PHOENIX - On a day like this, with loud contact from both sides every few minutes and a pair of pitching staffs that have had trouble limiting damage this weekend, neither the Nationals nor the Diamondbacks should ever have felt comfortable, not until the final out of this series finale was secured.
The two clubs, only hours after Saturday night's slugfest at Chase Field, engaged in another one that ultimately came down to a pair of bullpens that boast plenty of question marks. Which unit...
PHOENIX - For two days, the Nationals hoped Howie Kendrick and Roenis ElÃas had suffered mere leg cramps and not hamstring strains. On the third day, they conceded the ailments were severe enough to land both players on the injured list.
Kendrick and ElÃas were formally placed on the 10-day IL before today's series finale against the Diamondbacks, and though club officials still believe neither injury is serious, both will miss at least another week, leaving the roster depleted.
Javy...
PHOENIX - Hello one more time from Chase Field, where the Nationals and Diamondbacks wrap up their series this afternoon, each seeking to walk away having won two of three. And each sends a guy to the mound with a connection to the opposing team.
Patrick Corbin makes his return to the desert, facing the organization that developed him into an All-Star, then watched him leave for Washington and $140 million. Corbin has enjoyed catching up with friends the last few days, but he's now all...
PHOENIX - There have been 2,376 games in Nationals history, spread out among 15 seasons since baseball returned to Washington. And in only four of those games has the club's manager at the time resorted to handing the ball to a position player and asking him to pitch.
It's an exceptionally rare occurrence for this team, and yet there's a bizarre common factor in almost every case: the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Yes, three of the four games that have seen a Nationals position player pitch have...
PHOENIX - Stephen Strasburg took the mound tonight at Chase Field looking to continue perhaps the best sustained stretch of his career. The right-hander had won seven consecutive starts and just completed a perfect a 5-0 July in which he drove in more runs (six) than he surrendered (four).
And then the Diamondbacks dug in to face Strasburg and did what nobody else has done to him. Well, nobody else but themselves.
Over the course of 4 2/3 harrowing innings in the desert, Arizona's lineup...
PHOENIX - The Nationals continue to hope Roenis ElÃas suffered only an upper leg cramp running down the line Friday night to try to beat out a chopper to short, but they are still planning to have the newly acquired reliever undergo an MRI to check for a hamstring strain and may feel compelled to place him on the injured list in the next 24 hours to be safe.
General manager Mike Rizzo today referred to ElÃas having "tweaked his hammy," and though he doesn't sense the left-hander's...
PHOENIX - Fresh off Friday night's impressive pitching effort in a 3-0, one-hit shutout of the Diamondbacks, the Nationals now try to make it two in a row while Stephen Strasburg tries to make it eight in a row.
That would be eight wins in a row for Strasburg, the newly minted National League Picher of the Month for July, who has emerged with a W in each of his last seven starts. His last loss came way back on June 15. That actually remains the last time any of the Nats' top four starters...
PHOENIX - Max Scherzer was the National League's best pitcher in June. Stephen Strasburg was the NL's best pitcher in July.
Strasburg today became the second consecutive Nationals right-hander to earn the league's Pitcher of the Month Award, honored for his dominant July that was every bit as impressive as his rotation mate's dominant June.
Strasburg went 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA in five starts, striking out 44 batters while walking only seven in 31 2/3 innings, posting a microscopic 0.92 WHIP....
PHOENIX - They all had different initial reactions upon learning they had been traded - Daniel Hudson figured for weeks he'd be headed somewhere, Roenis ElÃas was excited to join a team in a pennant race, Hunter Strickland was completely blindsided by the news - but there was a common sentiment among all three of the Nationals' July 31 acquisitions: They just want to help their new team reach the postseason.
"I mean, that's what it's all about," Strickland said. "That's why every...
PHOENIX - Davey Martinez was handed a brand-new bullpen tonight, and with that came a whole new strategy for managing the second half of ballgames.
After getting 5 1/3 scoreless innings from Joe Ross, Martinez was able to go straight to his relief corps, confident that group was deep enough to cover the rest of the game.
And it absolutely was deep enough. Two newcomers - Roenis ElÃas and Hunter Strickland - handled the sixth and seventh innings with ease. Holdovers Fernando Rodney and Sean...
