Martinez says Hickey will return, less definitive on other coaches

Martinez says Hickey will return, less definitive on other coaches
The Nationals pitching staff enters today's season finale sporting a 4.79 ERA, seventh-worst in the majors. And that number has only gotten worse as the season has played out. Since the All-Star break, the Nats' ERA is a gaudy 5.60, third-worst in the majors. So as they prepare to evaluate what went wrong this year, and what changes could be necessary to try to prevent it from happening again, the Nationals would be expected to at least consider whether pitching coach Jim Hickey deserves any...
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Nats drop wild game, Red Sox move closer to wild card (updated)

Nats drop wild game, Red Sox move closer to wild card (updated)
The closest the Nationals are going to get to meaningful October baseball occurred around 7 p.m. tonight on South Capitol Street, as the sun set behind the first base stands, the temperature inched down toward the 60s, and a sellout crowd of 41,465 watched in nervous anticipation as the most feared hitter in the sport stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and the home team trailing by a run. "I love that feeling," Juan Soto said in his Zoom session with...
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Parra activated, García sits again, Adon could pitch Sunday

Parra activated, García sits again, Adon could pitch Sunday
Gerardo Parra is getting one last shot to finish the season on the field, but it appears Luis García's season may have already ended. Parra was activated off the 10-day injured list prior to this afternoon's game against the Red Sox, with left-hander Josh Rogers placed on the IL with a right hamstring strain. It's a fortuitous break for Parra, who last played Sept. 4 before being taken off the roster with inflammation in his right knee. The popular veteran outfielder, whose future beyond...
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Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Red Sox

Game 161 lineups: Nats vs. Red Sox
The Nationals put up a fight Friday night against the Red Sox, but couldn't convert a few golden opportunities with runners in scoring position and wound up losing 4-2. In the process, the Red Sox moved a step closer to clinching a spot in Tuesday night's American League wild card game. Their magic number is at two entering the day, so they're in with a win and losses by the Blue Jays (who play at 3:07 p.m.) and Mariners (who don't play until 9:10 p.m.). It's up to the Nats to try to delay...
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Fans thank Schwarber for memorable half-season in D.C.

Fans thank Schwarber for memorable half-season in D.C.
Kyle Schwarber was meeting a friend of his on the Cubs coaching staff who was in town for the upcoming weekend series in D.C. at 10:30 p.m. on July 29 when his phone rang and Mike Rizzo's name showed up as the caller. He didn't need the Nationals general manager to tell him why he was calling, only to tell him the name of the team he had just been traded to. Turns out it was the Red Sox, who were sending pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez to the Nats in exchange for the 28-year-old slugger....
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Rogers fades late, Nats can't rally to beat Red Sox (updated)

Rogers fades late, Nats can't rally to beat Red Sox (updated)
It had been a while since Nationals Park experienced this kind of energy, provided by a crowd of 32,521 filled with fans with varied reasons to get amped up for the opener of the season's final series. Some were excited to see Juan Soto's last charge for a batting title and possible MVP honor. They perhaps took solace in the four walks he drew - the last of them his 144th of the season, something only Barry Bonds had previously done this century - but that's not really what they came to...
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Soto headlines Nationals' annual team award winners

Soto headlines Nationals' annual team award winners
Juan Soto has three more days to make his case to win National League MVP honors. He already locked up a slightly less significant honor today. Soto was named the Nationals' 2021 Player of the Year, the second straight season the young star won the award given out annually in a vote of media members who regularly cover the team. Soto is joined by Kyle Finnegan (Pitcher of the Year) and Josh Bell (Good Guy Award) in receiving this year's honors, which are being presented prior to the start of...
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Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Red Sox

Game 160 lineups: Nats vs. Red Sox
We have arrived at last at the final homestand of the season. Three more games to wrap up what undeniably has been a season most everyone around here wants to forget. But first, there are three games to play against a team that very much needs to win as many of these as it can. The Red Sox enter play tied with the red-hot Mariners for the second wild card berth in the American League, two games behind the Yankees, one game ahead of the Blue Jays. There are all kinds of scenarios that could play...
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What's in store for Zimmerman during final weekend?

What's in store for Zimmerman during final weekend?
At some point in each of the next three evenings, Ryan Zimmerman is going to step to the plate at Nationals Park and receive a massive ovation each time. It won't matter what he does, whether he drives a ball off the wall for a double or strikes out on three pitches. The crowd will shower him with adulation whenever his name is mentioned, anytime he does anything of note, really, on the field. And when he steps off the field for the last time during or after Sunday's season finale against the...
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Thursday morning Nats Q&A

Thursday morning Nats Q&A
Well, we've reached the final leg of a long and often painful season. The Nationals flew home from Denver late Wednesday night after a long and painful, 10-5 loss to the Rockies. And now after a well-earned day off, they'll face the Red Sox over the weekend to wrap things up in 2021. There are some compelling storylines to come over the next 72 hours, from Ryan Zimmerman's potential final games to Juan Soto's attempt to finish hot and win either the batting title or the National League MVP...
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Nats fall to Rockies in rain-delayed marathon road finale (updated)

