The Nationals fell 2-1 to the Braves Saturday night, but Patrick Corbin pitched a solid seven innings, allowing only two runs, and Kyle McGowin arrived and put up two shutout frames.
Atlanta's offense generated nine hits on the night. But only one of those was an extra-base hit, a double by Adam Duvall in the fourth. He came around to score on a bloop single by Ozzie Albies that lifted the Braves to a 2-0 lead.
The Braves have hit a ton of homers the last few weeks. Limiting that club to eight...
The Nationals offense could not get going until late, and a furious rally attempt fell just short as the Braves eked out a 2-1 nail-biter Saturday night at Nats Park.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin was very good and gave the Nationals a chance to win.
Unfortunately, his counterpart was better.
Right-hander Ian Anderson fired seven shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out nine as the Braves held off the Nats. In the end, RBI singles by Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies were all the...
Nationals top pitching prospect Jackson Rutledge has worked on commanding his fastball and curveball during his bullpen sessions and simulated games at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg.
As Nats minor league pitching coordinator Brad Holman told me this week, it's all about moving the ball around the strike zone instead of narrowly avoiding it.
"It's definitely been the emphasis during camp," Rutledge said during a Zoom video session with reporters. "I think I've actually...
Nationals right-hander Tanner Rainey was one of only two relief pitchers who did not appear in last night's 12-inning marathon against the Braves. The other was left-hander Ben Braymer, who had just been called up.
Rainey had pitched in three of the last four games. But today we found out there was another reason why Rainey did not pitch.
"He has a little tightness in his forearm, so we are going to give him a few days off," said manager Davey Martinez during today's pregame Zoom video...
The Nationals lost another lead Friday night to the Braves, but this time persevered into extra innings and won the game 8-7 at Nats Park. Michael A. Taylor's bloop single to right field in the bottom of the 12th scored Adam Eaton with the walk-off run.
Taylor's winning knock was his third career walk-off hit and first since a walk-off double on May 22, 2018, against the Padres. On Thursday night, the Nats led 5-0 after two innings before succumbing 7-6.
The Nats are 4-4 against the Braves...
Nationals relievers Kyle Finnegan and James Bourque managed to keep the prolific Braves offense off the board in extra innings in an 8-7, 12-inning win Friday night at Nats Park.
Finnegan pitched two scoreless frames while Bourque earned his first major league win with a shutout 12th as the Nats prevented the Braves from coming back from a 5-0 deficit to win for the second night in a row.
Finnegan walked the tightrope for two innings and managed to prevent the Braves from scoring a run even...
The Nationals have placed left-handed pitcher Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and have called up left-hander Ben Braymer from the alternate training site.
Doolittle appeared to injure his oblique on a pitch to Nick Markakis in the top of the ninth of Thursday night's 7-6 loss to the Braves and left the game.
Manager Davey Martinez said Doolittle is seeing the doctor this afternoon and he expects to have a complete update after tonight's contest.
With a...
The Nationals offense rolled out of the gates with five early runs against the first-place Braves on Thursday night at Nats Park, scoring three in the first inning and two in the second frame for a 5-0 lead.
Trea Turner tripled, Juan Soto doubled and Asdrúbal Cabrera tripled in the first against Braves starter Robbie Erlin.
In the second, Michael A. Taylor doubled and Adam Eaton launched a two-run shot.
It seemed like the Nats were going to score more after Erlin left when reliever Huascar...
For the first time in his career, outfielder Yadiel Hernández has been promoted to the big leagues.
With a roster spot open due to the hamstring injury suffered by Howie Kendrick that landed him on the injured list, the Nationals announced they had purchased the contract of the 32-year-old Cuban-born outfielder.
Hernández joined the Nats on Oct. 1, 2016. From 2009-14, he played for Cocodrilos de Matanzas of the Cuban Baseball Federation, joining the league at the age of 21. He also has...
Top Nationals pitching prospects Cade Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge continue to get their work in at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va., under the direction of minor league pitching coordinator Brad Holman and the coaching staff.
Rutledge is currently ranked No. 3 and Cavalli No. 4 in the latest MLBpipeline.com top 30 Nationals prospects list.
"Well, obviously both those guys are extremely talented," Holman told me. "I can't say enough about either one of them. They are...
