CHICAGO - Good afternoon from whatever this stadium is called these days. To me, it'll always be Comiskey Park. Or, actually, New Comiskey Park, since the original one was across the street. The Nationals make their third-ever trip here to the South Side, having won two of three both in 2011 ("The John McLaren Series") and in 2016 ("The Beat Up on Mat Latos and James Shields Series").
This is a different White Sox team, but just as they did last week in D.C., the Nats do catch a bit of a...
SAN DIEGO - Howie Kendrick stepped to the plate in the top of the eighth Sunday afternoon, the Nationals and Padres tied. It was his first at-bat of the game, manager Davey Martinez having hoped to give him a well-earned day off, but now needing his veteran utilityman to pinch-hit in a key spot.
Inside the visitors' dugout, the Nationals - to a man - just knew something big was about to happen, courtesy the 35-year-old they affectionately view as a grandfatherly figure.
"I feel like when...
SAN DIEGO - The first one, a pinch-hit rocket to left by Howie Kendrick, was impressive both because of the situation and the fact it gave the Nationals a lead in the top of the eighth.
The second one, a 402-foot shot to center by Trea Turner, drew some oohs and aahs because it had now extended the Nationals' lead to two runs in very short order.
The third one, another blast to center by Adam Eaton, was reason for some to drop their jaws and others to boo Padres reliever (and former Nats...
SAN DIEGO - There are any number of factors a manager must consider when filling out a lineup card, but the identity of the opponent's starting pitcher typically is high on the list.
What, though, does a manager do when the opponent's starting pitcher is a reliever who threw an inning the previous night and is scheduled to be the first of a parade of arms coming out of the bullpen?
That's the dilemma Davey Martinez faced this morning as he selected a batting order for the Nationals' series...
SAN DIEGO - It's another picture-perfect day here. Too bad we have to leave after today's series finale at Petco Park. The Nationals will hope to leave on a high note with back-to-back victories and a four-game split with the Padres. To do that, they'll need a big start out of Stephen Strasburg in his hometown and some sustained offense against a conga line of San Diego relievers.
Strasburg notched his 100th career win his last time out, but it was actually one of his worst performances of...
SAN DIEGO - Did Brian Dozier know, when he stepped to the plate in the top of the fourth Saturday night, that he was sitting on 999 career hits?
"No," he insisted. "I knew it was creeping up, just because of people like you guys tweeting about that kind of stuff."
Wait, does Dozier follow Nationals reporters on Twitter?
"No," he replied. "I actually deleted Twitter because of you guys."
Fair enough. Dozier could be excused for trying to block out the criticism that was being levied at...
SAN DIEGO - After a chaotic and gut-wrenching loss Friday night, what the Nationals needed tonight more than anything else was a nice, clean game with no reason for panic.
What they needed was a no-nonsense Max Scherzer start.
And that's what they got, riding their ace's seven scoreless innings and some timely early hits to a 4-1 victory over the Padres that very briefly felt in danger of falling apart in the ninth until Sean Doolittle took care of business and locked it down.
Scherzer played...
SAN DIEGO - The Nationals could've waited until Monday to make a final decision on Trevor Rosenthal, whether to activate the reliever off the injured list at the end of a 30-day rehab assignment or whether to cut ties with him and eat the $8 million they guaranteed him over the winter.
They decided to go ahead and make the move now, though, activating Rosenthal before tonight's game against the Padres, hoping he can ride a couple of positive outings for Double-A Harrisburg earlier this week...
SAN DIEGO - After a couple of gloomy evenings to begin the weekend, the sun has finally come out and it's a beautiful day here. Maybe that's a good omen for the Nationals, who had to be feeling a bit gloomy themselves after Friday night's walk-off loss to the Padres. Things can only get sunnier from here, right?
Here's reason for the Nationals to feel upbeat: Max Scherzer is on the mound tonight. That certainly doesn't guarantee victory, as we've seen too many times this season. But...
SAN DIEGO - It's not easy to look for silver linings after gut-punch losses such as the one the Nationals suffered Friday night. But in the bigger picture, it's hard not to be encouraged by Erick Fedde right now.
