Ross returns to Fresno to be stretched out, Bourque promoted

Ross returns to Fresno to be stretched out, Bourque promoted
The Nationals converted Joe Ross into a reliever earlier this season, hoping the career change might both reinvigorate the erratic right-hander and help address the big league club's biggest need. Two months later, the Nats are shipping Ross back to the minors and appear to be converting him back into a starter. Ross was optioned to Triple-A Fresno this morning, his ERA (9.22) and WHIP (1.829) too high to warrant continued opportunities out of the major league bullpen. The Nationals promoted...
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Game 52 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 52 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
Nobody would try to claim the Nationals solved all of their woes last night during a wild 12-10 victory over the Marlins. As Davey Martinez disgruntledly explained afterward, his team still played sloppy in the field and got plenty of shaky work out of its bullpen. So the season is hardly saved. But a win's a win, and the Nationals certainly need all they can get right now. Plus, there are some legitimately encouraging signs. Juan Soto is on a tear, going 15-for-30 with eight extra-base hits....
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History suggests turnaround for Nats is nearly impossible

History suggests turnaround for Nats is nearly impossible
The common refrain emanating from the Nationals clubhouse over the last several weeks has been one of optimism. As bad as things have gone, they to a man insist there's still time to salvage this season. Really, what else are they supposed to say? Nobody's going to publicly give up on Memorial Day weekend. And if you're a professional athlete, you have to believe anything is possible. It's the only way to be successful in that line of work. But we try to deal in facts here, and the simple...
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Nationals on the brink after embarrassing sweep (updated)

Nationals on the brink after embarrassing sweep (updated)
NEW YORK - The Nationals came to Flushing at the start of the week believing they had an opportunity to get their season back on track with a four-game series against a Mets club in complete disarray and with a manager in danger of being fired. They left town this afternoon having been swept in embarrassing fashion, having fallen to depths this franchise hasn't experienced in nine years and with serious questions about the status of their own embattled manager, who let all of his frustrations...
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With foot still sore, Zimmerman backs off running (Nats down 3-1)

With foot still sore, Zimmerman backs off running (Nats down 3-1)
NEW YORK - There's only one regular member of the Nationals lineup still on the injured list, but it looks like he might be there a while longer. Ryan Zimmerman, who had been progressing in his rehab from plantar fasciitis, has backed off after feeling pain in his right foot while attempting to run in recent days. Davey Martinez stopped short of referring to it as a setback. "No, just the normal soreness," the manager said. "We told him to back off. He's been getting extensive treatment on...
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Game 50 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 50 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - Quick turnarounds are always tough. Quick turnarounds after devastating losses during agonizing seasons are even tougher. But the Nationals have no choice but to come right back to Citi Field for today's 12:10 p.m. series finale, hoping the result will be different than it was last night. And the night before that. And the night before that. Stephen Strasburg gets the start, and he's been excellent. Over his last six starts, he's got a 2.13 ERA and 0.83 WHIP while averaging more...
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What else can Nats do to prevent ship from sinking?

What else can Nats do to prevent ship from sinking?
NEW YORK - On the heels of a crushing loss that saw their bullpen blow a late lead, the Nationals gathered everyone together inside the visitors' clubhouse at Citi Field and held a team meeting. The message was simple: Even during these trying times, everyone needs to stick together. No finger-pointing. Get through this as a collective unit, not as individuals. All of this happened before Wednesday's crushing loss to the Mets. The Nationals were responding to Tuesday's crushing loss to the...
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Doolittle coughs up six runs in shocking loss to Mets (updated)

Doolittle coughs up six runs in shocking loss to Mets (updated)
NEW YORK - Davey Martinez got five outs from three relievers before deciding he couldn't take any more chances. He walked to the mound with two outs in the eighth, signaled for the only reliable arm he has in his bullpen and asked him to protect a one-run lead against the bottom of the Mets lineup. And Sean Doolittle couldn't do it. If the only member of the Nationals relief corps who has been remotely effective all season can't get the job done, what else can Martinez and Co. do? "I'm...
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Adams back in lineup, Rosenthal still struggling (Nats up 1-0)

Adams back in lineup, Rosenthal still struggling (Nats up 1-0)
NEW YORK - Matt Adams took batting practice at Citi Field on Tuesday, sending pitch after pitch into the bleachers. So when the Nationals had to decide today whether to send the big slugger (whose strained left shoulder has now healed) on a brief minor league rehab assignment or just activate him off the injured list now, they didn't hesitate to activate him and put him right in the heart of tonight's lineup against Mets ace Jacob deGrom. "He's ready," manager Davey Martinez said. "He...
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Game 49 lineups: Nats at Mets (Adams activated)

Game 49 lineups: Nats at Mets (Adams activated)
NEW YORK - Last year, a matchup between Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom was must-see TV for the implications it had on the Cy Young Award race. This year, it's simply a game both the Nationals and Mets desperately need to win as a team, regardless of the men on the mound. Neither Scherzer nor deGrom is pitching at a Cy Young caliber right now, though you could argue Scherzer would be in the thick of the early race if not for the Nationals' defense and bullpen. (Hence the massive disparity...
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Why Fedde was pulled after only 61 pitches

