nationals

As consistent as they come

May 08, 2013, 9:01pm

Let's have fun with some numbers for a bit. Factoring in his outing last night in a win against the Tigers, Jordan Zimmermann has a 1.59 ERA this season, which ranks fourth in the majors behind just Matt Harvey, Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander. Pretty good company, if you ask me. Zimmermann has a 0.82 WHIP, which ranks third in the bigs, and his six wins ties for the most in the league. He has six quality starts (defined as at least six innings of work and no more than three earned...

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Rachel Levitin: Scouting the perfect seating locations at Nationals Park

May 09, 2013, 5:49am

Nationals

The Nats are looking good right now. They're coming off a three-game win streak with Jordan Zimmermann holding his own as team anchor and the under-.500 Chicago Cubs coming into town for a three-game series for Mother's Day weekend. With warmer temperatures on the way, school wrapping up for the kids and summer truly around the corner, now's the time to get to the ballpark ... or at least that's what my friends keep telling me. I'm at the ballpark often enough, catching games and writing...

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The stellar starts keep coming from Jordan Zimmermann (Nats win 3-1)

May 08, 2013, 6:06pm

Nationals

The stellar starts keep coming from Jordan Zimmermann (Nats win 3-1)

OK, so it wasn't a complete-game one-hitter. He didn't allow just two baserunners over eight innings. But Jordan Zimmermann turned in another gem tonight, and he did it against arguably the most dangerous offensive team in baseball. Zimmermann went seven innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. He walked two, struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 1.59. Over his last three starts, against the Reds, Braves and Tigers - all potent lineups - Zimmermann has allowed just one run on 10...

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Nationals reverse rainout ticket policy (updated)

May 08, 2013, 1:36pm

Nationals

After getting some pushback from fans, the Nationals have announced that they've reverted to their previous rainout ticket policy and will allow all fans who purchased tickets to Tuesday night's postponed game against the Tigers the option to exchange their tickets for any remaining regular or value home game this season, subject to availability. Following Tuesday night's rainout, the Nationals had initially sent a release stating that those with tickets for Tuesday night's game would be...

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With another win, Nationals feel like they're closer to turning the corner

May 08, 2013, 8:00pm

Nationals

During some rough patches in April, Nationals players and coaches kept saying it was early in the season and things would turn around. The mild frustration started to become a little more palpable as the team lost games and the offense had trouble with its consistency. But all that time, the Nationals stayed close to the .500 mark. And in the last week, that patience has started to pay off. With Wednesday's 3-1 win over Detroit, the Nationals have won three in a row and five of their last...

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Zimmermann's streak comes to an end (Harper homers)

May 08, 2013, 5:00pm

Nationals

Zimmermann's streak comes to an end (Harper homers)

Miguel Cabrera's incredibly impressive start to the season continues. Jordan Zimmermann's incredibly impressive scoreless innings streak comes to an end. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on Cabrera's RBI single to left, scoring Torii Hunter. Cabrera now has 37 RBIs on the season, best in the majors, and he's now batting .387, also tops in the big leagues. He's decent, I guess. That run is the first one Zimmermann has allowed in more than 20 innings. The...

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Johnson: Garcia closer to pitching in games

May 08, 2013, 1:30pm

Nationals

Johnson: Garcia closer to pitching in games

Right-hander Christian Garcia has continued to make progress at extended spring training in his recovery from a partially torn tendon in his right forearm. According to manager Davey Johnson, Garcia could be less than two weeks from a rehab assignment. "He has been throwing off the mound quite a bit," said Johnson. "Mostly the reports I have been getting is (he is throwing) fastball, changeup, tomorrow he will mix in curveballs. After he does that, he will throw to hitters (in) batting...

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Some of this, some of that

May 08, 2013, 5:18am

Nationals

File this in the "things you don't see every day" department: Braves closer Craig Kimbrel allowed back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning last night against the Reds, leading to a 5-4 Atlanta loss. Kimbrel allowed just three home runs all of last season, surrendered just seven total earned runs and blew three saves in 45 chances. This season, the flame-throwing right-hander has already allowed three homers, five earned runs and has blown three saves in 13 chances. After their ridiculous...

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Johnson can see LaRoche and Zimmerman starting to get on roll again

May 07, 2013, 1:31pm

Nationals

Johnson can see LaRoche and Zimmerman starting to get on roll again

Manager Davey Johnson likes to walk lightly around Adam LaRoche when he is struggling. He knows the veteran can work out his issues at the plate on his own, with a tweak here or there. Johnson, being a former major league hitter himself, has tremendous respect for LaRoche and his ability to be able to self-correct at the plate. But Johnson recently decided to have a little talk with LaRoche and it seems to have paid dividends quickly. Over the last four games, LaRoche has gone 5-for-10 with...

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Harper discusses lack of fine, plus some post-postponement quotes

May 07, 2013, 1:46pm

Nationals

Harper discusses lack of fine, plus some post-postponement quotes

Bryce Harper got word from the Major League Baseball office that he hasn't been fined for Sunday's incident in which he was ejected in the first inning after arguing a call with third base umpire John Hirschbeck. Hirschbeck ejected Harper after he determined that the Nationals' outfielder "slammed" his bat and helmet to the ground. You can see one look at the exchange between Harper and Hirschbeck

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David Huzzard: Stephen Strasburg and approach versus results

May 08, 2013, 5:13am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Stephen Strasburg and approach versus results

Stay within yourself, don't try and do too much, and let the game come to you are all baseball clichÃƒÂ©s Nationals fans have become accustomed to over the early part of the 2013 season. They aren't easy concepts to understand until you see players not doing it. Up until the recent 7-4 run, the Nats weren't doing any of these things and were quite a frustrating team to watch. In baseball, approach is much more important than results and many Nats players had poor approaches at the...

