The Nationals needed to win today, plain and simple. It did not matter who they were playing. It did not matter who was on the mound for either team. It did not matter how they felt physically or emotionally as they navigate their way through a particularly grueling final portion of their schedule. It didn't even matter who was managing from the dugout.
After dropping the first two games of this series and after dropping 8-of-12 overall to see their once-comfortable lead in the wild card race...
Charlie Culberson suffered multiple facial fractures when he was hit in the right cheek trying to bunt a fastball from Nationals reliever Fernando Rodney during Saturday's game, but the Braves utilityman was released from the hospital later in the evening, spent the night at the team's hotel and has been cleared to fly home to Atlanta today.
All things considered, that was positive news from everyone's perspective today at Nationals Park, where the two clubs are preparing to play their...
Before the bullpen implosion, before the scary sight of Charlie Culberson getting hit in the face by a fastball, before the Nationals saw their lead in the wild card race shrink again, there was far and away the most encouraging element of Saturday's loss: Austin Voth.
The game can cleanly been broken into two parts: Voth's start, and everything that came after it. When the young right-hander departed, the Nats led the Braves 1-0. From that point on, Atlanta scored 10 unanswered runs.
"He's...
Forget about a division title. That's been out of reach for more than a week now. Forget even for a moment about home field advantage in the wild card game, which is still in their possession but feels less important right now than the Nationals' first and foremost goal over the regular season's final two weeks.
No, at this point in time the Nationals need to be worried most about reaching the wild card game at all, because while they remain in an advantageous position to achieve that...
Kurt Suzuki took a small step forward in his return from a right elbow injury, but the veteran catcher still has a significant way to go before he's back in the Nationals lineup.
Suzuki took some swings in the batting cage Friday, his first baseball activities since he had to depart a game Sept. 7 in Atlanta with what the club so far has only referred to as elbow inflammation.
The 35-year-old catcher has not been cleared to hit live pitching or throw a baseball yet, and it could still be a...
Though their hopes of a fifth division title in eight years have all but been quashed, the Nationals still need to win as many games as they can as they attempt to lock up at least a wild card berth and preferably home field advantage for that winner-take-all game. Which means they need to win some games against the Braves.
That's not something they've done much during the second half of this season. They're 4-8 versus Atlanta since the All-Star break, 7-10 overall for the season, with two...
MINNEAPOLIS - The Nationals signed Asdrúbal Cabrera to a league minimum deal on Aug. 6 because they needed some short-term help on the right side of the infield. Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick were both hurt, so the presence of a veteran switch-hitter who could come off the bench and make a start or two at second base and first base was needed.
One month later, Cabrera has turned into a vital part of the Nationals' daily lineup, one of the hottest hitters in the league and suddenly their...
MINNEAPOLIS - A night getaway game combined with a rain delay might have left the Nationals tired and dreading an overnight flight home in advance of tomorrow's series opener with the Braves. But if nothing else, it gave the Nats a rare opportunity to know exactly what was needed of them on this night, because every other contender for a berth in the National League wild card game had already finished playing.
And because the Cubs, Brewers, Mets and Phillies all won, the Nationals knew they...
MINNEAPOLIS - Anthony Rendon is in the running for some major end-of-season awards for his on-field performance. Now he's also in the running for a major award for his off-the-field performance.
Rendon was named today as the Nationals' nominee for the 2019 Roberto Clemente Award, which annually honors one major leaguer who "best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field."
It's...
MINNEAPOLIS - Yan Gomes starts his sixth consecutive game behind the plate tonight. That's not something the Nationals ever planned to do this season, not with Kurt Suzuki sharing time as part of a potent one-two catching punch. But with Suzuki now nursing a right elbow injury, the Nats have had little choice but to keep putting Gomes out there and hope for the best.
It's been a hit-or-miss proposition. Literally. Gomes clubbed two homers during Sunday's win in Atlanta, but has otherwise...
MINNEAPOLIS - It's another gloomy, gray day here in the Twin Cities, and the rain is supposed to continue into the evening hours. It is, however, supposed to stop at some point. Which means the Nationals and Twins may have no choice but to sit around and wait so they can get tonight's series finale in as scheduled.
Each team only has one remaining off-day, and they're not the same. So if they somehow can't play tonight, the only option for a makeup game would be Sept. 30, the day in between...
MINNEAPOLIS - The Nationals had modest expectations for Ryan Zimmerman when he returned from the injured list 11 days ago. The veteran first baseman had played in only 33 games through the season's first five months, unable to keep himself active for any length of time due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Davey Martinez didn't sugarcoat his intentions for Zimmerman at that point. He'd start a few games, especially against left-handers, and be available off the bench to pinch-hit or...
MINNEAPOLIS - They got the early offense they've been seeking for most of the last week-plus. They got another quality, if a bit briefer than hoped, start from Stephen Strasburg. Now the Nationals needed three clean innings from their bullpen in order to beat a very good Twins club.
That should be a nice, simple formula for success. But as anyone who has followed this team all season, it's never that nice or simple.
Though they certainly came close to making it simple tonight.
Getting nine...
MINNEAPOLIS - Everyone has a 9/11 memory. Where they were. What they thought. How they felt afterward.
And many post-9/11 memories involve baseball, which in many ways helped the United States heal through one of its darkest times and bring back some semblance of normalcy in the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks.
Davey Martinez remembers all of it, because he lived through all of it. And he had a front row seat to one of that fall's defining baseball moments: Mike Piazza's dramatic...
MINNEAPOLIS - It may not have mattered in the end, because the Nationals still needed to score if they were going to win Tuesday night's game, and they never did.
Nonetheless, Davey Martinez's bullpen usage in the bottom of the eighth of what wound up a 5-0 loss to the Twins merits a closer look, and a thorough explanation from the manager, because it left more than a few people asking questions.
The situation: The Nationals trailed the Twins 2-0, with both runs having scored on Mitch...
MINNEAPOLIS - Though Kurt Suzuki doesn't appear to have suffered a serious elbow injury, the Nationals do appear to believe the veteran catcher is going to need some time to make it back into the lineup and have told Yan Gomes to be prepared to start the majority of games for the foreseeable future.
Suzuki, who had to depart Saturday night's game with what he described as "some tinglings, zings" in his right elbow, had an MRI which showed no structural damage. He was given anti-inflammatory...
MINNEAPOLIS - For the first time since 2008, the Nationals are playing a game in Minnesota. And for the first time ever, they're playing a game at Target Field. This is the only currently active ballpark in the majors that has never hosted the Nats before, so they're about to be 30-for-30. (By the way, can you name the only two Nationals pitchers ever to win games in the state of Minnesota? Why, it's Jason Simontacchi and Levale Speigner, of course!)
This is a big series for both clubs. The...
The Nationals had a rough weekend in Atlanta. Their next stop on this road trip could be just as rough.
Though there was plenty of attention - and rightfully so, given the division race - on the Nats' four-game series against the Braves, this next series against the Twins deserves just as much of the spotlight.
The Twins are one of the best teams in baseball, and have been throughout the season. They took over first place in the American League Central on April 20, and they haven't given it...
