CHICAGO - As the Nationals cobble together their rotation for the rest of the weekend, they can take solace knowing they should head into next week with the situation much more stable.
Max Scherzer, who hasn't pitched since departing with neck spasms before the second inning Tuesday night in Miami, threw off the bullpen mound at Wrigley Field this morning and is preparing to start Monday against the Marlins in Washington.
Gio González, who officially was placed on the paternity leave list...
CHICAGO - It is a spectacular summer day on the North Side, with not a cloud in the sky, a nice cool breeze blowing from the northwest and temperatures climbing into the upper 70s by the time the Nationals and Cubs take the field for the second game of their weekend series.
The Nats originally had Gio Gonzalez penciled in for this start, but he has officially been placed on the paternity leave list and is back in D.C. for the birth of his second child. Erick Fedde has officially been recalled...
CHICAGO - Daniel Murphy likes to hit at Wrigley Field. That's something he has established over his entire career, and especially in the last few seasons.
Murphy isn't alone in taking pleasure from stepping into the batter's box inside the Friendly Confines, which has been a hitter's haven since the iconic bleachers were constructed in 1937. But the Nationals second baseman goes beyond the norm here, as evidenced by his astounding numbers.
Over the course of his career - including playoffs...
CHICAGO - Tempting as it is to just hand the final three innings of a ballgame over to his new trio of experienced relievers, Dusty Baker also knows he can't overdo it on Aug. 4, in the first game of a weekend series against the defending World Series champs, with two fill-in starters taking the mound the next two afternoons.
So Baker didn't hesitate to send Tanner Roark back to the mound for the bottom of the seventh today at Wrigley Field, with his Nationals leading the Cubs by three runs...
CHICAGO - The Nationals' formula for beating the Cubs this afternoon? A couple of Daniel Murphy blasts. A quality start from Tanner Roark. And eight outs from their trio of new relievers.
Dusty Baker couldn't have drawn it up much better.
Murphy's two early homers gave the Nationals the lead, Roark then preserved it with 6 1/3 strong innings and then Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle combined to finish off an impressive 4-2 victory in the opener of this big weekend series...
CHICAGO - With a rare opportunity to bat behind Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy delivered the big blow that gave the Nationals a quick lead this afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Murphy, batting cleanup with Ryan Zimmerman getting a day off, launched a two-run homer in the top of the first, putting the Nationals up 2-0 on the Cubs in the opener of a big weekend series.
Murphy's blast came on a 2-1 pitch from Kyle Hendricks, landing in the right field bleachers. Howie Kendrick, who singled to center two...
CHICAGO - The Nationals are going to have to piece together their rotation for the rest of the weekend at Wrigley Field, but they expect to have Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez back pitching for them once they return to Washington on Monday.
Gonzalez, who was lined up to start Saturday against the Cubs, returned to Washington to be with his wife when she delivers the couple's second child. The left-hander will go on the paternity leave list, with Edwin Jackson now starting Saturday's...
CHICAGO - It's a cool, gray, windy day on the North Side, the kind of weather you don't normally expect in early August, but maybe in early October. So consider this another good test for the Nationals, who open a weekend series with the Cubs in a potential preview of this fall's National League Division Series.
Tanner Roark gets the start, and the Wilmington, Ill., native surely will have plenty of friends and family in attendance. If recent history is any indication, look for a large...
CHICAGO - The Nationals still have 56 games to play, the Cubs 55. More than one-third of the season remains. But we'd be lying to ourselves if we didn't point out that this weekend's series at Wrigley Field is very likely going to be a preview of the National League Division Series.
The Nats have been running away with the NL East for months, leading the division by an average of 10 games since Memorial Day. The Cubs may only lead the Brewers by 1 1/2 games in the NL Central at the moment,...
Sean Doolittle made his major league debut on June 5, 2012, entering from the Athletics bullpen with two outs in the top of the fifth to face Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz.
Doolittle, who had been drafted as a first baseman out of the University of Virginia, had converted to a pitcher only one year prior to his debut and made only 17 pitching appearances in the minors before suddenly finding himself on the mound at O.co Coliseum.
Given those circumstances, Doolittle did what any smart rookie...
