nationals

Nats draw big, try out Ramos' younger brother

May 06, 2012, 4:01pm

Check out this gem from Ryan Zimmerman when asked about the strong crowds at Nationals Park for this weekend's series against the Phillies. "I wouldn't have come and watched us a couple years ago, either," he said. "That's the truth. Nobody wants to come watch a team that loses 100 games. "It's their hard-earned money. It's not easy to buy tickets now. As long as we continue to win, the fans will come, and that's what we plan on doing." The fans came this weekend. The Nats have...

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Nats lineup remains the same in series finale

May 06, 2012, 12:42pm

Nationals

Nats lineup remains the same in series finale

As promised, Davey Johnson's lineup for Sunday night's game against the Phillies is exactly the same (minus a different starting pitcher) as the one he put up for yesterday afternoon's contest in which the Nationals pounded out 15 hits. If it ain't broke, don't ... Here's how things will look for the Nats tonight: SS Ian Desmond 3B Steve Lombardozzi LF Bryce Harper RF Jayson Werth 1B Chad Tracy 2B Danny Espinosa CF Rick Ankiel C Wilson Ramos P Jordan Zimmermann

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A total team effort leads to another series win

May 05, 2012, 12:39pm

Nationals

A total team effort leads to another series win

I'm back from the "Nats Xtra" set after quite a fun day of TV work. The members of the crew all were great liars and told me I did a nice job. Dating to last season, the Nationals have now won seven in a row and 11 of their last 13 against the Phillies after today's 7-1 victory. Through the first two games in this series, they out-hit Philadelphia 29-11 and already locked up their eighth series win of the young season with a chance to earn a sweep of their division rivals tomorrow. Yeah,...

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Zimmerman expects to return Tuesday (plus a shameless plug)

May 05, 2012, 8:01am

Nationals

Zimmerman expects to return Tuesday (plus a shameless plug)

You'll have to pardon the lack of updates from me this morning - I'm co-hosting "Nats Xtra" today along with my MASNsports.com colleague Byron Kerr and will be multitasking throughout the day. Tune in to the pregame show starting at 12:30 p.m. and stick around postgame, as well, and you'll see my ugly mug all over your TV screen. Should be fun. Wanted to pass along a quick note on Ryan Zimmerman, who swung at 100 percent force while hitting "flips" today and felt no discomfort in his...

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Ramos' defense starting to become a question mark (Werth delivers, Tracy too)

May 05, 2012, 10:35am

Nationals

Ramos' defense starting to become a question mark (Werth delivers, Tracy too)

Wilson Ramos is regarded as an above-average defensive catcher. He's got a strong arm, is usually sound when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt and has good overall fundamentals behind the plate. So far this season, however, Ramos' defense has left something to be desired. Ramos could have made a grab on Jayson Werth's throw to the plate in the fourth inning, but couldn't hang onto the ball, and Shane Victorino scored the game's first run on a Carlos Ruiz sac fly. Werth's throw...

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Nationals fire on all cylinders in 7-1 victory

May 05, 2012, 11:37am

Nationals

I hate to be the cynic, but every game I expect the Nationals' starting pitcher to falter, not due to a lack of talent or anything sinister, it just simply has to happen some time. Fortunately, Nats fans, today was not that day. As he has done all season, Gio Gonzalez was dominant, stifling a Phillies lineup that mustered just four hits and one run in seven innings against Washington's left-hander. Gonzalez's seven strikeouts and one walk, combined with three home runs by the offense,...

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Nats lineup for Saturday's matinee against Phillies

May 05, 2012, 6:30am

Nationals

Nats lineup for Saturday's matinee against Phillies

The Nationals were resilient Friday night against the Phillies, clawing out an 11-inning, 4-3 win against a key divisional foe. Their reward for such a victory? How about a 1 p.m. start time for Saturday. That's just what we have here today as the Nats and Phillies will partake in a little day baseball with Gio Gonzalez getting the start for the home team. Vance Worley will pitch for the Phillies. SS Desmond 3B Lombardozzi LF Harper RF Werth 1B Tracy 2B Espinosa CF Ankiel C Ramos P ...

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2012 Potomac Nationals roster features potential offensive stars

April 04, 2012, 10:34am

Nationals

The Single-A Potomac Nationals announced their roster for the 2012 season, highlighted by the No. 6 overall selection, third baseman Anthony Rendon. "I love this group of guys," Rendon said. "You got a lot of great players here. I grew up playing with a lot of these guys and also in college. They tore us up when we played them. I just know what they can do and when they come out here it is going to be even better." In years past, the P-Nats had been heavy with pitchers, but this season...

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A good atmosphere, a better result

May 04, 2012, 9:11pm

Nationals

Davey Johnson likes to say that he doesn't view any one game as more important than the rest. It's a long season, and a game in May means just as much in the standings as a win in September. But the Nationals skipper also acknowledges that games against the Phillies have a little bit of a different vibe to them. The crowd is more animated, the game feels tighter and a win, like tonight's 4-3 walk-off victory, tastes maybe just a little bit sweeter. "They kind of have a bigger feeling...

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Wild ride ends in 4-3 walk-off win

May 04, 2012, 8:26pm

Nationals

If the other 17 games between the Phillies and Nationals this season have anywhere close to as much excitement as the first, we should be in for quite a year. Tonight's game featured just three umpires, a manager (Charlie Manuel) ejected in the first inning, the potential game-winning run (Rick Ankiel) thrown out at the plate, 11 innings, four errors, 14 Nats runners left on base, and, by the end, very empty benches. In the end, the Nationals escaped with a 4-3 walk-off win, thanks to Wilson...

