nationals

Gonzalez goes the extra mile to earn 12th win of the season

August 20, 2017, 5:16pm

SAN DIEGO - Gio Gonzalez walked off the mound after retiring the side in the bottom of the sixth this afternoon. He had put in a full day's work, throwing 105 pitches and holding the Padres to one unearned run, overcoming some shoddy defense in the first inning to keep his pitch count relatively manageable throughout. Under normal circumstances, Dusty Baker probably would have shaken Gonzalez's hand and thanked him for his efforts. These weren't normal circumstances, though, not at the end...

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Lots of chances, few runs so far in series finale (Nats win 4-1)

August 20, 2017, 2:11pm

Nationals

Lots of chances, few runs so far in series finale (Nats win 4-1)

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals are fielding something closer to their regular lineup this afternoon at Petco Park, but through four innings the results aren't any better than what their makeshift lineup produced Saturday night. Despite six walks issued by Padres rookie Dinelson Lamet, the Nationals have managed only one run so far, squandering several opportunities for big innings at the plate. Forced to field a lineup Saturday night that was missing Daniel Murphy, Wilmer Difo and Matt Wieters - in...

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Turner and Werth to begin rehab Monday with Syracuse

August 20, 2017, 11:39am

Nationals

Turner and Werth to begin rehab Monday with Syracuse

SAN DIEGO - Two key injured Nationals regulars are ready to start playing in games again, with a return to the major league roster now likely sometime next week. Both Trea Turner and Jayson Werth will begin rehab assignments with Triple-A Syracuse on Monday, the Nationals announced today. Turner and Werth each had been working out in recent days at the club's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, ramping up their baseball activities after slowly working their way back from significant...

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Game 122 lineups: Nats at Padres

August 20, 2017, 9:37am

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - It's another gorgeous day at Petco Park, where the Nationals will attempt to take the finale of this weekend series and head out of town having won three of four against the Padres in advance of a big series later this week in Houston. Daniel Murphy returns to the lineup after being scratched last night. The Nats will hope that helps inject some life into a batting order that was held to three hits and two walks last night by lefty Travis Wood and two San Diego relievers. Today...

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Looking at how Nats rotation lines up for the next week

August 19, 2017, 8:51pm

Nationals

Looking at how Nats rotation lines up for the next week

SAN DIEGO - It seems like right now the focus for the Nationals is less on what's happening today and more on what could happen tomorrow and in the next week and the weeks to come after that. Such is life when you're 14 games up with 41 games to play and have a host of injured players attempting to return in advance of a likely postseason run. So let's take a moment this morning and look at where the Nationals pitching staff stands heading into this new week. Max Scherzer's unexpected trip...

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Fresh Strasburg is sharp in six-inning return from DL

August 19, 2017, 8:18pm

Nationals

Fresh Strasburg is sharp in six-inning return from DL

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals entered tonight's game at Petco Park with a simple, primary goal: Get Stephen Strasburg through a full start healthy. Not that they didn't care about trying to beat the Padres as well, but that goal - if they were willing to be honest about it - was secondary to the more pressing matter at hand. This is what happens when you own a 14-game lead on Aug. 19, with a magic number already down to 28 despite six more weeks of regular season games left on the schedule. So...

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Strasburg gives up early homer, settles in after that (Nats lose 3-1)

August 19, 2017, 5:52pm

Nationals

Strasburg gives up early homer, settles in after that (Nats lose 3-1)

SAN DIEGO - Stephen Strasburg is back on the mound pitching for the Nationals, and his arm appears to be healthy. That, quite frankly, matters more at the moment than results. Not that Strasburg has pitched poorly so far in his first start in four weeks. He battled some shaky command in the bottom of the first and served up a two-run homer to Yangervis Solarte but otherwise has looked sharp in his return from an elbow injury. Activated today following a four-week stint on the disabled list due...

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Murphy scratched from lineup, Madson still has finger pain

August 19, 2017, 3:59pm

Nationals

Murphy scratched from lineup, Madson still has finger pain

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals announced their starting lineup about 3 1/2 hours before tonight's game at Petco Park, standard procedure. A few minutes later, they had to announce a change to that lineup, which unfortunately also has become standard procedure for this injury-riddled ballclub. The latest: Daniel Murphy, who was scratched from tonight's lineup after the second baseman admitted to manager Dusty Baker he's been playing less than 100 percent in recent days. There was no formal...

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Game 121 lineups: Nats at Padres

August 19, 2017, 1:16pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - When Stephen Strasburg departed his July 23 start in Arizona after two innings with a nerve impingement in his elbow and subsequently was placed on the disabled list, the Nationals said they expected the right-hander to miss only one start before returning to the mound in what was deemed a precautionary move. Tonight, 27 days removed from that start, Strasburg finally takes the mound again. Strasburg himself has suggested throughout the last four weeks that he could've returned...

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In a bind, Nationals get a pitching gem from six relievers

August 18, 2017, 10:38pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - The task - getting nine innings out of a menagerie of relievers after Max Scherzer had to be scratched from Friday night's start - was daunting enough. Dusty Baker simply hoped he could get through this game without burning up his entire pitching staff, let alone actually beat the Padres. But when emergency starter Matt Grace was able to go 4 1/3 innings without surrendering a run, a task that felt awfully daunting at the beginning of the night suddenly felt doable. And thanks to...