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Tigers-Nats game postponed, to be made up Thursday (with Harper note)

May 07, 2013, 1:00pm

Nationals

Tigers-Nats game postponed, to be made up Thursday (with Harper note)

Tonight's Tigers-Nationals game has been postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up Thursday at 4:05 p.m. It's not currently raining here at Nationals Park, but a strong cell is supposed to come through the D.C. area tonight. Rather than starting tonight's game and having both teams use their starting pitcher only to then go into a delay, the game has been pre-emptively called. Both the Nationals and Tigers had an off-day scheduled for Thursday, so that day was an easy choice...

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More on Harper and a tough matchup ahead

May 07, 2013, 5:55am

Nationals

More on Harper and a tough matchup ahead

At the risk of continuing the conversation about Bryce Harper's ejection for yet another day and annoying the heck out of those who want to move on, here's a view of the incident that I hadn't yet seen. This view shows Harper as he "slammed" his bat and helmet to the ground. I put "slammed" in quotes because that's the term that third base umpire John Hirschbeck used when explaining his decision to eject Harper after the game. "I was actually just being nice," Hirschbeck told a...

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Heading home and heating up

May 06, 2013, 3:17am

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - I've managed to make it through a two-city road trip without losing my cell phone charger, which for me is a remarkable feat. I'm quite proud of myself, if you couldn't already tell. The Nationals have reason to be proud of themselves, as well. They finish this road trip, one which started with two more tough losses to the Braves, by winning four of their last five and scoring at least five runs in consecutive games for the first time since April 10-11. Yup, it had been...

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Ted Leavengood: Winning a championship, one series at a time

May 07, 2013, 2:55am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: Winning a championship, one series at a time

There was too much Sterling Marte and A.J. Burnett in Pittsburgh, too little Bryce Harper. Yet the Nationals still looked like the better team when all was said and done. The Pirates are capable of beating anyone. They won their series against the Nationals in 2012 and recently swept the Atlanta Braves. Pittsburgh has an obvious weakness in their bullpen, however. They lead the league in bases on balls and a good team will exploit that. On Saturday night, the Nats' veteran hitters took the...

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Comments from Hirschbeck, Johnson, Harper on Harper's ejection

May 05, 2013, 2:17pm

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - The Nationals beat the Pirates 6-2 this afternoon, taking two of three from Pittsburgh and wrapping up a winning road trip. Danny Espinosa drove in three, Tyler Moore hit a three-run homer in the eighth and Gio Gonzalez bounced back from a rough first inning to throw six solid innings. The highlight we'll see all over the national TV highlight reels tonight, however, will involve Bryce Harper, who was ejected in the first inning for arguing a checked swing that was ruled a third...

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Getting Nationals starters to go distance becoming Johnson's strategy

May 05, 2013, 6:21pm

Nationals

The Nationals' offense is certainly not where it wants to be. But it is making progress. One way to achieve the consistency it needs for the team to be a contender is for every player in the lineup to be healthy at the same time. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman returned Friday but now right fielder Jayson Werth is suffering from hamstring tightness. Werth hopes to be back in the lineup when the two-game series with the Tigers opens up Tuesday at Nationals Park. But the biggest trend recently...

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Marty Niland: Veterans, bench finally getting into the swing of things

May 05, 2013, 6:45pm

Nationals

Marty Niland: Veterans, bench finally getting into the swing of things

It's not conventional wisdom for a major league team to "get healthy" on the road, and even less conventional for it to happen against a hot team, but that's just what seems to have happened to the Nationals as they wrapped up their 4-3 road trip. In Pittsburgh, where the Nats have not won a series since 2010, the Nats took two games from a Pirates team that had won six of nine, including a series win over St. Louis. And they did it behind several players whose contributions this season...

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Hearing from Espinosa, Moore, Gonzalez and more after Nats' 6-2 win

May 05, 2013, 3:00pm

Nationals

Hearing from Espinosa, Moore, Gonzalez and more after Nats' 6-2 win

PITTSBURGH - Seven batters into today's game, the Nationals looked to be heading for a disastrous conclusion to their seven-game road trip. Bryce Harper had already been ejected. Gio Gonzalez's first pitch of the game had been crushed into the left field seats by Starling Marte, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Ryan Zimmerman committed his fifth throwing error of the season. Gonzalez had the bases full with Pirates and nobody out. Things could've gotten out of hand in a hurry. Instead,...

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Moore makes the Bucs pay (Nats win 6-2)

May 05, 2013, 12:26pm

Nationals

PITTSBURGH - Given the way Adam LaRoche has been swinging the bat the last few days, and the way Tyler Moore has struggled to put the bat on the ball the last couple days, you can't really blame the Pirates for intentionally walking LaRoche to get to Moore with first base open in the top of the eighth inning. Just like yesterday, Moore was off to a rough start today, striking out in all three at-bats this afternoon, all three looking. But after falling behind in the count 0-2 with two...