MIAMI - The Nationals' plan of attack going into tonight's game against Jose Fernandez was to try to build up the young ace's pitch count and force the Marlins to turn to their bullpen.
In that regard, the Nationals did exactly as they hoped. They worked the count against Fernandez and ultimately knocked him out of the game after only six innings thanks to an elevated pitch count of 103.
Problem is, they didn't make Fernandez actually suffer much at all for his excess work. And so they...
MIAMI - Something about the sight of Marlins batters in the first inning doesn't seem to agree with Tanner Roark, who for the second time in this brief season dug the Nationals into an early hole against Miami.
The Marlins scored three runs in the first off Roark, then added another in the second to take a 4-0 lead for ace Jose Fernandez in tonight's opener of a four-game series at Marlins Park.
This wasn't the first time Roark has dealt with first-inning struggles against the Marlins. This...
MIAMI - The numbers aren't pretty. Two full weeks into the season, three members of the Nationals' everyday lineup - Michael A. Taylor, Jayson Werth and Danny Espinosa - are sporting batting averages under .172 and on-base percentages under .290.
Manager Dusty Baker, though, has seen encouraging signs from all three and is committed to each remaining in the lineup and in his current role for the foreseeable future.
That applies in particular for Taylor, who, despite his 6-for-41 one-walk...
MIAMI - Bryce Harper's weekend power surge in Philadelphia earned him his first official honor of 2016 - though he'll have to share with a fellow All-Star.
Harper was named co-National League Player of the Week this afternoon along with Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, the league office unable to deem one slugger's performance over the last seven days more dominant than the other.
Harper and Arenado each hit four homers and drove in 12 runs last week, Harper's homers coming once apiece...
MIAMI - Hello from the one and only (and praise the deity of your preference for that) Marlins Park. Baseball's biggest amusement park (albeit one that will be three-quarters empty all night) hosts the Nationals over the next four days to wrap up this season-opening stretch of 15 games against only three opponents (the Braves, Phillies and Marlins).
The Nats split their rain-shortened series with Miami at home, and the man on the mound for them tonight will be looking to avenge his loss in the...
It's Jackie Robinson Day, which means every player and every coach in the major leagues today is wearing a nameless No. 42 jersey. All sorts of other honors are planned to commemorate the 69th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, and all of them will deservedly receive plenty of attention.
This annual occasion, though, also serves as a reminder that for all the progress baseball (and society as a whole) has made since April 15, 1947, there still is so much more progress...
This has been quite a way for the Nationals to open the season. Not only are they 7-1, matching both the franchise and D.C. records for the first eight games of a baseball season, but they've done it in impressive fashion.
Bryce Harper has three homers already, including his 100th career blast yesterday (on a grand slam, to boot). Daniel Murphy is hitting .480 and slugging .880. The starting rotation has collectively given up just 13 earned runs in eight games. The bullpen sports a collective...
Bryce Harper had all week to hit the 100th home run of his career. He could've done it Sunday against the Marlins against a pitcher he has owned (Tom Koehler). He could've done it Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday nights against the Braves, perhaps lofting a solo shot into the bleachers. He could've done it in any number of mundane ways.
But that, of course, isn't the way Harper does these things. He picks just the right moment and adds just enough extra drama to the situation to make you take a...
Bryce Harper's 100th career homer was as grand as they come.
Harper launched his first major league grand slam this afternoon, blasting a 1-0 fastball from Julio Teheran in the bottom of the third off the façade of the second deck in right-center at Nationals Park.
That blast gave the Nationals a 4-1 lead over the Braves, a worthy development in its own right. That it also happened to bring Harper to the century mark for his career only sweetened the moment.
The crowd saluted Harper with a...
He was the hottest hitter on the roster all spring, arguably the hottest hitter in the Grapefruit League. But Michael A. Taylor is finding out now what so many have found out before him: Hitting in April isn't the same as hitting in March.
Taylor enters play today sporting a .138 batting average (4-for-29), with a .133 on-base percentage that's actually lower (something possible only when you've got a sacrifice fly but zero walks).
It's a far cry from his performance this spring, when he...
