At this stage of the season, you know the drill. The Nationals will be asking one of their starting pitchers to get them deep into the game with an effective performance, then hoping their bullpen can hang on the rest of the way. It's been the formula for months, and more often than not it hasn't worked. Not that manager Davey Martinez has any realistic alternatives at this point.
So Martinez will send Patrick Corbin to the mound this afternoon against the Rockies and hope the veteran lefty...
In a summer full of agonizing losses, Wednesday's 8-6 defeat at the hands of the Marlins had to rank among the Nationals' worst. Not just because of the end result, but because of the path they took to reach that result.
After getting five scoreless innings from starter Josh Rogers, and after getting a well-balanced offensive attack from a lineup that has been better than advertised since the trade deadline, the Nats still found a way to lose after their bullpen imploded. Five relievers...
Riley Adams wants you to know he's a catcher, and he wants to continue being a catcher. And the Nationals coaching staff wants you to know it considers Adams a catcher and wants him to continue being a catcher.
So why is Adams taking ground balls and learning proper technique at first base right now?
"Just trying to get comfortable over there, and in an emergency situation or something like that to be able to go out there and play, feel comfortable," he said in an interview outside the...
The baseball that was displayed for 3 hours and 53 minutes this afternoon at Nationals Park was not of a caliber many in the announced crowd of 16,309 could have found satisfactory. The Nationals and Marlins took turns trying to out-underperform each other, from the Nats' inability to produce with runners in scoring position to the Marlins' inability to play clean defense to both bullpens' inability to protect leads. (Or, in Miami's case, throw strikes with the bases loaded.)
It all made...
Davey Martinez won't be able to walk up the dugout steps and stand on the field for today's national anthem. After a follow-up procedure on his left ankle Tuesday, the Nationals manager remains in a cast and will again need to watch today's game from a perch in the dugout (preferably in the shade on this hot and muggy afternoon).
Those who can see Martinez, though, surely will notice the special jersey he's wearing, with the number 21 on the back in honor of Roberto Clemente.
For the second...
The nexus of the universe stands at the corner of South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue SE this afternoon, where both the Nationals and Marlins will be sending left-handed pitchers to the mound named Rogers. OK, so this is hardly cosmos-bending stuff, but it is a funny little quirk about the matchup for today's series finale at Nationals Park.
Josh Rogers gets the start for the Nats, his third since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester. And he's been pretty good in each of his previous two...
Ryan Zimmerman produced the most memorable hit of Tuesday night's 8-2 win over the Marlins when he launched a fastball from Jesús Luzardo 442 feet to right-center field, into the second deck at Nationals Park. But Zimmerman's presence in the lineup was made possible in part by Josh Bell's ability to remain in the lineup himself while moving out to left field for the night.
It was the fourth game Bell has started in the outfield this season, and he may be back there today when the...
Nobody in a Nationals uniform gets a bigger ovation when he steps to the plate these days than Ryan Zimmerman. He's far from the team's best player at this point, but with only three home series remaining on the 2021 schedule, everyone in attendance is well aware there are only so many more guaranteed Zimmerman plate appearances to witness.
The original face of the franchise has not yet offered any clues about his intentions beyond this season, though he suggested tonight he probably won't...
Davey Martinez had a follow-up procedure on his left ankle earlier today, and though he was back at Nationals Park by mid-afternoon, it was unclear if he'd be in the dugout to manage tonight's game against the Marlins.
Martinez, who already watched one game from his office following his initial Sept. 2 surgery, has been wearing a cast since. He's been managing all games from the dugout, his left leg propped up on the bench, but he hasn't been able to move around or step onto the field...
The Nationals avoided the ignominy of being no-hit for the first time Monday night, but let's be honest: Even if it happened, it would've come against a worthy foe in Sandy Alcantara, an All-Star who was in peak form in the series opener. Tonight, they face a highly touted, but far less accomplished opponent in Jesús Luzardo.
Yes, the same Luzardo the Nationals drafted and then traded to the Athletics in the Sean Doolittle/Ryan Madson deal. The same Luzardo who was traded to Miami this...
