"Just have fun." It's almost as common a phrase as the "go 1-0 today" you pretty much hear every game day from Nationals manager Davey Martinez. And really the "fun" is more or less just relaxing at the plate, relaxing on the mound. But can you have fun before 53,086 at Dodger Stadium in the most important game of the year, after the Nationals had scored zero runs in the series opener? In the playoffs? Against a 106-win team that has been to back-to-back World Series? Easier said than...

LOS ANGELES - The Nationals have pitched 26 innings of postseason baseball so far this week, all of them high-stress, high-stakes innings, with one game officially must-win and another game ostensibly must-win. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin have pitched 21 of those 26 innings. Daniel Hudson and Sean Doolittle have pitched another three. That's 24 of 26 innings, a staggering 92.3 percent, manned by those five key members of the staff, the five best members of the staff. "I...

LOS ANGELES - How much did the Nationals believe they needed to win Game 2 of the National League Division Series tonight? Enough to start Stephen Strasburg three days after he threw three innings of relief in the NL wild card game. And that wasn't even the biggest gamble Davey Martinez took this evening. No, Martinez felt victory tonight was so critical, he sent Game 3 starter Max Scherzer to the mound for the bottom of the eighth inning with his team leading by two runs. You think the Nats...

In an entry earlier this week I pointed out that the 2019 Orioles featured a league-average offense in the second half of the season. They hit better as the year went on. Today let's look at Major League Baseball and American League rankings in some stat categories for the entire year. In 2019 the Orioles produced these numbers: * 4.50 runs per game (22nd in MLB, 11th in AL) and MLB average was 4.83.* .246 batting average (tied for 20th in MLB, tied for 12th in AL) and MLB average was .252.*...

LOS ANGELES - The Nationals know they played loose all season, enjoying the moment even when they at times struggled. And they know they didn't play loose during Thursday night's 6-0 shutout loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. How, then, do they rediscover that essential mindset tonight while facing an even more pressure packed scenario, desperately trying to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series? Maybe a reappearance of the infamous camels from...

LOS ANGELES - If the Nationals are going to win tonight and even up this best-of-five series, they're going to have to score runs. That sounds like a "no, duh" statement, but it's a simple fact. They were shut out Thursday night in Game 1, and they really didn't hit much at all in their wild card win Tuesday night. They just need to find a way to put more runners on base, and then find a way to get as many of those runners as possible across the plate. That won't be an easy task against...

The Orioles handled the task this week of notifying three coaches that they wouldn't have their contracts renewed for the 2020 season. The first steps toward making changes. Steps that were bound to happen, though the challenge was identifying the impacted members of the staff. Up next are interviews with candidates that should begin in a couple of days. A procedure that's keeping manager Brandon Hyde in Baltimore. What's known at the present time is that first base coach/outfield instructor...

The Orioles made a third and perhaps final change to their coaching staff this afternoon. Bullpen coach John Wasdin has been notified that he won't be invited back in 2020, according to a source. Wasdin, 47, joins first base coach/outfield instructor Arnie Beyeler and assistant hitting coach Howie Clark, who learned yesterday that their contracts wouldn't be renewed. All three coaches were working on one-year deals after the Orioles hired Brandon Hyde as manager in December. Adjustments to...

LOS ANGELES - In Tuesday's do-or-die wild card game, Davey Martinez could justify an all-hands-on-deck philosophy with his pitching staff. In Thursday's opener of a best-of-five National League Division Series, the Nationals manager felt such an approach wasn't justified. Given the way his team lost 6-0 to the Dodgers, Martinez might have no choice but to treat tonight's Game 2 more like the elimination game he managed earlier this week. After getting six harrowing but ultimately effective...

LOS ANGELES - We can talk about the Nationals pitching staff - their dominant starters, their shaky relievers - and how they are deployed in the postseason until the cows come home. Until their hitters start, you know, hitting, it won't matter much. Game 1 of the National League Division Series saw Patrick Corbin battle disastrous command early to still produce a quality start. It saw a trio of setup men (Tanner Rainey, Fernando Rodney and Hunter Strickland) fail to keep the game close in the...