Late-inning bullpen concerns continue for Nats in 7-2 loss

Late-inning bullpen concerns continue for Nats in 7-2 loss
A night after playing one of their tighter games of the year, the Nationals seemed to unravel in a 7-2 loss to the Mets, mostly due to poor relief pitching and shoddy fielding. Rookie Joe Ross was impressive in his return to D.C. after a month at Triple-A Syracuse. The right-hander took a 2-1 lead into the seventh when Wilmer Flores led off with a single. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a bouncing ball down the first base line. "Clint (Robinson) decided to come get it and couldn't get it,"...

Williams: Ross "pitched well" in tough loss to Mets

Williams: Ross "pitched well" in tough loss to Mets
Right-hander Joe Ross did his best to keep the Nationals in the game Tuesday. And for six-plus innings he did just that. But the seventh inning did not turn out the way the Nationals and Ross would have hoped. The Mets scored two runs in the seventh on a pinch-hit two-run single from Eric Campbell off Aaron Barrett. A single and a costly error by Clint Robinson set up the inning. Ross was lifted right before Campbell stepped in. "(We) are going to get to (Barrett) there with guys on second and...

Aaron Barrett has been careful to come back from injury at measured pace

Aaron Barrett has been careful to come back from injury at measured pace
Right-hander Aaron Barrett arrived in Friday's game in a critical moment. The Nationals were holding on to a 2-1 lead over the Orioles and starter Gio Gonzalez had reached his max load. Gonzalez had thrown a strong six full innings, but had walked the first batter of the seventh. Suddenly, the Orioles had the tying run on first base with no one out. Barrett was summoned to try to quell the Orioles' potential rally. He did just that. He struck out the first two batters he faced. Then, he...

Nationals searching for offense

Nationals searching for offense
The Nationals' offensive struggles continued in last night's 3-2 loss to the Orioles. In six of the last 10 games, the Nationals have scored two runs or fewer, resulting in six losses. Tyler Moore and Michael A. Taylor delivered two-out RBIs in the fifth inning yesterday, but that was all the Nats could manage despite collecting 10 hits on the night. Moore's run-scoring double was the Nationals only extra-base hit. "Two runs in this stadium is tough," Moore said. "We need to score more,...

Gonzalez returns with no-decision, couldn't quite locate curveball against Orioles

Gonzalez returns with no-decision, couldn't quite locate curveball against Orioles
BALTIMORE - It is difficult to look back at good pitching in a game that a team loses in walk-off fashion, but the Nationals' 3-2 loss to the Orioles wouldn't have been close early on if not for the pitching of left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez allowed a solo homer to Adam Jones which gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the fourth. But he took a 2-1 lead into the seventh before walking Jimmy Paredes and being relieved by Aaron Barrett. Jones hit a changeup to put the Orioles on the...

Zimmermann will start tomorrow, Williams remains undecided on Sunday

Zimmermann will start tomorrow, Williams remains undecided on Sunday
BALTIMORE - Nationals manager Matt Williams said right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will return from paternity leave to start tomorrow night's game against the Orioles. Zimmermann's wife, Mandy, gave birth to their daughter, Ava Kristeen, this morning. "Now that we know that everybody's healthy and everybody's gonna be home, Jordan is gonna pitch tomorrow and determine Sunday at some point tomorrow," Williams said. Right-hander Max Scherzer threw his bullpen session this afternoon at Camden...

Williams on Span, Rendon, Zimmerman, Werth and more

Williams on Span, Rendon, Zimmerman, Werth and more
BALTIMORE - Nationals manager Matt Williams arrived in Baltimore with a positive update on center fielder Denard Span and the back spasms that landed him on the 15-day disabled list this week. The results of the MRI and what the back specialist saw revealed no major structural damage. "It's good news," Williams said. "The results of the MRI and the specialist he saw finds nothing alarming, which is good. We have to look at his history and the two surgeries he had this winter and say...

Difo up, Barrett back, Span to DL in flurry of roster moves

Difo up, Barrett back, Span to DL in flurry of roster moves
BALTIMORE - The Nationals made a flurry of roster moves ahead of the final series of the first half, the first of two interleague series against the Orioles at Camden Yards. Center fielder Denard Span, who has been troubled by back problems and previously said he expected to miss the weekend series, was placed on the 15-day disabled list, while right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was placed on the paternity list. To take their places on the 25-man roster, the Nationals recalled infielder Wilmer Difo...

Williams updates Zimmerman, Rendon, Barrett, Gonzalez and Desmond

Williams updates Zimmerman, Rendon, Barrett, Gonzalez and Desmond
Nationals manager Matt Williams had an update on first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the plantar fasciitis in his right foot that has kept him out of the lineup since June 10. "Good. (He's) progressing," Williams said. "Zim's not quite running yet, but he's doing the other things that he needs to do to get prepared. Once that pain gets out of there, he'll be able to get running on the basepaths and move the process along a little bit." Williams said Anthony Rendon's left quad strain...

Williams on Turner, Barrett and Zimmerman

Williams on Turner, Barrett and Zimmerman
Shortstop Trea Turner made his Triple-A debut Friday night in a Syracuse 9-1 loss at Indianapolis. He was called out on strikes, lined softly to right fielder, grounded into a force out at second base, scored on a Kevin Keyes single, grounded into another force out and got to third later in the inning. He finished 0-for-4 with a run scored. Not a big deal, he went 0-for-4 to start his first of 10 days at Harrisburg. The next game he had three base hits. Amazingly, he had 25 multi-hit games in...