Nats fall to Rockies in rain-delayed marathon road finale (updated)
They played two-plus innings in a little more than an hour before the heavy rain arrived in Colorado, then waited through a two-hour delay before taking the field again. They then played 6 1/2 more innings across nearly three more hours, each team using up most of its expanded bullpen, all in a vain attempt simply to complete this 159th game of a season that long ago was lost by both participants. And when it finally ended, when the Nationals lost 10-5 some 5 hours and 57 minutes after Rockies...
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Corbin won't pitch again in 2021, Sunday starter TBD

Corbin won't pitch again in 2021, Sunday starter TBD
Turns out Patrick Corbin's start Tuesday night in Colorado was his final outing of the season. Nationals manager Davey Martinez met with the left-hander this morning and emerged with the decision not to send him back to the mound for one final start in Sunday's season finale against the Red Sox, for both physical and emotional reasons. "You saw Patrick make his last start yesterday," Martinez said in his Zoom session with reporters prior to today's game against the Rockies. "He's got a...
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Game 159 lineups: Nats at Rockies

Game 159 lineups: Nats at Rockies
It's the final road game of the season for the Nationals, who haven't exactly thrived away from home in 2021. They enter today's matinee at Coors Field with a 30-50 record on the road, though if they win it'll only be the fifth-worst away record in club history, the 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 teams having been worse. It's also the final start of the season for Paolo Espino. Who could've imagined the way this played out for the journeyman right-hander? Summoned way back in mid-April for an...
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Who's to blame for Nats' extra-long games this season?

Who's to blame for Nats' extra-long games this season?
Juan Soto went 0-for-4 without reaching base Tuesday night, and that still didn't qualify as the most surprising fact about the Nationals' 3-1 loss to the Rockies. No, that honor went not to any one individual but to the clock at Coors Field. The game started at 6:40 p.m. local time, and it ended at 9:40 p.m. local time. Yes, a three-hour ballgame. At the best hitter's park in baseball, with two of the worst pitching staffs in baseball competing against each other. For the Nats, this was an...
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Another encouraging start for Corbin, but Nats lose (updated)

Another encouraging start for Corbin, but Nats lose (updated)
We don't know at this point if Patrick Corbin will pitch again this season. Davey Martinez is still contemplating whether to send him back to the mound for Sunday's finale against the Red Sox, or whether to let tonight's outing in Colorado serve as his closing act on a dismal 2021. If, however, this was it for Corbin this season, he can head home for the winter with at least some reason to feel better about things. His final numbers were unsalvageable, but the left-hander did put together...
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Martinez plans to start Zimmerman at least once in final series

Martinez plans to start Zimmerman at least once in final series
Ryan Zimmerman is in the Nationals lineup tonight for the 47th time this season, the 44th time at first base. It appears he'll make at least one more start this weekend during the final series of 2021, but manager Davey Martinez still doesn't know exactly how the potentially retiring Face of the Franchise wants to handle his playing time down the stretch. "We're just taking it day by day," Martinez said during his Zoom session with reporters before tonight's game in Colorado. "I'd like...
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Game 158 lineups: Nats at Rockies

Game 158 lineups: Nats at Rockies
By any measure, it's been a miserable season for Patrick Corbin. The left-hander enters tonight's start at Coors Field with a 9-15 record and 5.92 ERA. A bad outing in this one, and he might just complete one of the worst seasons by any big league starter in a long time. The last pitcher to lose 16 games while posting an ERA over 6.00: Jason Marquis of the 2006 Cardinals (a team that actually won the World Series). So, Corbin would certainly like to avoid reaching both of those thresholds...
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Improvement from Hernandez in left field, but more to learn

Improvement from Hernandez in left field, but more to learn
The book on Yadiel Hernandez entering the 2021 season was pretty straightforward. He could hit fastballs, though he needed to prove he could hit off-speed pitches to have a chance of sticking in the big leagues, probably as a bench player. And if he was going to have any chance of playing the outfield with any regularity, he was going to have to take major strides in improving his defense. So, what have we learned all these months later about the 33-year-old with zero major league experience...
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Bullpen delivers in Colorado to secure win for Gray (updated)

Bullpen delivers in Colorado to secure win for Gray (updated)
Ask an inexperienced bullpen that has been on fumes for weeks to protect a one-run lead at Coors Field in late September and you're asking for trouble by default. Not that Davey Martinez had any choice tonight. Despite five scoreless innings from Josiah Gray to begin the Nationals' series opener in Colorado, the rookie starter faded quickly in the sixth and got the hook with his team clinging to a 4-3 lead. So it was up to a beleaguered bullpen to hold that lead, with no margin for error, in...
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Gray, Corbin could each get one more start this weekend

Gray, Corbin could each get one more start this weekend
The Nationals are still mapping out pitching plans for the season's final week, but it's possible both Josiah Gray and Patrick Corbin could get another start this weekend against the Red Sox. Gray and Corbin are starting the first two games of the team's penultimate series against the Rockies, with Gray on the mound at Coors Field tonight and Corbin to follow Tuesday. If the Nats stick with a five-man rotation, Gray would then be in line to pitch Sunday's season finale in D.C. But manager...
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