Broken Nose.
Black Eye.
Swelling around the eye.
Seven Innings of shutout baseball?
No problem if you're Max Scherzer.
One of those ailments would have been enough of an excuse for lesser pitchers to ask for the day off or skip a start.
Not Scherzer. Ever.
The right-hander kept the Phillies at arm's length for 21 outs, allowing only four hits, as the Nationals completed the doubleheader sweep with a 2-0 win.
Brian Dozier smacked his second homer on the day to give the Nats the early lead in...
Left-hander Patrick Corbin bounced back from a run of rough starts with the help of a newly reunited former teammate, center fielder Gerardo Parra, in the Nationals' 6-2 win over the Phillies in game one of a Wednesday doubleheader at Nats Park.
Parra, who played his first game for the Nats May 10, went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, a run scored and two RBIs. He also made the defensive play of the game - a barehanded play on a single towards him in center field - that he picked up and nailed...
The Nationals waited 48 hours to take the field again, but Patrick Corbin had to wait a full eight days to take the mound again after a rocky start in Chicago that left the left-hander searching for an answer to his wayward command.
With an extra day of rest between starts, then back-to-back rainouts to sit through, Corbin had far too much time to contemplate his woes and try to formulate a plan to get himself back on track against a tough Phillies lineup.
"I thought I was going to have to...
When his pitching days are over and the countdown to Cooperstown begins, Max Scherzer will look back at a handful of starts that defined his career. He'll remember the two no-hitters. He'll remember the 20-strikeout game. He'll remember the time he became the first major leaguer in three decades to begin a season 13-0.
And he'll remember "The Black Eye Game," the game in which the right-hander took the mound with a huge shiner surrounding his right eye after he broke his nose during a...
Despite a broken nose and a black eye, Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer went ahead with his start Wednesday night in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Jean Segura singled to lead off the first inning. But Scherzer got the next three batters out, including Rhys Hoskins, who took a called third strike.
Brad Miller singled with two outs in the second inning, but Scherzer induced a fly out to left field by Andrew Knapp to end the frame.
Scherzer struck out two...
FREDERICK, Md. - When you are good enough to play elite Division I collegiate baseball in the Southeastern Conference, there is always a chance your paths will cross in the professional ranks.
That is the case for a pair of minor league players on the Nationals' farm, Cole Freeman and Nick Banks. The duo got the opportunity to play against each other as opponents in college, in the SEC.
Now they are teammates in for the high Single-A Potomac Nationals.
Tuesday night in Frederick, Md., the pair...
They got through the opener of today's doubleheader without incident, the skies remaining clear and the field dry throughout the Nationals' 6-2 win over the Phillies. Now they're hoping for similar good fortune in the nightcap of this day-night doubleheader. The forecast has steadily improved throughout the day, though there does remain a chance of rain later tonight.
The Nats are confident enough in the forecast to send Max Scherzer to the mound, broken nose, black eye and all. Talk about...
If the Nationals play tonight, they expect Max Scherzer to take the mound, broken nose, black eye and all.
"I am convinced right now that Scherzer is going to pitch the second game," manager Davey Martinez said this morning before the opener of the Nationals' scheduled day-night doubleheader with the Phillies. "And then we'll go from there."
Scherzer broke his nose when he fouled off a bunt attempt Tuesday during batting practice. He was checked out by doctors, got a clean bill of health...
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin has been desperately looking for a solution for a recent rough patch. The left-hander has not won a game since May 25, looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
Corbin was able to get started well, inducing a pair of flyouts to Jean Segura and Bryce Harper. But Scott Kingery got a hold of a 1-2 83 mph Corbin slider over the left field wall for his ninth homer of the season to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
The Nats quickly tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom...
Hey, let's give this another try, shall we? After waiting out Monday night's rain only to postpone the game, then after waiting out Tuesday night's rain only to postpone the game, the Nationals and Phillies are theoretically going to play a day-night doubleheader today. I say theoretically, because today's forecast is even worse, and it's going to be this way all day and all night.
But they have to at least give it a shot, so first pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Patrick Corbin...
