CHICAGO - They played (in the rain) in Pittsburgh last night, then flew to Chicago and put their heads on their hotel pillows around 3 a.m. Eastern time. Seven hours later, they began filing into Wrigley Field for the opener of a weekend series against one of the best home teams in the majors.
The Nationals had every right to complain about the disadvantageous scheduling. Their veterans had every right to sit out this afternoon's game. Nobody would have faulted them had they sleepwalked...
CHICAGO - Max Scherzer completed his typical day-after-start routine at Wrigley Field with no setbacks, so he's good to make his next scheduled start as planned. But the Nationals ace reiterated that he's not all the way to his pre-injury form and that he'll likely need to approach the rest of his season with far more caution than he has in the past.
"I'm not out of the woods," he said prior to the Nationals' series opener against the Cubs. "I've got to still take care of this, got to...
CHICAGO - The Nationals won't face a tougher turnaround this season than last night's game in Pittsburgh to this afternoon's game at Wrigley Field. We'll see how they look when they take the field in a few hours, but for what it's worth the entire lineup (sans pitcher) is the same as it was last night. Including Kurt Suzuki, who caught Max Scherzer last night and will catch AnÃbal Sánchez today.
This is an interesting stretch of games, because the Nationals will be facing four...
PITTSBURGH - Some news and notes for your reading pleasure while I race to Chicago in time for this afternoon's series opener at Wrigley Field ...
* If there was nothing else to take away from Max Scherzer's start Thursday night, it was this simple-but-important message both the right-hander and his manager stressed: They are going to continue to be cautious.
That applied to Thursday's game, when Davey Martinez pulled his ace after only four innings and 71 pitches. It also applies to the...
PITTSBURGH - Max Scherzer started for the first time in four weeks, the second time in seven weeks, and that's the most important thing that happened from the Nationals' perspective tonight at PNC Park.
"It was awesome," manager Davey Martinez said. "Just seeing him run out there and take the ball was great."
So was seeing Scherzer depart the game feeling physically well.
"Right now, I feel good," the right-hander said. "Hopefully I wake up tomorrow, I feel good."
And yet there still...
PITTSBURGH - Though the Nationals haven't made any formal announcements yet, it appears Joe Ross is good to start Saturday afternoon in Chicago, his lower right leg having healed enough from the comebacker that struck him during Monday's game against the Pirates.
Ross threw a full bullpen session late this afternoon and did not appear to be limited or hindered in any significant way. Davey Martinez, who watched the session up close in the visitors' bullpen at PNC Park, said in his earlier...
PITTSBURGH - OK, here's the deal: The Nationals are scheduled to start their series finale against the Pirates at 7:05 p.m. They are then scheduled to fly to Chicago, where they are scheduled to start their series opener against the Cubs at 2:20 p.m. EDT Friday. That's a tough turnaround, a really tough turnaround. And it's even tougher when there's rain in the forecast all evening. Which is exactly what's in the forecast here this evening. (It already poured for about 45 minutes a little...
PITTSBURGH - When Asdrúbal Cabrera became available earlier this month, the Nationals figured there was no downside to signing the veteran infielder.
The Rangers, who released Cabrera on Aug. 3, were responsible for the vast majority of his $3.5 million salary. Any subsequent team that signed the 33-year-old would be responsible only for a prorated portion of the major league minimum salary. In this case, that meant Cabrera could be had for the final two months of the season for roughly...
PITTSBURGH - Sure, all this offense over the last week has been nice eye candy for the Nationals and their fans. Who doesn't like to see a ballclub score lots of runs in bunches?
Let's not forget the real backbone of this Nationals roster, though. As always, it's built on the broad shoulders of a starting rotation that has been the one constant all season long, no matter the nightly state of the lineup or bullpen.
And Patrick Corbin has been a major part of that equation.
No, Corbin hasn't...
PITTSBURGH - Hunter Strickland can laugh about it now, but in those first few moments after the barbell fell from the rack and struck him on the face Tuesday afternoon, the Nationals reliever didn't know what to think.
"I had no idea. I didn't know what happened," he said. "Obviously, it hit me pretty good, so it kind of dazed me for a second there. After that, I looked up in the mirror. My nose was crooked and bleeding everywhere. Just kind of put two and two together: Got knocked out by...