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Scherzer insists he'll be ready to start Friday vs. Mets

August 18, 2017, 10:05pm

Nationals

Scherzer insists he'll be ready to start Friday vs. Mets

SAN DIEGO - Max Scherzer has been through this before. Only two weeks ago, as a matter of fact. Which is why the right-hander was massively annoyed but also confident that his inability to start tonight at Petco Park due to inflammation in his neck isn't cause for major concern. "It's just frustrating," he said following the Nationals' 7-1 win over the Padres, made possible by nine innings from six relievers. "I can sit here and laugh at it, because I know what the cause of this is and I...

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Nationals activate Strasburg, place Scherzer on DL

August 19, 2017, 1:09pm

Nationals

The Washington Nationals returned from rehab assignment and reinstated right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg on Saturday. Prior to Friday night's game, the Nationals placed right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to Aug. 15) with left neck inflammation. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Strasburg, 29, returns to the Nationals after missing 23 games with a right elbow nerve impingement....

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The Nats again tested as disabled list grows

August 18, 2017, 6:16pm

Nationals

The Nats again tested as disabled list grows

The first day of the road trip, it was Ryan Madson. The second day of the road trip, it is Max Scherzer. The disabled list has been the not-so-silent partner in the Nationals first place 2017 season. The 25-man roster has seen itself varied and the 40-man roster tested. The minor league system has shown it has quality depth. President of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo has also done a nice job of adding three new bullpen arms and a quality hitting infielder/outfielder in...

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Grace steps up in emergency start (Nats win 7-1)

August 18, 2017, 7:26pm

Nationals

Grace steps up in emergency start (Nats win 7-1)

SAN DIEGO - Thrust into a less-than-ideal situation tonight, Matt Grace wound up not only surviving but thriving and giving the Nationals everything they could have asked for after Max Scherzer was a late scratch. Forced into an emergency start when Scherzer couldn't go following a recurrence of the neck injury that knocked him out of a start earlier this month, Grace took the mound at Petco Park hoping to give whatever he had as the first in a carousel of Nats relievers who will be asked to...

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Scherzer scratched, placed on DL with recurring neck injury

August 18, 2017, 5:04pm

Nationals

Scherzer scratched, placed on DL with recurring neck injury

SAN DIEGO - Max Scherzer thought his neck troubles were behind him. Turns out they aren't. And because of it, the Nationals are going to need to ask their bullpen to pitch an entire game tonight. And then someone else to make a start next week. Scherzer was scratched from his scheduled start against the Padres after reporting the same problem that forced him out of his Aug. 1 start in Miami. This time, however, the issue was on the other side of his neck, prompting the Nationals to place...

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Game 120 lineups: Nats at Padres (Scherzer scratched)

August 18, 2017, 2:20pm

Nationals

Game 120 lineups: Nats at Padres (Scherzer scratched)

SAN DIEGO - The last time Max Scherzer faced the Padres, he allowed one run on three hits, struck out 13 and came within one out of a complete-game victory. That was May 26 at Nationals Park, and it was among the ace's most dominant outings of the season. Now Scherzer gets another crack at the majors' least productive lineup, taking the mound at Petco Park tonight in the second game of this weekend series. Anytime Scherzer takes the mound, there's reason to drop whatever you're doing and...

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With fewer pitches, Jackson is finding more success

August 17, 2017, 10:49pm

Nationals

With fewer pitches, Jackson is finding more success

SAN DIEGO - If it's not the first line of Edwin Jackson's baseball-playing obituary, it won't be much farther down from the lede. The most memorable game of Jackson's career, whenever it's finally over, almost certainly will be his June 25, 2010 no-hitter with the Diamondbacks. A no-hitter that included eight walks and a staggering 149 pitches. That game, more than any other, has come to encapsulate Jackson's long career. He's always had some of the best stuff in the sport, but even at...

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Zimmerman's late blast lifts Nationals to 2-1 win over Padres

August 17, 2017, 9:55pm

Nationals

SAN DIEGO - A jet-lagged Nationals lineup struggled all night at the plate against the Padres, not only to record hits in their series opener, but simply to make contact. Then one big blast from Ryan Zimmerman made up for all the swings and misses and lifted his team to a late-night victory. Zimmerman's opposite-field homer in the top of the eighth snapped a longstanding deadlock and gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead they managed to preserve thanks to more dominance from their new-look bullpen. It...

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David Huzzard: Commending the job Mike Rizzo has done

August 18, 2017, 6:08am

Nationals

David Huzzard: Commending the job Mike Rizzo has done

The Nationals can be viewed as either one of the luckiest teams in baseball or one of the unluckiest. But there is a third option and that is that general manager Mike Rizzo knows what he is doing. I would have said before this season that if the Nationals don't have a deep playoff run, Rizzo is as good as gone as GM. There are just some GMs, good enough to rebuild a team but not good at putting those final pieces in place to win it all. Rizzo has started to look like the latter, but this...

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Nats principal owner Mark Lerner reveals cancer, leg amputation

August 17, 2017, 7:05pm

Nationals

Nats principal owner Mark Lerner reveals cancer, leg amputation

SAN DIEGO - Nationals vice chairman and principal owner Mark Lerner, the most visible member of the franchise's family ownership group, revealed tonight why he has been absent from public view for much of the season: Lerner has been battling cancer in his left leg for months and recently needed to have the limb amputated above the knee. "Thanks very much for your concern and good wishes," Lerner wrote in a letter provided to MASNsports.com through a club spokeswoman. "I know you recognize...