Stephen Drew rehabbing in Florida (Nationals roll 10-1)

Nationals manager Dusty Baker updated the rehab of infielder Stephen Drew prior to Tuesday's matchup against Seattle.

Drew has been the disabled list since April 12 with a right hamstring strain. Tonight's game marks the 36th game out 44 he has missed to begin the season.

Baker said Drew was supposed to rehab at an affiliate near D.C., but the inclement weather made that difficult. The team decided to try another solution.

Stephen-Drew-throw-white-sidebar.jpg"Yeah, he's supposed to (play nearby), but it got rained out," Baker said. "So I think we're going to send him to Florida where the weather is a little better. I think he's in Florida now."

Baker was asked if he thought it would only be a few games for Drew in West Palm Beach and then he would be back. Baker said there's no set date for Drew's return.

"I don't know. Until he feels that his stroke is together," Baker said. "His arm's together. His legs together. That he can run without thinking about it. I don't know how much time that is. It's already been a long time. How long has it been, what six weeks? He's certainly ain't going to be ready in three or four days. Whether he thinks he's going to be ready or not."

Update: The Nationals grabbed an early lead in the second thanks to Anthony Rendon. After Ryan Zimmerman led off the bottom of the frame with a single to right field, Rendon blasted a two-run shot down the left field line two batters later.

The Nats had a chance to add more runs, but came up short. Matt Wieters drew a walk and Joe Ross hit a two-out single to put two on for Trea Turner. Turner knocked a base hit up the middle, but Wieters was thrown out at the plate by Mariners center fielder Jarrod Dyson.

Update II: The Nationals offense exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning. Rendon got the rally going with a leadoff double and was then driven in by a Wieters single. After Wieters advanced to second then third while Ross grounded into a double play, Turner hit an RBI triple to get to third base for Jayson Werth. Werth then crushed a two-run homer to left-center field for a 6-0 lead.

Then Bryce Harper stepped to the plate to launch a home run of his own. And after back-to-back singles by Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy, Rendon stepped back up to the plate and hit his second homer of the night, a three-run shot to straightaway center. Wieters finally popped out to end the inning.

The Nationals' nine runs in the bottom of the fourth match a team record (2005-present) for hits in a single inning. It was previously done on Aug. 20, 2016 in the top of the fourth at Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Ross is through five scoreless innings of two-hit ball on 59 pitches. As for Mariners starter Christian Bergman, he's been replaced by Emilio Pagan in the bottom of the fifth. Bergman was charged with 14 hits (four home runs) and 10 runs to raise his ERA to 6.30 from 2.25.

Update III: The Mariners got one back in the sixth. The third hit Ross gave up was a leadoff homer to Mike Zunino on a 3-1 pitch. Ross then allowed a single to Jean Segura, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. A deep fly ball by Ben Gamel looked dangerous for Ross, but Michael A. Taylor made an outstanding leaping grab at the out-of-town scoreboard to end the threat.

Update IV: Ross finished eight innings, allowing only one run and five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches, 68 for strikes. The eight innings match a career high for Ross, accomplished also on June 13, 2015 at Milwaukee.

Also, the 62 runs the Nationals have scored in Ross' four starts are the most runs in major league history for a pitcher in his first four starts of a season.

Matt Grace recorded three outs to end the game.

Final score: Nationals 10, Mariners 1.




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