Infield prospect García called up after Castro breaks wrist

Infield prospect García called up after Castro breaks wrist
BALTIMORE - The Nationals' second base plans just took a dramatic turn in a direction they probably weren't expecting to go in August 2020. After Starlin Castro broke his right wrist making a diving play during today's resumption of Sunday's suspended game, the club promoted top prospect Luis García off their traveling taxi squad and put the 20-year-old in their starting lineup for tonight's regularly scheduled game against the Orioles. Castro's injury came as he dove for Bryan...
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Bats silent, Castro hurt as Nats lose suspended game (updated)

Bats silent, Castro hurt as Nats lose suspended game (updated)
BALTIMORE - The Nationals took the field late this afternoon at Camden Yards, the first team to take the field despite the fact this is not their home, and set about to correct what went wrong Sunday at Nationals Park, when a malfunctioning tarp forced the suspension of their game with the Orioles, who led 5-2 at the time. When this resumed game finally ended today, they had done nothing to correct their mistakes from Sunday. If anything, they raised more questions in this 6-2 loss that...
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Bacus promoted, Harper optioned but could still pitch tonight

Bacus promoted, Harper optioned but could still pitch tonight
BALTIMORE - The Nationals made another change to their bullpen prior to today's resumption of Sunday's suspended game against the Orioles, promoting right-hander Dakota Bacus and optioning right-hander Ryne Harper to their alternate training site in Fredericksburg. But that doesn't necessarily mean Harper won't make an appearance at Camden Yards before the night is over. Because clubs are allowed to add a 29th man to their active roster for the regularly scheduled nine-inning game coming...
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What you need to know about today's games in Baltimore

What you need to know about today's games in Baltimore
The 2020 season has already included, and will continue to include, some weird days. Today might end up ranking near the top of the list, though, from the Nationals' perspective. The Nats are scheduled to open a three-game weekend series with the Orioles at Camden Yards. But before the two teams can do that, they first need to complete the suspended game they began at Nationals Park on Sunday. With the Nationals as the home team, even though they'll be playing in Baltimore. With a roster that...
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Voth's short start sets up Romero's rough debut in loss (updated)

Voth's short start sets up Romero's rough debut in loss (updated)
Draw up a recipe for pitching trouble, and this is what you'd come up with: After last night's starter went 2 2/3 innings, and with 1 4/9 games on tomorrow's schedule, the Nationals knew they needed quality and length from Austin Voth in today's series finale at Citi Field. Voth often provides quality, but the length part still eludes the young right-hander. Which meant by bottom of the fifth this afternoon, Davey Martinez had little choice but to put a left-hander whose last competitive...
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Game 16 lineups: Nats at Mets (Doolittle to IL, Romero promoted)

Game 16 lineups: Nats at Mets (Doolittle to IL, Romero promoted)
For all the issues they've got right now - and there are issues - the Nationals have a chance today to win a series against a division rival. A four-game series, at that. After taking the first two games at Citi Field, then dropping Wednesday night's not-so-pretty contest, the Nats go back at it against the Mets this afternoon for the finale. The forecast in New York (just like here in D.C.) isn't great, but they'll give it a go and hope for the best. The Nationals really need quality...
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Bullpen changes coming today after Freeman injured

Bullpen changes coming today after Freeman injured
The Nationals are expected to get one key veteran back in their bullpen today, but they may be losing their only effective left-hander for a prolonged stretch. Sam Freeman, who had been a surprise revelation through the season's first three weeks, departed Wednesday night's 11-6 loss to the Mets after telling manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard he felt a "pop" in his elbow. The Nationals have initially diagnosed Freeman with a flexor strain in his left...
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Bullpen rounding into form, even with Doolittle on the outs

Bullpen rounding into form, even with Doolittle on the outs
Every team enters every season thinking it has its bullpen plan in place. Who's going to close. Who's going to set up. Who's going to get lefties out. Who's going to pitch out of jams. And then the season begins, and every team realizes that plan going in isn't going to work and has to start adjusting on the fly. Truth be told, it takes months for a bullpen to truly take shape. A manager needs to see how different pitchers handle different situations. He needs to see who's healthy and...
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Scherzer, bullpen team up for tight win over Mets (updated)

Scherzer, bullpen team up for tight win over Mets (updated)
They can't all be laughers. The Nationals couldn't go into Citi Field tonight and expect to blow out the Mets again. No, they were going to need to win a tight ballgame if they wanted to remain perfect on the road. And it doesn't get any tighter than 2-1. Thanks to a gutsy start from Max Scherzer in his return from a nagging hamstring ailment, a couple of quick runs off Rick Porcello and lights-out work from the back end of their remade bullpen, the Nationals eked out a tense, low-scoring...
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Game 14 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 14 lineups: Nats at Mets
When last we saw him on the mound, Max Scherzer was slogging his way through a 27-pitch top of the first against the Mets, clearly not right. Turns out he had "tweaked" his right hamstring the previous day and decided he shouldn't try to continue to pitch through it. Six days later, Scherzer is back on the mound, back facing the Mets, believing the same thing won't happen again. He passed all his required tests during the week, but the real test will come in the bottom of the first tonight...
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Red-hot Cabrera is terrorizing left-handers

