Revisiting all the key decisions in the Nationals' Game 5 loss

Revisiting all the key decisions in the Nationals' Game 5 loss
The sting hasn't worn off yet, and it probably won't for quite some time. The Nationals are dispersing around the country today, going home for the winter instead of going to Chicago for a shot at the pennant. Game 5 of the 2016 National League Division Series was an all-timer, one they'll be talking about for years. Whether the Nationals themselves or their fans will ever be able to appreciate that remains to be seen. Certainly it's not something anyone wants to contemplate today. So much...

Nationals left to process another early October exit

Nationals left to process another early October exit
Jayson Werth has been through this before, more times than he'd like to remember. No two postseason elimination games are quite the same, and every season-ending loss hurts in its own way. This one, though, this one was ... well, what exactly was it? The final score said the Nationals lost 4-3 to the Dodgers in the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series. The winding path it took to get to that final moment, though, that was unlike anything Werth or others in a somber clubhouse...

Nationals come up short again, lose 4-3 in epic Game 5

Nationals come up short again, lose 4-3 in epic Game 5
This one will require some time to fully process. The crowd of 43,936 that sat, stood, roared and groaned through every moment of Game 5 of the National League Division Series knows only that it just witnessed one of the wildest winner-take-all showdowns in baseball history. Someone will write a novel about this one, maybe on the 66-minute seventh inning alone, the critical frame of the game that featured more highs and lows than you could reasonably imagine. The only thing the fans that filed...

Baker and veterans have kept dugout calm in face of adversity

Baker and veterans have kept dugout calm in face of adversity
The calmness in the dugout during the series has been evident. The Nationals have fallen behind 4-0, 2-0, 1-0 and 5-2 early in each game of this series. Three of the four times the club came back to tie or take the lead in that game. In the first game, they cut the deficit to 4-3 and had a few chances to take the lead. Despite 36 strikeouts in the last three games, the Nats have won two of those contests and had Game 4 tied at 5-5 in the eighth on Tuesday. The veteran core of Jayson Werth,...

Win or lose Game 5, Nationals have proven something this year

Win or lose Game 5, Nationals have proven something this year
When they take the field shortly after 8 p.m. tonight, Max Scherzer leading the way, the Nationals will be facing far more than the Dodgers in a do-or-die baseball game. They'll be facing their own demons, the demons of two previous postseason failures, the demons of two other regular season failures during this five-year run of excellence, the demons of Washington's entire sports existence that have prevented any of the city's major pro clubs from so much as reaching the final four of its...

Nats need offense to keep rolling to advance Thursday

Nats need offense to keep rolling to advance Thursday
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals lost Game 4 of the National League Division Series, but their offense showed life again. Despite a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers, the Nationals made a big comeback from being down 5-2 to tie the game at 5-5 in the seventh. In the last three games, the bats have clicked to score 18 runs. Players like Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and Danny Espinosa are contributing. Jose Lobaton had a three-run shot in Game 2 that...

Zimmerman on his offensive resurgence: "It's no fun not helping"

Zimmerman on his offensive resurgence: "It's no fun not helping"
LOS ANGELES - Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman had another stellar performance in the National League Division Series Monday as his club dropped the Dodgers 8-3 in Game 3. Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. He is hitting 5-for-11 (.455) in the series after hitting just .218 during the season. Zimmerman actually fell below .200 in June, July and August before slightly rebounding in September and early October to .222. But this series, he looks more like...

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS

Once a liability, Nationals bullpen has led the way in NLDS
LOS ANGELES - Shawn Kelley likes to walk around the clubhouse at Nationals Park wearing a T-shirt bearing a simple message: "Relievers are people, too." Too often the guys who occupy big league bullpens are anonymous to the masses, a revolving door of arms brought into games only when the higher-profile starter can't do his job. The game, though, is changing. Bullpens matter more than ever, and doubly so in the postseason, when it's not uncommon to see managers rely on relief corps to...

Nationals offense flexes muscles in 8-3 win over Dodgers

Nationals offense flexes muscles in 8-3 win over Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals offense exploded with two big innings in their 8-3 series-altering victory over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Monday. Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman each contributed two RBIs as the Nationals scored four runs in the third and ninth innings. They were the biggest innings the Nationals had ever enjoyed in a postseason game since their return to D.C. in 2005. The four-run ninth inning blew open a tense 4-3 contest for...

