Mark Zuckerman

Nats drop opener to Braves, Strasburg has words with Scherzer

July 20, 2018, 6:03pm

They said and did all the right things before the game. They went through a spirited afternoon workout that included a focus on defense and baserunning. They all wore customized shirseys with their regular numbers on the back but the world "NATIONALS" replacing their last names. They spoke of the need to play as one and to treat every remaining series on the schedule as critical. Then the Nationals took the field and opened the second half of their season with an 8-5 loss to the Braves that...

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Doolittle not ready yet, but Nats believe he's close to returning

July 20, 2018, 2:36pm

Nationals

Doolittle not ready yet, but Nats believe he's close to returning

The Nationals got two of their key injured players - Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman - back from the disabled list today. They'll have to wait a bit longer for Sean Doolittle to join them on the active roster. Doolittle, eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list today, has made significant progress in his recovery from a pinched nerve in his left foot, but he said he's not quite ready yet. "Today was a good day," the Nats closer said. "I did some light jogging, and it was the...

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Game 97 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Strasburg, Zimmerman active)

July 20, 2018, 11:30am

Nationals

Game 97 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Strasburg, Zimmerman active)

And away we go again. The second half of the season commences tonight, with the Nationals hosting the Braves for a big three-game series. Then again, every series is going to be big the rest of the way, with the Nats needing to make up a 5 1/2-game deficit and catch both the Braves and Phillies in the National League East. As expected, the Nationals will open the second half with two key figures returning from the disabled list: Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman. Strasburg makes the start...

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Five keys to the Nats turning their season around

July 19, 2018, 8:49pm

Nationals

Five keys to the Nats turning their season around

The challenge facing the Nationals over the final 66 games of the season is significant. They not only have to make up a 5 1/2-game deficit to win their third consecutive National League East title, they have to leapfrog over two division rivals to do it. Which means there's little margin for error, beginning with this weekend's three-game series against the second-place Braves. Thing is, Davey Martinez has been a part of something like this before. Only one year ago. The Cubs came out of the...

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Nationals' first-half report card

July 18, 2018, 9:12pm

Nationals

Whew, have you recovered from All-Star Week in D.C. yet? Honestly, I haven't. That was both an exhilarating and an exhausting few days. Fortunately, we all still get a condensed All-Star break before the Nationals return to action Friday night for their second-half opener and the opener of a big series with the Braves. We'll look ahead to all that Friday morning, but today let's take one look back at the now-completed first half of the season. (Yeah, technically they've already played 60...

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AL beats NL 8-6 in extra-inning home run fest (updated)

July 17, 2018, 7:57pm

Nationals

AL beats NL 8-6 in extra-inning home run fest (updated)

They came to watch Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper compete on the big stage against baseball's best, to watch American League stars rarely seen in these parts like Aaron Judge and Mike Trout do their thing, to withstand brutal D.C. July humidity and dodge a few raindrops and to perhaps watch the National League actually win a 21st century All-Star Game for a change. What local baseball fans got in the first Midsummer Classic in the District of Columbia in 49 years was a reminder of what Major...

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Strasburg, Zimmerman on track to come off DL on Friday

July 17, 2018, 3:25pm

Nationals

Strasburg, Zimmerman on track to come off DL on Friday

Tonight's All-Star Game - in which he's serving as a member of Dave Roberts' National League coaching staff - is first and foremost on his mind, but Nationals manager Davey Martinez can't help but start thinking ahead to the resumption of the season Friday night. Especially the key players he expects to have back on his active roster for that series opener against the Braves. Stephen Strasburg has been cleared to come off the disabled list and will start Friday night, Martinez revealed this...

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Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball

July 17, 2018, 12:24pm

Nationals

Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball

Monday night's Home Run Derby, with Nationals slugger Bryce Harper front and center in his home ballpark, was a rousing success. On that point, Rob Manfred and Tony Clark are in complete agreement. "Bryce Harper put on one unbelievable show," Manfred said today in the Major League Baseball commissioner's annual Q&A session with members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "Amazing how he engaged the fans here in his hometown." "Last night was phenomenal," Clark, head of...

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With epic show in Derby, Harper finally makes baseball fun again

July 16, 2018, 8:07pm

Nationals

With epic show in Derby, Harper finally makes baseball fun again

The first half of the 2018 season for Bryce Harper was, to put it mildly, a grind. A batting average stuck in the .210s. Strikeouts on pitches he used to crush. A Nationals club that can't seem to get on a consistent roll. And the underlying question of where he's going to be playing in 2019 and beyond. Harper's mood has reflected all of that. The joy and charisma that so defined him when he burst onto the scene as a teenager had all but disappeared, replaced by a gruff, brooding and...

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All-Star redemption for ex-Nats Treinen, Ramos and VÃ¡zquez

July 16, 2018, 3:48pm

Nationals

All-Star redemption for ex-Nats Treinen, Ramos and VÃ¡zquez

Blake Treinen sat at a table in the club level at Nationals Park, his name emblazoned beneath the All-Star Game logo behind him, his smile wide as he spoke to familiar faces about his first career selection for the Midsummer Classic. Only 20 feet to Treinen's left sat Wilson Ramos, also smiling widely as he discussed his second All-Star appearance, though disappointed a recent hamstring strain will prevent him from playing but nonetheless thrilled to be here. One hour earlier, Felipe...

