NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

NLDS Game 4 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals today have the opportunity to do something they've never done before, not to mention something no major pro sports franchise in D.C. has done in a long time. With a victory in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, they would advance to their first National League Championship Series. In doing so, they would become the first D.C. team to reach the semifinals of its sport since the 1998 Capitals went to the Stanley Cup Final. So no pressure today, guys....
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NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Dodgers

NLDS Game 3 lineups: Nats at Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - Greetings from Chavez Ravine, where it is an absolutely perfect day for postseason baseball in Southern California. It is expected to be 83 degrees at first pitch at Dodger Stadium. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez is 0-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three playoff starts. In his last matchup against the Giants in 2014, Gonzalez tossed four innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout. He made it known Saturday he doesn't want to look back to his up-and-down...
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NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (take two)

NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (take two)
The good news: There's no rain in sight today. (Not that there turned out to be much of it yesterday after Major League Baseball postponed Game 2 of the National League Division Series.) The bad news: It's cold. And it's windy. There's a stiff wind blowing from left field to right field, and it's supposed to stay that way all afternoon. That wouldn't seem to benefit a right-handed-heavy lineup like the Nationals have, but potentially benefit a left-handed-heavy lineup like the Dodgers...
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NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers

NLDS Game 2 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers
It's a gray, dreary afternoon in the District, perhaps appropriate given the mood around here after last night's frustrating 4-3 loss in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The Nationals are basically in must-win territory today in Game 2, not a position they want to be in, but the position they find themselves in regardless. Tanner Roark, though, is a good person to have on the mound for a situation like this. You know Roark isn't going to let the pressure get to him. And you...
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NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers

NLDS Game 1 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers
The day has come at last. It's been a long wait since the Nationals clinched the National League East title 13 days ago. But this afternoon, the postseason begins in D.C. It's Game 1 of the National League Division Series, and it's as good a pitching matchup as you can get: Max Scherzer vs. Clayton Kershaw. The two aces will take center stage and draw most of the attention in the buildup to the game, but there are other storylines to this one as well. Such as the significant presence of...
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Orioles and Blue Jays wild card lineups

Orioles and Blue Jays wild card lineups
TORONTO - Michael Bourn is in the Orioles' lineup for tonight's wild card game against the Blue Jays. Bourn is playing right field and Mark Trumbo is serving as the designated hitter. Hyun Soo Kim is batting second against Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman. For the Orioles Adam Jones CF Hyun Soo Kim LF Manny Machado 3B Mark Trumbo DH Matt Wieters C Chris Davis 1B Jonathan Schoop 2B Michael Bourn RF J.J. Hardy SS Chris Tillman RHP For the Blue Jays Devon Travis 2B Josh Donaldson 3B Edwin...
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Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 162 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
And so we have reached Game 162, always a big day on the baseball calendar. This, of course, isn't the end of the 2016 season for the Nationals, who have far more important things still to come later this week. But it's officially the day to turn the page from the regular season to the postseason. What's at stake today: Max Scherzer is going for his 20th win and perhaps one last push for Cy Young Award votes. Daniel Murphy isn't expected to play, but if he does get a pinch-hit appearance,...
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Orioles and Yankees lineups

Orioles and Yankees lineups
NEW YORK - The Orioles will be a playoff team in 2016 with a win today and either a Blue Jays or Tigers loss tonight. Reports of their demise, again, were greatly exaggerated. The wild card game will be played at Camden Yards if the Orioles win and the Jays lose. The pitching continues to lead the way, with the Orioles posting a 2.90 ERA in September. The Orioles have won six of seven since the Red Sox swept them in a four-game series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jonathan Schoop was...
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Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
It's yet another gray, dreary, rainy day here in the nation's capital. If I didn't know any better, I would swear I've been in a coma the last 12 years and MLB actually relocated the Expos to Portland instead of Washington. As has been the case all week, the Nationals will do everything they can to try to get today's game in. The Dodgers, if you weren't up real late last night, lost 9-3 to the Giants. So the Nats still hold a two-game lead with two to play, and thus their magic number to...
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Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
The final weekend of the regular season has arrived, and so it is now, as Dusty Baker described it the other day: "Hero Time." That means it's time to play through nagging ailments and push yourself to do more than you might have during the vast majority of the season. In that vein, Bryce Harper is back in the lineup tonight. Harper had missed the last four games with a swollen right thumb suffered on that slide in Pittsburgh when Jung Ho Kang faked the tag. He said he was ready to play...
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Orioles lineup vs. Blue Jays

