Ian Desmond sits as erratic season continues

Ian Desmond sits as erratic season continues
Ian Desmond's erratic season in the field and at the plate has led him to be the most criticized Washington Nationals player this season. So it's quite ironic that public sentiment is for Danny Espinosa, the most criticized Nat of the past few years, to replace Desmond in the lineup. Either way, Desmond sits tonight and Espinosa makes his fifth start of the season at shortstop. "It creates opportunity for me to give Desi a rest, which is important," Nationals manager Matt Williams said....
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Danny Espinosa gets start (with lineups)

Danny Espinosa gets start (with lineups)
Danny Espinosa has made just one start since Anthony Rendon returned from the disabled list July 25. Tonight, Espinosa gets the nod at shortstop, with Ian Desmond receiving a night off. Espinosa has slashed .249/.320/.411 with 10 homers this season while showing stellar defense at five different positions. However, Espinosa's production at the plate dropped off significantly at the plate over the past month, like many in the Nats lineup. The 28-year-old is 16-for-73 (.219) since July...
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Best of the Decade: Stephen Strasburg's electrifying debut

Best of the Decade: Stephen Strasburg's electrifying debut
As the Nationals celebrate 10 seasons in Washington, D.C., we reflect on some of the best moments since the franchise moved to the nation's capital. Each Wednesday through mid-August, check out Nationals Pastime for a remembrance of one of the watershed moments in Nationals history. When Stephen Strasburg took the mound for the first time in a Nationals uniform on June 8, 2010, Sports Illustrated called it "the most hyped pitching performance the game has ever seen." On a Tuesday night, two...
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Nats get gritty performance from Max Scherzer in 5-4 win

Nats get gritty performance from Max Scherzer in 5-4 win
The Nationals offense came out of the gates quick, fell asleep for a couple hours and then awakened just in time to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 to remain one game behind in the National League East race. Yunel Escobar smacked his second leadoff homer of the year to get things going in the first. A base knock from Anthony Rendon and a blistered double from Bryce Harper then set up an RBI single from Ryan Zimmerman and a run-producing groundout from Jayson Werth. Normally that would be enough...
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Wilson Ramos delivers in clutch, Nats win 5-4

Wilson Ramos delivers in clutch, Nats win 5-4
Yunel Escobar wasted no time helping the Nationals offense get on the board tonight. Escobar launched a 1-1 fastball off Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin over the center field wall for his second leadoff homer of the season. The hit parade continued with a single to center from Anthony Rendon followed by a scorched double to right by Bryce Harper. Ryan Zimmerman's drilled liner to left scored Rendon as the Nationals began the game with four straight hits. Jayson Werth added an RBI on a...
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Orioles recall left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk, option right-hander Tyler Wilson to Norfolk

Orioles recall left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk, option right-hander Tyler Wilson to Norfolk
The Orioles today announced that they have recalled left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned right-hander Tyler Wilson to Triple-A Norfolk. McFarland, 26, went 2-3 with a 2.91 ERA (52.2IP, 17ER) and a save in 16 games (nine starts) with the Tides this season. He allowed one earned run over his last four appearances (all in relief) with Norfolk, posting a 1.13 ERA (8.0IP) in that span. In 12 games with the Orioles this season, McFarland has gone 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA (13.1IP,...
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Stephen Strasburg appears ready to return to mound for Nats (game started)

Stephen Strasburg appears ready to return to mound for Nats (game started)
Stephen Strasburg appears ready to rejoin the Nationals rotation. The right-hander made what's expected to be his final minor league rehab start last night for Triple-A Syracuse. Strasburg tossed 85 pitches over 5 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on five hits while striking out 11 without a walk. "I felt good," said Strasburg, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 5 with a strained left oblique. "My stuff is there. Just try to keep doing the same things and working on the stuff...
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Can Max Scherzer be the stopper? (with lineups)

Can Max Scherzer be the stopper? (with lineups)
The Nationals haven't won since Max Scherzer took the mound last Thursday. The right-hander spun another gem, throwing seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts in a 1-0 shutout in Miami. Tonight, they'll lean on their ace as they attempt to end a four-game losing skid, which has left them outside of the playoff picture looking in. The Diamondbacks send left-hander Patrick Corbin to the hill for his sixth start since coming off Tommy John surgery. The 26-year-old has been tough, yielding...
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Matt of Matt's Bats: Looking at Michael A. Taylor's contributions to the Nats

Matt of Matt's Bats: Looking at Michael A. Taylor's contributions to the Nats
The Washington Nationals are in a tough position right now, having just been swept by the New York Mets to give up sole possession of first place in the National League East and they got blasted to smithereens by the Diamondbacks. The Mets blasted the Marlins too, and now the Mets are up one game. Aside from making the next two months of baseball really competitive and fun to watch, there is some good news for Nats fans. The injuries that haunted the team have mostly healed, and now the Nats...
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Matt Kremnitzer: What's gone wrong for Travis Snider?

