nationals

Doolittle looks for more emotion from Nats in second half

July 20, 2018, 3:52am

Monday night, Nationals fans and the world saw Bryce Harper pump up the crowd, get charged up during his home run hitting barrage and then show genuine emotion during the postgame news conference following an electric late comeback to win the 2018 Home Run Derby in Washington, D.C. Many felt that display of emotion looked like the Harper they saw from 2012 to 2017, where he showed a youthful exuberance and energy every game. That way of playing the game defined the personality of his team and...

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Game 97 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Strasburg, Zimmerman active)

July 20, 2018, 11:30am

Nationals

Game 97 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Strasburg, Zimmerman active)

And away we go again. The second half of the season commences tonight, with the Nationals hosting the Braves for a big three-game series. Then again, every series is going to be big the rest of the way, with the Nats needing to make up a 5 1/2-game deficit and catch both the Braves and Phillies in the National League East. As expected, the Nationals will open the second half with two key figures returning from the disabled list: Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman. Strasburg makes the start...

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Five keys to the Nats turning their season around

July 19, 2018, 8:49pm

Nationals

Five keys to the Nats turning their season around

The challenge facing the Nationals over the final 66 games of the season is significant. They not only have to make up a 5 1/2-game deficit to win their third consecutive National League East title, they have to leapfrog over two division rivals to do it. Which means there's little margin for error, beginning with this weekend's three-game series against the second-place Braves. Thing is, Davey Martinez has been a part of something like this before. Only one year ago. The Cubs came out of the...

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Nationals reinstate Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman

July 20, 2018, 11:03am

Nationals

The Washington Nationals returned from rehab and reinstated right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg from the 10-day disabled list and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman from the 60-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Wander Suero to Triple-A Syracuse on Friday. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Trevor Gott was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse last Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Strasburg, 29, returns to the...

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Braves, Nationals set sights on upending Phillies in NL East

July 20, 2018, 5:54am

Nationals

As the major league season resumes, the question looms: Can the inconsistent Nationals overtake the Phillies and Braves to win another National League East championship? The Nationals, who have lost in the NL Division Series in four different seasons, will have all they can do to get back to the postseason. They start tonight at home against the Braves. The Nationals, who have been bounced from the postseason in the first round in four different seasons by four different teams, are season...

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Nationals' first-half report card

July 18, 2018, 9:12pm

Nationals

Whew, have you recovered from All-Star Week in D.C. yet? Honestly, I haven't. That was both an exhilarating and an exhausting few days. Fortunately, we all still get a condensed All-Star break before the Nationals return to action Friday night for their second-half opener and the opener of a big series with the Braves. We'll look ahead to all that Friday morning, but today let's take one look back at the now-completed first half of the season. (Yeah, technically they've already played 60...

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Scherzer on his All-Star matchups with Trout and Judge

July 17, 2018, 9:00pm

Nationals

Scherzer on his All-Star matchups with Trout and Judge

Right-hander Max Scherzer started the 89th All-Star Game and finished two innings. He allowed an Aaron Judge solo shot, one of only two hits in his outing. Scherzer struck out four batters and walked one. The AL defeated the NL 8-6 in 10 innings thanks to All-Star Game MVP Alex Bregman's tiebreaking solo homer in the 10th. The 14 runs were the most combined runs scored in an All-Star game since 2002. The walk Scherzer allowed came in the top of the first. After striking out Mookie Betts and...

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Lerner on All-Star Game week: "It worked out beautifully"

July 18, 2018, 3:02am

Nationals

Lerner on All-Star Game week: "It worked out beautifully"

Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner said having the 89th All-Star Game at Nationals Park has been an event he will never forget and he is very proud of the way the organization planned, prepared and executed the event. "Incredible. I mean it's just beyond my wildest dreams," Lerner said during pregame Tuesday. "Glad that it worked out beautifully. It's been a class event top to bottom. The years of work that our staff has put in shows. It has been great working with MLB. The commissioner...

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AL beats NL 8-6 in extra-inning home run fest (updated)

July 17, 2018, 7:57pm

Nationals

AL beats NL 8-6 in extra-inning home run fest (updated)

They came to watch Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper compete on the big stage against baseball's best, to watch American League stars rarely seen in these parts like Aaron Judge and Mike Trout do their thing, to withstand brutal D.C. July humidity and dodge a few raindrops and to perhaps watch the National League actually win a 21st century All-Star Game for a change. What local baseball fans got in the first Midsummer Classic in the District of Columbia in 49 years was a reminder of what Major...

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Strasburg, Zimmerman on track to come off DL on Friday

July 17, 2018, 3:25pm

Nationals

Strasburg, Zimmerman on track to come off DL on Friday

Tonight's All-Star Game - in which he's serving as a member of Dave Roberts' National League coaching staff - is first and foremost on his mind, but Nationals manager Davey Martinez can't help but start thinking ahead to the resumption of the season Friday night. Especially the key players he expects to have back on his active roster for that series opener against the Braves. Stephen Strasburg has been cleared to come off the disabled list and will start Friday night, Martinez revealed this...

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Opponents enjoy one game as teammates of Max Scherzer (AL wins 8-6 in 10)

July 17, 2018, 1:50pm

Nationals

Opponents enjoy one game as teammates of Max Scherzer (AL wins 8-6 in 10)

Right-hander Max Scherzer gets the start in tonight's 89th All-Star Game. National League outfielder Christian Yelich, who now plays for the Brewers, is making his initial All-Star appearance. Yelich played five seasons for the Marlins, an NL East team that faced the Nationals 19 times a season. Yelich is very familiar with Scherzer and is excited he gets to play on the same team with the Cy Young winner. "It's nice to have him on the same team for a night, I guess you could say," Yelich...