As the Nationals' season reaches its final stages, with only 18 games left on the schedule at this point, time is running out for any more players to be promoted from the minor leagues and get more than a token opportunity to make one final statement heading into 2022.
Truth be told, the Nats have seen just about everyone they need to see by now, especially in the wake of their dramatic sell-off at the July 30 trade deadline. The current 28-man roster - the new limit for September - includes...
The Nationals played the 2,632nd regular season game in their history this evening, which means they've now existed as long as Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive games streak lasted from 1982-98. That's nearly 17 seasons of the third incarnation of Major League Baseball in D.C.
And though there have been no shortage of dizzying highs and terrifying lows along the way, the Nationals have always been able to stake claim to this irrefutable fact: In all that time, they've never been no-hit.
There...
The Nationals got another veteran back on their roster for the season's final weeks, activating infielder Jordy Mercer after a lengthy stint on the 10-day injured list before tonight's series opener against the Marlins.
Mercer, who hadn't played since straining his left calf muscle July 20 against Miami, returns to the active roster after a brief rehab appearance with Double-A Harrisburg last week. The 35-year-old played in three games for the Senators, going 3-for-9 with two walks and three...
Would you believe we're down to the final three weeks of the season? Yep, tonight the Nationals begin a six-game homestand with the Marlins and Rockies. After that, they're on a three-city road trip to Miami, Cincinnati and Colorado. And then they come home for the final series against the Red Sox. And that's it. Time flies when you're having fun. Or something like that.
The Nats will be hoping to actually win this series from the Marlins, a task that proved too difficult the last time they...
Juan Soto had little impact on the Nationals' 6-2 victory Sunday in Pittsburgh. He didn't drive in any runs. He scored only once. He took only one at-bat with a runner on base. He made no notable plays in right field.
And yet the young star still had one of the best individual performances of the day, which it turns out was just like so many other performances he's delivered this season.
With two walks, a triple and a double over five plate appearances, Soto reached base four times. It's...
The Nationals got their customary production today from a lineup that has quietly turned into a legitimate strength but too often has been wasted by ineffective pitching performances, especially from those charged with taking the mound late in games.
Eight times since Aug. 25, this team had scored five or more runs. And proceeded to lose all eight games, the longest such streak in major league history.
So when they looked up at the scoreboard in Pittsburgh this afternoon and saw five runs on...
Keibert Ruiz passed concussion tests and has been cleared to play, but the rookie Nationals catcher is not in the lineup for today's series finale in Pittsburgh.
Ruiz, who was struck near his right ear by a pitch from Pirates reliever Kyle Keller during Saturday night's game, remains sore, but is allowed to play if needed.
"He's clear," manager Davey Martinez said in his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "I talked to him this morning. He's a bit sore. He's going to go through his...
If you thought a lighter schedule was going to help the Nationals finish out a disappointing season strong, well, that hasn't exactly played out as hoped so far this weekend. With back-to-back losses to the Pirates, the Nats are now in danger of being swept by one of the worst teams in baseball. (The Pirates, for what it's worth, haven't swept anyone in a three-game series this season.)
So if they're going to avoid this latest ignominy, the Nationals will need a much better performance...
Try as he might to ignore it at the time, Josh Bell couldn't avoid knowing his stat line on May 13, the low point of a 2021 season that was shaping up to be a disaster.
The big slugger, in his first season with the Nationals, was batting .133 with three homers, 10 RBIs, a .198 on-base percentage, .289 slugging percentage and .487 OPS that ranked among the lowest in the majors. And this was with the season nearly one-quarter complete.
So imagine what Bell thinks these days when he sees his...
They got another quality start from Josh Rogers. They got a big blast from Josh Bell in his return to Pittsburgh. The Nationals just needed their bullpen to finish off the Pirates.
A bullpen that featured two unfamiliar people pitching the bottom of the ninth, which ultimately undid the Nats.
Patrick Murphy, given a chance to close with Kyle Finnegan unavailable due to his recent workload, got into a jam and had to give way to Alberto Baldonado, who inherited a second-and-third jam and let the...