Red-hot Cabrera is terrorizing left-handers
He homered in the top of the second. He doubled down the third-base line in the top of the fourth. He doubled again in the top of the fifth, driving a ball over center fielder Brandon Nimmo's reach to drive in two runs. He walked in the sixth. And then he homered again in the seventh, this time on a pitch below his knees that he basically could only reach with one hand. That's a 4-for-4, two-homer, two-double, one-walk, five-RBI night for Asdrúbal Cabrera, who made it look remarkably easy...
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Nats enjoy life on the road again, trounce Mets (updated)

Nats enjoy life on the road again, trounce Mets (updated)
Life on the road in 2020 is nothing like life on the road in 2019. With one exception: The Nationals are still winning. There may not be fans in the stands or anywhere to go for breakfast, lunch or postgame entertainment, but the Nationals kicked off their delayed first road trip of the season with an all-too-familiar result: a lopsided victory over the Mets. Two home runs by Asdrúbal Cabrera, a solo shot by Trea Turner and a 463-foot blast by Juan Soto that cleared the big apple behind...
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Scherzer ready, Eaton rests, first taxi squad deployed

Scherzer ready, Eaton rests, first taxi squad deployed
After throwing two days ago and testing out his hamstring, Max Scherzer went up to Davey Martinez and said he could pitch that night. The manager chucked today as he recalled the story and the three-time Cy Young Award winner who would make such a ridiculous offer. "Your day is coming up," Martinez told him. "So be ready." That day is Tuesday. Scherzer will start against the Mets at Citi Field, making his scheduled turn in the rotation as promised when he had to depart his last outing after...
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Game 13 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 13 lineups: Nats at Mets
The Nationals' remarkable run to a championship last October was defined by victories away from Washington. The Nats won Game 5 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium. They won Games 6 and 7 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park. All told, they went a stunning 8-1 on the road during the postseason, the only loss coming in their first NLDS game in Los Angeles. For whatever reason, this team was really comfortable playing on the road. Which brings us to tonight, when the...
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For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip

For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip
The Nationals woke up this morning in a vaguely familiar, yet wholly foreign place: in a hotel room in New York. It's the first time anyone with the team has spent the night anywhere other than his Washington-area place of residence since summer training camp opened more than five weeks ago. That's an unprecedented stretch for any baseball club not to travel in-season, made possible only by the unprecedented nature of the 2020 season. The Nats should have gone to Toronto and Miami by now....
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Voth takes important step in five-inning start

Voth takes important step in five-inning start
Had things played out the way the Nationals wanted them to Saturday night, we'd be talking this morning about Austin Voth's impressive start. Of course, by the end of a disastrous, 5-3 loss to the Orioles, Voth's outing was an afterthought, bumped by Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson's eighth-inning meltdown. In the bigger picture, though, Voth's performance was significant. The second-year starter continues to show he has the stuff to be effective at this level. He just needs to show he...
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Faith in bullpen goes haywire during gut-punch loss (updated)

Faith in bullpen goes haywire during gut-punch loss (updated)
Asked Friday if Sean Doolittle's struggles might force him to shift the veteran late-inning reliever into a lower-leverage role, Davey Martinez was adamant in showing faith in the left-hander who has been an integral member of the Nationals bullpen for three years now. "In order for us to pull this off," Martinez said, "we need Sean Doolittle." Barely 24 hours later, the Nationals manager admitted he may have no choice but to start devising a plan for success in 2020 that doesn't include...
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Scherzer throwing off mound, lined up to start Tuesday

Scherzer throwing off mound, lined up to start Tuesday
The Nationals believe Max Scherzer is on track to make his next start Tuesday against the Mets at Citi Field. Scherzer, who has been dealing with what he calls a "tweaked" right hamstring, is throwing a standard bullpen session this afternoon. It's exactly what he would do three days before starting a game, under normal circumstances. "He's treating it as if he's getting ready for his next start," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. The veteran...
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Game 11 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles

Game 11 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles
Nothing went right for the Nationals Friday night during an 11-0 whitewashing at the hands of the Orioles. They can only hope for a better result tonight in the second game of the weekend series. Most of Davey Martinez's lineup remains the same, with two exceptions: Eric Thames is back at first base, because the Nats are facing a right-hander (Thomas Eshelman), and Asdrúbal Cabrera is back at third base instead of Carter Kieboom. That lineup had better have the right approach against...
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Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits

Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits
There are any number of factors you can point to when trying to explain the Nationals' inconsistent start to this season at the plate, but as is so often the case with this lineup it's always appropriate to start at the top. As Trea Turner goes, so go the Nationals. That was especially obvious in 2019, when the club's early season struggles coincided with the leadoff man's finger injury and the subsequent resurgence coincided with his return to the active roster. There's no injury this...
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