Hernández's first career homer keeps the Nats alive (updated)

Hernández's first career homer keeps the Nats alive (updated)
When he was sent down Friday, hitless in seven at-bats, Yadiel Hernández couldn't help but wonder if he had just blown his first and only chance in the big leagues. His first call-up didn't come until he was nearly 33. Would he even get a second one? "A lot of bad things ran through my head in that moment," the rookie outfielder said tonight, Octavio Martinez interpreting for him in a Zoom session with reporters. "Frustrated. And I felt like moreso I kept reflecting and telling myself:...

Voth throws complete game for first win of season (updated)

Voth throws complete game for first win of season (updated)
Austin Voth again kept the ball down and mixed his pitches well for a second consecutive start, finally earning his first win of the season with a complete-game gem in Game 1 of a doubleheader as the Nationals dropped the Phillies 5-1 at Nats Park. Voth struck out a season-high seven batters and pitched a season-best seven innings, working his fastball with a dipping curveball and a slowdown changeup to keep the Phillies off guard. After losing five games to begin the season, Voth has bounced...

Kieboom suffers bone contusion in left hand, listed as day-to-day

Kieboom suffers bone contusion in left hand, listed as day-to-day
In the bottom of the sixth in tonight's 5-1 Nationals win, third baseman Carter Kieboom was hit by a pitch on his left hand from a 95-mph sinker by Phillies starter Zack Wheeler. Kieboom went down holding his hand. He then walked over to the top steps of the Nats dugout with assistance from Nats director of athletic training Paul Lessard. Kieboom appeared to be attempting to flex his hand and Lessard checked the bones on the back of his hand. Manager Davey Martinez told his third baseman to...

Brock Holt on pitching for the first time in a big league game

Brock Holt on pitching for the first time in a big league game
In the bottom of the sixth inning Friday night in Miami, Nationals right-hander Aaron Barrett was called into pitch in a game the Marlins already led 10-3. Barrett hit Garrett Cooper with a pitch. As TV cameras went back for his reaction, it appeared the right-hander was shaking out his arm after that pitch that got away. Barrett then walked Jesús Aguilar on five pitches. Quickly, manager Davey Martinez and a Nats trainer went to the mound to check on Barrett. Martinez said after the game...

Crowe, bullpen struggle as Nats fall 14-3 in nightcap (updated)

Crowe, bullpen struggle as Nats fall 14-3 in nightcap (updated)
The nightcap of today's twi-night doubleheader was no fun for Wil Crowe and the bullpen as the Marlins jumped on the Nationals for six runs in the first three frames and cruised to a 14-3 victory at Marlins Park. Brian Anderson went 3-for-4 with a career-high three homers and seven RBIs. Corey Dickerson went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. The Marlins put together three four-run innings in the rout. The win allowed Miami to snap a two-game skid and split the twinbill. The Nats won the...

Eaton placed on IL with fractured finger

Eaton placed on IL with fractured finger
The Nationals lost another key member of their roster for the remainder of this shortened season today when they placed outfielder Adam Eaton on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left index finger. Eaton hurt himself trying to bunt with two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning of Wednesday's 4-2 win at Tampa Bay. He remained in the game for two more innings and nearly made a diving catch in right field at one point, but was pulled before his spot in the lineup came up...

Nats' final road trip of 2020 begins with another roster change

Nats' final road trip of 2020 begins with another roster change
This one's hard to believe, but it's true: The Nationals today begin their final road trip of the season. With their first and only trek to Florida to face the Rays and Marlins, the Nats are wrapping up the most difficult part of their shortened schedule from a health-and-safety standpoint. They've managed to travel to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Atlanta so far and avoid any positive coronavirus tests. Now they finally venture south to the Sunshine State. The Nationals were...

Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
After a difficult night at the ballpark, the Nationals return for the second game of this four-game weekend series against the Braves, hoping for better results this time. As always, they'll have to find a way to keep Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman in the yard. The good news: Erick Fedde managed to keep Freeman in the yard last week when he faced him in Atlanta. The bad news: Acuña led off the game with a homer off him, the first of three homers Fedde surrendered in 3 2/3...