In the Nationals' two-game sweep of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays to begin this week, a pair of recently acquired veterans played big parts in the club's success in generating offense.
Brock Holt went 4-for-8 with two doubles and two runs scored. Josh Harrison added two hits, going 2-for-7 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs as the Nats beat the Rays 6-1 and 5-3.
On Monday, as Juan Soto, Luis GarcÃa and Howie Kendrick sat out with injuries, manager Davey Martinez opted to put Holt in...
Right-hander Will Harris was hoping to start returning to normal, and after two quick outs in the top of the ninth inning Monday night, the Nationals reliever was doing just that.
In August, Harris had a 0-1 record with a 1.50 ERA in six appearances. His ERA jumped to 3.12 after giving up a run on two hits on Sept. 3 versus the Phillies. After the game, Harris said that he didn't quite have the best feel for the baseball that night.
Against the Rays, Harris dispatched Yoshi Tsutsugo on a...
Nationals starter Max Scherzer commanded his fastball well, mixing in an improved curveball and changeup for seven shutout innings in a 6-1 victory over the first-place Rays at Nationals Park.
"I always want to get through seven innings," Scherzer said during his postgame Zoom video session with reporters. "If I can get out there and get deep into a game, seven innings, it allows our bullpen guys to only have to try to get six outs. That's always a huge goal of mine, to get deep into a ball...
Manager Davey Martinez did not have a definitive answer during his pregame media access today as to when left fielder Juan Soto will return to the Nationals lineup. Soto has been dealing with a sore elbow and has missed a couple of games.
"He's going to come in, he's going to do some activation stuff," Martinez said during his Zoom video session with reporters. "We will see how he feels."
Second baseman Luis GarcÃa was pulled in the middle of Sunday's game at Atlanta because of heel...
Now with Mike Rizzo in the fold for at least three more seasons, the general manager said he wants to get a new deal done for his World Series-winning manager, Davey Martinez.
The skipper confirmed that Rizzo had come to him saying he will see if he can work with the Lerner family on going further than the club option in Martinez's contract for 2021 and just build a whole new deal.
"He did mention something to me last night," Martinez said during the postgame Zoom video session with...
Freddie Freeman had no grand slams to his credit prior to the Braves' series this weekend against the Nationals at Truist Park.
Now he has two.
Atlanta ran away from a close game with four runs in the sixth inning thanks to the second grand slam by Freeman in two days and the Braves dispatched the Nats 10-3.
Atlanta blasted 12 homers over the four games. The Nats also walked nine batters in the game, allowing the Braves extra baserunners, and finished 3-8 on the 11-game road trip.
Marcell...
The Nationals made it official yesterday, announcing a new multi-year contract extension for general manager Mike Rizzo. His previous contract was set to expire Oct. 31. Under Rizzo's guidance, the Nats won the 2019 World Series and earned National League East titles in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Rizzo said it is exciting to be able to have the assurance of at least three more years on the job, and news of the extension came as a relief as he continues to work to get the Nats back into the...
The Nationals are seeking a series win today in the final game of four at Truist Park against the first-place Braves. The Nats dropped Atlanta 10-4 Saturday night to win consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 10-11.
One reason the Nats find themselves in last place in the National League East is that they went 6-16 between those back-to-back wins. At the start of play Sunday, the Nats trail the Braves by 8 1/2 games in the division and are 6 1/2 games back of the final NL wild card...
The Nationals offense finally got off to a good start, scoring seven times in the first three innings Friday night. But the Braves used a dramatic Freddie Freeman grand slam to tie the game in the fourth.
With the way things had gone for the Nats during their seven-game losing streak, many wondered if the Braves would again just finish them off.
Not so fast, said the Nats' hottest hitter, Trea Turner.
His solo homer in the sixth broke the tie, helping to steer the Nats to a 10-9 victory in a...
In the second game of the Nationals' doubleheader against the Braves, right-hander Wil Crowe will make his second major league start, looking to help the Nats stop a week-long skid.
With the 7-1 loss in the opener, the Nats have lost a season-high seven games in a row, their longest losing streak since June 18-25, 2016.
On Aug. 22, despite allowing only two earned runs, Crowe took a 5-3 loss to the Marlins in the second game of a doubleheader. He tossed 3 2/3 innings, scattering six hits,...
