nationals

Johnson talks after Nats take the series from Rays

June 21, 2012, 8:00pm

After the top of the sixth inning, Davey Johnson walked up to Gio Gonzalez and told him he was done for the night. The Nationals' starter wasn't thrilled with that decision. "Gio worked up a big anger on me," Johnson said with a smile. "And once we got the runs to go ahead, he forgave me." The Rays had tied things up at 2-2 in the top of the sixth. But the Nationals immediately responded, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the frame on Danny Espinosa's two-out double, which served...

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Espinosa comes through in the clutch (Nats win 5-2)

June 21, 2012, 5:37pm

Nationals

Espinosa comes through in the clutch (Nats win 5-2)

Danny Espinosa has gotten a handful of big hits this season. Not many of them have come when he's been hitting left-handed. The dramatic difference in Espinosa's lefty/righty splits has been well-documented, but tonight, the Nationals second baseman came through with a monster hit in the sixth inning, plating two runs with a double to right. And the go-ahead knock came from the left side of the plate. It gave the Nats a 4-2 lead as we go to the seventh, and put Gio Gonzalez in line for the...

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Peralta suspended, Storen to face hitters tomorrow

June 21, 2012, 2:21pm

Nationals

Peralta suspended, Storen to face hitters tomorrow

The Major League Baseball league office has spoken. Joel Peralta has been suspended eight games for having an illegal substance in his glove Tuesday night. The Rays reliever will appeal the suspension, meaning he's still available to be used tonight in the series finale against the Nationals. Peralta faced two hitters last night and retired them both. Keeping on the reliever topic, Nats closer Drew Storen has now thrown a handful of bullpen sessions, the latest of which was yesterday....

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Nationals reliever Cole Kimball to rehab in Hagerstown, DeRosa playing third for P-Nats

June 21, 2012, 2:48pm

Nationals

A club source confirmed that Nationals right-handed reliever Cole Kimball will be reporting to low Single-A Hagerstown on Friday. Kimball had a solid outing with the Gulf Coast League Nationals, going one inning and allowing no runs, one hit and one strikeout on June 19. I visited with several Potomac Nationals today at batting practice in Woodbridge, Va. Shortstop Ricky Hague said he will play short and second with the arrival of shortstop Jason Martinson from Hagerstown. Martinson said he...

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Nady back in lineup, Moore at first (Meyer to play in Futures Game)

June 21, 2012, 11:36am

Nationals

Nady back in lineup, Moore at first (Meyer to play in Futures Game)

Facing Rays lefty Matt Moore, Xavier Nady is back in the Nationals' lineup tonight, playing left field and hitting seventh. The veteran outfielder will look to improve his .143 average on the season. Adam LaRoche will also get a day off, with the right-handed hitting Tyler Moore starting at first base. LaRoche has been nursing an oblique issue for much of the season and also fouled a ball off his right foot a little over a week ago. Against a lefty, manager Davey Johnson apparently feels...

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Detwiler, Wang react to rotation change

June 21, 2012, 1:55pm

Nationals

Ross Detwiler was minding his business before yesterday's game when pitching coach Steve McCatty approached him. McCatty had some news. Detwiler was being reinserted into the Nationals' rotation. "Hey, this is what's going to happen," Detwiler recalls McCatty saying. "Be aggressive." That last word - aggressive - might be the key for the left-hander now that he finds himself back in the starting rotation. In his final two starts before being moved to the bullpen on May 26, Detwiler...

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Don't call him the stopper, but that's what he is

June 20, 2012, 10:52pm

Nationals

Don't call him the stopper, but that's what he is

Stephen Strasburg doesn't want to be referred to as the Nationals' stopper. He's not a fan of that term. Strasburg isn't interested in being painted as the top dog on the Nats' pitching staff, the guy that bails the team out of trouble or stops losing streaks in their tracks. He would prefer to just be labeled one of the guys, one piece of an excellent Nationals rotation that is doing incredibly impressive things this season. The problem for Strasburg is that with each and every start,...