Holt and Harrison add spark to offense after rough week

Holt and Harrison add spark to offense after rough week
In the Nationals' two-game sweep of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays to begin this week, a pair of recently acquired veterans played big parts in the club's success in generating offense. Brock Holt went 4-for-8 with two doubles and two runs scored. Josh Harrison added two hits, going 2-for-7 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs as the Nats beat the Rays 6-1 and 5-3. On Monday, as Juan Soto, Luis García and Howie Kendrick sat out with injuries, manager Davey Martinez opted to put Holt in...

Scherzer, makeshift lineup come together to beat Rays (updated)

Scherzer, makeshift lineup come together to beat Rays (updated)
After a grueling, 11-game road trip that for all practical purposes quashed hopes of October baseball around here, the Nationals returned home this evening just needing to feel good about themselves for a change. A makeshift lineup that was missing four key regulars from recent weeks due to nagging injuries only made the task more challenging against a Rays club that came into the day with the American League's best record. But what that lineup lacked in name power made up for it with...

Another Freeman grand slam dooms Nats in 10-3 defeat (updated)

Another Freeman grand slam dooms Nats in 10-3 defeat (updated)
Freddie Freeman had no grand slams to his credit prior to the Braves' series this weekend against the Nationals at Truist Park. Now he has two. Atlanta ran away from a close game with four runs in the sixth inning thanks to the second grand slam by Freeman in two days and the Braves dispatched the Nats 10-3. Atlanta blasted 12 homers over the four games. The Nats also walked nine batters in the game, allowing the Braves extra baserunners, and finished 3-8 on the 11-game road trip. Marcell...

Nats find unconventional formula to beat Braves again

Nats find unconventional formula to beat Braves again
At this point, it's clear the Nationals aren't going to win ballgames in 2020 in the manner we've all been accustomed to for the better part of the last decade. This current team can't win on the broad shoulders of an elite rotation, nor does it currently have the power bats to outslug a lineup like the Braves possess. Tonight, the Nats proved they can do it differently. They can overcome another short and disappointing start. They can score 10 runs without benefit of a homer. And they can...

Rehashing a painful top of the 10th in Nats' latest loss

Rehashing a painful top of the 10th in Nats' latest loss
There's a lot to unpack from the Thursday's 6-5 loss in Philadelphia, and hopefully I touched on a lot of it in the game story. Byron Kerr also has much more on a mostly lights-out performance by the Nationals bullpen that somehow still included a blown save and a loss. But this morning I wanted to go back and re-examine the top of the 10th, because what happened during that half-inning said a whole lot about the current state of the team and raised some more questions about what exactly...

Game 34 lineups: Nats at Phillies

Game 34 lineups: Nats at Phillies
Another day, another chance for the Nationals to flip the script and beat the Phillies, something they've been unable to do in four tries so far this season. None of those previous four games, however, had Max Scherzer on the mound. Tonight's does. Scherzer gets the ball on the heels of a dominant outing at Fenway Park last Friday, when he allowed one run over six innings, striking out 11 without issuing a walk. He will need to be at his best tonight to hold down the Phillies lineup and give...

After fortuitously timed signing, Holt hopes to help Nats

After fortuitously timed signing, Holt hopes to help Nats
Though he knew he wouldn't be re-signing with the Red Sox last winter and wound up with the Brewers instead, Brock Holt decided to keep living in his suburban Boston home. So when the veteran utility man was designated for assignment last week, he returned home and decided to enjoy the time with his pregnant wife, Lakyn, and their 3-year-old son, Griffin, while waiting to get a call from another club. The call came Friday from the Nationals, and Holt was eager to join the defending World...

Nationals agree to terms with infielder Brock Holt (updated)

Nationals agree to terms with infielder Brock Holt (updated)
Manager Davey Martinez confirmed that the Nationals have agreed to terms with veteran infielder Brock Holt. The 32-year-old left-handed hitter can play almost every infield spot and in the outfield, bringing nine seasons of big league experience to the club. To make room for Holt on the 28-man roster, the Nats optioned left-hander Ben Braymer to the alternate training site in Fredericksburg. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Nationals transferred infielder Starlin Castro (broken right...