Starting lineups: Mets vs. Nats in West Palm Beach

Starting lineups: Mets vs. Nats in West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg makes his second start of spring training this afternoon when the Nationals host the Mets. He'll face right-hander Noah Syndergaard. In his first start on March 3, Strasburg worked two innings against the Astros, allowing a run on three hits with two strikeouts. Manager Davey Martinez has been extending his starters in recent games and hopes to get Strasburg up up to 60-65 pitches today. There are few hitters this spring hotter than Moisés Sierra,...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter
JUPITER, Fla. - Coming off three spotless innings with five strikeouts in his last start against the Mets in Port St. Lucie on March 2, what does Max Scherzer do for an encore? We'll find out this afternoon when the right-hander makes his third Grapefruit League start against the Cardinals. So far this spring, Scherzer is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, and has allowed one hit - a home run by the Braves' Dansby Swanson on Feb. 25 - with no walks and eight strikeouts through five innings. The last two...
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Starting lineups: Astros vs. Nats at West Palm Beach

Starting lineups: Astros vs. Nats at West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Amid persistent rumors that the Nationals may still be trying to boost their rotation with a late free agent signing, right-hander A.J. Cole gets another opportunity to show the Washington brass that he's capable of holding down the fifth spot in the rotation. Cole makes his second Grapefruit League start this afternoon when the Nationals host an Astros split squad in a game that will be televised live on MASN (and replayed twice this evening). In his first spring...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter (Taylor scratched)

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter (Taylor scratched)
JUPITER, Fla. - If the Nationals are playing at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, right-hander Tanner Roark must be starting. Roark takes the hill for his third start of the spring today, and all have come in the cozy confines of Roger Dean, where the wind whips across the outfield, turning routine fly balls into adventures, skewing pitching lines and inflating ERAs. This time, the Cardinals will present the opposition; in Roark's first two Grapefruit League starts here, he faced the Marlins....
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Split-squad lineups: Nats vs. Tigers and Mets

Split-squad lineups: Nats vs. Tigers and Mets
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It's a split-squad day for the Nationals, with one group staying back here in West Palm Beach to face the Tigers and another group heading north to Port St. Lucie to face the Mets. Between the two games, nearly everybody of consequence on the roster is playing somewhere today, and there even will be some prospects from minor league camp coming off the bench (including outfielder Juan Soto here at the home game). Gio Gonzalez starts against a Tigers lineup that includes...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - I know none of you up north want to hear about the weather down here right now, but it has cooled off considerably across Florida, with the same cold front that has caused so much havoc back home swooping through this state as well. The wind has picked up and the temperatures have dropped - I know, I know, it's still going to be 75 degrees this afternoon - for the first time all spring. With the wind blowing in, it should be a good day to be a pitcher. Not that either...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in Lake Buena Vista

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in Lake Buena Vista
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Good morning from Walt Disney World. If it feels like we were just here ... well, we were. The Nationals played the Braves in this ballpark three days ago. Now they're back after another 2 1/2-hour drive up Florida's Turnpike. On the bright side, the club has only one more road trip longer than 45 minutes the rest of the spring (one game in Lakeland against the Tigers) so it won't be facing this situation much more. Because it's another one of these long trips, the...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in Jupiter (Harper scratched)

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in Jupiter (Harper scratched)
JUPITER, Fla. - Well, it's been quite a morning already in Nationals camp. The day began with a surprise twist to the club's morning "Circle of Trust" meeting: Coaches Bob Henley and Tim Bogar rode in on camels, yelling out "Hump Day!" and eventually making all the players walk through the tunnel they created to symbolize how the Nationals are trying to get over the proverbial hump this season. This was all concocted by manager Davey Martinez, and I'll have plenty more on all this a...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in West Palm Beach (updated)

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in West Palm Beach (updated)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - We haven't seen a lot of the Nationals' regulars during the first four games of the Grapefruit League season, but now we're about to start getting more of them. Five regulars plus Howie Kendrick (who might as well be a regular) are in the lineup today against the Marlins. That includes Trea Turner (leading off), Matt Wieters (batting second!), Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Michael A. Taylor. And all five of those guys are scheduled to play again tomorrow when the...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in Lake Buena Vista

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in Lake Buena Vista
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - And a very pleasant good morning to you from the (self-proclaimed) happiest place on earth. The Nationals used to make a bunch of trips to Disney to play the Braves. Now that they've relocated to West Palm Beach, they're only making the 2 1/2-hour drive up here twice this spring (today and Thursday). And given how long that trip is, they didn't bring very many players of consequence today. The lineup features Wilmer Difo, Victor Robles and Pedro Severino. The...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in West Palm Beach