Rest easy, everybody: Stephen Strasburg is pitching today. After getting scratched from his scheduled start last night due to an illness that has plagued him for several days, Strasburg is good to go for this afternoon's series finale against the Braves. That saves Dusty Baker from needing to turn to emergency starter Yusmeiro Petit and keeping his bullpen fresh, not only for this game but for the next few days as well.
The Nationals will be looking to win, incredibly, their 14th consecutive...
First, the optimistic view on the Nationals so far this season: They're 6-1, the best start in club history and one more victory shy of matching the best start in both franchise and D.C. baseball history.
Now, the skeptical view of that accomplishment: They've gone 6-1 against the Marlins and Braves, who are currently a collective 3-12.
OK, so maybe it would be wise not to go overboard with praise for this team quite yet, given the less-than-overwhelming competition it has faced. But all they...
It's his bread-and-butter pitch, the kind of pitch that helped make him such a revelation in 2014 but also eluded him during his disappointing 2015. Well, it was back tonight, and if Tanner Roark can keep firing those comeback, two-seam fastballs over the inside corner to left-handed hitters ... well, the Nationals might just have themselves another frontline starter again this year.
"That's a tough pitch," manager Dusty Baker said. "It looks like a ball, and by the time you see it, it's...
Tanner Roark has been awfully sharp so far in his rescheduled start. Matt Wisler was equally as sharp for three innings, but then Stephen Drew and Jayson Werth took care of that and gave Roark and the Nationals the evening's first lead.
Drew's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth (his first of the season) put the Nats up 1-0 on the Braves. Moments later, Werth took Wisler deep to left-center, a two-run shot that extended the lead to 3-0.
Drew is making his first start of the year, filling...
The Nationals are hoping Stephen Strasburg will feel well enough to start Thursday afternoon's series finale against the Braves, trying to avoid burning up their bullpen as an alternative in case he's not ready to return.
Strasburg was scratched from tonight's scheduled start due to an illness that has plagued him the last couple of days. Manager Dusty Baker said the outlook has looked better with each passing day, and Strasburg was out on the field during batting practice this afternoon for...
The Nationals have spent much of the last two weeks shuffling and then reshuffling their rotation, accounting for rainouts, scheduled off-days and other factors. Now they've had to reshuffle it again due to illness.
Stephen Strasburg, who was scheduled to start tonight against the Braves, has been scratched because he's not feeling well. So it'll be Tanner Roark instead taking the mound at 7:05 p.m. The good news: Roark is still pitching on five days' rest, so he'll be plenty fresh. The...
Stephen Strasburg has been scratched from tonight's scheduled start against the Braves due to what the Nationals say is an illness. Tanner Roark will pitch in his place, starting a day earlier than originally planned.
Strasburg was set to make his second start of the season, facing the same Atlanta lineup he beat one week ago with six innings of one-run ball. The right-hander appeared to be under the weather earlier this week, though, prompting the postponement of his outing.
Roark was due to...
The Nationals can't say - with a straight face, at least - they knew with 100 percent certainty what they'd get out of Gio Gonzalez last night. Not in his season debut. Not a full 16 days removed from his last appearance on the mound.
But when the left-hander navigated his way through a 13-pitch top of the first, they had reason to be optimistic. And when he made it through the third without allowing a run and with a manageable pitch count of 46, they had to be even more encouraged.
And by...
It was cold, with a steady wind having been blowing in from left field all night. What remained of an already-sparse crowd of 18,378 was praying for something good to happen, for somebody to finally break through and post something other than a zero on the scoreboard for the first time all evening.
And then, with one well-timed swing from Bryce Harper, everyone inside Nationals Park was jumping up and down, the long wait on this chilly April night well worth it. Harper's two-out, two-run...
Making his first appearance of the regular season and his first appearance of any kind in 16 days, Gio Gonzalez took the mound tonight at Nationals Park not entirely knowing for sure what to expect.
Three innings later, the left-hander has to be pleased with the results so far: nothing but zeros.
Gonzalez's season debut got off to a strong start, with only one hit surrendered to the Braves through three scoreless innings. There was a two-out walk issued to Freddie Freeman in the top of the...