Why Fedde was pulled after only 61 pitches
NEW YORK - Erick Fedde intended to pitch as long as he could Tuesday night, but the right-hander knew in his head how many innings he realistically could expect from himself when he took the mound to make his first big league start of 2019. "I honestly was really hoping for five," he said. "I think in the last month or so I've only gone three. But I was really glad to get us through five and give the guys in the 'pen a chance to finish the game off." The guys in the 'pen, of course,...
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By the slimmest of margins, Mets walk off Nats (updated)

By the slimmest of margins, Mets walk off Nats (updated)
NEW YORK - A hanging curveball to a guy who crushes curveballs. A towering drive over the foul pole ruled a home run after an inconclusive review. Two key insurance runs stranded in scoring position. And a two-hopper to short that could've sent the game into extra innings but instead sent the Mets into celebration and the Nationals into yet another demoralized dugout following yet another loss by the slimmest of margins. Flip any one of those critical moments in the final three innings of...
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Guerra ready for whatever relief role is needed (game tied 5-5)

Guerra ready for whatever relief role is needed (game tied 5-5)
NEW YORK - Javy Guerra was hanging out in Toronto with his 2-year-old son Monday afternoon when he got a call from a Blue Jays official, informing the veteran reliever he had just been claimed off waivers by the Nationals. "Just hanging out," he said. "And before you know it, you find out that you have to get down here and be ready to play tomorrow." Guerra, now pitching for his sixth franchise in nine years, has learned how to deal with the uncertainty of this profession. "You just kind...
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Game 48 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 48 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - The Nationals have touted Erick Fedde as a potential long-term piece of their rotation since the day they used a first round pick on him in 2014. The right-hander will get his latest opportunity to prove he's ready for that responsibility tonight when he takes the mound at Citi Field. Pressed into starting duties after Aníbal Sánchez landed on the injured list with a strained hamstring, Fedde makes his first big league start of 2019, the 15th of his career. He has pitched well...
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Hellickson lands on IL with shoulder strain (updated)

Hellickson lands on IL with shoulder strain (updated)
NEW YORK - Just as their lineup is returning to health, the Nationals rotation is losing pitchers to injury. Jeremy Hellickson became the latest Nats starter to land on the 10-day injured list this afternoon, sidelined with a strained right shoulder in a transaction that opens up a roster spot for newly acquired reliever Javy Guerra. Hellickson had not previously revealed any arm trouble to reporters, but the veteran right-hander said today he has been dealing with minor discomfort for several...
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On "little things" in loss, plus the latest Eaton-Frazier ruckus

On "little things" in loss, plus the latest Eaton-Frazier ruckus
NEW YORK - More on some little things that may have been lost in the shuffle during Monday night's 5-3 loss to the Mets, plus the latest ruckus between Adam Eaton and Todd Frazier: * It wasn't the difference in the game, but the insurance run the Mets scored in the bottom of the eighth was plenty significant. And it came about in large part because of the Nationals' inability to do some little things right. Trying to keep their deficit at one run, Joe Ross struck out Frazier but then walked...
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Nats can't beat reeling Mets, lose another opener (updated)

Nats can't beat reeling Mets, lose another opener (updated)
NEW YORK - They'd never admit it publicly, but the Nationals had to arrive at Citi Field this afternoon, see the utter chaos taking place across the way in the Mets clubhouse, and think to themselves this was shaping up to be a good opener to a four-game series that could help jumpstart their own ragged season. And then they dug themselves into an early hole and weren't able to climb all the way out of it in time, ultimately trudging off the field with a 5-3 loss that really felt like a blown...
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Guerra could join bullpen Tuesday (Nats trail 4-2)

Guerra could join bullpen Tuesday (Nats trail 4-2)
NEW YORK - Javy Guerra won't join the Nationals bullpen until Tuesday at the earliest. But once he does, the club hopes the versatile veteran will help stabilize the majors' worst relief corps. Guerra, claimed off outright waivers from the Blue Jays earlier today, wasn't able to make it to New York in time for the Nationals' series opener against the Mets. Manager Davey Martinez, who spoke to the right-hander over the phone, hopes to have him available for Tuesday's game. "If he gets here...
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Zimmerman, Adams both progressing toward return

Zimmerman, Adams both progressing toward return
NEW YORK - After spending all but the first couple days of the season without their complete lineup, the Nationals are inching closer to the day when they get the two remaining regulars on their injured list back on the active roster. Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Adams each have taken significant steps in recent days in their rehab from injuries, and both first basemen could come off the IL by week's end. Zimmerman, on the IL with plantar fasciitis since April 28, ran on the field Sunday in his...
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Game 47 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 47 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - The Nationals are by no means in great shape right now, but at least they're not the Mets. New York is a mess at the moment, having lost five straight, with rumors swirling about manager Mickey Callaway's job security. They couldn't even figure out who was going to start tonight. After announcing earlier this afternoon it would be right-hander Drew Gagnon, they pulled that announcement back and instead said it'll be Wilmer Font (who gave up five runs in 2 1/3 innings to the...
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