"It has been a long three years, and everybody in here has had their ups and downs. We all pushed on and kept trying to get better and, you know what, now we are NL East champs," right-hander Stephen Strasburg said, speaking on how this team was built and on what the Nationals went through to get to this point.
"I don't think this is going to be our only time," he added. "We are living in the now, and we got lot of work to do. But we are going to make the most of it, play in the moment,...
The Phillies defeated the Nationals 8-0 on September 27, 2010, before 14,309 at Nationals Park, to clinch the NL East crown. The Nationals managed just two hits that day, as Roy Halladay tossed a complete game for his 21st win.
A look back at the starting lineups that day:
Phillies
Victorino CF
Polanco 3B
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Ibanez LF
Ruiz C
Valdez SS
Halladay P
Subs: Wilson
Nationals
Espinosa 2B
Morgan CF
Desmond SS
Dunn 1B
Morse RF
Bernadina LF
Ramos C
Gonzalez 3B
Lannan...
It is with a bit more than just a little irony that the Nationals have three chances to clinch their first NL East title, at home, against the Phillies, and with none other than left-hander John Lannan getting the call.
Lannan gets the start because it is his turn in the rotation in a season where he has made only five starts with the Nationals.
Right-hander Stephen Strasburg? No, he reached his innings limit. Gio Gonzalez? He gets the chance Tuesday. Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmermann and...
The amazing emergence of catcher Kurt Suzuki has been another example of how general manager Mike Rizzo finds a way to make the right choice in a time of need for the Nationals.
With a major injury to starter Wilson Ramos, Rizzo was looking for a veteran backstop who could handle a young pitching staff.
He focused on Suzuki, who had hit well in his career and had done a good job over the years of throwing runners out, something the Nationals had struggled with in 2011.
Suzuki was brought in...
Can he get to 25 home runs?
Of course, it is possible.
The amazing rookie season of Bryce Harper continues into its final week of the regular season. With six games remaining before the postseason, Harper needs three homers to tie Tony Conigliaro's 1964 rookie home run record as a teenager.
In that season, Conigliaro hit .290 in 111 games with 24 homers and 52 RBIs.
This season, Harper has hit .264 with 21 homers, 17 stolen bases and 58 RBIs in 133 games. He has hit a home run in his last...
The Nationals certainly showed they are the better team after taking two of three against the Phillies, winning the series finale, 7-3.
Some of the headlines include Gio Gonzalez winning his career-high 21st game and Bryce Harper hitting his 21st homer.
But how about the two home runs from Michael Morse and four RBIs? The second home run was a mammoth shot, travelling 451 feet and landing in Tom Gorzelanny's hat in the second level where the visitor's bullpen is situated in Citizens Bank...
With the postseason beginning next Friday(!), the Nationals will have to make a decision on their pitching roster for the second season. Starters Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler are set.
But an interesting alteration that might occur is the possible addition of left-hander John Lannan and right-hander Christian Garcia to the postseason roster.
Lannan improved to 4-0 with a 4.23 ERA in the Nationals' 8-4 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night, going 5 1/3...
The playoff picture in the National League is close to being set with four teams already assured of spots in the postseason. The Nationals, Reds, Giants and Braves have clinched berths, while the Cardinals are the second-closest wild card team with eight regular season games remaining.
Manager Davey Johnson has said he is not going to speculate as to who his starters will be for the postseason, but you can bet at his desk he has penciled in his thoughts on how he wants to set up his top guns...
Manager Davey Johnson said Monday he would consider Christian Garcia as a starter next season. Going up to Garcia and saying this, Johnson said the right-hander responded, "I'm good with being in the bullpen."
"Of course you are," Johnson laughed. "You are in the major leagues".
But Double-A Harrisburg pitching coach Paul Menhart, who worked with Garcia before he was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, said Garcia can start because that is all he ever knew coming into this season.
"That...
With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Nationals would like nothing better than their starting rotation to get into a groove right before the postseason begins.
No. 1 starter Gio Gonzalez continues to roll, earning win No. 20 Saturday in a 10-4 gem over the Brewers. Two days later, the No. 2 starter Jordan Zimmermann dispatched Milwaukee 12-2.
On cue, Zimmermann went 6 2/3 innings on Monday, allowing four hits with just one run, a solo shot by Corey Hart, with just two walks...
