NEW YORK - Hello from Citi Field, where the Nationals close out the first half of the season with a big, four-game weekend series against the Mets. They enter tonight's opener holding a four-game lead, so that means things could go in a lot of different directions. A sweep by the Mets would leave the two teams tied; a sweep by the Nats would increase the lead to a commanding eight games. More likely is a series split or somebody taking three-of-four, making the most plausible spread at the...
Well, it's been another eventful week in NatsTown. Danny Espinosa hit five home runs (two of them grand slams) and drove in 17 runs to win National League Player of the Week. Stephen Strasburg returned from the disabled list and threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball. Joe Ross landed on the DL with shoulder inflammation, leaving a spot in the rotation for Lucas Giolito to remain in the big leagues for at least a while longer.
Jonathan Papelbon returned from the DL. Michael A. Taylor was demoted...
None of the Nationals' All-Star selections was a particular surprise. Bryce Harper had been in solid position to be voted in as a starter for weeks. Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos looked unlikely to win the fan vote, but were shoo-ins to be selected based on their robust numbers. And Stephen Strasburg, as long as he was healthy, was a safe bet to return to his hometown of San Diego to pitch in the game.
But the official announcement of All-Star rosters remains a significant moment for everyone...
Dusty Baker admitted, after the fact, that his Nationals didn't exactly put forth their best effort Monday during the club's annual Independence Day morning game.
"Everybody was dragging yesterday with that 11:05 game," the veteran manager said. "I just didn't want to say it."
Whatever it was that plagued the Nationals during that uninspired loss to the Brewers sure seemed to still be dogging them tonight during a repeat performance.
A tepid offensive attack against right-hander Zach...
The Nationals had been a first-place club on All-Star selection day three times in the last four years, but that didn't always translate into a throng of players actually donning curly W caps at the Midsummer Classic.
This year, when the All-Stars gather in San Diego, the Nats will be well-represented in accordance with their place in the standings.
The Nationals had four players selected to the All-Star squad this evening, with Bryce Harper again voted by fans as a starting outfielder. Daniel...
Danny Espinosa's remarkable recent performance at the plate has earned him recognition around the baseball world.
Espinosa was named National League Player of the Week, a fitting honor for the infielder who put on a prodigious power display over the last seven days.
Espinosa hit .423 with five homers and 17 RBIs, most of that coming during the Nationals' four-game series against the Reds. He hit two homers (including a grand slam) and drove in seven runs during Thursday night's win, then...
It's a big night in baseball, and not necessarily for what's taking place on the field. It's All-Star selection night, which means that shortly after 7 p.m. EDT, several members of the Nationals are going to find out they're heading to San Diego next week for the Midsummer Classic.
At last check, Bryce Harper was still in position to be voted as a starting outfielder by fans, with Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos each trying to make late charges. Either way, both Murphy and Ramos are seen as...
Max Scherzer pitched quite well yesterday. Who wouldn't be satisfied with one run and four hits allowed over six innings?
But when your teammates are shut out, as the Nationals were by Brewers rookie Junior Guerra and two relievers, that one run allowed by Scherzer looks much more significant. And the manner in which it scored - via Martin Maldonado's solo homer in the top of the fifth - loomed large, given Scherzer's season-long struggles keeping the ball in the park.
"There was a solo...
It doesn't happen often - only 39 times in the last six decades of Major League Baseball - and so when it does, it draws plenty of attention and leaves one dugout looking for a corner to go hide and the other giddy for having caught the opposition's mistake.
Really, are there many more embarrassing mistakes for a big league manager than seeing his team bat out of order? It happened today at Nationals Park, and the reactions were exactly what you would expect. Craig Counsell and the Brewers...
Ryan Braun singled up the middle with two outs in the top of the first inning off Max Scherzer in this morning's Independence Day game at Nationals Park. Except in doing so, he actually charged teammate Jonathan Lucroy with an unassisted putout to the catcher.
As if 11 a.m. baseball isn't weird enough, the Brewers turned today's game even more bizarre when they batted out of order in the top of the first, costing themselves a hit, not to mention some of their dignity.
When Braun, the third...