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Nationals' Harper and Lombardozzi showcase bat and glove to topple Rays

June 20, 2012, 7:31pm

Nationals

The Nationals' young tandem of left fielder Steve Lombardozzi and center fielder Bryce Harper haven't had that much time to play together in the outfield, but their defensive play and timely early offense was enough to lift the Nationals past Tampa Bay 3-2, snapping a four-game skid. Might be hard to believe the duo has played all of 69 games in the outfield at the major league level, with 63 starts. Harper has made 45 starts this season with 109 putouts, one assist, one double play and four...

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Dave Nichols: Managers feuding over interpretations of baseball's unwritten rules

June 21, 2012, 7:59am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: Managers feuding over interpretations of baseball's unwritten rules

In Tuesday night's loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Nationals manager Davey Johnson had a simple request of home plate umpire Tim Tschida: Enforce the written rules of baseball. Johnson knew that Rays relief pitcher Joel Peralta "liked a little pine tar" - that is, Peralta hid the sticky stuff in and on his glove in order to help him grip the baseball better and, therefore, have better control over his breaking pitches. Pine tar is one of those classic foreign substances that is specifically...

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Playing within the rules, using strategy to your advantage

June 21, 2012, 7:37am

Nationals

Playing within the rules, using strategy to your advantage

The whole messy affair with Rays reliever Joel Peralta's ejection for toting a glove loaded with pine tar to the mound Tuesday night just won't go away. The subject has been debated for two days now and an interesting war of words between Rays skipper Joe Maddon and Nationals manager Davey Johnson, two renowned baseball scholars, has only fanned the flames. Major League Baseball shares some of the blame, too. If Peralta's glove was confiscated Tuesday night and immediately shipped to MLB...

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Rizzo supports Johnson's decision to have Peralta checked (plus game update)

June 20, 2012, 3:55pm

Nationals

Rizzo supports Johnson's decision to have Peralta checked (plus game update)

In this entry, I'll have quotes from the Nationals general manager, who responded to quotes from the Rays manager, who responded to quotes from the Nationals manager, who responded to quotes from the Rays manager. GloveGate just keeps on going. Shortly after Rays skipper Joe Maddon came down on the Nationals (again), saying that if he was a player, he'd think twice before signing with the Nats after last night's pine tar incident, Rizzo responded to that take. "I don't agree with it,"...

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Nats lean on their "true No. 1" yet again

June 20, 2012, 7:36pm

Nationals

Nats lean on their "true No. 1" yet again

Stephen Strasburg's outing tonight started in a somewhat bizarre fashion. As the Nationals ace was preparing to step onto the mound and throw his first pitch to the Rays' Desmond Jennings, home plate umpire Jeff Nelson came walking out to the mound. After all that went on yesterday with GloveGate, Strasburg assumed that Nelson was going to check his glove for a foreign substance. Turns out, the ump just wanted to see if the ball in Strasburg's hand had been scuffed up on catcher Jesus...

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Clinging to a late-inning lead (Nats win 3-2)

June 20, 2012, 5:19pm

Nationals

Clinging to a late-inning lead (Nats win 3-2)

As Joel Peralta starts to get loose in the Rays bullpen ... Yes. That's actually happening. Peralta still hasn't been suspended yet, and is eligible to pitch tonight. I'm sure his glove is squeaky clean. The Nationals have a 3-2 lead as we go to the eighth inning, even though they haven't recorded a hit since the first. Washington struck for three runs on three hits in that first inning, battering Rays rookie Chris Archer, who looked shaken and uncomfortable. That didn't last long,...