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Scherzer gets third career All-Star Game start (updated)

July 16, 2018, 9:43am

Nationals

Scherzer gets third career All-Star Game start (updated)

For the first All-Star Game in Washington in nearly a half-century, who better to start the game for the National League than a guy who is establishing himself as one of the best pitchers of the last half-century - oh, and who, by the way, also happens to be doing all this for the hometown club? Max Scherzer indeed will start Tuesday night's All-Star Game at Nationals Park, a fairly no-brainer decision for NL manager Dave Roberts, who may have had other worthy candidates for the assignment but...

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Martinez pushes right buttons as Nats win first-half finale

July 15, 2018, 12:51pm

Nationals

Martinez pushes right buttons as Nats win first-half finale

NEW YORK - If you're not going to take a few chances and push some buttons you don't normally push on the final day before the All-Star break, when are you going to do it? Davey Martinez, who on Thursday afternoon spoke of the urgency he and his Nationals needed to show in this weekend's series against the Mets, did just that in today's first-half finale. In the top of the seventh inning of a tie game, the bases loaded and nobody out, Michael A. Taylor at the plate, Martinez called upon...

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Harper, Murphy get day off; Gott replaces Voth on roster (Nats win 6-1)

July 15, 2018, 8:49am

Nationals

Harper, Murphy get day off; Gott replaces Voth on roster (Nats win 6-1)

NEW YORK - The Nationals will close out the first half of their season with a lineup that doesn't include Bryce Harper or Daniel Murphy, and with a couple extra arms in their bullpen in case they're needed. Both Harper and Murphy were given today's game against the Mets off by manager Davey Martinez, who wanted to give each guy a chance to rest, for different reasons. Harper had started 93 of the Nationals' first 95 games and was used as a pinch-hitter in one other. He had started 36...

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Game 96 lineups: Nats at Mets

July 15, 2018, 6:58am

Nationals

NEW YORK - The first half of the season wraps up today, though as has been pointed out already, the season is well beyond the actual halfway point. Today is Game 96 for the Nationals, and if they want to reach a Game 163 they're going to have to play a whole lot better the rest of the way, beginning this afternoon. Jeremy Hellickson will need to give his team a quality start. And Davey Martinez will need to be willing to have a quick hook on his starter, as he has all season to date. No need...

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Nats have squandered chance to make up ground this week

July 14, 2018, 8:49pm

Nationals

Nats have squandered chance to make up ground this week

NEW YORK - When Nationals players held their closed-door meeting following a July 4 loss to the Red Sox, they found themselves one game under .500. They were in third place in the National League East, seven games behind the first-place Braves, 5 1/2 games behind the second-place Phillies. All agreed it was time to get serious, time to start making up some ground. As luck would have it, the schedule was about to get more favorable, as well. After a difficult stretch that included games with the...

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Big inning dooms Voth in debut, Nats fall below .500 again (updated)

July 14, 2018, 2:59pm

Nationals

Big inning dooms Voth in debut, Nats fall below .500 again (updated)

NEW YORK - As the bottom of the fifth arrived at Citi Field, Davey Martinez knew what he needed from Austin Voth: one more scoreless inning. One more clean inning, and the rookie manager could pull his rookie starter and be content with the three early runs he allowed, at the very least giving his team a chance to come back from that three-run deficit with four innings yet to play. But as the bottom of the fifth played out, it became apparent that best-case scenario simply wasn't going to come...

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Mets single their way to early lead vs. Voth (Nats lose 7-4)

July 14, 2018, 1:44pm

Nationals

Mets single their way to early lead vs. Voth (Nats lose 7-4)

NEW YORK - These days, it feels like it takes four singles in a row for the Nationals to score one run. Imagine how aggravating it was for them when they watched the Mets turn that into a three-run outburst in today's game. Despite relatively weak contact and nothing more than a single, the Mets managed to manufacture three runs in the bottom of the second today against Austin Voth and take a 3-0 lead on the reeling Nationals. And then, just when it looked like he might close out his major...

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Martinez meets with Harper, Gonzalez available in pen

July 14, 2018, 11:21am

Nationals

Martinez meets with Harper, Gonzalez available in pen

NEW YORK - Davey Martinez said Friday night he'd speak to Bryce Harper today about the manner in which he ran out (or didn't run out) a double-play grounder during the Nationals' 4-2 loss to the Mets, and the rookie manager indeed met with his star outfielder this morning. The message that was delivered? "I've spoken to Bryce," Martinez said, "and that's a conversation that will stay between Bryce and I." Martinez did acknowledge after Friday's game, though, that he would have...

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Game 95 lineups: Nats at Mets

July 14, 2018, 8:36am

Nationals

NEW YORK - Hello from Citi Field. Yes, I've swooped into town to cover the rest of the Nationals' weekend series with the Mets while Byron heads back home to handle pregame and postgame hosting duties on Nats Xtra. It's been an interesting series already, with the Nats winning Thursday night behind two homers from Anthony Rendon and one from Bryce Harper, then losing Friday night after Tanner Roark gave up four early runs and the lineup unable to get more than two back. Today we'll finally...

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What's really to blame for Nats' offensive struggles?

July 11, 2018, 8:48pm

Nationals

What's really to blame for Nats' offensive struggles?

PITTSBURGH - What's the biggest reason the Nationals are having so much trouble consistently scoring runs this season? The easy answer, as Davey Martinez has said on more than one occasion, to blame the club's struggles with runners in scoring position. "It's more collectively," the manager said after Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Pirates. "Individually, the guys hit the ball here and there. But it's more like our situational hitting. Runners on second base. Sometimes you've just got to...