MIAMI - The Nationals' ever-changing bullpen appears destined for another change after Enny Romero had to leave tonight's loss to the Marlins with a forearm strain that manager Dusty Baker said likely will send the left-hander to the disabled list.
Pitching the sixth inning in what was a blowout loss to Miami, Romero faced four batters, allowing a run. He said he felt the tightness in his forearm after throwing a changeup to Giancarlo Stanton, then attempted one more fastball after that....
MIAMI - The dog days of August have arrived, and anyone who questions whether that's a real thing needs only to have watched the Nationals slog their way through their last two games at Marlins Park.
Things had been going swimmingly through the first 10 1/2 innings of this series, with Gio Gonzalez nearly throwing a one-hitter Monday night and Max Scherzer homering during a six-run explosion early Tuesday night. But from the moment Scherzer departed with what turned out to be neck spasms, the...
MIAMI - Max Scherzer remained upbeat this afternoon, believing his neck injury isn't serious and can be fixed with a simple adjustment that could allow him to make his next start for the Nationals on schedule.
Scherzer said he believes he has a pinched nerve in his neck, one that forced him out of Tuesday night's start after only one inning. The remedy: He plans to see a chiropractor sometime in the next 24 hours.
It's too soon to know if Scherzer will be able to make his next start...
MIAMI - Brandon Kintzler had been through trade deadline day before, last July 31, and he was admittedly a nervous wreck waiting to find out if the Twins had dealt him. So when this July 31 came around and he knew the team had a day off in San Diego, he decided to get away and go on a safari zoo tour with his wife.
So there was Kintzler, feeding apples to a rhinoceros at 1:01 p.m. Pacific time, when his phone rang. He looked down and recognized it was a Minnesota area code.
"So I figured this...
MIAMI - Let's see, on Monday night Gio Gonzalez carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Last night, Max Scherzer homered in the top of the second and then departed after one warmup pitch in the bottom of the second with neck spasms. What does A.J. Cole have in store for us tonight?
Cole gets the ball for only the second time this season in the big leagues, with the Nationals needing a one-time start in the wake of Sunday's doubleheader. Cole had a 5.66 ERA in 16 starts for Triple-A...
MIAMI - Howie Kendrick joined the Nationals last weekend saying he simply wanted to fit in with a first-place club that already boasted no shortage of star power and big personalities.
It took five games, but Kendrick ensured Tuesday night he'll fit in just fine here. Because after a 5-for-5 night at the plate, he looks very much like any other member of the National League's most productive lineup.
On a night when - aside from Max Scherzer's surprise three-run homer - the Nationals didn't...
MIAMI - Max Scherzer spent a good portion of his postgame session with reporters laughing and bragging about the three-run homer he launched in the top of the second inning tonight at Marlins Park.
The fact he was able to do that should tell you how little he's worried about the reason he had to remove himself from the game in the bottom of the second: neck spasms.
"I slept on it wrong," the Nationals ace said in the verbal equivalent of a shoulder shrug. "Sometimes you wake up in the...
MIAMI - Max Scherzer abruptly pulled himself from tonight's start against the Marlins after throwing an errant warmup pitch before the bottom of the second inning, immediately motioning toward the Nationals dugout that he could not continue.
Scherzer, who had tossed a perfect first inning and then launched the first home run of his career in the top of the second, jogged to the mound to begin the bottom of the second and appeared to be fine.
But after a warmup toss sailed wide of catcher Matt...
MIAMI - Last week's rainout in Washington has left the Nationals in a quandary, needing to call up a pitcher from their system to start Wednesday's series finale in Miami. But thanks to the long-term domino effect of the rainout, Sunday's doubleheader and Wednesday's one-time call-up, the Nats will have the ability to set their rotation however they like for this weekend's series in Chicago.
What that all means ...
A.J. Cole is expected to be promoted from Triple-A Syracuse to start...
MIAMI - The last two times they've played at Marlins Park, the Nationals have seen their starting pitcher carry a no-hitter into at least the eighth inning. What does Max Scherzer have in store tonight?
Scherzer, of course, was on the mound for one of those previous no-no attempts, reaching the bottom of the eighth on June 21 before a little chopper over the mound sent the Marlins on their way to a stunning 2-1 victory. Scherzer remained on the mound as that inning devolved, in large part...