Hellickson ready to face live hitters again

Hellickson ready to face live hitters again
The Nationals appear close to getting one of their injured rotation members back, though they'll still need to call upon a minor leaguer for Tuesday's start against the Orioles. Jeremy Hellickson, on the disabled list since June 3 with a strained right hamstring, went through what he referred to as "probably the last step" in his recovery today, fielding bunts and running to cover first base. The right-hander said everything felt fine after that workout, and now he's ready to start facing...
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A primer for tonight's unusual, sort-of doubleheader

A primer for tonight's unusual, sort-of doubleheader
No two days at the ballpark are ever alike, but it's safe to say today at Nationals Park isn't going to be like any previous day in the stadium's 10-year history. What was originally supposed to be an off-day on the schedule instead turned into an unusual, pseudo-doubleheader against the Yankees, thanks to a whole lot of rain when the Bronx Bombers were in town last month. The May 15 game that was suspended in the middle of the sixth inning with the score tied 3-3 will be completed today,...
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Wild game ends with rare homers off Madson, sweep in Toronto

Wild game ends with rare homers off Madson, sweep in Toronto
TORONTO - As wild and wacky and frustrating and exhilarating as today's ballgame at Rogers Centre was, the sight of Ryan Madson on the mound in the bottom of the eighth had to be as comforting a thought as the Nationals were going to get. Madson was simply being asked to keep a back-and-forth game tied and give his teammates a chance to mount a rally in the top of the ninth. And few have been better at that, especially at keeping the ball in the park. These kinds of games, though, always seem...
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Adams still out, Eaton off, Harper will DH (Nats lose 8-6)

Adams still out, Eaton off, Harper will DH (Nats lose 8-6)
TORONTO - Davey Martinez went into the weekend with a plan for his lineup, who would get days off and who would get opportunities to serve as designated hitter. But Matt Adams' injury Friday night and the lineup's continued struggles forced the Nationals manager to make some tweaks for today's series finale against the Blue Jays. With Adams still sidelined - "he's doing better today," Martinez said - Daniel Murphy is starting his second straight game at first base. The original plan had...
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Game 68 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays

Game 68 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays
TORONTO - It's a glorious Father's Day here in Canada (and, yes, they celebrate it here, too) but it hasn't been a glorious road trip for the Nationals, who have gone 1-3 so far against the Yankees and Blue Jays and have been shut out twice. They'll need to bounce back this afternoon if they want to avoid a weekend sweep at the hands of a sub-.500 opponent. Tanner Roark gets the ball today, and he opened this trip with a quality start at Yankee Stadium, only to be on the wrong end of a 3-0...
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Martinez's key for Harper to break out of slump: less work

Martinez's key for Harper to break out of slump: less work
TORONTO - Ask Bryce Harper how he feels at the plate right now, and he'll insist everything's fine. "I feel great," he said yesterday. "Just missing pitches." Harper is missing a lot of pitches, though. In 12 games so far this month, he's batting .163 with one homer, three RBIs, four walks, 20 strikeouts and a .498 OPS that ranks 169th out of 184 qualified big league hitters during this stretch. This prolonged slump, which really extends back into early May, leaves Harper with a .221...
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Nats shut out for third time in five games, lose 2-0 (updated)

Nats shut out for third time in five games, lose 2-0 (updated)
TORONTO - The Nationals, as currently constructed, know they have to win on the broad shoulders of their pitching staff, especially ace Max Scherzer. They also know there isn't a pitching performance in the history of baseball that could overcome a string of nine zeros by their lineup. And so it didn't matter that Scherzer today recorded the 74th double-digit strikeout game of his career, a mark only seven pitchers have ever topped. It didn't matter that Scherzer retired the first eight...
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Adams' finger in splint, X-rays inconclusive (Nats lose 2-0)

Adams' finger in splint, X-rays inconclusive (Nats lose 2-0)
TORONTO - Matt Adams, as surmised, is not in the Nationals lineup this afternoon. Now the club can only wait to find out how many more games (if any) the slugger is going to need to miss with an injured left index finger. Adams, who was struck by a pitch while squaring around to bunt Friday night, had an X-ray taken after the game, the results of which appear to have been inconclusive. Manager Davey Martinez said, "it didn't really show much." "You can't even tell," Martinez said when...
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Game 67 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays

Game 67 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays
TORONTO - The Nationals' unfamiliarity with Rogers Centre cost them during Friday night's 6-5 loss. Perhaps now that they've experienced this unique ballpark a little bit, they won't be victimized by it in the second game of their weekend series with the Blue Jays. It doesn't hurt, of course, to have Max Scherzer on the mound. The ace has made four prior starts here in his career, and all he's done is go 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA, 32 strikeouts and only five walks. And this was the Detroit...
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On Adams' swollen finger and Eaton's quick out in the ninth

On Adams' swollen finger and Eaton's quick out in the ninth
TORONTO - Matt Adams finished the at-bat, and he played another inning in the field, but deep down the Nationals first baseman knew his left index finger was in no real condition to continue playing after it was struck by a pitch in the top of the second Friday night. "I mean, I knew from the get-go it was bad, but I wanted to do everything I could to stay out there," he said. "I don't like coming out of the games and putting other guys in a tough position. So, tough situation." Yes, and...
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Against a late Canadian dusk, a lost ball costs the Nats

