Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg notched his fourth win of the season with a nine-strikeout six-inning performance against the Rangers on Friday night in a 9-2 victory.
It did not start off well for Strasburg, however. In the second, the Rangers scored two runs with two outs. Strasburg allowed three hits in the inning and committed a fielding error, leading to two unearned runs.
"It was a good win for us," Strasburg said. "I ... had the little hiccup there in the second inning, but...
After a seven-day stretch where not much went right for the Nationals, a lot went their way tonight.
The Nats pounded out 15 hits and scored nine runs. Stephen Strasburg put an early fielding error and two unearned runs behind him and delivered six strong innings. Drew Storen and Blake Treinen combined to throw three scoreless frames. Tyler Moore had his first pinch-hit of the season. Wilson Ramos showed signs that he's continuing to heat up, as did Nate McLouth.
The end result was a badly...
Looks like Ryan Zimmerman might be back with the Nationals within a matter of days.
Zimmerman will start a rehab assignment with high Single-A Potomac tonight, the Nationals announced. Zimmerman will DH for the P-Nats and bat third.
This comes two days after Zimmerman was put through a fairly strenuous workout at Nats Park in which he took live batting practice for the first time since landing on the disabled list with a fractured left thumb on April 13.
Zimmerman also took ground balls at...
Friday marked the first visit to Nationals Park for the Texas Rangers since June 2008, when they won two out of three games against the Nationals. The last time the Nationals played in Arlington, Texas, was 2005. The three games in D.C. this season will be their only regular season meeting.
Texas has won three of four in consecutive series against the Tigers and the Twins. The Nationals have lost six of their last seven games. The Rangers are 0-2 in interleague play on the road.
The Rangers got...
Nationals manager Matt Williams today offered some intriguing insight about how he puts together a lineup and how he decides who goes into pitch in the late innings.
He said a lot of lineup decisions can be made by how the team is playing, especially when they are struggling. If they were on a winning streak, for instance, players like Ian Desmond or Jayson Werth might have already taken a day off or more.
"It's communication with those guys and talking with them and saying, 'Hey, I am...
Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, on the 15-day disabled list with a right thumb fracture, went to high Single-A Potomac on Friday night for a rehab game. Manager Matt Williams said Zimmerman will be the designated hitter.
"He has got to get some at-bats," Williams said. "He hasn't hit live. The field BP was great the other day. Did it again yesterday. Took some grounders at third yesterday. He took grounders at first the day before. Certainly been doing all the stuff in the outfield....
Browse the Nationals' individual offensive numbers this season, and it'll take you a bit to get to Nate McLouth's name.
In pretty much any major category, go past Jayson Werth and Denard Span and Anthony Rendon. Keep skimming down the page past Wilson Ramos and the struggling Danny Espinosa.
Eventually, you'll find McLouth, who sports a lowly .182 batting average and a .582 OPS on the season.
But those numbers don't tell the whole story of how McLouth has performed over the season's first...
The Nationals announced today that Tuesday's postponed game against the Marlins has been rescheduled for Sept. 26.
The game will be played at 1:05 p.m. as part of a split doubleheader.
Fans with tickets to the originally scheduled game against Miami on May 27 may use their original tickets on Sept. 26 for the 1:05 p.m. game, or they can exchange them for any 2014 regular season "regular" or "value" game.
Because of the postponement on Tuesday, the Nats and Marlins will now be playing...
Nationals manager Matt Williams had another positive update on the status of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who has been out with a right thumb fracture. Zimmerman went through batting practice Wednesday and even had former Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez throwing to him.
"Today is a stepping stone for him," Williams said. "He got on the field for live BP. Took a lot of swings. He also took grounders today. That is a big step. We will see how he feels tomorrow. And what his body feels...
Following Tuesday's rainout, Wednesday's game turned into the series finale between the Nationals and Marlins. Prior to Monday, the three game set would have decided second place in the National League East in late May. Now that the series has been reduced to a pair of games and the Nationals dropped the opener Monday night 3-2, it is important they get a split before Miami leaves town.
Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann did a nice job of working around two hits in the first innings thanks to a...
Nationals right-hander Blake Treinen could see work out of the bullpen in the next couple of games after his start was rained out Tuesday, according to manager Matt Williams.