The Nationals have been so impressed with reliever Christian Garcia and his power arm that manager Davey Johnson said today they would consider converting the right-hander to a starter next season.
Garcia complained of right biceps fatigue following Saturday's win over the Brewers, in which he allowed a two-run shot in the ninth to the Brewers' Taylor Green. Johnson said Garcia was on "cruise control" before the homer, and after the homer he got "amped up." Did he ever - Garcia struck...
It was an uneven defensive performance for the Nationals Sunday, as they committed two errors and lost two fly balls in the sun in a 6-2 loss to Milwaukee.
Outfielders Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth each lost fly balls in the sun. The fly balls dropped to the ground in front of them for base hits.
Harper said it was tough to see the ball as the afternoon sun moved through the sky.
"You can't catch what you can't see," Harper said. "Nothing you can do about it. The sun monster got me and...
Outfielder Destin Hood fought through injuries and sickness this season in the minors. Battling through an injured wrist, Hood managed to come back and get on track by the end of the season. The Alabama native is now playing in the instructional league.
Hood, a second-round selection in 2008, hit .242 in the minors for Double-A Harrisburg and a few rehab games at short-season Single-A Auburn, with 21 doubles, three triples, three homers, six stolen bases and 21 RBIs. He struck out 89 times in...
Edwin Jackson did not join the other four Nationals starters in double-digit wins Friday night.
In a heartbreaking 4-2 loss to Milwaukee, Jackson's no decision might have been literally lost in the shuffle.
It should not be.
Instead, it might be his biggest and most important no-decision of the season for the Nationals.
Jackson went eight strong innings, allowing a solo homer to Jonathan Lucroy but virtually nothing else. He walked none, struck out six and gave up only five other...
Team chemistry in baseball can be an undervalued commodity.
Take the Los Angeles Dodgers. They can pretty much put an All-Star lineup on the field every night. Players like Shane Victorino, Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez.
You look down that Dodgers lineup and gasp.
It is filled with on-base guys, home run hitters, powerful pitchers and battle-tested postseason players. But the one thing this talented crew does not possess? It has not worked together from spring training,...
Left-hander Ross Detwiler became the fourth Nationals pitcher to win at least 10 games this season, twirling six innings and allowing just one run in a 4-1 playoff-clinching win at Nationals Park.
Detwiler did not allow a hit through three innings, allowed a solo homer to Mark Ellis in the fourth, but then only two other singles to improve to 10-6.
At one point, he threw his fastball 13 out of 15 pitches, and 43 times on the night. He walked just one hitter to lead off the sixth, which could...
The Nationals have confirmed that right-handed power reliever Cole Kimball has been added to their Arizona Fall League affiliate, the Salt River Rafters, which begins play October 9.
Kimball appears on the active roster of the Rafters here.
Kimball has fully recovered from right rotator cuff surgery, which ended his season in July 2011.
This will be Kimball's second tour in the Arizona Fall League, making the splash there in 2010. He has since recovered from shoulder surgery that forced him...
When the Nationals defeated the Dodgers, 3-1, in Game 1 of their doubleheader, they reached a club record of 90 wins on the season with 14 games left in the regular season.
The Nationals now have 45 wins at home and on the road this season. The 45 wins at home are a new club record, as they won 44 games at home in 2011.
Nationals Park has become a true home-field advantage; the Nationals are 89-64 (.582) there since beginning of 2011. Even in 2010, the home-field advantage was apparent as...
In his first appearance with the Nationals since June 30, right-hander Chien-Ming Wang fought back from a first offering wild pitch to go 2 1/3 innings against the Dodgers on Wednesday night in Game 2 of a doubleheader. The Nationals eventually lost the game 7-6.
He had been active since September 4, when he returned from a lengthy rehab assignment at Double-A Harrisburg. Wang had allowed 12 total runs in his final two minor league appearances.
But Wednesday, manager Davey Johnson said Wang...
Right-handers Craig Stammen and Chien-Ming Wang are the likely candidates to get a spot start on Sunday, according to manager Davey Johnson.
Johnson does not want any of his regular starting rotation to have to come back on three days rest and prefers a right-hander against the Brewers' power-hitting lineup.
He has not made his selection yet, wanting to wait to see how his bullpen is taxed here in the Dodgers series.
"It depends on these next couple of games," Johnson said. "It could be...