A Nationals team that already has seen its two-game lead in the World Series disappear over the last two nights now must take the field for a critical Game 5 tonight against the Astros without its three-time Cy Young Award winner on the mound. Max Scherzer was scratched from his scheduled start tonight due to what he described as nerve irritation in his neck that has caused his muscles to "completely lock up," leaving Joe Ross to take the mound against Houston's fearsome lineup and Cy Young...

No matter what happens, whether positive or negative, tonight is the final baseball game of 2019 at Nationals Park. We've never known that before going in, at least not going into a postseason game. So it makes for both an exciting and bittersweet feeling. This season will end not here in D.C. but in Houston, either Tuesday night in Game 6 or Wednesday night in an oh-so-stressful Game 7. But Nationals manager Davey Martinez opened his pregame press briefing with a piece of unexpected news: Max...

In Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 22, Nationals ace Max Scherzer ended up throwing 112 pitches to record 15 outs. The Astros scored two runs in the first inning. But after that, Houston managed only three hits off Scherzer. The Nats held on for a 5-4 victory. Manager Davey Martinez said Scherzer has been working since right after Game 1 to this point devising a plan for adjustments to the way he went after Houston that first time around. "After the first game, he's already sat down and...

They hardly ever hold team meetings, and on those rare occasions when Davey Martinez does gather the Nationals together they keep what was said within what they like to refer as their "circle of trust." The second-year manager did, however, have a few words to share with his players following Saturday night's 8-1 loss to the Astros, a loss that left the World Series tied after four games. And the basic message was simple, not needing to be withheld from public consumption. "I just told the...

Rookie pitcher José Urquidy pitched five shutout innings and Alex Bregman hit a grand slam Saturday night as the Houston Astros tied the World Series with an 8-1 win against the Nationals in Game 4. The Astros win guarantees the best-of-seven series, tied at two games apiece, will have a Game 6 on Tuesday in Houston. Game 5 is Sunday night at Nationals Park with the Astros' Gerrit Cole pitching against Max Scherzer, a rematch of Game 1. Urquidy, 24, who was the Astros' opening day starter...

From the first seven batters he faced, it was not a smooth start for Patrick Corbin. The Astros put together four base hits in a row, scoring two runs in the first inning. Then Astros backstop Robinson Chirinos blasted a two-run shot in the fourth inning. Houston built an early 4-0 lead in Game 4 of the World Series, cruising to an 8-1 victory to even the best-of-seven Fall Classic at two games apiece. The Nationals southpaw battled back, recording nine outs in a row to end his outing, but with...

The defining moment of Game 4 of this World Series, the moment that will be replayed over and over and remembered fondly in Houston, was Alex Bregman's seventh-inning grand slam off Fernando Rodney, an MVP candidate blasting an erratic 42-year-old reliever deep into the D.C. night and propelling the Astros to an 8-1 victory to even up the series. The moment that created that nightmare scenario, though, the rally that was squandered by the heart of the Nationals lineup the previous inning, was...

It is a statistic that has some importance. How much is debated and some discount it. It is the quality start statistic. A starting pitcher records one when he allows three earned runs or less in six innings or more. One reason some don't see its importance is that three earned runs allowed in six innings results in an ERA of 4.50. That is not all that impressive. But of course that is the worst ERA outcome you can produce in a quality start. And a high number of outings produce a single-game...

The Padres' decision to hire Jayce Tingler as their next manager had a ripple effect that nudged Buck Britton into a new set of responsibilities. Britton, who spent the 2019 season managing Double-A Bowie, has replaced Tingler as manager of Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League. Tingler was working for the Rangers as major league player development field coordinator. Britton was expecting to serve in a coaching capacity with Escogido. Gilbert Gómez become quality control coach...

World Series Game 4 certainly did not start the way the Nationals manager Davey Martinez had hoped. He wanted early runs, just not by the Astros. Facing left-hander Patrick Corbin in the first, Houston connected on four straight singles, highlighted by an RBI base knock by Alex Bregman and an infield single from Yuri Gurriel that scored another run. Corbin wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a double play ground out to third baseman Anthony Rendon. Houston scored two runs and pounded...