nationals

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

May 05, 2012, 10:35am

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...

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Marty Niland: Our park? We'll see

May 03, 2012, 8:15pm

Nationals

It's showtime for the Nationals and their fans. While the atmosphere in the stands at Nationals Park has been more tepid than the team's play on the field for the most part, all of that will change this weekend when the Philadelphia Phillies arrive for the first big division showdown of the year. The action on the field is likely to be intense, but both cities - and a national TV audience Sunday night - will also be paying close attention to the crowd. That's because the Nationals...

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Harper does it again, going opposite field and guiding Nats past D-backs

May 03, 2012, 7:22pm

Nationals

Harper does it again, going opposite field and guiding Nats past D-backs

You might want to see this. Every night, the starters go six innings-plus. And ever since the 19-year old has been called up, something very interesting happens. Thursday, it happened again. Left fielder Bryce Harper crushed an opposite-field RBI double to break a 1-1 tie and give the Nationals a 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. The pitching staff held the lead. Thanks to Ross Detwiler and the outstanding bullpen, the Nationals have won their 16th game and seventh series of the...

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Nats swiftly dispose of D-backs in 2-1 win

May 03, 2012, 5:33pm

Nationals

Nats swiftly dispose of D-backs in 2-1 win

With Ross Detwiler and Ian Kennedy both dealing tonight, this game moved along at a crisp pace. And thanks to their red-hot fifth starter (yeah, it's still tough to believe Detwiler is really a fifth starter), the Nationals earned a second straight win over the Diamondbacks, this one by a 2-1 count. Detwiler went 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He didn't allow a runner to reach scoring position until the sixth inning, and now has a...

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No no-no for Detwiler, but lefty is cruising (updated twice)

May 03, 2012, 4:27pm

Nationals

No no-no for Detwiler, but lefty is cruising (updated twice)

I honestly feel like there's a decent chance a Nationals starter throws a no-hitter this season. All five guys currently in the rotation have legit no-hit ability, and the way these guys keep one-upping each other, it almost seems like it's only a matter of time until one of them finds a zone and holds an opponent hitless. That night won't be tonight, however. Ross Detwiler held the Diamondbacks without a hit for 4 1/3 innings tonight, but Ryan Roberts' single to left ended any hopes of...