Matt Kremnitzer: What's gone wrong for Travis Snider?
When the Orioles traded for Travis Snider before the season, I was optimistic about the move. Some options on the free agent market, like Nori Aoki and Colby Rasmus, made sense. The O's showed more interest in Rasmus than Aoki for some reason, but they opted to go in a different direction altogether. In Snider, the O's thought they were picking up a corner outfield bat with decent power, who was also under team control through 2016. Unfortunately, things have not worked out as planned this...
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Offensive funk continues for Nats in four-game slide

Offensive funk continues for Nats in four-game slide
No one would argue that the Nationals haven't faced some of the game's most imposing arms since the All-Star break - Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom - but Arizona's Zack Godley doesn't fall into that category. Yet the unheralded rookie baffled the Nats lineup Monday night, tossing six scoreless innings while yielding just three singles with six strikeouts in only his third major league start. "We're going through a spell right now where we're not scoring many...
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Sinking Nats fall out of first place while Fister's inconsistent season continues

Sinking Nats fall out of first place while Fister's inconsistent season continues
For the third straight night, a Nationals starter ran into trouble with the longball. This time it was the Diamondbacks shelling Doug Fister for three homers as the Nationals fell out of first place in the National League East for the first time since June 19 with a 6-4 loss. "(I'm) continuing to work through some of the trials that I've got," Fister said. "Just not executing every one of them. That's my biggest downfall right now is I've got to be more consistent. I started out OK and...
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Diamondbacks bomb Fister, Nats lose 6-4

Diamondbacks bomb Fister, Nats lose 6-4
Doug Fister rolled through the first two innings facing the minimum batters. With one out in the third, Fister fell behind 3-1, and then left a sinker out over the plate and Nick Ahmed pummeled it deep over the wall in left-center field. The solo shot was Ahmed's seventh homer of the year and the tenth longball allowed by Fister. The Nationals are still looking for their first base runner against Diamondbacks rookie right-hander Zack Godley. Update: A.J. Pollock singled to center to start the...
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Orioles recall right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk

Orioles recall right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk
The Orioles today announced that they have recalled right-hander Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk. Wilson, 25, has gone 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA (17 IP, 4 ER) in five games (one start) with the Orioles this season. He made his major league debut on May 20 vs. the Seattle Mariners and his first career major league start on May 28 in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. In 16 starts with Triple-A Norfolk this season, the 2014 Orioles Jim Palmer minor league Pitcher of the Year...
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Doug Fister looks to build momentum on the mound (with lineups)

Doug Fister looks to build momentum on the mound (with lineups)
Fresh off one of his better performances of the season, veteran right-hander Doug Fister looks to build some momentum tonight against the Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. Fister tossed six strong innings last Wednesday in Miami, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts to claim the win. The Diamondbacks send rookie right-hander Zack Godley to the hill for his third career start. Godley, who made his major league debut on July 24, is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. With Godley on the mound, the...
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Nats hoping comforts of home lead to more runs

Nats hoping comforts of home lead to more runs
The Nationals return to the comforts of their home ballpark tonight after a long 3-7 road trip over the past 11 days. They battled top flight pitching throughout the journey beginning with the likes Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole in Pittsburgh and finishing off with hot-shot young arms Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard in New York. Despite Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman rejoining the team on the trip after long stints on the DL, the offense continues to sputter,...
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No panicking for Nats after being swept out of New York

No panicking for Nats after being swept out of New York
FLUSHING, N.Y. - After a disastrous weekend in New York, the Nationals find themselves deadlocked atop the division and in a dogfight with the Mets for the remaining two months of the season. The finale unraveled in a flash for Jordan Zimmermann. The Mets unloaded with three homers off the right-hander in the third inning as New York went on to sweep the Nationals with a 5-2 win. To make matters worse, all the damage came with two outs against Zimmermann. Curtis Granderson started the assault,...
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Marty Niland: Crazy deadline day for ex-Nat Michael Morse

Marty Niland: Crazy deadline day for ex-Nat Michael Morse
Baseball fans love the thrill of the trade deadline as players move from one team to another, sometimes in head-spinning fashion. One guy whose head may still be spinning from the flurry of deadline deals is former National Michael Morse, who was a member of three different teams, and went from East Coast to West Coast and then back east again, in a span of 48 hours. Here's how it all went down: Morse, who played for the Nationals from 2009-2012, started this season with the Miami Marlins....
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Andrew Stetka: Gausman's importance never higher to O's

Andrew Stetka: Gausman's importance never higher to O's
It'd be insane for anyone to claim that the fate of a contending team relies on one player over the next two months, and that's especially the case if that player only takes the field every five days, but I can't help but shake the feeling that Kevin Gausman is of the utmost importance to the Orioles down the stretch. That may be a lot of pressure to put on a 24-year-old, who only has 31 career starts under his belt, but being inserted into the rotation on a full-time basis right now carries...
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Zimmermann pounded for three homers, Nats lose 5-2

Zimmermann pounded for three homers, Nats lose 5-2
FLUSHING, N.Y. - Anthony Rendon wasted no time giving the Nationals offense a much-needed early spark. Rendon drilled a 98-mph heater from Mets starter Noah Syndergaard to straightaway center for a solo homer with one-out in the first. The umpires initially ruled that the ball stayed in the park, but after a brief crew chief review, the call was overturned and Rendon was awarded his first home run of the season. Update: Jordan Zimmermann breezed through the first two innings before issuing a...
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