NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Nationals 6, Astros 6
Recap: Bryce Harper had a two-run double and Ryan Zimmerman added an RBI single as the Nats scored three times in the third inning. Kila Ka'aihue and Rafael Bautista both drove in runs to give the Nationals a 5-4 lead. Doug Fister pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits, with two strikeouts and two walks. Astros outfielder George Springer took Fister deep for the first of his two home runs on the day. Ian Stewart hit...
VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams announced this morning that catchers Pedro Severino and Spencer Kieboom have been reassigned to minor league camp. He said both weren't able to get enough at-bats and it was important to get them some work before their seasons began Severino, 21, batted .247 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs at Single-A Potomac last season.
"He's a really good prospect," said Williams. "He's got a lot of tools. Certainly, the catching part of it, we saw a great...
VIERA, Fla. - Kevin Frandsen starts at third base today after news that Anthony Rendon will be sidelined for at least a week with a mild strain of his left MCL. Rendon suffered the injury in the sixth inning of Monday's loss to the Braves. Frandsen is 3-for-10 so far this spring.
Ryan Zimmerman has been swinging the bat well early in the exhibition season. He's 4-for-11 with two doubles and two RBIs while also looking sharp defensively at his hew first base position.
Doug Fister makes his...
VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams said this morning that X-rays revealed that Anthony Rendon has a mild sprain of his media collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee.
The injury occurred in the top of the sixth inning of Monday's game, when Rendon lunged to his left making a spectacular stop on a ground ball in the hole and then jumped to his feet, firing to first for the out. Rendon remained in the game and singled in the bottom half of the inning before leaving in the...
VIERA, Fla. - By now you're aware that Tyler Moore's bat is as hot as anybody's around spring training from Jupiter, Fla. to Mesa, Ariz. "In the zone" is one of those cliché sports phrases that gets thrown around far too often these day, but for Moore it may actually apply after his remarkable spring extended from the baseball diamond to the golf course on Wednesday night.
Yes, the golf course.
The Nationals held a team bonding Par 3 event at Duran Golf Club on Wednesday. The lighted...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams was pleased with the way A.J. Cole threw the ball at the start of today's 11-9 loss to the Mets. The 6-foot-5 right-hander gave up a solo home run to Curtis Granderson and three other hits along with two walks in 1 2/3 innings.
"I thought it was good," said Williams. "Mid-90s fastball. Probably threw more pitches earlier than he wanted to, but I thought he did really well."
Cole, 23, wasn't thrilled with his performance that included...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP
Score: Mets 11, Nationals 9
Recap: Prospect A.J. Cole gave up a run on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings in his first start of the spring. Curtis Granderson homered off Cole in the first and Michael Cuddyer took reliever Evan Meek deep in the third. Nats center fielder Michael A. Taylor delivered a two-out double in the third, scoring Nate McLouth and Danny Espinosa. Espinosa later homered in the sixth to give the Nats a 4-2 advantage. The Mets scored nine runs in...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A.J. Cole labored through 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks. Curtis Granderson slammed a full-count fastball over the left field wall to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first. David Wright and Michael Cuddyer followed with singles and Cole then walked Daniel Murphy to load the bases. He eventually got John Mayberry Jr. to hit into an inning-ending double play.
After another walk and a single by Juan Lagares in the second, Cole's days was done,...
PORT ST. LUCIE. Fla. - Right-hander A.J. Cole makes his first start of the exhibition season today. Cole, one of the Nationals' prized prospects, gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on Saturday.
"First time out, his breaking ball wasn't as sharp as he wanted it to be, so that's part of the plan today, to be able to throw that where he wants to throw it," said Nationals manager Matt Williams. "So that's probably key for him today to feel better...
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. - Nate McLouth makes his first start of the spring today, leading off as the designated hitter. McLouth received two at-bats in yesterday's game, going 1-for-2 with a single. Nationals manager Matt Williams said McLouth won't play in the field until sometime next week as he continues on a throwing program while recovering from shoulder surgery.
Hitting second, Danny Espinosa should get at least two at-bats from the right side of the plate against Mets right-handed starter...
