Game 29 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates (Suero promoted)

Game 29 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates (Suero promoted)
Another day, another roster move for the Nationals, who have been burning up the transaction wire during a busier-than-expected opening month of the season. One day after calling up Austin Voth from Triple-A for the first time, the Nats sent the right-hander back to Syracuse and called up Wander Suero from Syracuse for the first time. The rationale behind it all: The Nationals desperately needed someone who could throw multiple innings in case of emergency Sunday, so Voth was the guy. But he's...
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Game 28 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

Game 28 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks
It's been said on several occasions already this young season, but the Nationals really need a win today. They've already lost the first two games of this series to a very good Diamondbacks club, each by one run, and they simply can't afford another loss in today's finale at suddenly chilly and windy Nationals Park. Gio Gonzalez takes the mound for this one, on the heels of a start in San Francisco in which he was critical of manager Davey Martinez for pulling him after a leadoff walk in...
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Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks
Walking into Nationals Park this afternoon, it felt like it had been a month since the Nationals last played here. It hasn't been quite that long, but it has been 12 days since their last home game, and that is a while. They also have undergone quite a few roster changes since then, adding to their air of mystique when they finally take the field here tonight for the opener of a 10-game homestand. It begins with a tough challenge: the Diamondbacks, who on the heels of a 96-win season in 2017...
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Game 25 lineups: Nats at Giants

Game 25 lineups: Nats at Giants
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals have won only one of their last six games. That win came Friday night in Los Angeles, against Clayton Kershaw, which sounds improbable given the current state of the lineup except once you remember who pitched that game for the Nats: Max Scherzer. Today, the Nationals are going to need another effort from Scherzer - not to mention some runs against Jeff Samardzija - if they hope to at least head home on a positive note after a long and often difficult road...
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Game 24 lineups: Nats at Giants

Game 24 lineups: Nats at Giants
SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals need a win tonight. It's kind of that simple after losing three in row to the Dodgers and Giants. Beyond that, they need some other events as well to help make a win more possible. The Nats could certainly use a big-time start from Tanner Roark. Here's the good news: He has owned the Giants in his career, to the tune of a 6-0 record and 2.02 ERA in seven regular season appearances (four starts). (We'll ignore a certain home run he surrendered to Brandon Belt on...
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Game 23 lineups: Nats at Giants

Game 23 lineups: Nats at Giants
SAN FRANCISCO - It's not as warm here as it was a few hundred miles down the coast over the weekend, but it's no less pleasant as the Nationals shift from Los Angeles to San Francisco for the final leg of their road trip. After dropping two-of-three in frustrating fashion to the Dodgers, the Nats have a chance to come home with a winning record on the trip if they can take two-of-three from the Giants, who still are without Madison Bumgarner. It'll be right-hander Chris Stratton (owner of a...
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Game 22 lineups: Nats at Dodgers (Rendon to DL)

Game 22 lineups: Nats at Dodgers (Rendon to DL)
LOS ANGELES - After some star-studded matchups to begin this weekend's series, the finale on Sunday Night Baseball doesn't quite stack up. It's Jeremy Hellickson versus Alex Wood. Not that this game is any less important for either the Nationals or Dodgers, each very motivated to win the series and get back to the .500 mark in the process. As has been the case for more than a week now, the Nationals would love to have Anthony Rendon in their lineup. But for the eighth consecutive game since...
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Game 21 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

Game 21 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - They beat Clayton Kershaw. Now the Nationals have a chance to take this weekend series with another win tonight at Dodger Stadium. And they'll have Stephen Strasburg on the mound leading the way. Strasburg has enjoyed some significant success against the Dodgers in his career. In seven starts versus Los Angeles, the right-hander has surrendered more than two earned runs only once. And he had two dominant outings last season against L.A. The Nationals go up against a lefty for the...
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Game 20 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

Game 20 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - The sun is shining, the mountains in the distance aren't being obscured by smog and Max Scherzer is facing Clayton Kershaw tonight at Dodger Stadium. Yep, this is about as good as it gets. The Nationals and Dodgers open up a big weekend series at Chavez Ravine, and they're starting it off in style with as good a pitching showdown as you can get. Scherzer versus Kershaw represents only the 13th head-to-head matchup in major league history (postseason included) between pitchers...
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Game 16 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies

Game 16 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies
The weather was absolutely delightful yesterday when the Nationals beat the Rockies 6-2. The weather is most definitely not delightful today as the two clubs wrap up their four-game series. It's overcast, the temperature has been dropping all morning and will continue to drop through the afternoon, and there's rain in the forecast. It's just a question of when the rain arrives. For now, it doesn't appear to be a threat to the start of the game, only later in the game (if at all). But even...
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Game 15 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies (Goodwin scratched)

