Following a month in which he hit 16 home runs - including seven leadoff home runs - Washington Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber was named National League Player of the Month for June on Friday. Major League Baseball made the announcement on MLB Network. Schwarber, 28, led the National League in home runs (16), RBI (30), slugging percentage (.760) and OPS (1.122) during the month of June. His 16 home runs during the month of June were the most in any single month in Nationals history...

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of infielder Humberto Arteaga from Triple-A Rochester and placed infielder Jordy Mercer on the 10-day Injured List (retroactive to July 1) with a strained right quad on Friday. Additionally, the Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Steven Fuentes and placed him on the 60-day Injured List with a right shoulder strain. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Arteaga, 27, joins the Nationals...

Here's some good news: There's no serious threat of rain tonight, the temperature and humidity have dropped and it should be a very pleasant Friday evening at the park as the Nationals and Dodgers play the second of four games this holiday weekend. And here's some more good news: Max Scherzer is on the mound. How good has the ace been? Well, over his last 10 starts, he's got a 1.70 ERA and hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of them. And he held these Dodgers to one run over six...

A torrid month of June for the Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle came with its own reward. Mountcastle was chosen as the American League's Rookie of the Month, with the announcement made earlier today on MLB Network. He seemed like an obvious choice, but so did Cedric Mullins for the All-Star Game's starting lineup. Mountcastle wasn't snubbed. He batted .327/.382/.634 (33-for-101) with four doubles, nine home runs, 26 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 26 games. The outfielder/first baseman led the league...

When two of their four major league middle infielders were unavailable due to injury and four more potential call-ups from their farm system likewise weren't available for promotion due to injury, the Nationals were left with no choice but to start 34-year-old backup catcher Alex Avila at second base for Thursday night's series opener against the Dodgers. To hear Davey Martinez discuss the state of things after the Nats' 6-2 loss in a rain-shortened five-inning game, they won't be caught in...

In the middle of a remarkable year we can think back to the first few games of the season and recall that center fielder Cedric Mullins was raking pretty much from the start. He went 9-for-13 in that opening series at Boston, which included a 5-for-5 game in the series finale. By the end of April he was batting .337. But there were times in May that it seemed like Mullins' bat was crashing back to earth. He was batting .291 in late May. Then came June and so much for his bat cooling off. He...

Anyone with a smartphone and a weather app knew what was coming. It was approaching from the west and it was going to reach Nationals Park at some point this evening. It was just a question of when. And what the status of the Nationals' series opener against the Dodgers was going to be when it did arrive. The answer: It arrived moments after the Nats went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, which came moments after Patrick Corbin gave up five runs in the top of the inning. That meant...

The two phases of fan voting for the July 13 All-Star Game are done and the starters revealed. Where does this leave Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins? On the outside for now, waiting to find out whether he's a reserve for the American League. Mullins didn't finish in the top three voting among outfielders. The Angels' Mike Trout is first, followed by the Yankees' Aaron Judge and the Blue Jays' Teoscar Hernández. The Twins' Byron Buxton was fourth and the Astros' Michael Brantley was...

The Nationals didn't submit tonight's starting lineup until 45 minutes before first pitch, the sense being they were waiting to see if any or all of Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Jordy Mercer were available to play after departing Wednesday's win over the Rays with injuries. Then the lineup came out, and Turner and Mercer were missing. Which leaves the Nats in a most precarious position: Backup catcher Alex Avila is starting at second base for the first time in his career. Yes, you read that...

Good afternoon from Nationals Park, which just experienced a minor hurricane a few minutes ago. Seriously, it was intense. The skies have let up since then, and at this moment the forecast suggests it will be dry until about 8 p.m. That, of course, doesn't guarantee anything. So don't assume anything. As always, when we know something about the status of the game, we'll let you know. If they play, the Nationals will be looking to stay red hot against a particularly difficult opponent: the...