Long touted as a long-term part of the Nationals' rotation, the 26-year-old finally is living up to the billing. He has now made four big league starts this season, and he sports a 2.70 ERA in those starts, having yet to surrender more than three runs in any outing.
And for the...
SAN DIEGO - They got the string of clutch hits they needed to tie the game in the seventh. They got a pair of scoreless innings of relief from the two righties who have shown signs of potential as reliable setup men. And then they got the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth with good execution and then a fortuitous wild pitch from the opposition.
All the Nationals needed to pull off a solid win over the Padres tonight were three outs from Sean Doolittle.
"You go into the bottom of the ninth...
SAN DIEGO - Ryan Zimmerman has missed considerable time with injuries before, too many times during the course of his career. He's dealt with setbacks. He's had timetables for recovery extended.
The bout of plantar fasciitis the Nationals first baseman has now been trying to recover from for six weeks, though, may top the list for the sheer aggravation it has caused.
"It's been really frustrating," Zimmerman said today. "It's been probably one of the more frustrating things I've gone...
SAN DIEGO - The Nationals have been a much more productive team against left-handers this season than right-handers. Against lefties, they're batting a collective .287 with an .851 OPS, both second-best in the National League (behind the Diamondbacks). Against righties, they're batting a collective .237 with a .710 OPS, both 12th in the NL (behind a whole bunch of teams).
So this weekend's series against the Padres, who are starting at least three lefties (Saturday's starter is still TBA),...
SAN DIEGO - It was only 13 days ago when Patrick Corbin stood at the center of the diamond at Nationals Park and got to start the end-of-game handshake line, the kind of honor that's only possible for a starting pitcher when he records all 27 outs.
That 116-pitch shutout against the Marlins represented the high point of a fantastic opening two months in Washington for Corbin. The 29-year-old left-hander was 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA and was making a case to be considered the most consistently...
SAN DIEGO - The first 22 minutes of tonight's ballgame at Petco Park were just lovely for the Nationals. Sure, the sky was overcast and the gametime temperature of 63 degrees wasn't exactly what an outsider was looking for on an early summer evening in San Diego. But the four-spot posted by the visitors in the top of the first more than made up for anything else and seemingly had this road trip off to a rousing start.
By the time the Padres wrapped up a 5-4 victory three hours later, the...
SAN DIEGO - It looks like the Nationals will send Trevor Rosenthal to the mound one more time for Harrisburg before making a final decision whether to bring the erratic reliever back to the majors or cut ties with him.
Rosenthal pitched back-to-back games at Double-A on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first time he's done that since beginning a rehab assignment four weeks ago. Manager Davey Martinez said the right-hander will take a couple days off, then is scheduled to pitch again this...
SAN DIEGO - Just as he does after batting practice each evening, Davey Martinez planned to meet with each of his relievers and find how everyone's arm was feeling. Find out who's available to pitch in tonight's series opener against the Padres. And find out if anyone might be unavailable to pitch because of excessive usage the last few days.
It's a daily routine, and there's always one or two guys whose status is up in the air, but it felt like there were even more question marks today,...
SAN DIEGO - It's an overcast, cool afternoon here at Petco Park, kind of a disappointment for anyone expecting fun in the sun on this road trip. Then again, give me a cool marine layer over East Coast humidity any day of the week.
The Nationals, on the heels of an oh-so-brief, two-game homestand (and sweep) against the White Sox, are back on the road. They've got four games against the Padres this weekend, then head to Chicago for a return two-day gig with the White Sox. And they're feeling...
If the Nationals are going to claw their way back into a pennant race that seemingly left them in the dust 10 days ago, this is how they're going to have to do it: With offense. Lots and lots of offense.
As much as they talk about building a championship contender behind a dominant rotation, the Nationals' biggest strength at this moment - believe it or not - is their lineup. It's nearly at full health again. It has speed at the top, power in the middle and depth at the bottom. And as the...
Trevor Rosenthal is slated to make another rehab appearance tonight for Double-A Harrisburg, once again trying to put together the kind of clean inning of relief that convinces the Nationals he can be trusted to return to the big league bullpen again.
This has been going on for nearly four weeks now, but it cannot go on long enough to reach a fifth week. The Nats have managed to delay this decision as long as they can, but they're about to be forced into making it, one way or the other.
MLB's...