Against a late Canadian dusk, a lost ball costs the Nats
TORONTO - The ball came off Teoscar Hernández's bat, went high in the air toward right field and left just about everyone inside Rogers Centre assuming it would fall harmlessly into Adam Eaton's glove for the first out in the bottom of the seventh. Alas, both Eaton and Gio Gonzalez knew otherwise. Because each knew the same thing: They had no clue where the ball was, hidden somewhere in the post-9 p.m., mid-June Canadian dusk. "As soon as it goes up, it's a pretty helpless feeling,"...
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Misplay in right, subsequent homer send Nats to 6-5 loss to Jays

Misplay in right, subsequent homer send Nats to 6-5 loss to Jays
TORONTO - The Nationals put themselves in a position to win tonight's series opener at Rogers Centre with a late rally, but it would have required spotless relief and airtight defense, and they received neither. A misplay in right field by Adam Eaton in the bottom of the seventh turned a routine fly ball into a costly double, and Justin Miller's first poor relief outing in the majors or minors this season turned the game into a 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays. Summoned to try to pitch out of a jam...
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Adams departs after taking pitch off left hand (Nats lose 6-5)

Adams departs after taking pitch off left hand (Nats lose 6-5)
TORONTO - Matt Adams had been one of the few members of the Nationals lineup to avoid injury so far this season. Add the big first baseman to the list now. Adams had to depart tonight's game before the bottom of the third, one inning after he took a pitch off his left hand while squaring around to bunt the previous inning. Leading off the top of the second and facing the exaggerated infield shift he has seen from most opponents this season, Adams decided to try to surprise the Blue Jays and...
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Lineup, outfield decisions for Martinez this weekend

Lineup, outfield decisions for Martinez this weekend
TORONTO - A week's worth of games in American League ballparks is allowing Davey Martinez to ease Daniel Murphy into action as designated hitter, but it's also forcing the Nationals manager to sit one of his four healthy starting-caliber outfielders, creating daily lineup decisions. With right-hander Aaron Sanchez starting for the Blue Jays in tonight's series opener at Rogers Centre, Martinez is sticking with the same arrangement that produced five runs against the Yankees on Wednesday....
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Game 66 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays

Game 66 lineups: Nats at Blue Jays
TORONTO - A very pleasant good day to you from Rogers Centre, where the Nationals are making their first appearance since 2012, when their 19-year-old slugger was asked a clown question by a Canadian reporter. What does this weekend have in store for the lads in curly W caps? The Nats face a reeling Blue Jays club that opened the season 13-6 and has since gone 17-32, including a three-game sweep at Tampa Bay to begin this week. They'll hope to take advantage of that, and the generally friendly...
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Friday morning news and notes from Toronto

Friday morning news and notes from Toronto
TORONTO - Some Friday morning news and notes for you as the Nationals prepare to play their first series north of the border since a 19-year-old Bryce Harper was asked a "clown question" back in 2012 ... * Erick Fedde's second big league start of the season was less impressive than his first start, but this one was a far tougher assignment. After getting his feet wet against a Padres lineup that scores 3.87 runs per game (sixth-worst in the majors), the rookie right-hander had to go up...
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An ownership change in name, but not in intentions

An ownership change in name, but not in intentions
TORONTO - From the day he purchased the Nationals from Major League Baseball in 2006, Ted Lerner made it clear this would - and always would - be a family-run operation. Though the patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Washington would have final say over any organizational decisions, he insisted none would be made without consultation of the seven other top members of the club's ownership group: his wife, Annette; his son, Mark; his daughters, Debra and Marla;...
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With Miller's surprising emergence, Nats bullpen a strength again

With Miller's surprising emergence, Nats bullpen a strength again
NEW YORK - Juan Soto stole the show Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. But let's not ignore the job the Nationals bullpen did to ensure Soto's two homers made the difference in a 5-4 victory instead of being mere footnotes in another frustrating loss. After starter Erick Fedde departed, having allowed four runs in five innings, the quartet of Justin Miller, Sammy Solís, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle combined to pitch four scoreless frames, the final three while protecting a one-run...
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Soto's star shines brighter than ever in Nats' win (updated)

Soto's star shines brighter than ever in Nats' win (updated)
NEW YORK - Under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, a young left-handed slugger from Washington wowed a crowd of 45,030 (and the assembled New York media) with a prodigious display of power that surely left plenty around here dreaming he might someday wear the fabled pinstripes. And we're not talking about Bryce Harper, folks. No, the star slugger on this evening was Juan Soto, the 19-year-old who has taken the majors by storm since his arrival three weeks ago. And he took everything to new...
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Scoreless streak ends at 19 innings (Nats win 5-4)

Scoreless streak ends at 19 innings (Nats win 5-4)
NEW YORK - The Nationals' scoreless streak has mercifully come to an end. With a top-of-the-first rally tonight at Yankee Stadium, the Nats plated their first run since Saturday, snapping their streak at 19 consecutive scoreless innings. Adam Eaton got things started with a leadoff double off Sonny Gray, then advanced to third on Trea Turner's infield single. Turner promptly stole second base, recording the 100th steal of his career in the process. The Nationals, though, missed an opportunity...
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