PHOENIX - Tonight's 2-0 Nationals win had some special significance to manager Davey Johnson as his managerial career comes towards its end.
It guaranteed that Johnson will finish with a lifetime record of at least 300 games over .500.
That stat took particular meaning for Johnson in recent days, as silly as it might sound to some, but his players were able to deliver for him here in Arizona, picking up back-to-back wins over the Diamondbacks to push Johnson to 302 games over .500 in his...
PHOENIX - The slide into third might not have been textbook, but Denard Span's leadoff triple in the top of the sixth has allowed the Nationals to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning here at Chase Field.
It's also given Span the major league lead in triples this season.
Span roped a first-pitch changeup from Diamondbacks righty Brandon McCarthy into the right field corner and turned on the jets. He slid into third awkwardly, ending up on his backside as his momentum took him past the...
PHOENIX - Reporters sat down with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo for more than 13 minutes a bit ago, discussing what went wrong this season that left the Nats on the outside of the playoffs looking in and where Rizzo will look to improve the club this offseason.
I'll have bits of that interview coming throughout the next few days, but first, here is some of the important quick-hit stuff that was discussed:
Rizzo declined to address the upcoming managerial search or what qualities...
PHOENIX - After some initial indecision about who would start tomorrow in the Nationals' season finale, Gio Gonzalez has decided to take the ball for Davey Johnson's last game as Nats manager.
Gonzalez had been initially under the impression that Tanner Roark would start the finale, but Johnson told Gonzalez that he'd like the left-hander to pitch tomorrow to help him ensure that he finishes his managerial career at least 300 games above .500.
After thinking it over, Gonzalez agreed to...
PHOENIX - Dan Haren will look to cap a disappointing season on a positive note tonight when he takes on the Diamondbacks in what will likely be his final start as a National.
A free agent this offseason after his one-year, $13 million deal with the Nats comes to an end, Haren will be shopping around for a new team, but he knows he likely won't have many suitors after going 9-14 with a 4.87 ERA and 28 homers allowed in 162 2/3 innings to this point this season.
He's 1-1 with a lifetime 5.00...
PHOENIX - Just prior to his fifth-inning home run Friday night, Jayson Werth noticed that the bat that he was using had splintered. It was the same bat he'd used for weeks, a much longer life span than most bats Werth handles, and had delivered many big hits over what has been a personal hot stretch.
Werth needed a new piece of lumber, so he called for the bat boy.
"I think his name was Bobby," Werth said, dropping a "The Natural" reference on everyone. "He ran out the Savoy Special to...
PHOENIX - In some ways, tonight's start exemplified Stephen Strasburg's season.
Strasburg had a couple of moments where he struggled to locate and had a shaky stretch in the third inning where he walked two batters and hit Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin with a 1-2 curveball. He had just four strikeouts in seven innings of work. But he finished the night going a solid seven innings, allowing just two runs in an 8-4 Nationals win.
It wasn't the smoothest of starts for Strasburg, but it...
PHOENIX - Not only did tonight's 8-4 Nationals win finish off Stephen Strasburg's season on a high note and feature Jayson Werth's 25th homer of the year, it also brought Davey Johnson one win away from reaching a statistical milestone that somewhat strangely holds a decent amount of importance for him.
With one more win this season, Johnson would be guaranteed to finish at least 300 games above .500 for his managerial career. If the Nats don't get the win tomorrow, Johnson will send...
PHOENIX - This will wrap up Stephen Strasburg's 2013 season.
The right-hander went seven strong innings tonight, and leaves with the Nationals holding an 8-2 lead mid-way through the eighth thanks to Wilson Ramos' three-run shot. It was Ramos' 16th homer of the season, and it's turned this game into a blowout.
Outside of a blip in the third inning in which he walked two, hit the pitcher and allowed two runs, Strasburg pitched pretty darn well tonight. He allowed just the two runs on six...
PHOENIX - Stephen Strasburg's third inning of work included two walks, including one to the Diamondbacks' number eight hitter, hitting the opposing pitcher on a 1-2 curveball when said opposing pitcher was squaring around to bunt, and two singles.
Frankly, Strasburg was fortunate to come out of the inning having just allowed two runs.
An RBI single by Gerardo Parra broke a scoreless tie and kept the bases loaded with none out, but Strasburg induced a big 5-4-3 double play, turned nicely by...
