Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy have been managing against each other for the better part of the last two decades, their careers nearly running parallel.
Baker first became manager of the Giants in 1993, with Bochy hired by the Padres in 1995. Baker was fired by the Giants after the 2002 World Series; four years later, Bochy took over in San Francisco. Baker has since managed the Cubs, Reds and now Nationals; Bochy still remains with the Giants, owner of three World Series rings.
Along the way, the...
The Nationals' weekend opener against the Giants was postponed this evening due to rain, but not before another round of confusion and poor communication with a fan base that has grown increasingly frustrated by the club's handling of these situations.
With more rain in the forecast early Saturday, the two teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday, with the originally scheduled 1:35 p.m. game bumped up to 1:05 p.m. and a makeup game now scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets for tonight's...
If you're expecting any fireworks this weekend between the Nationals and Giants, Dusty Baker is cautioning you not to get yourself worked up too much.
Yes, the last meeting between these clubs included a brawl. But it's been 2 1/2 months since then, and it really didn't stem from any beef between the Nats and Giants as a whole, but rather from San Francisco reliever Hunter Strickland, who three years after serving up two playoff homers to Bryce Harper decided to intentionally drill him with...
The last meeting between the Nationals and Giants was rather eventful. If you've forgotten, it involved Hunter Strickland, Bryce Harper and a three-year-old beef. That series took place way back on Memorial Day in San Francisco, and a lot has changed since then. So will there be any reason for any carryover this weekend? I've got to think probably not. What good does it do the Nationals, 15 games up in the division and trying to get everybody healthy for October, to instigate...
Sean Doolittle is a one-pitch pitcher. He's not afraid to admit it. As noted before, he's willing to throw the occasional slider or changeup, but at his core he's a fastball guy and he'll keep living and dying by that fastball.
Which is why, in part, the final at-bat of Thursday night's game at Nationals Park was so compelling.
With two outs and the tying runner on third base, Doolittle was facing Marlins leadoff man Dee Gordon. The left-hander kept pumping out high fastballs, and Gordon...
The Nationals expect to have a fully healthy lineup within a matter of weeks, with Michael A. Taylor set to return from the disabled list first, then Jayson Werth and Trea Turner following shortly after that. Which means Brian Goodwin is headed back to the bench in the near future, and Andrew Stevenson is likely headed back to the minors (at least until rosters expand in September).
As long as both rookie outfielders are here and wearing Nationals uniforms, though, they're going to keep...
Brian Goodwin may have slumped at times, and he may not have been able to duplicate the production the Nationals would have received from Adam Eaton or Michael A. Taylor had either of their top two center fielders been healthy all summer. But where would this team be without its third-stringer, who has more than held down the fort in the absence of others and has delivered more than his share of big hits along the way.
Just like he did tonight. Goodwin's leadoff homer in the bottom of the...
Trea Turner was out at his familiar shortstop position this afternoon, fielding grounders and making throws across the diamond for the first time since an errant fastball fractured his wrist six weeks ago He's been running nearly nonstop the entire time he's been on the disabled list.
All that's left for Turner to do is swing a bat, and that should be happening in the very near future after the Nationals leadoff man was cleared to begin rotational weight-lifting with right hand.
"That...
It's too early to actually write about these things, but because you're wondering (and because we're smack dab in the middle of the dog days right now) ... the Nationals' magic number to clinch the NL East is currently 37. Obviously, there's still a long way to go, but that's also a really low number for Aug. 10.
The Nats will have a chance to reduce that number to 35 tonight if they beat the Marlins again and take this four-game series from the division's current second-place squad....
There are few compliments one ballplayer can heap on another more telling than to refer to him as a "professional hitter."
It sounds silly, but that's the kind of designation that is reserved for only a select few, those who consistently produce the kind of quality at-bats that impress even the best this game has to offer.
So when Dusty Baker referred to Howie Kendrick last night by that term, you knew he meant it as the highest compliment.
"He knows how to hit," the Nationals manager...
