Game 85 lineups: Nats at Padres

Game 85 lineups: Nats at Padres
The Nationals have done OK at the plate through the first two games of this weekend's series in San Diego, scoring 11 total runs. (Though they did strand a bunch of runners on base late during Tuesday night's 7-4 loss.) Of greater concern has been a pitching staff that has given up 12 runs in 17 innings. Or more specifically, a rotation that has given up 11 runs in 7 2/3 innings. That's not going to cut it, and it has put quite a strain on the bullpen. So the pressure's on Patrick Corbin...
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Soto will participate in Monday night's Home Run Derby

Soto will participate in Monday night's Home Run Derby
Maybe the cure for Juan Soto's struggles to elevate the ball is to hit a bunch of balls at high elevation in the Home Run Derby. Whether it helps him rediscover his power stroke or not, Soto is going to participate in Monday night's derby at Coors Field, the Nationals star outfielder announced today. It's Soto's first career appearance in the Home Run Derby, and it coincides with his first career All-Star selection. The timing may seem a bit off, given that Soto is currently struggling...
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Escobar is Nats' latest unconventional leadoff hitter

Escobar is Nats' latest unconventional leadoff hitter
If you were wondering what prompted manager Davey Martinez decide to make Alcides Escobar his leadoff hitter the last two nights in San Diego, why a 12-year veteran with a career .293 on-base percentage was the right choice to bat atop the Nationals lineup, go back and re-watch the first at-bat of Monday night's game. The result of that at-bat against Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove was a groundout to short, nothing special. But everything that led to that unfortunate result - nine pitches...
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Fedde rusty in return from IL, Nats fall to Padres (updated)

Fedde rusty in return from IL, Nats fall to Padres (updated)
The Nationals' resurgent June was built upon multiple developments, but high on the list was the resurgence of their rotation into an elite unit for the first time all season. Now as the calendar has shifted to July, they're finding out just how important that development was. It's hard to win games when your starter doesn't provide both quality and length. And the Nats haven't been getting either over the last week. They got away with Jon Lester's poor start Monday night in San Diego,...
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Rotation decision looms as Fedde returns, Strasburg gets closer

Rotation decision looms as Fedde returns, Strasburg gets closer
The Nationals get Erick Fedde and Kyle Finnegan back from the injured list tonight, surprisingly quicker than most expected in Fedde's case. And at some point in the not-too-distant future, they believe they'll get Stephen Strasburg back as well, the final and most significant return to a rotation that has needed some patching together through the season's first half. The Nats have been going without Strasburg and Fedde since June 24, when Fedde woke up with a strained oblique one day after...
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Game 84 lineups: Nats at Padres (Fedde starting)

Game 84 lineups: Nats at Padres (Fedde starting)
Davey Martinez promised roster moves (plural) after Monday night's win, and the Nationals manager meant what he said. The Nats added two healthy pitchers to their staff today, activating both Erick Fedde and Kyle Finnegan off the 10-day injured list. And Fedde (surprise, surprise) will start tonight in San Diego. That was not expected, because as far as we know, Fedde has not faced any live hitters since going on the IL with an oblique strain two weeks ago. We'll see if that means he's...
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Was Scherzer snubbed or is NL pitching class too deep?

Was Scherzer snubbed or is NL pitching class too deep?
Every National League All-Star team assembled since 2010 has included at least one member of the Nationals pitching staff. Every All-Star Game since 2013 has included a roster with Max Scherzer. So imagine the surprise on South Capitol Street on Sunday when manager Davey Martinez walked into the clubhouse and informed everyone three of his players had been selected to this year's Midsummer Classic: Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber. Not Scherzer. Some in the room didn't believe...
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Surging Bell powers Nats to late-night win in San Diego (updated)

Surging Bell powers Nats to late-night win in San Diego (updated)
Ask anyone who has watched him - shoot, ask Josh Bell himself - to evaluate his performance through the season's first half, and the answer almost certainly will be negative. And a quick glance at Bell's season totals - .247 batting average, 12 homers, 39 RBIs, .775 OPS - would give reason to believe that. Let's not forget, though, just how big a hole Bell dug for himself six weeks in. On the morning of May 13, the Nationals first baseman owned a horrific .133/.198/.289 slash line that...
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Turner and Gomes return to lineup, Tuesday's starter is TBA

Turner and Gomes return to lineup, Tuesday's starter is TBA
A Nationals club desperate for more healthy bodies is getting two of them back for tonight's series opener in San Diego, with more potentially coming in the next few days. Trea Turner and Yan Gomes are both in tonight's lineup, Turner returning after missing four games with a jammed left middle finger, Gomes back after taking a pitch off his right arm Saturday night. The impact on Davey Martinez's batting order is significant, with Turner able to bat second in front of Juan Soto and Gomes...
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Game 83 lineups: Nats at Padres

Game 83 lineups: Nats at Padres
Who's ready for some late-night baseball? Yes, after their earliest start of the season Sunday morning, the Nationals now take the field tonight in San Diego for their latest start of the season. The caffeine intake has already begun here at the home office. A four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers made for a tough weekend, and the task doesn't get particularly easier over the next four nights against the talented Padres, who at the moment own a .581 winning percentage that would have...
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Was Dodgers series a blip or a sign of worse things to come?

