MIAMI - The Nationals have officially reinstated third baseman Ryan Zimmerman from the 15-day disabled list this afternoon.
Zimmerman missed 55 games with a severe right hamstring strain he suffered on July 22 at Colorado. That and a fractured right thumb have limited him to 53 games this season.
Zimmerman has hit .282 with a .345 on-base percentage, a .456 slugging percentage, 24 extra-base hits (five homers) and 36 RBIs this season while spending time at third base, first base and in left...
MIAMI - Not every team is this lucky. Most aren't.
The Nationals have been through loads of injuries this season. They've twice lost Ryan Zimmerman for long stretches. Bryce Harper was out two months. Wilson Ramos had two stints on the DL. Doug Fister missed the first five weeks of the season. Gio Gonzalez lost a month due to a shoulder issue. Adam LaRoche missed 15 days.
But now, with just nine games left in the regular season, the Nats are whole again. Zimmerman will be activated from...
MIAMI - The strong stretch of starting pitching continued tonight, and another victory came largely as a result.
Doug Fister allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 innings, turning in yet another quality start, and Adam LaRoche helped provide most of the offense with a towering two-run homer in the first inning to lead the Nationals to a 3-2 win over the Marlins.
Fister didn't have his best stuff tonight, but still managed to turn things over to the bullpen with a lead in a low-scoring affair. Matt...
MIAMI - After sitting out the last two games with a sore back, first baseman Adam LaRoche is back in the lineup.
With LaRoche returning, the Nationals will play their first game with all of the starting position players since clinching the National League East title on Tuesday.
Doug Fister is seeking his 15th win of the season. Fister has made just two starts in his career against the Marlins.
For the Nationals
CF Denard Span
3B Anthony Rendon
RF Jayson Werth
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian...
MIAMI - Last night, pitching in his hometown for just the second time in his career, and first time since 2012, Gio Gonzalez kept the ball rolling in the right direction.
The Nationals left-hander twirled seven innings, allowing just two runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked none, marking the second time in a three-start span that he hasn't issued a base-on-balls.
Prior to this three-start stretch, he hadn't had a walk-free start all season.
Over his last six starts, Gonzalez...
MIAMI - Can't get much more of a well-rounded win than tonight's victory over the Marlins.
Gio Gonzalez threw seven strong innings, allowing just two runs, seven Nationals had at least one hit, the defense was solid and the baserunning was aggressive and smart in a 6-2 win over Miami.
Gonzalez continued his string of solid outings by pitching well in his hometown in front of lots of family members and friends, Bryce Harper had three hits, and Craig Stammen and Rafael Soriano combined to...
MIAMI - Yesterday, Nationals manager Matt Williams hinted that most of the regular starters would return to the lineup.
He didn't lie.
All of the regulars are playing tonight except for first baseman Adam LaRoche, who will sit out his second straight game. LaRoche has been battling a tight back the last couple of weeks. Kevin Frandsen will take LaRoche's spot at first base.
With LaRoche out of the lineup, catcher Wilson Ramos will bat cleanup.
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez will pitch in his...
MIAMI - The Nationals added some organizational depth at shortstop this afternoon, claiming Pedro Florimon off waivers from the Twins.
The 25-year-old Florimon batted .092 (7-for-76) with one RBI in 33 games for the Twins this season and played 85 games at Triple-A Rochester, where he hit 257 with four homers and 29 RBIs. The switch-hitter came up through the Orioles organization before being claimed off waivers by the Twins in December 2011 and is a career .204 hitter with 10 homers and 57...
MIAMI - I had a conversation with a couple of fellow Nationals reporters yesterday evening after watching Blake Treinen carve through the Braves lineup over five scoreless innings. The topic was initially raised by The Post's Adam Kilgore, and got a few of us chatting.
The main point in the conversation was this: Every team in the league would love a pitcher who can throw 98 mph with sink, with emerging offspeed stuff. But how many teams wouldn't see that pitcher as a major factor come...
ATLANTA - Now that the Nationals have wrapped up the division title, their starters get to take a break tonight at Turner Field.
Manager Matt Williams is emptying his bench with none of the Nats regulars in the lineup. That includes left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who was scheduled to pitch tonight against the Braves. Right-hander Blake Treinen will start instead as the Nats go for the sweep and their fifth consecutive win.