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - An ingrown toenail has forced Stephen Strasburg to be scratched from making his second start of the spring today. Highly ranked prospect A.J. Cole, who was scheduled to pitch at some point against the Mets, will now get the ball first.
It will be Cole's second appearance of the exhibition season after giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on Saturday.
This is actually the second go-around for Cole with the Nationals, who...
VIERA, Fla. - Right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been scratched from making his second start of the exhibition season on Thursday after undergoing surgery to remove an ingrown toenail
"Stras had an ingrown toenail, so we're going to have him throw on the minor league side where we can control innings," Nationals manager Matt Williams said after Wednesday's 9-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. "He's a little bit sore moving around. He's perfectly fine."
Highly ranked pitching prospect...
VIERA, Fla. - Jordan Zimmermann took the hill for his second outing of the Grapefruit League season on Wednesday. The Tigers managed a run on two hits against Zimmermann, who also added four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings of work.
"I was attacking and trying to get ahead with the fastball," said Zimmermann. "The last outing, I wasn't able to do that, but this one, for the most part, it was right where I wanted it to be. I threw a couple good sliders, a 3-2 curveball that was good. I'm getting...
"2015 looks great right meow."
This quote was the insightful information that Gio Gonzalez offered Dan Kolko during today's Nationals broadcast on MASN HD. Before going on-air, it appeared as if Gonzalez was dared by Max Scherzer to integrate the word "meow" into his interview.
And he succeeded. The lefty managed to work "meow" into his interview 11 times, and after it was all said and done, he was pumped.
The result is an absolutely hilarious video. Check it out below, and then see...
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 9, Tigers 2 Recap: Jordan Zimmermann gave up a run on two hits with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. Thirty-three of his 47 pitches were strikes. Highly ranked prospect Wilmer Difo was 2-for-3 with a triple, double and two RBIs. Ryan Zimmerman added two doubles and two RBIs. Drew Vettleson and Matt Skoke hit late home runs.Need to know: Anthony Rendon was a late scratch for today's game with a bruised left knee. Nationals manager Matt Williams said it...
VIERA, Fla. - In Monday's game against the Braves, Anthony Rendon dove to his left, making an incredible play to field a ground ball in the hole, jumped to his feet and fired to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. The result of the play was just another spring training out, albeit a spectacular one, but also a bruised left knee for Rendon.
He was originally scheduled to leadoff and play third base against the Tigers today, but Nationals manager Matt Williams scratched him from the lineup this...
MASN, the television home of the defending American League East champion Baltimore Orioles, today announced its Major League Baseball schedulefor the 2015 season. Once again, all Orioles games broadcast by MASN will be available in crystal-clear high definition, including the season opener at Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, April 6.
Other highlights of MASN's 2015 Orioles schedule include interleague games against the Washington Nationals (July 10-12 and Sept. 21-23), New...
MASN, the television home of the defending National League East champion Washington Nationals, today announced its Major League Baseball schedule for the 2015 season. Once again, all Nationals games broadcast by MASN will be available in crystal-clear high definition, including the season opener against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on Monday, April 6.
Other highlights of MASN's 2014 Nationals schedule include interleague series against the Baltimore Orioles (July 10-12 and Sept. 21-23),...
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals will get a chance to measure their lineup against one of the game's best when the Tigers send former American League Cy Young Award winner David Price to the mound. The 1 p.m. game will be aired on MASN HD.
Price, a four-time All-Star, led the majors in strikeouts last season with 271. The 6-foot-6 left-hander will be a good matchup for Bryce Harper, who last faced Price early in his rookie season and went 0-for-2 with a walk.
Dan Uggla will start at designated...
VIERA, Fla. - Less than 10 days ago, Tony Gwynn Jr. was sitting in his home in San Diego without a job. The eight-year veteran was coming off his worst season in the majors on and off the field.
"If I'm being honest, around Feb. 1 is when you start to get like, 'What is going on? There's nothing happening,' " Gwynn said. "But ultimately, my faith was that I would be somewhere. I didn't know where I would be, what the opportunity would be, but I knew I would be somewhere. But we're...