FREDERICK, Md. - Potomac Nationals right fielder Nick Banks arrived at the high Single-A All-Star break on a hot streak.
Nothing has changed after the Carolina League All-Star Classic.
Banks hit a three-run opposite-field home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Northern Division All-Stars to a dramatic, come-from-behind 8-7 win over the Southern All-Stars at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove stadium. The right fielder connected on a first-pitch 80 mph slider off Myrtle Beach...
Max Scherzer suffered a broken nose earlier today on an errant bunt attempt during batting practice, and his status for Wednesday's scheduled start against the Phillies is to be determined, the Nationals announced this evening.
Scherzer was taking BP on the field this afternoon when he bunted a ball that caromed up and struck him in the face. The right-hander returned to the clubhouse alongside director of athletic training Paul Lessard, with blood visible around his nose, and retreated to the...
The Nationals aren't announcing their pitching plan for Wednesday's doubleheader just yet, for multiple reasons. Including the suddenly unknown status of their ace after he bunted a ball off his face today.
Max Scherzer, presumed to be starting one of the games of the day-night doubleheader against the Phillies, was taking batting practice on the field this afternoon when he bunted a ball that then struck his face. The right-hander returned to the clubhouse alongside director of athletic...
FREDERICK, Md. - The Single-A Potomac Nationals have four players on the active roster for the Northern Division All-Stars in tonight's Carolina League All-Star Classic.
P-Nats second baseman Cole Freeman, a fourth-round selection from 2017 out of LSU, is thrilled to be selected for tonight's contest. He is starting at second base and batting seventh in the lineup.
"It's a massive honor," Freeman said. "When you break spring training, this is one of the goals as a player you have....
There is at least a 40 percent chance of rain in Washington every hour between 7 p.m. tonight and 11 p.m. Wednesday. The Nationals and Phillies, of course, are attempting to play three ballgames during that window. We'll see how that all works out.
For now, we'll just focus on trying to get one game played tonight. The long-awaited series opener between these teams features the same lineups and pitching matchup that were intended to be used last night.
That means Patrick Corbin again will...
The Nationals didn't want to postpone Monday night's series opener against the Phillies. They'd have much rather played as scheduled and not waited out a nearly 3-hour rain delay before calling it and rescheduling a day-night doubleheader for Wednesday.
But after waiting through that interminable delay, one that included several rounds of rain but also several rounds of clear skies, the Nats were left with little choice but to postpone. And that means they've now got some tricky pitching...
Left-hander Tim Cate has been promoted from low Single-A Hagerstown to high Single-A Potomac. The 2018 second-round selection out of UConn has gone 4-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 13 starts this season, striking out 73 and walking only 13 in 70 1/3 innings. Here is my sit-down with Cate from spring training, which focused on building from his lower half.
"Cate has made tremendous strides from last year to this year with his development of all three pitches, fastballs have been commanded better,...
The Nationals have agreed to terms with 2019 first-round draft pick right-handed pitcher Jackson Rutledge out of San Jacinto North junior college.
The 6-foot-8, 250-pound, starter finished his sophomore season at San Jacinto with a 9-2 record and a 0.87 ERA. He struck out 134, walked 30 and had four complete games in 13 starts, and pitched 82 2/3 innings total. He surrendered one homer the whole season.
Monday was his first visit to D.C., and he agreed to become a Washington National,...
They waited through a couple early, quick downpours. Then they waited through an hour of dry skies with patches of blue above South Capitol Street. But once another downpour struck the area nearly two hours after scheduled first pitch and rain continued to fall for another hour, the Nationals postponed tonight's series opener against the Phillies.
The two teams will play a split doubleheader Wednesday, with the makeup game starting at 1:05 p.m. and the regularly scheduled game starting at 7:05...
The last time the Phillies were in D.C., the story was all Bryce Harper all the time. Harper's first series at Nationals Park as a visiting player was a major event, and the negative reception he got from Nats fans made for quite a scene.
Now as Harper returns for the second of three trips to Washington this season, the focus seemingly has shifted away from the slugger and toward these two teams as a whole. This is a big series, no matter Harper's presence. Fans may continue to boo him, but...



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