PHOENIX - We know either Gio Gonzalez or Tanner Roark will start for the Nationals in the season finale Sunday.
We still just don't know which of the two it'll be.
Essentially, it boils down to how the Nats fare in the first two games of this series. If they win or lose both games, it sounds like Davey Johnson will start Roark on Sunday. If the Nats split the first two games of this three-game set, Gonzalez will probably get the ball.
The reason? Johnson is currently 300 games over .500...
PHOENIX - The final series of the Nationals' 2013 season begins tonight.
Three games here at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks are all that separates the Nats from the offseason and the frustration that surely comes from watching postseason baseball from home.
Stephen Strasburg will make his final start of the season tonight, while the Diamondbacks will send left-hander Patrick Corbin to the mound.
Jeff Kobernus will lead off and play left field tonight, and Bryce Harper will play...
PHOENIX - Hello from Arizona, where I'll make sure to check with the Diamondbacks before taking a dip in their pool after any of the games this weekend.
After all, I don't want Senator John McCain calling me an "overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brat."
Davey Johnson has said time and time again that he wishes that the Nationals had come into this season with more of a balanced bullpen.
The Nats broke camp with just one left-hander in their 'pen - Zach Duke, a career-long starter...
ST. LOUIS - Dan Haren is one of the most self-aware pitchers you'll find in the major leagues.
He knows what he was brought to D.C. to do. He knows that largely, he hasn't done it. And despite his solid performance since coming off the disabled list in early July, Haren isn't going to try and color his 2013 season in favorable terms. When asked how he views his year with the Nationals, Haren, as always, is blunt.
"Obviously not a success," Haren said during a lengthy interview in the...
ST. LOUIS - Davey Johnson readily admits the Cardinals kicked the Nationals' butts this season.
Denard Span doesn't disagree. In fact, he agrees 100 percent.
"I think they just flat-out kicked our butt. You lose six games, they just were better than us," Span said.
On paper, the Nationals and Cardinals seemed to match up pretty evenly this season. They both have talented, deep rotations. They both have lineups filled with run-producers. But the Cardinals outplayed the Nats by a wide...
ST. LOUIS - After a rough month of July in which he battled a lingering neck injury and went 0-3 in a four-start stretch, Jordan Zimmermann's chances of even approaching the 20-win mark seemed pretty darn slim.
But Zimmermann rebounded this month, going 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four September starts coming into today's outing, giving him a shot at reaching 20 victories on the season.
He came up short today, getting the loss after allowing four runs over seven innings in a 4-1 Nationals...
ST. LOUIS - The Nationals and Cardinals played an incredibly tight, entertaining five-game postseason series last fall. This year, the Cardinals pushed the Nats around, winning all six games between the teams in sweeping the season series.
Coming into this three-game set at Busch Stadium, the Nats had hoped to keep their slim postseason chances alive into the final series of the season in Arizona. Then, after getting eliminated from the playoff picture Monday, they hoped to play the spoiler...
ST. LOUIS - This Cardinals lineup is no picnic for opposing pitchers, especially pitchers named Jordan Zimmermann.
Zimmermann entered today's start with a 9.12 ERA in five career regular season outings against the Cardinals. And that doesn't include his start in Game 2 of the National League Division Series last year, in which Zimmermann lasted just three innings and allowed five runs on seven hits.
It also, of course, doesn't include Zimmermann's absolutely dominant inning of relief work...
ST. LOUIS - Jordan Zimmermann will have one shot at reaching the 20-win mark this season. That shot comes this afternoon in St. Louis.
Tigers righty Max Scherzer put himself in a situation (with significant help from his teammates in terms of run support) where he had five cracks at notching his 20th win before he finally hit that mark. That's what getting to getting to 19 wins by Aug. 24 will do for you.
Zimmermann notched his 19th win his last time out, and with today being his final start...
ST. LOUIS - Jordan Zimmermann will be seeking his 20th victory of the season when the Nationals meet the Cardinals in a 1:45 p.m. game this afternoon.
He'll be trying to give the Nationals back-to-back 20-game winners, after Gio Gonzalez went 21-8 in 2012. The only other 20-game winner in franchise history was Ross Grimsley, who notched 20 wins in 1978.
The Nats will stick with pretty much the same lineup against Cardsinals rookie right-hander Shelby Miller, who is trying for his 15th win....