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Braves in West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The sun is shining, Max Scherzer is on the mound for the Nationals, most of the regulars are in the lineup, and MASN's Bob Carpenter, F.P. Santangelo and Dan Kolko are in the house. What more could you ask for? Well, there's one more thing you thought you were getting today but actually aren't. Ryan Zimmerman was initially listed as the leadoff hitter for today's game against the Braves, but when the lineup was posted this morning in the clubhouse he wasn't in there...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in Jupiter

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Marlins in Jupiter
JUPITER, Fla. - A very pleasant good morning to you from Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, spring home of the Marlins and Cardinals and playing host today to the Nationals for the first of seven road games this spring. It's only a 15-minute drive from West Palm Beach, and because of that the Nats are trying something new this year: They're staying back to take batting practice and fielding drills at home, then boarding the bus at 11:45 a.m. and heading straight to Jupiter for the game. A lot of...
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Starting lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach (updated)

Starting lineups: Nats vs. Astros in West Palm Beach (updated)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - No, it doesn't count. No, it won't feature many recognizable names. But you know what? It's still a baseball game and it's going to be played today. Yes, the Grapefruit League has arrived, and not a moment too soon for fans who have patiently waited since October for the Nationals to take the field once again. Today's exhibition opener will be played in the Nats' home ballpark but it won't be a Nats home game. The World Series champion Astros get to play host for...
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NLDS Game 5 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

NLDS Game 5 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs
The Nationals will hand the ball to left-hander Gio Gonzalez for tonight's deciding Game 5 against the Cubs in the National League Division Series at Nationals Park. Gonzalez got a no-decision in Game 2, going five innings, allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The Nats used a five-run eighth inning to come back and beat the Cubs 6-3. "Bottom line, we won," Gonzalez said. "The team won. We won together. I was just trying to keep us as close as possible in this...
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NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs (Strasburg to start)

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs (Strasburg to start)
CHICAGO - As if this National League Division Series wasn't already dramatic enough, how about this: Stephen Strasburg will start Game 4 for the Nationals after all. Some 18 hours after announcing Strasburg wouldn't be able to pitch this elimination game against the Cubs because he was ill, the Nationals reversed course and named the right-hander as their starter. Strasburg, according to a source familiar with the decision, informed the club this morning he was feeling better and wanted to...
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NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - And so the Nationals' season has come down to this: They need to win Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Wrigley Field and force a winner-take-all Game 5 at Nationals Park on Thursday night. All of this, of course, is assuming they're able to play today. Your early-afternoon weather update: It's not raining yet, but the rain is on the way, and it's going to hit sometime later this afternoon. It's just a question of whether the rain is significant enough to prevent...
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NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Cubs

NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - It's October at Wrigley Field, but the sun is shining bright, temperatures are in the upper 70s and there's very little breeze to speak of. This is not what you expect from postseason baseball here. But this is what we'll have today for Game 3 of the National League Division Series between the Nationals and Cubs, a pivotal game that will move one of these two clubs one step away from the National League Championship Series. The Nationals at long last have Max Scherzer on the mound,...
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NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs
The Nationals will go with the same lineup - save for starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez - as they employed Friday night this afternoon when they try to square the best-of-five National League Division Series against the Cubs at a game apiece. Today's key matchup: Nats speedster Trea Turner against Cubs left-hander Jon Lester. Lester is notorious for his inability to throw to first base, which gives teams with base-stealing threats an advantage. Turner stole two bases against Lester on June 29 at...
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NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs

NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs
It feels like we've been waiting around for this postseason for an extraordinarily long time. The Nationals clinched their division title way back on Sept. 10, but truth be told, they knew a lot earlier than that they were going to win the National League East and make the postseason. And they've known for most of that time they almost certainly were going to face the Cubs in the National League Division Series. Well, at long last the day has come. It's Oct. 6, and a highly anticipated...
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Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates

Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Pirates
And so we have reached Game 162. It's not the end, because obviously there are some very important games yet to be played in 2017. But the regular season ends today for the Nationals, who with one more win over the Pirates would get to 98 and match the franchise record set in 2012. It'll be Gio Gonzalez on the mound for today's finale, looking to wrap up his excellent season on a high note and perhaps earn some more Cy Young love in the process. Of course, given what happened to Max Scherzer...
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