Nats ride early offense, then bullpen to 8-3 victory in Game 3

Nats ride early offense, then bullpen to 8-3 victory in Game 3
LOS ANGELES - They played a four-hour game Sunday afternoon in cold, windy D.C., then flew across the country, then woke up and played another four-hour game Monday afternoon in warm, sun-baked L.A. But this is the postseason, and you do whatever is required of you this time of the year, physical and mental toll and sleep patterns cast aside for the moment. And right now, the Nationals are doing whatever is asked of them in an attempt to win the first playoff series in club history. Score four...

Rendon's big blast leads rally (Nats win 8-3, lead series 2-1)

Rendon's big blast leads rally (Nats win 8-3, lead series 2-1)
LOS ANGELES - The Nationals made Kenta Maeda work in the top of the first but were unable to tally a run to begin Game 3 of the National League Division Series. Jayson Werth singled, and Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon forced walks. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ryan Zimmerman struck out. The Dodgers' Corey Seager gave his club the lead in his first at-bat for the third straight game on the series. Justin Turner walked against lefty Gio Gonzalez with one out in the bottom of the...

With surprise homer, Lobaton gets monkey off Nationals' backs

With surprise homer, Lobaton gets monkey off Nationals' backs
The reaction the moment Jose Lobaton made contact wasn't joyous. There was no instantaneous celebration in the Nationals dugout, nor in the batter's box when Lobaton connected with Rich Hill's 1-1 curveball in the bottom of the fourth inning and sent it soaring toward left field. Any other day, the Nationals would have been jumping up and down and Lobaton would have been flipping his bat before a triumphant trip around the bases. But with a persistent 25 mph wind blowing in from left field...

Baker says slumping Harper needs to counteract game plans being used against him

Baker says slumping Harper needs to counteract game plans being used against him
If there's any stress jockeying with Bryce Harper's confidence heading into Game 2 of the National League Division Series, the usually upbeat Nationals slugger isn't showing it. He arrived at Nationals Park shortly before noon, cruising down the hallway toward the home clubhouse on a Hoverboard, joking with a teammate as he maneuvered the craft on a concrete path. It's business as usual for Harper, even if the Nats need to win today to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five...

Nationals lament missed opportunity to beat vulnerable Kershaw

Nationals lament missed opportunity to beat vulnerable Kershaw
There were two ways for the Nationals to look at their offensive performance in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The glass-half-full way: They put pressure on Clayton Kershaw all night, with nine men reaching base against the Dodgers ace, who was pulled after only five innings. And they kept that pressure up against the Los Angeles bullpen, ultimately giving themselves 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position during the course of a game they initially trailed by four runs. The...

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...

Werth believes experience carries weight for his club in NLDS

Werth believes experience carries weight for his club in NLDS
Left fielder Jayson Werth is making his eighth playoff appearance today. He brings a wealth of knowledge of how to perform well in important moments. In 2008 and 2009, he appeared in the World Series. He brings experience to a Nationals club that has good amount of guys that made it to the postseason in 2012 and 2014 and he knows that experience is worth something. "This is my team. We've been through it," Werth said. "This is our third trip to the postseason. We're battle-tested, we're...

Could Murphy pinch-hit and win batting title? (Nationals win 10-7)

Could Murphy pinch-hit and win batting title? (Nationals win 10-7)
Daniel Murphy has taken only two at-bats in the last two weeks, with the Nationals trying to give their MVP candidate as much time as possible to recover from a strained buttocks muscle and be ready for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday. Murphy, though, might have good reason to try for one at-bat at some point in today's series finale. Murphy enters the day with a batting average of .3472, narrowly behind the Rockies' D.J. LeMahieu's .3478 for the NL lead. LeMahieu...

Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)

Werth out of lineup today for "precaution" (Nationals win 2-1)
Jayson Werth insisted late Friday night he hadn't suffered any kind of significant injury when he departed the Nationals' game against the Marlins in the eighth inning with what the club termed "tightness in his back." Werth even went so far as to say: "If I'm not in there tomorrow, I'd be surprised." Well, he's not in there, but the Nationals are still insisting he's not significantly injured. "Jayson's OK," manager Dusty Baker said before today's game. "I think. He just came...

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...

Nationals trying to balance health vs. home field

Nationals trying to balance health vs. home field
This is a tricky weekend for the Nationals. Yes, they would like to secure home field advantage for the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. They'd also like to do everything to make sure they're as healthy as possible for that five-game series with so much at stake. How, then, to strike a balance between taking care of their bodies while also keeping a foot on the gas pedal? "This is the time of the season, that's tough," left fielder Jayson Werth said after tonight's 7-4...