For a while, it looked like this afternoon's outing was going to be Stephen Strasburg's best of the season. Through his first 4 2/3 innings, he'd allowed just two Cubs baserunners and had struck out seven. He was mowing hitters down with a fastball that topped out at 98 mph and worked in dazzling off-speed pitches.
By the time the fifth inning ended, Strasburg had allowed five hits, two walks and four runs, and the Nationals suddenly trailed 4-0. A Ryan Zimmerman error with two outs and...
Boy, did things turn in a hurry.
Stephen Strasburg was working on an absolute gem this afternoon, having held the Cubs to just one hit over his first four innings of work, striking out seven and needing just 53 pitches to get through those four dominant frames.
Then in the fifth, after a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error prolonged the inning, it all fell apart for Strasburg.
He had been nearly halfway to the dugout when Zimmerman's throw sailed wide of the first base bag, then needed to walk...
It's only been three innings, but this has already far and away been the most locked in Stephen Strasburg has looked all season.
Strasburg is through three innings, having retired all nine Cubs hitters he's faced. He's struck out five (four of which have been swinging) and allowed just one ball to be hit out of the infield.
After starting the game with three straight balls to Cubs leadoff hitter David DeJesus, 30 of Strasburg's 35 pitches have been for strikes.
He's been pounding the...
The Nationals had hoped that Bryce Harper would be able to return to the lineup today after having minor surgery on Thursday night to remove an ingrown toenail.
Instead, Harper is out of the Nats' lineup for the second straight game.
Manager Davey Johnson said this afternoon that Harper's big toe is still sore after having an ingrown portion of the nail removed two days ago.
"Harp's still a little tender," Johnson said. "He wanted to wait until he hit on the field, and if it's that...
Jayson Werth hasn't played since May 2 because of a right hamstring strain, and the Nationals finally needed to make use of his roster spot.
The Nats officially placed Werth on the 15-day disabled list today, retroactive to May 3, and called outfielder Eury Perez up from Triple-A Syracuse.
Werth is batting .260 with four homers, 10 RBIs and 17 runs in 27 games this season. He'll be eligible to return on May 18.
This will be the second stint in the big leagues for the 22-year-old Perez, who...
Not only has Ian Desmond been productive this season, he's also been clutch.
According to Elias, all five of Desmond's home runs this season have given the Nationals the lead.
Last night, it was a two-run shot in the fourth that broke open a 2-2 tie and led the Nats to a 7-2 win.
Desmond now has 19 extra-base hits this season, tops among all major league shortstops. The Yankees' Robinson Cano is the only other middle infielder to match Desmond's number of extra-base knocks.
Defensively,...
There have only been two cycles in Nationals history. Brad Wilkerson and Cristian Guzman delivered those, and Wilkerson's wasn't even the main story that day, because it came in the first Nationals win after the team relocated to D.C.
Ian Desmond had a shot to join that club today, as he delivered a single, home run and double in his first three at-bats of the night. He ended up falling a triple short of his first professional cycle, with a groundout to short in the eighth marking the lone...
Ian Desmond led the charge in the Nationals' 7-3 win over the Cubs tonight, going 3-for-4, coming up a triple shy of the cycle and notching three RBIs.
According to Davey Johnson, this offensive outburst came after Desmond noticed he'd made an unintentional adjustment that might have been affecting his timing at the plate.
Desmond told Johnson that he noticed he'd moved up in the box a bit recently, and while his positioning might have been just a couple inches closer to the pitcher than...
If you needed another example of why wins are a flawed stat for pitchers, take a look at Ross Detwiler.
The guy leaves his start tonight with a 2.53 ERA on the season, and if tonight's score holds, this will mark just his second win in seven starts.
Detwiler exited tonight's game after 6 2/3 innings of work, having scattered eight hits and allowed just two runs. He stuck out two and walked none, throwing 90 pitches, 57 for strikes.
The Nationals' left-hander has allowed no more than three...
Kurt Suzuki gave the Nationals the lead in the bottom of the second and then made a tremendous play a half-inning later to ensure the Cubs didn't grab the lead right back.
Up with two on and two outs in the second, Suzuki smoked a Jeff Samardzija fastball off the right-center field wall. Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa both came around to score, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead over the Cubs.
This marks Suzuki's first two-RBI game since April 17.