PHOENIX - Needing to clear one more roster spot for the trio of relievers they acquired before Wednesday's trade deadline, the Nationals designated Tony Sipp for assignment today, cutting ties with the veteran reliever who never was able to consistently perform after signing with the club late in spring training.
Sipp had a 4.71 ERA in 36 appearances, and though he had done a better job in recent weeks retiring left-handed batters, he may have sealed his fate when he put back-to-back lefties...
PHOENIX - Hello from The Valley of the Sun, where it's a dry 109 degrees outside but thankfully much cooler inside Chase Field, where the Nationals and Diamondbacks open a three-game series tonight. The Nats have three new relievers available out of their bullpen in Hunter Strickland, Daniel Hudson and Roenis ElÃas. We'll find out soon enough how Davey Martinez intends to use them.
Before they can get to any of those relievers, of course, Joe Ross takes the ball for only his second major...
PHOENIX - They've got three new arms in their bullpen. Their rotation is still missing its ace. Their lineup is close to full-strength again. Now the Nationals' focus returns to the field, where it will stay for the next two months. And perhaps beyond.
After a furious final few hours before Wednesday's trade deadline, not to mention a frustrating 10-inning loss to the Braves as this was all playing out, the Nationals flew west and enjoyed a much-needed day off in the desert.
They pick up...
When the dust had settled after a frantic finish to this year's July 31 madness, it was clear to anyone following along that the Nationals boasted a better roster after 4 p.m. Wednesday than they did before the trade deadline arrived.
Less clear, though, was the answer to this question: Did they get better enough?
The acquisitions of three late-inning relievers (Daniel Hudson, Hunter Strickland, Roenis Elias) provide a long-needed jolt to a Nationals bullpen that has been in various states of...
As 4 p.m. drew ever closer, the time had come for general managers around the league to settle on best offers and get deals done before the trade deadline strikes. And sure enough, the action picked up fast and furious for the Nationals, who landed three late-inning relievers in the span of about 30 minutes this afternoon, headlined by the once-notorious Hunter Strickland.
The Nats got Strickland and lefty Roenis Elias from the Mariners in separate trades, plus veteran right-hander Daniel...
The Nationals have known for the better part of four months now they were going to need to upgrade their bullpen before the July 31 trade deadline. And for four months, they've tried every trick in the book to address their most glaring need without breaking the bank or dealing away top prospects.
Today we finally find out if they're willing to do something bold and fix this problem area once and for all.
The countdown to the 4 p.m. trade deadline is on, and the pressure's on general manager...
As the focus has remained squarely on their bullpen, which has been in need of upgrades since opening day, lurking underneath the surface of the Nationals' red-hot summer has been the question of rotation depth. Would Mike Rizzo need to acquire a No. 5 starter before the July 31 trade deadline?
Rizzo last week insisted such a move wasn't necessary, that he liked his team's back-of-the-rotation options. Besides, the longtime general manager pointed out, starting pitchers usually are...
If he could play, Matt Adams surely would have been in the Nationals' lineup tonight, with Davey Martinez wanting the lefty slugger batting fifth against Braves right-hander Julio Teheran.
The drop-off to Howie Kendrick (who happens to be 6-for-18 with three doubles in his career vs. Teheran) isn't all that steep. But under normal circumstances, Adams would be the choice tonight.
"Oh, yeah," Martinez said. "Howie has pretty good numbers against this guy, but you still want Matt in...
Why was Monday night's win so important for the Nationals? Because it allowed them to take early control of this three-game series with the Braves, who are now the ones facing some pressure to bounce back and not let their lead in the division dwindle to 3 1/2 games.
The Nationals still have plenty of work to do to take this series, and they face a stiff challenge tonight with Erick Fedde - not Max Scherzer - getting the start. Fedde hasn't faced Atlanta yet this season, but he's quietly put...
The ball went flying off Adam Duvall's bat and all eyes immediately turned toward Juan Soto in deep left field to gauge just how well Duvall had hit it.
The way he calmly backtracked to the wall, Soto certainly seemed to have a bead on it. But when he ran out of real estate and had to leap, the crowd at Nationals Park held its collective breath, waiting to see which side of said wall it would come down on.
Only Soto knew for sure he was going to haul it in.
"I never thought it's going to be...