Game 15 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies (Goodwin scratched)
The last thing the Nationals want to do is call today's game - on April 14, mind you - "must-win." But let's not kid ourselves here. Having lost eight of their last 10, and having fallen a full six games behind the Mets in the National League East division - seven games in the loss column - this team simply can't afford to lose a Max Scherzer start. The Nationals needed Scherzer to halt their last losing streak (five games). Today they'll ask him to halt their current three-game skid and...
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Game 13 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies

Game 13 lineups: Nats vs. Rockies
The Nationals need to start hitting. There's no getting around this. Since April 4 (their series finale in Atlanta) they've scored an average of 2.5 runs per game. Only the Brewers (2.25) have scored fewer in the majors in that span. That's not good. Perhaps a matchup tonight against Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland could help matters a little bit. The Nationals have a very right-handed-lineup these days, and so that could set them up for more production in this one. In fact, the guys...
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Game 12 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Game 12 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
What a different 48 hours makes. When this series began, the Nationals were reeling from a five-game losing streak, with questions about the big picture starting to percolate. Now, thanks to back-to-back dominant performances from Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, they're seeking a series sweep of the Braves and a whole new outlook on life. In order to pull that off, though, they'll need a far better performance from A.J. Cole this afternoon than they got last week in Atlanta, when he was...
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Martinez tries Rendon in cleanup spot, Zimmerman in fifth spot

Martinez tries Rendon in cleanup spot, Zimmerman in fifth spot
Nobody in the National League owns a better on-base percentage right now than Bryce Harper, whose .553 mark has put him in position to score a ton of runs through the season's first 11 games. Nobody in the NL owns a worse OPS right now, though, than Ryan Zimmerman, whose .370 mark has contributed mightily to a bunch of wasted scoring opportunities for the Nationals ... not to mention even more reason for opposing teams to pitch around the guy hitting in front of him: Harper. So with that in...
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Game 11 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Eaton scratched)

Game 11 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (Eaton scratched)
It's a beautiful spring afternoon here in the nation's capital, the kind of day you'd much rather be sitting inside a ballpark watching a game than, oh I don't know, sitting in the Senate Judiciary hearing room, to name just one alternative. ... The real news in town is taking place 1 1/2 miles down South Capitol Street, where the Nationals are looking to make it two in a row against the Braves. And they'll do so with a new lineup wrinkle. Seeking to create some more protection for Bryce...
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Game 10 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Game 10 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
It's one thing to lose five in a row. It's another thing to lose five in a row to the two division rivals that currently sit above you in the standings. That has added a bit of significance to the Nationals' current slide, which leaves them at 4-5 overall and 3 1/2 games behind the Mets, two games behind the Braves (the two teams they've faced the last five games, it just so happens). Well, after losing two of three at SunTrust Field last week, the Nats get another crack at Atlanta the next...
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Game 9 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 9 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
It's been a very pleasant, if just a bit chilly, afternoon here in the nation's capital. Would've been a great day for a ballgame. Unfortunately the Nationals and Mets don't play til 8:08 p.m., after the sun has gone down and the temperatures drop. It's going to be in the low 40s for most of tonight's game, maybe even dipping into the 30s before the end of the game. Don't worry, though, at least the Metro closes at 11 p.m. ... OK, enough complaining for now. The Nationals kind of need to...
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Game 8 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 8 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
It's cold. It's gray. It's windy. But it's dry at Nationals Park, and it appears it's going to stay that way the rest of the day. So there will indeed be baseball this afternoon, the second game of this weekend series against the Mets, who are off to a 5-1 start and the (extremely early) top spot in the National League East division. Given the conditions, this should be a good day to be a pitcher, especially a left-handed pitcher since the wind is blowing in from left field. And wouldn't...
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Game 7 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 7 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
Hello from South Capitol Street, at long last. Yes, after a six-game road trip to begin the season - and then quite a disastrous commute into the city this morning - the Nationals are here and ready for their 2018 home opener. They come home having won four straight in Cincinnati and Atlanta before then dropping the final two games of the series against the Braves. And they now face the Mets, who perhaps will be their toughest challenge in the division this season, owners of a 4-1 record to...
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Game 6 lineups: Nats at Braves

Game 6 lineups: Nats at Braves
ATLANTA - For the first time in 2018, the Nationals arrive in the rubber match of a three-game set as they take on the Braves on getaway day. Today's game follows their first loss of the season, a 13-6 setback Tuesday night against the Braves, highlighted by a pair of three-run shots from Freddie Freeman and Preston Tucker. The Nats actually hit more home runs in the game (three), including the first of the year for Ryan Zimmerman and the fourth of the season for Bryce Harper. Right-hander Max...
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