Orioles lineup vs. Blue Jays
Hyun Soo Kim is batting second and playing left field tonight as the Orioles attempt to tie the Blue Jays for the first wild card. Chris Davis has moved down to sixth in the order. Michael Bourn is playing right field and Mark Trumbo is the designated hitter, which excludes Pedro Alvarez from the lineup. Kim's two-run homer last night made him 6-for-9 as a pinch-hitter. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only three other active players began their careers with at least six hits in their...
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Game 159 lineups: Diamondbacks at Nats

Game 159 lineups: Diamondbacks at Nats
The Nationals hope to bounce back quickly with an early game today as they wrap up a four-game series against the Diamondbacks. Right-hander Joe Ross (7-5, 3.48 ERA) faces off against former Nats prospect lefty Robbie Ray (8-14, 4.77). Ray, a 12th round selection by the Nationals in 2010, is making his first-ever start at Nats Park. This is the Nationals' final game against Arizona this season and have won 13 of the last 18 meetings. Bryce Harper (thumb) and Daniel Murphy (buttocks) have not...
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Game 158 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

Game 158 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks
So, here are the answers to the two questions on everyone's mind right now: 1) It's going to rain this evening. Hard. And it's not supposed to stop until Friday morning. 2) According to a Major League Baseball official, any postponed games that could impact home field advantage for the National League Division Series must be played before the postseason begins. What that means: The Nationals, who currently lead the Dodgers by two games with five to play (but would lose a tiebreaker based on...
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Game 157 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks (torn ACL for Ramos)

Game 157 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks (torn ACL for Ramos)
We just got word just yet on Wilson Ramos' MRI, and it's not good: He has torn the ACL in his right knee and will have surgery sometime in the next week, ending his season (and potentially his Nationals career, since he's going to be a free agent). Plenty more coming on that, but in the meantime the club has called up Spencer Kieboom from Double-A Harrisburg, giving them three healthy catchers (along with Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino) and incredibly a full 40-man active roster. (Kieboom...
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Game 155 lineups: Nats at Pirates

Game 155 lineups: Nats at Pirates
PITTSBURGH - After clinching their third National League East title in five seasons last night, the Nationals will rest a fair amount of their regulars for today's finale of a three-game series against the Pirates. But make no mistake, there is still something to play for: home field advantage in the National League Division Series, which the Nats would prefer to open at home against, in all likelihood, the Dodgers on Oct. 7. With 90 victories, the Nationals currently have one more victory...
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Orioles lineup vs. Diamondbacks

Orioles lineup vs. Diamondbacks
Hyun Soo Kim is batting seventh today and Chris Davis remains in the second slot as the Orioles go for the sweep of the Diamondbacks in their final regular season home game. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate. For the Orioles Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Manny Machado 3B Mark Trumbo RF Pedro Alvarez DH J.J. Hardy SS Hyun Soo Kim LF Jonathan Schoop 2B Caleb Joseph C Dylan Bundy RHP
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Game 154 lineups: Nats at Pirates

Game 154 lineups: Nats at Pirates
PITTSBURGH - It has cooled off considerably here in the last 24 hours. It was actually pretty warm and muggy yesterday, but now it's cool and breezy. It almost feels like, you know, fall. Which, of course, it now is. It also feels like the kind of weather you associate with postseason baseball. So perhaps tonight is the night the Nationals officially ensure they'll be part of the postseason. The magic number to clinch the National League East remains two - they did technically clinch a tie...
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Game 153 lineups: Nats at Pirates

Game 153 lineups: Nats at Pirates
PITTSBURGH - Hello from PNC Park, splendid as ever, and the possible site tonight of something special. Not for the home club, which has held a couple of celebrations here the last few years, but for the Nationals, who tonight have a chance to clinch a division title. The Nationals' magic number, as surely you know by now, is two. In order to clinch the National League East crown tonight, they'll need to beat the Pirates and the Mets will need to lose to the Phillies at Citi Field. So, yeah,...
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Orioles and Red Sox lineups

Orioles and Red Sox lineups
Trey Mancini will make his major league debut tonight for the Orioles, batting seventh as the designated hitter against Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. Chris Davis is batting second for the seventh time in his career. Kevin Gausman is riding a career-high five-game winning streak since August 18, in which he's gone 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA and five quality starts in six outings. Gausman hasn't allowed a run in his last three starts over 21 innings versus American League East opponents. On...
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Game 150 lineups: Nats at Marlins

Game 150 lineups: Nats at Marlins
MIAMI - After a couple of losses in a row in Atlanta, the Nationals are glad to be rid of Turner Field forever and set their sights on getting back on track in South Florida. The club is still completely focused on clinching their third National League East pennant in the past five seasons. The magic number remains at six as the Mets keep winning. But the Nationals don't have to concern themselves with the team from New York. Just win six games and it's on to the second season. The Nationals...
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