Was Dodgers series a blip or a sign of worse things to come?
As he sat at a dais next to Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber, his fellow 2021 All-Stars, Trea Turner was asked about the Nationals' four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. Turner, of course, didn't appear in any of the four games, still dealing with a jammed left middle finger from sliding hard into third base while completing his third career cycle Wednesday afternoon. And he was far from the only Nats regular stuck watching from the dugout. Also out due to injury were Schwarber, Alex...
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Turner, Soto, Schwarber all earn first All-Star selection

Turner, Soto, Schwarber all earn first All-Star selection
The Nationals will send three players to next week's All-Star Game, all of them first-time selections, while their most decorated star stays home - at least for now - despite producing one of the best first halves of his storied career. Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber all were named reserves to the National League All-Star team this afternoon, each earning a spot in the Midsummer Classic for the first time. They'll head to Denver to represent the Nats, but unless there's a need to...
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Overmatched Nats suffer four-game sweep to Dodgers (updated)

Overmatched Nats suffer four-game sweep to Dodgers (updated)
You can analyze this four-game sweep at the hands of the defending World Series champions until your face turns blue, but it really boils down to a simple fact: The Dodgers had 26 healthy and versatile players whom their manager trusted to be used over the course of a ballgame, and the Nationals did not. Over the course of a difficult holiday weekend on South Capitol Street, capped by a 5-1 loss before an Independence Day crowd of 37,187, Dave Roberts consistently utilized every player from his...
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Game 82 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers

Game 82 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers
Good morning from Nationals Park - and, yes, it was morning when last we spoke. Less than 11 hours after they wrapped up a rain-delayed 5-3 loss to the Dodgers, the Nationals are back to work for their annual Independence Day morning game, needing a win to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the defending World Series champs. They will do so with a lineup that remains depleted. Trea Turner is out for the fourth straight day with a left finger injury. Yan Gomes also isn't catching today,...
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After rain, Dodgers rally to send Nats back under .500 (updated)

After rain, Dodgers rally to send Nats back under .500 (updated)
The largest crowd at a D.C.-area sporting event since Dec. 22, 2019, when the Washington Football Team hosted the New York Giants in Landover, gathered on South Capitol Street tonight to watch some baseball, get an early start on Independence Day weekend and witness a fireworks display on a picture-perfect Saturday evening. What the sellout crowd of 42,064 at Nationals Park got instead was a compelling yet ultimately frustrating 5-3 loss to the Dodgers, a 1-hour, 44-minute rain delay that...
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Schwarber, Avila land on IL; Escobar acquired from Royals

Schwarber, Avila land on IL; Escobar acquired from Royals
The "injury rat" Max Scherzer referred to Friday night that is running through the Nationals clubhouse and taking a bite out of players left and right is perhaps more pervasive than anyone on the outside realized at the time. Not only did the Nats have to place Kyle Schwarber on the 10-day injured list with a significant right hamstring strain, they also had to place Alex Avila on it as well after the catcher suffered strains to both of his calf muscles, possibly while he was playing five...
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Game 81 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (Schwarber, Avila to IL)

Game 81 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (Schwarber, Avila to IL)
How's this for a primetime nationally televised matchup tonight at Nationals Park: one of the best pitchers in baseball versus Clayton Kershaw. What, you don't believe Paolo Espino is one of the best pitchers in baseball? Among all major leaguers with at least 35 innings pitched this season, he ranks 11th in ERA (2.02), 12th in WHIP (0.869) and first in walks per nine innings (1.01). Are you a believer now? OK, so the 34-year-old journeyman faces a really tough test tonight in the Dodgers,...
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How do Nats survive Schwarber injury on top of others?

How do Nats survive Schwarber injury on top of others?
As he walked down the home dugout at Nationals Park during the bottom of the second Friday night, limping and clearly disgusted with what had just happened to him, Kyle Schwarber passed Trea Turner, Stephen Strasburg, Daniel Hudson, Kyle Finnegan, Erick Fedde, Tanner Rainey, Andrew Stevenson and Jordy Mercer. All of them were injured and unavailable to play against the Dodgers, and now Schwarber joins them with a right hamstring injury that might top them all in terms of impact on the...
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Bullpen blowup follows Schwarber injury in painful loss (updated)

Bullpen blowup follows Schwarber injury in painful loss (updated)
Max Scherzer walked off the mound after a scoreless top of the sixth, his pitch count an even 100, his Nationals holding a two-run lead on a night they were again missing Trea Turner, out with a finger injury, and then lost Kyle Schwarber to an apparent hamstring injury. Upon reaching the dugout steps, he engaged in a brief conversation with Davey Martinez. A series of high-fives and fist bumps then commenced from the rest of the roster and coaching staff to the 36-year-old ace. He did not put...
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Nats call up another infielder, Schwarber wins Player of Month

Nats call up another infielder, Schwarber wins Player of Month
With Trea Turner's left middle finger getting better but not quickly enough to allow him to play tonight, and with an MRI of Jordy Mercer's right quadriceps showing a muscle strain, the Nationals were again faced with the prospect of taking the field without enough true infielders on their roster. On Thursday, they had no choice but to start backup catcher Alex Avila at second base. Tonight, they'll have a true infielder in the lineup, albeit one who wasn't really on anyone's radar....
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