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ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer are the Nationals' two brightest stars, and on the day each earned the fifth All-Star selection of his career, each shone bright on the national stage.
Harper clobbered two early home runs and Scherzer tossed seven scoreless innings to carry the Nationals to a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals in tonight's nationally televised ballgame and avoid a weekend sweep at Busch Stadium.
It was a classic performance on the big stage for both All-Stars, with...
MILWAUKEE - The Orioles haven't reached the All-Star break, but they're halfway through their schedule with a 40-41 record. Eighty-one games are left in the regular season. And no, they aren't going to be sellers. Executive vice president Dan Duquette has made it clear in multiple interviews.
They're going to check on available pitchers while also keeping their collective fingers crossed that the in-house crew steps up. Kevin Gausman appears to be doing it, looking a lot more like the...
ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper learned this afternoon he had received the most All-Star votes of any player in baseball, and now tonight is showing everybody why that was the case.
Max Scherzer learned this afternoon he had received his fifth consecutive All-Star selection, and now tonight he is showing everybody why he deserves to start the Midsummer Classic.
Harper has homered in each of his first two at-bats, providing the largest chunk of offense needed to supply the Nationals an early 5-0 lead...
Five Washington Nationals players were named 2017 Major League All-Stars on Sunday evening, with outfielder Bryce Harper, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy, right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer, and right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg all awarded the annual mid-season honor. Harper, Murphy, and Zimmerman were all voted by fans as starters for the NL squad, the most starting players Washington has ever had in the game. Scherzer was selected by his fellow players while...
ST. LOUIS - There was a time, not all that long ago, when the thought of the Nationals having three players voted into the starting lineup of the All-Star Game was laughable.
Even when they had talented players, the Nationals never had the kind of fan base in D.C. or the overall recognition of baseball fans around the world to merit the kind of overwhelming support needed to win All-Star voting.
So pause for a moment right now and appreciate this fact: Three members (at least) of the National...
Manager: Craig Counsell (3rd season)
Record: 44-40
Last 10 games: 5-5
Who to watch: 1B Eric Thames (.243 with 21 HR, 41 RBIs); 3B Travis Shaw (.291 with 17 HR, 59 RBIs); SS Orlando Arcia (.288 with 8 HR, 27 RBIs); RHP Jimmy Nelson (6-4, 3.43 ERA); RHP Corey Knebel (1.13 ERA, 13 saves)
Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (2-1 in 2014)
Pitching probables:
July 3: LHP Wade Miley vs. RHP Brent Suter; 2:10 p.m., MASNJuly 4: RHP Ubaldo Jiménez vs. RHP Jimmy Nelson; 4:10 p.m., MASN2July 5: RHP...
Entering Sunday before the 2017 All-Star teams were announced, Anthony Rendon was batting .298 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs, already the most he's had for the first half of a season in his career. His .399 on-base percentage, .555 slugging percentage and .954 OPS led all qualifying National League third baseman. And his 3.4 WAR currently ranks first among all major league third basemen, third overall in the league and fifth in all of baseball.
Oh, and have you seen what he can do with his...
When he was sitting with an ERA of 6.60 in mid-June, you had to wonder if Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman would ever turn around his season. He may be doing that right now.
Today, he followed up Tuesday's start of 5 1/3 scoreless in Toronto with seven scoreless in the Orioles' 7-1 win over the Rays. The Orioles avoided being swept as Gausman allowed just two singles and fanned nine while improving to 5-7 with an ERA of 5.61. He's allowed no runs and six hits in 12 1/3 those last two...
From the sense of panic among Nationals fans these days, you would think the team is in last place, rather than on a pace to win more than 90 games.
Let's calm down and let general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dusty Baker do their jobs. It's far too early for predictions of collapse.
After Trea Turner broke his wrist, joining previous leadoff man Adam Eaton on the disabled list, Nats fans on Twitter started posting messages of gloom and doom. Perhaps the best was, "Leading off the the Nats...
ST. LOUIS - The Nationals need a win tonight to avoid getting swept by the Cardinals and dropping their sixth game in the last eight days. The good news: They have Max Scherzer on the mound. The bad news: They'll be facing Carlos MartÃnez, with something less than their "A" lineup.
Scherzer brings his league-best 2.06 ERA, 0.783 WHIP and 151 strikeouts to his hometown, looking to carry his dominant success from June into July. He has pitched quite well against the Cardinals during his...