Treinen makes his first start since June 28. He has made four relief...
ATLANTA - I still smell like beer.
I've showered twice, shampooed, shampooed, conditioned, conditioned. It just doesn't seem to go away.
What a night the Nationals got to enjoy in Atlanta. They clinched their second National League East title in the last three years, did it with a whopping 12 games left in the season and did it on their top rival's field.
I feel privileged to have been in the clubhouse as a part of our MASN team conducting interviews with so many of the guys who...
ATLANTA - It took many hard-fought nights, many comebacks, many sacrifices and many hours of work. And tonight, it all paid off in the form of a 2014 National League East championship.
For the second time in three seasons, the Nationals have won the NL East, and they've done it with 12 games still remaining in the regular season.
A dominant second half combined with a sliding Braves team allowed the Nats to clinch the division here at Turner Field with tonight's 3-0 win. The Nats spilled...
ATLANTA - With a 3-0 win over the Braves, the Nationals clinched their second National League East title in three years.
Here is some postgame reaction from the clubhouse.
Manager Matt Williams
On whether he imagined this being possible: "With this team, I could imagine, yeah. I know there was a lot of hard work along the way. There was some trials and tribulations, too, but I am very proud of them. They've taken ownership of the way they want to play this game and how they go about and...
ATLANTA - The Nationals can clinch their second National League East title in three seasons tonight with a win against the Braves.
Bryce Harper is back in the lineup after leaving Monday night's game in the fourth inning with lightheadedness.
Tanner Roark will take the mound for the Nats. He is 1-0 with a 2.10 ERA in four starts against the Braves. Roark will face right-hander Aaron Harang, who is 3-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 12 career starts against the Nats.
For the Nationals
CF Denard Span
3B...
ATLANTA - Anyone living in the Atlanta area have a pair of ski goggles that they aren't planning on using tonight or tomorrow?
Asking for myself.
Boy, could this be a big night for baseball in the DMV. Both the Nationals and Orioles have a chance to clinch their respective division titles tonight, with the Nats just needing to take one of the two remaining games against the Braves to win the National League East and the O's being just one win away from being American League East...
ATLANTA - The magic number is now two. A win here at Turner Field tomorrow or Wednesday and the Nationals are division champs.
The Nats cut that magic number in half tonight, beating Atlanta 4-2 in a game that turned really tight late.
Washington took a 4-0 lead to the ninth, but Rafael Soriano allowed two runs and Drew Storen needed to come in with the tying run at the plate. A Christian Bethancourt RBI single put the tying run on base, and Bethancourt then moved into scoring position on a...
ATLANTA - The Nationals open their final three-game series at Turner Field - barring an unlikely late-season run by the Braves to secure one of the National League wild cards - with right-hander Stephen Strasburg on the mound.
Strasburg hasn't traditionally fared well here - he's 1-3 with a 6.99 ERA in seven career starts. But he'll try for his 12th victory while making his team-high and career-best 32nd start of the season. He'll face righty Ervin Santana.
The Nats' magic number stands at...
Turner Field has been a house of horrors for the Nationals over the last couple of years.
Within the next three days, the Nats could find themselves storming the mound at Turner Field, popping bottles in the visitors clubhouse and punching their playoff ticket at their top rival's expense on the Braves' home turf.
Following this weekend's activity, in which the Nats took three of four from the Mets while the Braves continued their lengthy slide by getting swept by the Rangers (who happen to...
There won't be a sweep, but the Nationals will head out on their 11-game road trip with an eight-game lead over the Braves, needing a combination of Nats wins or Atlanta losses equaling 10 to clinch the National League East.
Matt Williams' team might very well return home with the division crown locked up.
Today, the Nats dropped a 6-2 ballgame to Atlanta, with Aaron Harang stymieing them over seven innings. Stephen Strasburg allowed three runs over six innings, striking out eight and walking...
The Nationals go for a sweep of the Braves this afternoon at Nationals Park, but their lineup will have a markedly different look.
Shortstop Ian Desmond, who left last night's game with back tightness, is out today. He'll be replaced at short by Danny Espinosa.
Third baseman Anthony Rendon is getting a day off to deal with a flu-like illness, with Kevin Frandsen taking over at the hot corner.
For the Braves RF Jason Heyward SS Phil Gosselin 1B Freddie Freeman LF Justin Upton 3B Chris Johnson...