PITTSBURGH - The Nationals scored 13 runs in Monday night's series opener. Then they scored one run last night. So what does tonight hold in store?
The Nationals will try to get their offensive mojo back against Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrove. Musgrove hasn't faced the Nats this year. He's had an up and down season, but in his most recent start he held the Cubs to two runs and four hits while striking out nine over 7 1/3 innings.
Patrick Corbin starts for the Nationals. The lefty did face...
PITTSBURGH - It all happened so fast. The Nationals held a 1-0 lead when the seventh inning ended Tuesday night. Stephen Strasburg was in complete control. And then the Nationals were down 4-1 to the Pirates after Wander Suero and Daniel Hudson made a mess of the eighth inning.
It's hardly the first time this has happened to the Nationals this season. But it was a particularly interesting recurrence of "The Eighth Inning Problem," for a variety of reasons.
There were interesting decisions...
PITTSBURGH - Stephen Strasburg didn't necessarily dominate the Pirates tonight. He simply cruised along, allowing a few baserunners here and there but never allowing them to seriously threaten to score against him. And when he departed the mound after seven innings of 94-pitch ball, the Nationals right-hander seemingly had another frame in him.
But when Strasburg reached the dugout, he was greeted with handshakes from his manager and pitching coach. His night was over. Davey Martinez was now...
PITTSBURGH - Hunter Strickland said he broke his nose in a weightlifting accident this afternoon, but the Nationals reliever has been cleared to pitch tonight and he'll be available out of the bullpen if needed.
Strickland was working out in the weight room at PNC Park when he was struck in the face by a barbell, according to manager Davey Martinez. Strickland walked through the visitors' clubhouse a short while after with a bandage over the bridge of his nose and with discoloration and...
PITTSBURGH - Joe Ross will remain in the Nationals rotation. If his right leg heals in time after he was struck by a comebacker during Monday night's win over the Pirates.
Ross was still walking with a slight limp and had his lower right leg wrapped this afternoon, still feeling the effects of the 110-mph comebacker that caught him square on the shin the bottom of the fourth the previous night.
The right-hander had to depart the game early, and though he was encouraged afterward that X-rays...
PITTSBURGH - You know all about what the Nationals have accomplished at the plate in recent days. What might they be able to accomplish tonight if they keep the barrage going?
Well, they've already tied the major league record by scoring 13 or more runs in three straight games. If they can somehow do it again tonight, they'll become the first team in Major League Baseball history to do it in four straight games. They've scored 43 runs in three games; if they can score seven tonight, they'll...
PITTSBURGH - Sean Doolittle knew his mechanics were out of whack, knew he wasn't getting life and spin on his fastball the way he always had, knew his arm and body were fatigued.
He also believed he could battle his way through it and still pitch effectively for a Nationals team that seemed to need him for the ninth inning way more nights of the week than it didn't.
But after watching the Brewers torch him for three homers in the span of four batters during his latest blown save Saturday...
PITTSBURGH - The Nationals are built to win on the broad shoulders of their dominant rotation. Have been for years.
That does not mean this team is incapable of winning on the might of a deep and potent lineup, however, one capable on any given night of blasting an opposing pitching staff out of the park. Or, in this case, into the Allegheny River.
It happened last week, with three double-digit offensive explosions in four games against the Reds and Brewers. And it continued tonight during a...
PITTSBURGH - Ryan Zimmerman has gone on two-game rehab assignments before. This current one won't be nearly so quick.
After playing in a pair of games over the weekend for Double-A Harrisburg, Zimmerman is now shifting to Single-A Potomac to continue his rehab from a recurrence of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. And he may be there for a while.
Manager Davey Martinez said today he wants the veteran first baseman to not only get his foot healthy but also to get his entire game healthy...
PITTSBURGH - Max Scherzer bounded through the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park shortly after 3:30 p.m. today, a smile on his face and a bounce in his step not often seen over the last month.
And as he walked past reporters he offered up three unsolicited words that revealed more about his current state of body and mind than any lengthy interview could have topped: "See you Thursday."
The Nationals ace is ready to return at last. After an aggravating month spent trying to overcome a pair of...