Game 40 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 40 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - It's a new day at Citi Field, where the sun has come out and the Nationals hope their bats break out tonight against Bartolo Colon and the Mets. It's been a rough couple days for the Nats lineup, which over the last two games has scored a total of two runs while striking out 28 times. Of course, when the opposing pitchers those games are Jose Fernandez and Noah Syndergaard, it's a bit of a challenge scoring runs. So perhaps the task will be a bit easier tonight with Colon taking...
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Game 39 lineups: Nats at Mets

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Mets
NEW YORK - The first game of the season between the Nationals and Mets would be a big deal regardless, but there's added intrigue tonight because Max Scherzer is taking the mound for the first time since his record 20-strikeout game. That game on Wednesday, as you might expect, took a lot out of Scherzer, who threw 119 total pitches in beating the Tigers. How has his arm felt since? "Let's just say I'm happy that we had six days (between starts)," the right-hander said with a laugh. If...
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Game 38 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins (Murphy scratched)

Game 38 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins (Murphy scratched)
What a strange few weeks of weather the Nationals have experienced. It seems like the conditions have alternated just about every day, from warm and muggy to mild and rainy to cold and windy. We've got the latter this afternoon for the Nats' series finale against the Marlins, with temperatures in the 50s and a strong, steady wind blowing from left to right fields. That may help the ball carry for left-handed batters today, which might not be a bad thing for the Nationals, who are going up...
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Game 37 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 37 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
And we're back for the nightcap of this day-night doubleheader. Game 1 ended in a downpour, with Jonathan Papelbon striking out Giancarlo Stanton to preserve a 6-4 victory for the Nationals. Game 2 will begin under blue skies, believe it or not, though the temperature has dropped considerably and it's going to be quite chilly throughout this one. The Nationals will be going for the doubleheader sweep with a depleted lineup. Bryce Harper is out after dropping the appeal of his one-game...
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Game 35 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 35 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
It's been a dreary couple of weeks in D.C., but here's some good news: The skies are supposed to clear later this afternoon and there may even be a bit of sunshine when the Nationals take the field at 7:05 p.m. for the opener of their weekend series with the Marlins. This is a four-games-in-three-days series, with a day-night doubleheader tomorrow to make up the game that was rained out way back in the season's first week. The Nationals haven't yet announced who's pitching when tomorrow,...
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Game 34 lineups: Nats vs. Tigers

Game 34 lineups: Nats vs. Tigers
Every franchise experiences certain rites of passage throughout the course of its existence, and tonight the Nationals will experience a new one: The return of a star player now wearing an opposing uniform. Jordan Zimmermann makes his first-ever start at Nationals Park as a member of the Tigers, taking the mound for tonight's series finale. When he does, he'll become easily the best former National ever to face his old team here in town. Thinking back across the years, who else is even in the...
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Game 33 lineups: Nats vs. Tigers

Game 33 lineups: Nats vs. Tigers
Oh yeah, there's a game tonight. It's been an eventful day, what with the Stephen Strasburg contract extension and the aftermath of Bryce Harper's ejection last night. But the Nationals and Tigers will be back at it this evening for the second of their three-game interleague series. Joe Ross gets the ball for the Nats, coming off a strong outing in Chicago against a very tough Cubs lineup that still resulted in a loss. He'll be facing another strong lineup tonight that features the likes...
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Game 31 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 31 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - Though they've lost three straight and are in danger of getting swept out of Wrigley Field, in a strange way the Nationals are actually encouraged by the way they've played here against the Cubs. No, they haven't played perfect baseball, but they've played good baseball against a team that pretty much has been perfect through the season's first five weeks. "It's good that we're sticking right there with them," center fielder Ben Revere said after yesterday's 8-5 loss. "To...
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Game 30 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 30 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - They say here in Chicago: If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes. And boy has that been true so far this weekend. It was 47 degrees and cloudy on Thursday night. Then it was 73 degrees with a warm breeze blowing out of Wrigley Field yesterday. Now it's back down in the 50s with a really strong wind blowing in from the north. At least the sun's out. Don't expect the ball to fly like it did during yesterday's game, which may not be such a bad thing for the Nationals, who...
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Game 29 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 29 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - After a chilly night with the wind blowing in at Wrigley Field, it's suddenly a beautiful, warm day with the wind blowing out today. Chicago weather, folks, gotta love it. Or hate it. The Nationals and Cubs play the second of their four-game series this afternoon, the Nats looking to bounce back from a fairly nondescript 5-2 loss in last night's opener. The good news: They've got their leadoff hitter and center fielder back at last. Yes, Ben Revere has been activated off the...
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Game 28 lineups: Nats at Cubs