Some athletes try to compartmentalize their professional lives and their personal lives, making sure not to let one impact the other. Gio Gonzalez just decides to embrace it all and enjoy both to the fullest, even if they sometimes intersect.
For the veteran left-hander, there was no way to separate the two this week, not with everything he experienced. Nine days ago, he nearly threw a no-hitter in Miami, on the night the Marlins were memorializing José Fernández on what would have been...
An altered pitching schedule due to the birth of his son over the weekend did nothing to throw Gio Gonzalez out of whack.
The left-hander was back on the mound tonight and dominated the Marlins just as he did nine days earlier in his near-no-hitter. This time, he tossed seven innings of one-run ball, leading the Nationals to a 10-1 victory on a night in which they did just about everything right.
Ryan Zimmerman led the Nats' offensive barrage against Miami's pitching staff with one of the...
Stephen Strasburg took a key step in his return to the mound for the Nationals this afternoon by throwing a simulated game, the most significant test the right-hander has put his elbow through since going on the disabled list 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Strasburg said he threw 57 pitches over four simulated "innings," facing two batters (teammates Jayson Werth and Andrew Stevenson), and emerged with no concerns about the state of his elbow.
"It feels really good," he said. "I'm definitely happy with...
When last we saw Gio Gonzalez on the mound, he was carrying a no-hitter into the bottom of the ninth at Marlins Park before Dee Gordon broke it up on an emotional night in Miami. Since then, Gonzalez has left the Nationals for a few days for the birth of his second son, Gabriel, and now he returns to the mound for his first appearance in nine days.
And the opponent ... will be the Marlins again. As we saw last night with Vance Worley and A.J. Cole, the advantage doesn't necessarily change from...
The Nationals have been able to withstand the long-term injuries to lineup regulars by getting contributions from a number of backups. And in some cases, even the backups to the backups.
But they do need to start seeing those regulars come back from the disabled list, and in the process allow those backups to slide back into the roles for which they were intended all along.
There is some good news in that regard: Michael A. Taylor last night played his seventh rehab game, and launched a...
Had things gone as originally planned, Vance Worley most likely would have started tonight's game at Nationals Park, not for the visiting club for the home squad.
The Nationals signed Worley to a minor league contract last winter and offered him an invitation to big league camp. It was a non-guaranteed deal, but given the right-hander's track record and versatility, he looked like a strong bet to make the opening day roster and serve as both a long man in the bullpen and emergency starter if...
The second A.J. Cole-Vance Worley matchup in a week didn't go any better for the Nationals than it did the first time.
In a rematch of Wednesday night's blowout loss in Miami, Worley once again handcuffed the Nationals lineup while Cole served up a couple of towering home runs to the Marlins during a 7-3 loss that looked all too familiar.
Worley, the journeyman long reliever/spot starter who dominated the Nationals during seven scoreless innings six days ago at Marlins Park, wasn't quite as...
Enny Romero was back throwing on the field at Nationals Park this afternoon, cleared to begin ramping up again after tests revealed the left-hander is dealing only with muscle tightness in his forearm and nothing more serious than that.
Romero had to come out of Wednesday's game in Miami after complaining of arm trouble, and the Nationals placed him on the 10-day disabled list and sent him back to Washington while the club proceeded to Chicago for the weekend.
Romero said he was examined by...
The Nationals' rotation is getting back to normal, with Max Scherzer having returned last night and Gio Gonzalez set to return tomorrow night. But there's one more stop-gap start needed from a fill-in tonight, and so A.J. Cole will be taking the mound to face the Marlins for the second time in a week.
It didn't go so well for Cole in Miami; he allowed five runs in five innings, four of those coming during a rough bottom of the fifth. We'll see if the right-hander is able to make any...
CHICAGO - There's nothing like experience, and Erick Fedde made sure to take what he learned from his major league debut last week and apply it to Sunday's start against the Cubs.
For example: Trust his entire repertoire, not just two of his four pitches.
"The first game, I felt like I really got away from my breaking ball, and just turned into a two-pitch pitcher," the right-hander said. "Today, I got to all four of my pitches and stayed with them throughout the game and kept guys...