Turner hot and Sánchez cool as Nats roll past Marlins 9-3 (updated)

Turner hot and Sánchez cool as Nats roll past Marlins 9-3 (updated)
Trea Turner went 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs and Aníbal Sánchez allowed only one run over seven innings for his first win of the season as the Nationals dispatched the Marlins 9-3 on Sunday afternoon. The Nats offense finally got rolling, tallying nine runs through five innings, including five in the fifth, to coast to their 11th victory on the season, evening the series at two games apiece. In the first, Turner singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He came around...

Game 25 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 25 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
The Nationals look to even their series with the Marlins today with a 12:35 p.m. first pitch at Nats Park. Aníbal Sánchez gets the call, looking to build off his last start where he said he felt strong at the end of the outing, which is a good sign. Manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Paul Menhart have worked with Sánchez to get him to throw less between starts so he is fresher on game day. Sánchez (0-3, 8.50) faces Marlins right-hander Humberto Mejía (0-1, 5.68 ERA)....

Defense betrays Crowe in debut, Nats lose nightcap (updated)

Defense betrays Crowe in debut, Nats lose nightcap (updated)
Because he doesn't possess the kind of eye-popping "stuff" his counterpart Sixto Sánchez has, Wil Crowe wasn't going to win tonight's battle of rookie pitching debuts unless his eight Nationals teammates around him on the field did their part to make every play they had a chance to make. And because those guys didn't come close to making every play they had a chance to make, Crowe was left to suffer a hard-luck loss to Sánchez in the nightcap of today's doubleheader at Nationals...

Nationals bats are quiet again in 3-2 loss to Marlins (updated)

Nationals bats are quiet again in 3-2 loss to Marlins (updated)
All night long, they waited for their lineup to strike. It felt like it was going to happen eventually, right? Someone would get a rally going against the Marlins bullpen and bring the Nationals back from the one-run deficit they had faced nearly the entire game, right? Well, no. It never happened. And so another eminently winnable ballgame was won not by the Nationals but by their opponents. Held to two early solo homers by Yan Gomes and Trea Turner, the Nats were silenced the rest of the...

Thames more relaxed further down the order

Thames more relaxed further down the order
First baseman Eric Thames went 2-for-5 with three RBIs in the Nationals' 8-5 comeback win over the division rival Braves on Tuesday night, all from the No. 8 spot in the order. Along with Trea Turner and Adam Eaton, Thames was credited with a team-high three hard-hit balls on the night, according to Statcast. Thames contributed an RBI single in the second inning that got the Nats on the board. In the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, his hotshot grounder dropped out of the glove of...

Seven relievers post five zeros in Nationals' win (updated)

Seven relievers post five zeros in Nationals' win (updated)
Davey Martinez can wish for more innings from his rotation. Until it actually happens, he has no choice but to ask for a lot from his bullpen. That unit couldn't finish the job Monday night during a gut-punch loss in Atlanta. Tonight, seven different relievers joined forces to pitch five scoreless innings and complete the job. And when Daniel Hudson, pitching for the third straight day and only 24 hours removed from an ugly blown save, closed it out in the bottom of the ninth, the Nationals...

Turner on youngsters García and Kieboom: "It's fun playing with them"

Turner on youngsters García and Kieboom: "It's fun playing with them"
Nationals shortstop Trea Turner made his major league debut about this time in 2015. Turner was 22 and went 0-for-2 against the Brewers. His double play counterpart five seasons later, 20-year-old second baseman Luis García, made his major league debut four days ago. Third baseman Carter Kieboom made his debut last April at 21. Juan Soto, who plays behind Turner in left field, made his debut in May 2018 at 19. In center field, Victor Robles made his debut in September 2017 at 20. All around...

Corbin struggles early on, Nats cannot recover in 7-3 loss (updated)

Corbin struggles early on, Nats cannot recover in 7-3 loss (updated)
BALTIMORE - Left-hander Patrick Corbin struggled from the start, unable to get his bread-and-butter slider over for the usual swings and misses. The Orioles scored two runs in each of the first two frames to race out to an early lead and coast from there, 7-3 over the Nationals, tying the series up at a game apiece. The Nats fall to 7-11. The Orioles pounded out 13 hits on the night, tallying at least one base hit in every inning. Corbin gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings. He...

Turner's early homer and late sliding catch bookend 2-1 win for Nats

Turner's early homer and late sliding catch bookend 2-1 win for Nats
Trea Turner went 2-for-4, smacking a solo homer over the right field wall on the game's second pitch and then helping the Nationals with his defense late in a nail-biting 2-1 win over the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday night. The blast was the 10th leadoff home run of his career, a new Nationals record. With a home run and a single to start the contest, Turner was in the midst of five hits in his last six at-bats in the series. He now has two homers in the first two games in New York. After...

Scherzer, bullpen team up for tight win over Mets (updated)

Scherzer, bullpen team up for tight win over Mets (updated)
They can't all be laughers. The Nationals couldn't go into Citi Field tonight and expect to blow out the Mets again. No, they were going to need to win a tight ballgame if they wanted to remain perfect on the road. And it doesn't get any tighter than 2-1. Thanks to a gutsy start from Max Scherzer in his return from a nagging hamstring ailment, a couple of quick runs off Rick Porcello and lights-out work from the back end of their remade bullpen, the Nationals eked out a tense, low-scoring...