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Doolittle enjoying All-Star festivities despite injury, Zimmerman rolls in rehab debut

July 16, 2018, 7:25pm

Nationals

Doolittle enjoying All-Star festivities despite injury, Zimmerman rolls in rehab debut

Despite not being able to play in the All-Star Game because he is on the disabled list with a toe injury, Nationals closer Sean Doolittle was certainly thrilled and honored to be selected as a member of the National League team. This week is the one-year anniversary of the trade that sent the closer from Oakland to the Nationals. So to be named to the NL squad meant a great deal to Doolittle. "A lot. I just got traded over here a year ago, maybe a year ago yesterday," Doolittle said. "Almost...

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Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball

July 17, 2018, 12:24pm

Nationals

Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball

Monday night's Home Run Derby, with Nationals slugger Bryce Harper front and center in his home ballpark, was a rousing success. On that point, Rob Manfred and Tony Clark are in complete agreement. "Bryce Harper put on one unbelievable show," Manfred said today in the Major League Baseball commissioner's annual Q&A session with members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "Amazing how he engaged the fans here in his hometown." "Last night was phenomenal," Clark, head of...

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All-Star redemption for ex-Nats Treinen, Ramos and VÃ¡zquez

July 16, 2018, 3:48pm

Nationals

All-Star redemption for ex-Nats Treinen, Ramos and VÃ¡zquez

Blake Treinen sat at a table in the club level at Nationals Park, his name emblazoned beneath the All-Star Game logo behind him, his smile wide as he spoke to familiar faces about his first career selection for the Midsummer Classic. Only 20 feet to Treinen's left sat Wilson Ramos, also smiling widely as he discussed his second All-Star appearance, though disappointed a recent hamstring strain will prevent him from playing but nonetheless thrilled to be here. One hour earlier, Felipe...

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With epic show in Derby, Harper finally makes baseball fun again

July 16, 2018, 8:07pm

Nationals

With epic show in Derby, Harper finally makes baseball fun again

The first half of the 2018 season for Bryce Harper was, to put it mildly, a grind. A batting average stuck in the .210s. Strikeouts on pitches he used to crush. A Nationals club that can't seem to get on a consistent roll. And the underlying question of where he's going to be playing in 2019 and beyond. Harper's mood has reflected all of that. The joy and charisma that so defined him when he burst onto the scene as a teenager had all but disappeared, replaced by a gruff, brooding and...

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Scherzer gets third career All-Star Game start (updated)

July 16, 2018, 9:43am

Nationals

Scherzer gets third career All-Star Game start (updated)

For the first All-Star Game in Washington in nearly a half-century, who better to start the game for the National League than a guy who is establishing himself as one of the best pitchers of the last half-century - oh, and who, by the way, also happens to be doing all this for the hometown club? Max Scherzer indeed will start Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, a fairly no-brainer decision for NL manager Dave Roberts, who may have had other worthy candidates for the assignment but...

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Nationals-killer Freeman finally gets his comeuppance in Home Run Derby

July 16, 2018, 6:39pm

Nationals Orioles

Nationals-killer Freeman finally gets his comeuppance in Home Run Derby

Freddie Freeman joked Tuesday that the Nationals Park crowd would be on his side when he went against Nationals hero Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby. But when Freeman stepped into the batter's box for the first-round match, reality set in: The boo birds came out at Nationals Park. That was normal, more like it. Freeman was happy with that. "That means I've done well here," Freeman said after losing 13-12. Done well against the Nationals is an understatement. In 125 career games against...

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Bryce Harper headlines Home Run Derby (Harper wins 19-18)

July 16, 2018, 3:16pm

Nationals

Bryce Harper headlines Home Run Derby (Harper wins 19-18)

Nationals slugger Bryce Harper is the headliner on his home field tonight as the 2018 Home Run Derby gets underway at Nationals Park. Harper said he decided to participate in the Home Run Derby because it is in D.C. this time around. "I think just being able to do it in D.C., being able to do it in front of the fans, have fun and enjoy that," Harper said. "It's huge being able to run out there knowing you are in your own ball park," he added. "You feel right at home. Definitely weird...

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Bryce Harper says he doesn't feel pressure to succeed after .214 start

July 16, 2018, 1:51pm

Nationals

Bryce Harper says he doesn't feel pressure to succeed after .214 start

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper held court this afternoon before the Home Run Derby and talked about how much he loves to play baseball. But after 96 games in the 2018 campaign, as his Nationals reach the All-Star break, it sometimes appears like Harper hasn't been loving every day this season. He's hitting only .214, the lowest of any of the National League All-Stars who are preparing for Tuesday's Midsummer Classic. A .243 mark in 2016 was the lowest batting average he ever had to...

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Strasburg pitches into sixth, Zimmerman begins rehab today

July 16, 2018, 3:29am

Nationals

Strasburg pitches into sixth, Zimmerman begins rehab today

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg completed 5 2/3 innings in his second rehab start for high Single-A Potomac on Sunday. He scattered five hits, allowing three runs, none of which were earned. He struck out seven and walked none. Strasburg (0-1) threw 82 pitches, 55 for strikes. The P-Nats lost the game, 5-4, to Frederick. He had thrown 57 pitches over 3 1/3 innings July 10. So if he recovers well this week he is on target to return to the Nationals rotation to begin the second half, which is July...