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Wang sharp, picks up victory in rehab start; Twins claim Komatsu

May 04, 2012, 7:04pm

Nationals

Wang sharp, picks up victory in rehab start; Twins claim Komatsu

Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang allowed two runs - one earned - on three hits in six innings tonight on an injury rehabilitation start for Single-A Hagerstown against Rome, a Braves affiliate. Wang, who is on the disabled list and rehabbing a hamstring injury sustained in spring training, was scheduled to start Thursday night for Double-A Harrisburg. But he was scratched from the assignment after a lengthy rain delay, and started tonight for Hagerstown instead. He struck out seven and walked...

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Baserunning error costs Nats in sixth (Nats walk off with 4-3 win)

May 04, 2012, 5:26pm

Nationals

Baserunning error costs Nats in sixth (Nats walk off with 4-3 win)

The Nationals have left runners on base a host of ways tonight, and trail 3-2 as we go to the seventh. Jayson Werth grounded into a 6-4-3 double play in the first inning, ending the inning and stranding two runners. Rick Ankiel was caught stealing in the second inning, ending the frame. In the third, Werth struck out with the bases loaded to blow that chance. The Nats then had runners at the corners in the fourth, but Stephen Strasburg struck out and Ian Desmond lined out to spoil an...

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Johnson: "We've got an attitude, I don't know about Natitude"

May 04, 2012, 1:42pm

Nationals

Johnson: "We've got an attitude, I don't know about Natitude"

The first thing people attending tonight's Phillies-Nationals game will notice when they grab their seat is that the stadium - for the weekend, at least - is no longer called Nationals Park. A giant banner above the scoreboard in right-center has been unfurled which reads: "Natitude Park". The Nationals have made this series against the Phillies a center of their "Natitude" marketing campaign this season, combined with the much-publicized "Take Back the Park" crusade. For the most...

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Johnson explains Moore's lack of playing time (Strasburg touched up)

May 04, 2012, 3:44pm

Nationals

Johnson explains Moore's lack of playing time (Strasburg touched up)

A seemingly large segment of the fan base has questioned - rather vocally, I might add - manager Davey Johnson's decision to play Chad Tracy and Xavier Nady, among others, over power-hitting rookie Tyler Moore. For what it's worth, handful of beat writers that cover the team have wondered why Moore hasn't gotten more playing time since his promotion to the big leagues Sunday, as well. Today, Johnson discussed his rationale for sitting Moore (who has just four at-bats since making his major...

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Rosenbaum, Lehman part of Harrisburg pitching surge

May 04, 2012, 4:26pm

Nationals

Rosenbaum, Lehman part of Harrisburg pitching surge

The Double-A Harrisburg Senators' pitching staff has been focused and locked in from the beginning of the season, according to pitching coach Paul Menhart. "It is a great group, they work hard and look to get better every day, it has shown in the way they have been pitching early on," Menhart said. The proof is in the statistics. The staff boasts a 3.11 ERA and leads the Eastern League with 219 strikeouts. They have allowed only 86 earned runs in 27 games. Their 1.25 WHIP is third best in...

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Detwiler continues to make Nats' brass look smart

May 03, 2012, 7:19pm

Nationals

Detwiler continues to make Nats' brass look smart

Davey Johnson named Ross Detwiler tonight's "star of the game" after the left-hander allowed just one run over 6 1/3 innings in the Nationals' win over the Diamondbacks. Told of this development in the Nats' clubhouse, Detwiler cracked a smile. "I got the star?" he said. "Really? Over Bryce? All right." Bryce Harper might have driven in the game-winning run with an opposite-field double in the sixth, but it was Detwiler's strong outing that helped the Nationals take the rubber game...

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Here come the Phillies

May 04, 2012, 6:31am

Nationals

Months from now, when we find ourselves in September and playoff races are coming down to the wire, we likely won't remember this weekend's three-game series between the Nationals and Phillies as anything too significant. There are just too many games between now and then, too many opportunities for momentum to swing and the fate of these teams' seasons to be shaped. But today, as the Nats prepare to welcome their division rivals into town for the squads' first meeting of the season, this...

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Mariano Rivera's injury causes Nats to ban "power shagging"

May 04, 2012, 2:53pm

Nationals

Mariano Rivera's injury causes Nats to ban "power shagging"

Gio Gonzalez turns into a kid during batting practice. He sprints around in the outfield, aggressively shagging fly balls and jumping in front of other pitchers to make acrobatic grabs. The normally reserved Stephen Strasburg even gets in on the act, as he tries to outposition Gonzalez for balls hit in his area. But Gonzalez and Strasburg - or any of the other Nats pitchers, for that matter - won't be "power shagging" anymore. After hearing that Yankees closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL...

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Friday night's Nationals lineup

May 04, 2012, 12:10pm

Nationals

The Nationals open a three-game series against the Phillies tonight with a 7:05 p.m. game. Here's Washington's lineup for the opener, which pits Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick against the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg. Bryce Harper, who was moved to third in the lineup Thursday against the Diamondbacks, is back in the same spot in the batting order tonight. SS - Ian Desmond 3B - Steve Lombardozzi LF - Bryce Harper RF - Jayson Werth 1B - Chad Tracy 2B - Danny Espinosa CF - Rick Ankiel C -...

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LaRoche, Wang updates plus final clubhouse quotes

May 03, 2012, 8:09pm

Nationals

LaRoche, Wang updates plus final clubhouse quotes

The Nationals expect Adam LaRoche to miss a couple days due to right oblique soreness, which the first baseman began feeling during Wednesday's game after diving for a ball. LaRoche, who leads the Nationals in home runs and RBIs, says that the positive news is that team doctors don't believe the muscle is torn. The negative news is that he'll need to rest the oblique to make sure the muscle heals. If it's just soreness of the oblique, LaRoche could return sooner rather than later. A...