The Cubs came right back with back-to-back...
With Jayson Werth heading to the disabled list and Bryce Harper out after having minor surgery to get rid of an ingrown toenail, the Nationals are two outfielders short tonight.
That will leave Roger Bernadina starting in right field and Tyler Moore starting in left.
Bernadina is hitting .129 on the season. Moore is batting .163.
Ryan Zimmerman will move back up to his familiar No. 3 spot in the order with Harper out, Adam LaRoche will hit cleanup and Ian Desmond will bat fifth.
Davey...
It looks like Jayson Werth will need to land on the disabled list, after all.
Werth hasn't played since May 2 against the Braves because of a tight right hamstring, and all along, the Nationals have felt that Werth would need just a few days off and then would be able to return to the lineup. The veteran outfielder suffered a bit of a setback today, however, as his hamstring went into spasm while doing leg curls.
Manager Davey Johnson said that the leg curls are a part of Werth's standard...
The Nationals' No. 4 and 5 hitters are starting to put it together.
Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for-4 with an RBI yesterday, bumping his average up to .239 on the season. Adam LaRoche added two hits and an RBI yesterday, as well, and he's now getting closer to the Mendoza line, hitting .196 on the season.
Over his last six games, LaRoche is 9-for-17 (.529) with a .625 on-base percentage.
The power isn't there from these two Nats sluggers yet - they've combined for just four home runs and 22...
This little two-game series between the Nationals and Tigers was billed by some as a potential World Series preview.
It's just two games in May, of course. But the Nationals played two pretty smooth ballgames the last two days, picking up wins over the reigning American League champions in each despite a comeback effort today by Detroit.
The Nats held a 5-1 lead after two innings, but Matt Tuiasosopo's pinch-hit, three-run homer in the sixth made things interesting. In the end, the Nats...
The rain is picking up at Nationals Park, but so is the Nats' offensive production.
The Nats have put up five runs and seven hits off Tigers starter Doug Fister through two innings. Fister has retired just six of the 15 batters he's faced.
This is the same Doug Fister who hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of his previous six starts this season.
Denard Span has scored twice in two innings, Roger Bernadina has a bunt single and a walk, and Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche are both...
Following his last start here at Nationals Park, a win over the Reds on April 27 in which he allowed two runs and struck out five over six innings, Dan Haren said he finally felt like part of the team.
In some ways, it was just a light-hearted comment that made reporters chuckle. In other ways, it was evidence of what Haren has needed to deal with early this season as he tries to adjust to a new team with legitimate World Series aspirations.
Haren came in with a one-year, $13 million...
Jayson Werth is out of the Nationals' lineup for a fifth straight game with a tight right hamstring. Bryce Harper will play right field again in Werth's absence, and Roger Bernadina will man left field this afternoon against the Tigers.
Nationals manager Davey Johnson said that an MRI on Werth's hamstring looked good upon first glance, but team medical director Dr. Wiemi Douoguih will give the test results a more careful examination later today.
Werth has been put on antibiotics to try and...
Let's have fun with some numbers for a bit.
Factoring in his outing last night in a win against the Tigers, Jordan Zimmermann has a 1.59 ERA this season, which ranks fourth in the majors behind just Matt Harvey, Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander.
Pretty good company, if you ask me.
Zimmermann has a 0.82 WHIP, which ranks third in the bigs, and his six wins ties for the most in the league. He has six quality starts (defined as at least six innings of work and no more than three earned...
Another fantastic pitching performance from Jordan Zimmermann, another homer from Bryce Harper and another save notched by Rafael Soriano.
The Nationals picked up a 3-1 win over the Tigers tonight, with Zimmermann leading the way yet again.
Despite pitching on six days' rest and dealing with a 57-minute rain delay before first pitch, Zimmermann allowed just one run over seven innings against a Tigers team that came into today batting a robust .285.
"Well that was a good one," manager...
OK, so it wasn't a complete-game one-hitter.
He didn't allow just two baserunners over eight innings.
But Jordan Zimmermann turned in another gem tonight, and he did it against arguably the most dangerous offensive team in baseball.
Zimmermann went seven innings, allowing just one run on seven hits. He walked two, struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 1.59.
Over his last three starts, against the Reds, Braves and Tigers - all potent lineups - Zimmermann has allowed just one run on 10...