Game 28 lineups: Nats at Cubs
CHICAGO - Good afternoon from the one and only Friendly Confines here at the corner of Clark and Addison on the North Side. There truly is no place in baseball (or really all of sports) like Wrigley Field, and this weekend there's no better place to be, with the top two teams in the sport going head-to-head for a four-game series that is being built up big time by the Chicago media. The Cubs have been utterly dominant so far this season, with a .769 winning percentage and a run differential of...
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Game 27 lineups: Nats at Royals

Game 27 lineups: Nats at Royals
KANSAS CITY - Hello one last time from Kauffman Stadium, where the Nationals will try to bounce back from their gut-punch of a loss last night, win today's matinee against the Royals and thus take the interleague series. The clubhouse mood was really low after last night's 7-6 loss, as low as it has been at any point so far in this young season. Obviously that was an especially tough loss, with Jonathan Papelbon blowing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, but in the big picture this...
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Game 26 lineups: Nats at Royals

Game 26 lineups: Nats at Royals
KANSAS CITY - Road interleague games present teams with the DH dilemma: Who to use, whether to pull a guy off the bench or whether to give one of your regulars a semi day-off by not playing the field. Last night, Dusty Baker went with a bench guy, Stephen Drew. Tonight, he'll go with a regular, Jayson Werth. (The tentative plan for tomorrow is to use Ryan Zimmerman.) Werth has been hitting the ball harder of late; perhaps a chance to focus solely on offense for one night will help get him...
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Game 25 lineups: Nats at Royals

Game 25 lineups: Nats at Royals
KANSAS CITY - Hello from beautiful Kauffman Stadium, maybe baseball's most underrated ballpark. This is only the Nationals' second trip here; they took two of three in 2013, but this is a far different Royals team they're facing now than they did back then. The defending World Series champs are off to a bit of a ragged start, but they remain an imposing foe, making this a marquee matchup for the next three days. The Nationals are flying high after their three-game sweep in St. Louis, their...
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Game 24 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 24 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - In their 11-plus seasons of existence, the Nationals have never found themselves in this particular situation: a chance to sweep a series in St. Louis. Shoot, they had only taken two of three once before at either version of Busch Stadium, back in 2007 when Manny Acta's club pulled it off. Today, though, the Nats are in position to do it. They won Friday night's game 5-4. They won yesterday's game 6-1. Now they'll send St. Louis native Max Scherzer to the mound in an attempt to...
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Game 23 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 23 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - It's been raining steadily here since late last night, and more is expected later today. But there does appear to be a potential window of opportunity for the Nationals and Cardinals to play the second game of their weekend series, in between the two cycles of precipitation. We'll see. If and when they do play, Joe Ross will be on the mound for the first time in 10 days, his last start having been cut short after only two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger. Rather...
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Game 22 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 22 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - Hello from the Gateway City, where the biggest event in town this weekend isn't the Nationals-Cardinals series but the FIRST Championship, a national robotics competition that has left the downtown area overrun with thousands of teenagers who are infinitely smarter than you or I will ever be. While these kids are creating artificially intelligent robots, we're sitting in a ballpark obsessing over the Nats' inability to score a run. Talk about a blow to the ego... But anyway,...
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Game 21 lineups: Phillies at Nationals

Game 21 lineups: Phillies at Nationals
The Nationals are looking to snap a three-game losing streak against Philadelphia today as they wrap up their series with the Phillies with an afternoon matchup at Nationals Park. This is also the first time the Nationals have lost two in a row at home this season. Right-hander Tanner Roark (2-2, 2.63 ERA) takes on right-hander Aaron Nola (1-2, 4.50). Roark is 2-5 with a 6.91 ERA in seven games (five starts) in his career against the Phillies. In his career, Roark loves to pitch at home, going...
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Game 19 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies

Game 19 lineups: Nats vs. Phillies
This should be Joe Ross' turn in the Nationals rotation, but the club decided to be cautious with the young right-hander's blister and skip his turn (made possible by yesterday's off-day). So it'll be Max Scherzer, still on normal rest, taking the mound for tonight's series opener against the Phillies. Scherzer is coming off a ragged start in Miami in which he was tagged for five runs and eight hits in only five innings. Afterward, he described his problem as "not finishing my pitches,"...
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Game 18 lineups: Nats vs. Twins

Game 18 lineups: Nats vs. Twins
It's an absolutely gorgeous Sunday here in the District, where the Nationals wrap up their interleague series with the Twins, seeking the weekend sweep and a 14-4 record that would match the 2012 Nats for the best 18-game start in franchise history. Obviously, there's a very long way to go (and much tougher competition to face) but things worked out pretty well after that previous 14-4 start (at least, until October). Stephen Strasburg will be the guy on the mound for this one, looking to...
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