10 in 10: Diabetes Care Complex critical to Dream Foundation mission

10 in 10: Diabetes Care Complex critical to Dream Foundation mission
From the time they arrived from Montreal before the 2005 season, the Nationals have been a mainstay in the Washington, D.C., sports scene. But the Nats are also very active in the community, working diligently over the past decade to touch the lives of many in the region and proving that baseball has a further reach than wins and losses, balls and strikes, batters and pitchers. Each Thursday through mid-August, MASNsports.com's Byron Kerr will explore the Nationals' community outreach...

No restrictions on Fister; Williams sets rotation, plus Strasburg update

No restrictions on Fister; Williams sets rotation, plus Strasburg update
Veteran right-hander Doug Fister returns to the mound tonight after spending 34 days on the disabled list with a flexor muscle strain in his throwing arm. Nationals manager Matt Williams indicated that there are no restrictions on Fister's start. "He's not on a pitch count, per se," Williams said. "We'll just see how the game goes. But he feels good about it. He feels healthy. He's itching to get back and get going again, and so are we." Fister was 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA in his first six...

Fister to start Thursday; updates on Strasburg, Zimmerman, Ramos, Barrett and Span

Fister to start Thursday; updates on Strasburg, Zimmerman, Ramos, Barrett and Span
Manager Matt Williams confirmed that Doug Fister (right forearm tightness) will be activated off the disabled list tomorrow to make the start against the Rays in the series finale. Fister last pitched in the 8-3 loss at San Diego on May 14. Stephen Strasburg (neck tightness) had a positive rehab start earlier today in Harrisburg at the Double-A level. With 80 pitches, the last nine in the bullpen, Williams said if Strasburg feels good this week, he could make his next start back in the majors....

David Carpenter activated, Aaron Barrett placed on 15-day DL

David Carpenter activated, Aaron Barrett placed on 15-day DL
The Nationals don't have to worry about pulling an active pitcher off their 25-man roster to activate right-hander David Carpenter. Right-hander Aaron Barrett has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right biceps strain. Carpenter was activated officially today to take Barrett's place on the roster. He has previously pitched for Houston, Atlanta, Toronto and the New York Yankees. Barrett appeared to swing his arm in attempt to stretch it out after allowing the go-ahead RBI single to...

Questions continue for bullpen after Aaron Barrett forced to leave Nats' 6-5 loss

Questions continue for bullpen after Aaron Barrett forced to leave Nats' 6-5 loss
Nationals right-hander Aaron Barrett left last night's loss with an apparent injury moments after giving up the Brewers' eventual game-winning run. After delivering a 93 mph fastball to Brewers' second baseman Hernan Perez, Barrett slowly walked back toward the mound. Nationals manager Matt Williams and pitching coach Steve McCatty, noticing something was wrong, immediately came out of the dugout for a chat with Barrett. After the brief discussion, Barrett left with a member of the Nats...

Roark takes blame in Nats' 6-5 loss

Roark takes blame in Nats' 6-5 loss
The Nationals let a four-run lead evaporate in tonight's 6-5 loss to the Brewers. Once again, the Nationals offense struggled, managing just one base hit after the fourth inning. The Nats collected eight hits early, but it was mostly shoddy defense from the Brewers that enabled the Nats to take a 5-1 lead. The Brewers began chipping away at the margin against Nats starter Tanner Roark with two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. But after Roark retired the Brewers in order in the...

Marty Niland: Old-school approach could have served Nats well

Marty Niland: Old-school approach could have served Nats well
With two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday came the pitch felt round the Natosphere. Reds reliever Tony Cingrani drilled Nationals slugger Bryce Harper in the back - right between the numbers - with a 94 mph fastball. No matter whether it was intentional, Harper was not happy, and neither were fans posting on Nats message boards. They demanded payback. The most obvious target was Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who exchanged words with the bruised Harper after...

Scarce offense and bullpen woes leave Nats swept in Cincinnati

Scarce offense and bullpen woes leave Nats swept in Cincinnati
After sprinting through May with baseball's best record, the Nationals stumbled to the finish line, succumbing to a three-game sweep in today's 8-2 loss to the Reds. The normally explosive Nats offense managed just two hits against Reds rookie right-hander Michael Lorenzen - and one of them came from starter Tanner Roark. "A little blip," Nationals manager Matt Williams said to reporters after the loss. "We got two out of three in Chicago and came here and things didn't go our way, but we...

Treinen's bounceback fueled by confidence of entire bullpen

Treinen's bounceback fueled by confidence of entire bullpen
It has been an amazing turnaround for the Nationals. After losing 13 of their first 20 games, the Nationals have rebounded, winning 16 of the next 20. The bullpen has been a major part of the run with a healthy mix of veterans and younger guys, some getting their first shot at high-leverage situations and delivering. Right-hander Blake Treinen struggled earlier in the season, especially against lefties. He had allowed eight earned runs in his first 11 appearances this season, watching his ERA...

Nationals bullpen manages to outduel Yankees bullpen in extra-inning win

Nationals bullpen manages to outduel Yankees bullpen in extra-inning win
A big key to the Yankees' nice start to the season has been their bullpen, especially right-hander Dellin Betances and left-hander Andrew Miller. In 36 combined appearances, the duo accumulated a 0.00 ERA. Miller arrived with 13 saves already this season, but the veteran hurler allowed the game-ending, two-run shot to Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the 10th as the Nationals stunned the Yankees, 8-6. In what was a secondary theme of the win, the Nationals bullpen ultimately outdueled the...