For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip

For first time in 2020, Nats face challenges of road trip
The Nationals woke up this morning in a vaguely familiar, yet wholly foreign place: in a hotel room in New York. It's the first time anyone with the team has spent the night anywhere other than his Washington-area place of residence since summer training camp opened more than five weeks ago. That's an unprecedented stretch for any baseball club not to travel in-season, made possible only by the unprecedented nature of the 2020 season. The Nats should have gone to Toronto and Miami by now....

Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits

Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits
There are any number of factors you can point to when trying to explain the Nationals' inconsistent start to this season at the plate, but as is so often the case with this lineup it's always appropriate to start at the top. As Trea Turner goes, so go the Nationals. That was especially obvious in 2019, when the club's early season struggles coincided with the leadoff man's finger injury and the subsequent resurgence coincided with his return to the active roster. There's no injury this...

Nationals roughed up by Orioles in lopsided shutout (updated)

Nationals roughed up by Orioles in lopsided shutout (updated)
An opening month of fits and starts for the Nationals re-started tonight with the first of 13 straight scheduled game days, a development Davey Martinez was excited about, hoping it might finally provide some sense of normalcy and consistency in a season that is anything but normal or consistent. After a lopsided loss to the Orioles, Martinez might want to revisit that line of thinking. The Nationals didn't look excited to be out there tonight at all. It showed both on the scoreboard and on...

Updates on Kendrick, Turner, Harris, Doolittle and Strasburg

Updates on Kendrick, Turner, Harris, Doolittle and Strasburg
Nationals infielders Howie Kendrick and Trea Turner sat out Saturday's simulated game. Kendrick is still nursing upper back tightness, and manager Davey Martinez wanted to give his shortstop a day too. "He just sat out," Martinez said, referring to Turner, during this afternoon's Zoom call. "He plays every day, every inning, so he just wanted a couple days off. Probably be back out there tomorrow. Howie said he felt better today. He's going to see how he feels tomorrow. He might get a...

Hudson and Rainey step up with power pitches to finally drop Blue Jays

Hudson and Rainey step up with power pitches to finally drop Blue Jays
In pitchers' duel that continued into the late innings of a scoreless tie, the Nats bullpen took center stage. After the Nats finally got on the board, a pair of power relievers completed the shutout. Daniel Hudson and Tanner Rainey combined to strike out six batters over the course of the final eight outs as the Nats notched a much-needed win in a 4-0 shutout of the Blue Jays in 10 innings. Max Scherzer pitched into the eighth, but gave up a single and later a walk in that inning. With one...

Nats win 10-inning pitchers' duel to snap skid (updated)

Nats win 10-inning pitchers' duel to snap skid (updated)
Whether played in Washington, Toronto, Buffalo or Sheboygan, tonight's game between the Nationals and Blue Jays deserved to be played in front of a packed house. It was that good. Alas, you can't play a ballgame in front of anyone right now, so the select few who were allowed inside Nationals Park to witness this taut pitchers' duel that ended as a 4-0, 10-inning victory for the Nats could only appreciate it for everyone else watching at home. Playing under Major League Baseball's funky new...

Scherzer and rookie Pearson in pitching duel (Nats win 4-0 in 10)

Scherzer and rookie Pearson in pitching duel (Nats win 4-0 in 10)
Top Blue Jays prospect Nate Pearson went toe-to-toe with three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer Wednesday night at Nats Park in Toronto's "home" opener. In the first three innings, Pearson allowed one hit and two walks but no runs, with two strikeouts. His fastball ranging from 96 to 98 mph. In the first inning, Adam Eaton walked with one out and stole second base. He got to third with two outs but was stranded there on an Eric Thames' line drive out to left field. In the third...

Nats trying to find the fun while snapping out of losing streak

Nats trying to find the fun while snapping out of losing streak
Ask anyone who was around the 2019 Nationals what turned their season around and you'll get two answers: They got healthy after a rash of injuries devastated the roster in April and early May, and they relaxed and started having fun on and off the field. Five games into the 2020 season, the Nationals are again dealing with the absence of several key players (Juan Soto, Stephen Strasburg, Ryan Zimmerman) for a variety of reasons. And they most certainly don't look like they're having fun on...

Roark's curveball helps confuse former team as Blue Jays sweep Nats

Roark's curveball helps confuse former team as Blue Jays sweep Nats
The Nationals did not have a good start again Tuesday night. This time, it was an old friend who made them uncomfortable. In his first start at Nationals Park since Sept. 5, 2018, right-hander Tanner Roark beat his former team as the Blue Jays dropped the Nats 5-1, sweeping the two-game series. Roark spent six seasons with the Nats from 2013-2018, and was a member of three National East championship clubs. His three best seasons in the majors, going a combined 44-31, coincided with...

Nationals slog through another loss to Blue Jays (updated)

Nationals slog through another loss to Blue Jays (updated)
There's no delicate way to put this: The Nationals are a listless bunch on the baseball field right now. It's perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. They're trying to play through a pandemic. Their top slugger remains stuck in quarantine even though he's passed two official coronavirus tests and several more unofficial ones. Their World Series MVP is sidelined with a nerve injury in his hand. Their face of the franchise is sitting at home watching on TV after opting out of this...