been paying attention to Strasburg for a while, you still shouldn't be surprised by all this. Because he has been this good since last summer. In 16 total starts since returning from the neck...

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Game 14 lineups: Nats at Marlins

April 20, 2016, 11:33am

Nationals

MIAMI - Two trends to watch tonight as the Nationals face the Marlins in the third of this four-game series under the roof: Can Joe Ross continue the rotation's dominant start to the season, and can this lineup continue to thrive against left-handed pitching? We'll start with Ross, who has been lights-out through his first two starts of the season (2-0, 0.61 ERA, .160 opponents' batting average). It's easy to forget the right-hander is only 22, with 15 big league starts on his resume,...

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Charlie Fliegel: Which "window" has closed for the Nats?

April 19, 2016, 9:16pm

Nationals

Charlie Fliegel: Which "window" has closed for the Nats?

Last year, there was quite a bit of talk about how the Nationals' "window" was closing because Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond were leaving, along with a few others. But I never bought into that, and while it's early, the Nats certainly look like a team that can succeed with its current roster. Sure, they aren't consensus World Series favorites anymore, but where did that ever get them? Some sort of window didn't close on them after last season just because they lost a few key...

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Nats break pitchers' duel with four-homer seventh

April 19, 2016, 5:56pm

Nationals

Nats break pitchers' duel with four-homer seventh

MIAMI - What for six innings was shaping up to be a classic pitchers' duel between Stephen Strasburg and Adam Conley instead turned into the most dramatic barrage of home runs the Nationals have ever hit during a stunning top of the seventh that propelled them to a 7-0 thumping of the Marlins. Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman all homered during a stretch of eight batters in the decisive top of the seventh, Harper's coming with the bases loaded. It's the first time...

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Inside the Nationals' historic home run barrage

April 19, 2016, 7:43pm

Nationals

MIAMI - The first home run was a laser off Jayson Werth's bat, a line drive that made a beeline for the gaudy sculpture that sits beyond the fence in left-center at Marlins Park and required some deft work by stadium workers to retrieve. ("Did it lodge in one of the dolphins?" Werth asked later.) The second home run came before anyone could point out that Werth's blast was the 200th of his career. Wilson Ramos pounced on the very next pitch Adam Conley threw in the top of the seventh,...

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Strasburg, Conley duel in Miami (Nats win 7-0)

April 19, 2016, 4:21pm

Nationals

Strasburg, Conley duel in Miami (Nats win 7-0)

MIAMI - Stephen Strasburg's early season mastery is continuing early on tonight at Marlins Park, but Adam Conley is matching his counterpart pitch-for-pitch, leading to a scoreless game through four innings. He put one man on base in each of his first three innings, but Strasburg kept the Marlins from stringing together anything remotely resembling a rally. He pitched around a two-out walk of Christian Yelich in the bottom of the first, battling back to strike out Giancarlo Stanton with a 2-2...

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Why it may be awhile before Nats promote Trea Turner

April 19, 2016, 2:10pm

Nationals

Why it may be awhile before Nats promote Trea Turner

MIAMI - Trea Turner's red-hot start to the season has ignited one of the biggest hot-button topics facing the Nationals early in 2016: When will the organization promote the young infielder to the majors? The answer to that question, though, is more complicated than it might appear at first glance. And it involves matters beyond his actual playing performance at Triple-A Syracuse. Turner was named Monday as the International League's first Player of the Week after hitting .433 with a homer,...

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Game 13 lineups: Nats at Marlins

April 19, 2016, 11:29am

Nationals

MIAMI - The Nationals tonight find themselves in a position they have not yet faced this season: Trying to halt a losing streak. OK, so it's only a two-game losing streak, but this is new ground for them in 2016. The good news: They've got Stephen Strasburg on the mound and they'll get a rare opportunity to bat against a left-hander. Strasburg is seeking his third victory in as many starts this season, his 11th victory in his last 15 starts dating back to last June. Marlins Park, however,...

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Baker not enjoying results of replay challenges so far

April 18, 2016, 7:55pm

Nationals

Baker not enjoying results of replay challenges so far

MIAMI - Dusty Baker wasn't worried the game had changed at all during his two-year hiatus between managerial gigs. Well, except for one new wrinkle: expanded instant replay. Baker acknowledged that baseball's new challenge system (instituted in 2014 shortly after he was fired by the Reds) would take some getting used to, especially for a man who spent nearly five decades as a big league player, coach or manager without ever having to consider such a tact. Well, 12 games into his first season...

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Steve Mears: Harper's 100th homer ball among baseball history

April 18, 2016, 5:19pm

Nationals

Steve Mears: Harper's 100th homer ball among baseball history

Bryce Harper just hit his 100th home run, and like any milestone home run, you have to wonder if Zack Hample (Google search "Zack Hample ARod 3000 hit") ended up with the baseball or someone else who might want to keep it. Well, we contacted the Boras Corporation and confirmed Harper now has that home run No. 100 baseball. But you might not know that the young girl who caught the ball in Section 140 got the ball and returned it to Harper. Mystery easily solved. Where is Babe Ruth's 600th...

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Stevenson on hit streak to begin season for P-Nats

April 19, 2016, 11:46am

Nationals

Stevenson on hit streak to begin season for P-Nats

Center fielder Andrew Stevenson went 2-for-5 with a three-run triple in high Single-A Potomac's 9-6 loss to Lynchburg Monday night. The LSU product is leading off the P-Nats and doing a nice job of starting the offense. His on-base percentage is .381 through the first two weeks of the season. Stevenson told me before the season began that they haven't made any major changes to his swing or approach, just trying to get him to feel relaxed at the plate. "Right now just trying to see the ball...

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Little things add up in Nats' loss to Marlins

April 18, 2016, 7:26pm

Nationals

Little things add up in Nats' loss to Marlins

MIAMI - There was no one singular moment that defined the Nationals' 6-1 loss in the opener of a four-game series at Marlins Park. But compile a list of small moments throughout the 2 hour, 43 minute affair, and you'll wind up with a detailed account of a ballgame that might have looked far different than it did. Like Christian Yelich's hard grounder that squirted through the Nationals' drawn-in infield to bring home the night's first run. Or the risky double play first baseman Ryan...

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Answers to some pressing early-season baseball questions

April 19, 2016, 11:47am

Nationals Orioles

Answers to some pressing early-season baseball questions

You have questions and we have answers: Q: How does Daniel Murphy like playing for the Nationals, given he was with the rival Mets last season? A: Murphy has fit in perfectly, and how could any one argue with his production? Another contribution from Murphy: He's met with each of the Nationals pitchers to give them scouting reports on how the Mets viewed them last season. He's told them when the Mets were comfortable at the plate, when they weren't and when they were expecting certain...

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Nationals Patriotic Series & Military Branch Days return

April 19, 2016, 7:54am

Nationals

Nationals to offer complimentary tickets to service members on Wednesday, April 27 to celebrate Military Appreciation Day The Washington Nationals will mark the return of the Patriotic Series presented by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) when the team hosts Military Appreciation Day on Wednesday, April 27. To pay tribute to the men and women who serve in the U.S. military, the Nationals will offer complimentary tickets to military service members and their families for...