Jonathan Papelbon is back in the Nationals bullpen, but the identity of the player removed from the roster to clear a spot for the veteran closer was a surprise: Michael A. Taylor.
The Nationals chose to option Taylor to Triple-A Syracuse before this morning's Independence Day game against the Brewers, activating Papelbon off the disabled list and giving them - for the moment - a 13-man pitching staff and a short bench.
Papelbon had been out since June 12 with a strained right ribcage muscle,...
And so the baseball season is now half-complete. (Or is it half-unfinished?)
Whatever your perspective, this much you must admit: The Nationals are pretty good. After last night's dramatic, 14-inning victory over the Reds, they now boast a 49-32 record. That's the third-best record in the National League, the fifth-best in the majors. And it's good enough for a six-game lead in the division.
It's also the equivalent of a 98-win pace, which few could find fault with, even the most...
Six full seasons in the major leagues has left Ben Revere with some important perspective on the sport he plays for a living.
"Baseball sucks," the veteran outfielder said. "It absolutely sucks. You ask Jayson Werth - he's been in the game 100 years - and he says it sucks. But it really does. It's frustrating.
"I've had games where I hit four missiles, or four hard-hit balls right at people, and your average goes down. Then there will be games where I hit four bloopers, break my bat...
They played until it was too late for fireworks and too late for many fans to catch the Metro home. But those who stuck it out at Nationals Park at least got to see the home team win in dramatic fashion.
Ben Revere launched a double off the wall in right-center with two outs in the bottom of the 14th inning, scoring Danny Espinosa from second base and giving the Nationals a 3-2 victory over the Reds in a game that took 4 hours, 30 minutes to complete. And that was after a 35-minute rain delay...
One night after their 13-run explosion, the Nationals find themselves in a bit more of a pitchers' duel so far tonight against the Reds.
Tanner Roark and Anthony DeSclafani each have allowed just one run through the game's first four innings, avoiding the kind of crooked-number frames that defined Thursday night's 13-4 Nats rout.
The Nationals struck first, manufacturing a run in the bottom of the first via Ben Revere's leadoff single, Bryce Harper's base hit to right-center and Daniel...
The Nationals announced the signing of pitcher Dane Dunning, the second of their two first-round picks, the final significant member of this year's draft class that had yet to come to terms.
Dunning received a $2 million signing bonus, according to a club source, which is just below slot value for the 29th selection in this year's draft.
A 6-foot-4 right-hander from the University of Florida, Dunning held off signing until now in part because he was still pitching for the Gators in the...
The Nationals are a day closer to Sunday's game, but they are no closer to naming their starting pitcher for that afternoon's series finale against the Reds.
Stephen Strasburg continues to progress well from the upper back strain that prevented him from making his last two starts, and the right-hander has expressed his desire to take the mound. The club, though, has yet to decide whether to give the ball to Strasburg or to take the more cautious route and give rookie Lucas Giolito his second...
It's hard to believe, but we've reached the halfway point of the season. Yes, tonight is Game 81 for the Nationals. So how have they done to date? Well, if they can beat the Reds again tonight, they'll sit at 49-32. Do the math, that's a 98-win pace. Hard to complain much about that, right?
Bryce Harper and Ben Revere are back in the lineup after getting last night off, but Wilson Ramos gets to sit this one out, with Jose Lobaton behind the plate catching Tanner Roark.
Keep in mind the...
Danny Espinosa was the story of last night's blowout win, not to mention the story of June for the Nationals, given his incredible resurgence at the plate that might well have saved his job.
There were a couple other teammates, though, who came through during this 13-4 win over the Reds at a time when each desperately needed that kind of positive performance: Ryan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez.
Zimmerman got the Nationals' hitting party started with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first,...
Danny Espinosa had been down this path before, sporting a sub-.200 batting average and hearing calls from various directions for someone else to take his job. And his response - sulking, overworking, overthinking - all too often only made things worse.
This time around, when he found himself hitting .199 on June 1 and hearing the calls for the Nationals to summon top prospect Trea Turner to replace him at shortstop, Espinosa fought the temptation and made a tough choice which wound up paying...