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Rays' Maddon advises future players to reconsider signing with Nats

June 20, 2012, 2:08pm

Nationals

Rays' Maddon advises future players to reconsider signing with Nats

The war of words in Pine Tar Gate escalated following Tuesday's incident where Rays reliever and former Nationals pitcher Joel Peralta was ejected for an "excessive amount of a foreign substance in or around his glove", according to the umpiring crew. The umpires were tipped off when Nationals manager Davey Johnson asked that Peralta's glove be checked for pine tar. Apparently, Davey found out through someone in the Nationals dugout that Peralta may have pine tar in his glove, which is...

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Davey Johnson makes rotation move, fires back at Joe Maddon

June 20, 2012, 1:25pm

Nationals

Davey Johnson makes rotation move, fires back at Joe Maddon

Davey Johnson's 15-minute pregame session with reporters this afternoon sure didn't lack substance. Johnson announced that Chien-Ming Wang will be moved to the bullpen and Ross Detwiler will be inserted into the rotation. He also took aim at Rays manager Joe Maddon, who last night called out Johnson for having Joel Peralta's glove inspected on suspicion of Peralta using a foreign substance. Maddon called Johnson's decision "cowardly", "bush" and even dropped an expletive in there, as...

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Detwiler back in the rotation, Wang to the 'pen

June 20, 2012, 2:31pm

Nationals

Detwiler back in the rotation, Wang to the 'pen

Less than a month ago, Ross Detwiler was bumped from the Nationals' starting rotation after three straight rocky starts. Now, Detwiler finds himself back in the rotation after four straight rocky starts from Chien-Ming Wang. After taking a bit of a verbal swing at Rays manager Joe Maddon this afternoon, Nats manager Davey Johnson announced that Wang will be moved to the bullpen, while Detwiler will again become the Nationals' No. 5 starter. He'll take the mound Sunday when the Nats face...

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Nats lineup vs. Rays rookie Chris Archer

June 20, 2012, 11:34am

Nationals

Nats lineup vs. Rays rookie Chris Archer

In his first major league start, Rays right-hander Chris Archer will get tossed right into a potentially volatile situation. After last night's GloveGate, tensions might be high tonight as the Nationals and Rays meet up in game two of this three-game series. Archer was called up from Triple-A to start tonight after Tampa Bay's original starter, Jeremy Hellickson, was scratched because of a shoulder injury. The 23-year-old Archer came over to the Rays in the Matt Garza deal, and has posted a...

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Nats react to Peralta's pine tar incident

June 19, 2012, 8:59pm

Nationals

Nats react to Peralta's pine tar incident

You've seen the quotes from the Rays' side about the Joel Peralta ejection due to illegal use of pine tar, courtesy of MASNsports.com's Pete Kerzel. Now let's hear from the Nationals. Manager Davey Johnson said postgame that he had gotten word from people within the organization that Peralta (who pitched for the Nats in 2010) is fond of putting pine tar in his glove, which can help create a better grip on the baseball during a hot night like tonight. "He pitched here. I don't think...

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About last night

June 20, 2012, 6:44am

Nationals

Too bad nothing exciting went down in last night's 5-4 Nationals loss to the Rays. All we had was a Nats starter (a two-time 19-game winner, mind you) pitch his way firmly onto the rotation bubble, his competition for the No. 5 starting spot dominant in relief, a former Nationals pitcher get called out as a cheater by someone on his old team, and the Rays manager toss expletives in the direction of the other clubhouse. Just a nice, quiet little Tuesday night interleague game. For what it's...

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Werth possibly ahead of schedule in rehab (plus plenty of injury updates)

June 19, 2012, 1:59pm

Nationals

Werth possibly ahead of schedule in rehab (plus plenty of injury updates)

It's now been more than six weeks since Jayson Werth broke his left wrist while trying to make a sliding catch in a game against the Phillies. The initial timetable on Werth's return was set around 12 weeks, but doctors thought that because they had operated on the outfielder's wrist so quickly after the injury, he might be able to cut as much as three weeks off that estimate. Today, manager Davey Johnson said that Werth is making progress, but still probably is at least a month away from...