Treinen said he is happy with any arrangement, as long as he gets a shot at pitching.
"I am here to help in any way I can," Treinen said. "If the game gets delayed, I will throw in my next opportunity and I will make the most of it."
But on Wednesday, the Nationals used six relievers in their marathon 10-inning 8-5...
Left fielder Nate McLouth tied a career-high with four hits in the Nationals' 8-5 loss to the Marlins in 10 innings.
"It was nice, because I have been grinding," McLouth said. "It is really nice to come through for your team at the plate a little bit and certainly is a chance to exhale a little bit.
"Staying confident and positive. I don't think you remain confident all the time, but at least staying positive when you are in the box and just knowing that sooner or later it will turn...
The May 27 Nationals-Marlins game at Nationals Park has been rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Friday, September 26, with the make-up game beginning at 1:05 p.m. All gates for the second regularly scheduled 7:05 p.m. game on September 26 will open 1.5 hours after the last out of the 1:05 p.m. game or 6:00 p.m., whichever is later.* The two games against the Marlins on September 26 will require separate admission.
Fans with game tickets to the May 27 postponed contest may use their...
Let's quickly bounce through a few topics on the morning of the Nationals' much-needed off-day.
First, if you didn't happen to see my report on last night's "Nats Xtra" pregame show about left-handed prospect Matt Purke needing Tommy John and the rash of elbow injuries that we've seen in the game recently, check it out.
The number of Tommy John surgeries that have already been needed this season is staggering, and unfortunately for teams (and for the game as a whole, really), it...
The trade deadline is a little over two months away, and as with anything in baseball when there is a deadline, nothing will happen until it is upon us. With the Nationals two games under .500 and falling further out of the playoff race every day, the question of if the Nats are going to be sellers at the trade deadline should be asked, and if they are a seller, who could go?
The most obvious candidates to be traded are the veterans in the last year of guaranteed club control: Adam LaRoche,...
The positive is that the Nationals battled back from a four-run deficit and squared tonight's game with the Marlins, giving themselves a chance to earn a big comeback win.
The negative is that once the game was tied, the Nats squandered a couple of golden opportunities, left 15 men on base in all, and leave Nationals Park with a tough 8-4 loss in 10 innings.
Here's manager Matt Williams after the loss:
On how frustrating it was to not score in the eighth after loading the bases with nobody...
Manager Matt Williams will use the same lineup against the Marlins he intended to use for Tuesday's game before the rainout.
The only difference is Jordan Zimmermann will take the mound for the Nationals, while Blake Treinen has been moved to the bullpen after having his spot skipped.
Kevin Frandsen will get the start at second while Danny Espinosa will be on the bench.
For the Nats
CF Denard Span
3B Anthony Rendon
RF Jayson Werth
1B Adam LaRoche
C Wilson Ramos
SS Ian Desmond
2B...
Once a game begins, if there's a rain delay, the umpires have control over the decision-making when it comes to how long the delay will last and if the game will be postponed.
Prior to first pitch, however, that decision rests with the home team.
Last night, the Nationals could have decided to try and wait out a heavy rain, sitting through a lengthy delay and then attempting to play the second game of a three-game set against the Marlins.
Instead of doing that, however, the Nats opted to...
The Marlins-Nationals game for Tuesday night has been postponed due to inclement weather. No makeup date has been set.
Manager Matt Williams should be available to update this week's pitching matchups, so stay tuned here.
Tuesday's matchup was intended to be right-hander Blake Treinen facing Marlins right-hander Henderson Alvarez, and Wednesday's pitching matchup was supposed to be right-hander Jordan Zimmermann versus the Marlins Tom Koehler.
Update: Williams announced that Zimmermann...
Tuesday night's rainout that left a game postponed between the Nationals and Miami Marlins gave a lackluster D.C. offense a night off from its recent mediocrity. No matter the combination manager Matt Williams attempts to string together this season, a list of injuries to key pieces of the Nats' offensive puzzle is plaguing this team.
June is days away, the starting rotation is down a solid lefty with Gio Gonzalez on the disabled list and there's no set timeline regarding third baseman...



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