Game 103 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs (plus roster moves)

Game 103 lineups: Nats vs. Cubs (plus roster moves)
Hey, don't forget: There's still a baseball game to be played tonight! After the Nationals made six franchise-altering trades over the last 24 hours that netted them 12 new prospects for eight veterans, manager Davey Martinez's new-look team now has to turn its attention to a three-game series against the Cubs, who will also have a new-look roster. Originally, it appeared that Jon Lester was tonight's scheduled starter, but since he was traded to the Cardinals at the last minute, Paolo...

Hand coughs up lead in ninth, Nats are swept by O's (updated)

Hand coughs up lead in ninth, Nats are swept by O's (updated)
Caught in a bad riddle with no easy answer, the Nationals can't seem to decide whether they're struggling more to keep opposing hitters at bay or whether their sagging offense is putting additional unnecessary pressure on a pitching staff that's been stretched thin. Actually both are intertwined, and one swing of Ryan Zimmerman's bat almost proved enough to save the Nats from a sweep and momentarily end the debate and halt a three-game skid. Zimmerman hit a go-ahead three-run homer and...

Game 98 lineups: Nats at Orioles

Game 98 lineups: Nats at Orioles
Needing a win to prevent a three-game sweep by the Orioles at Camden Yards, the Nationals today turn to a most unlikely pitcher to halt a three-game skid, secure a win in the season series against the Birds and provide some momentum heading into a four-game series in Philadelphia that could make or break Washington's campaign. Righty Paolo Espino (2-2, 3.00 ERA) is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six starts this season, morphing from a journeyman to a trusted resource out of necessity. The 34-year-old...

Big names rise to occasion, rally Nats to victory (updated)

Big names rise to occasion, rally Nats to victory (updated)
If they're going to make their move over the next week and a half and convince their general manager he should buy at the trade deadline, the Nationals are going to have to win games on the shoulders of their stars. That's what Mike Rizzo said this afternoon in discussing how his roster, depleted by injuries, could still find a path to contention in a wide-open National League East. "The more your core guys get hurt, the more pressure is put on your star players," Rizzo said in a pregame...

Game 94 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins

Game 94 lineups: Nats vs. Marlins
The Nationals couldn't have gotten their week off to a better start than they did Monday night, thrashing the Marlins 18-1 and getting seven scoreless innings out of Jon Lester. Tonight we find out if that was the start of something big, or just a one-night blip. It's probably too much to ask Paolo Espino to toss seven scoreless innings himself, but the journeyman right-hander has proven capable of pitching five strong frames more than once this year. And he's facing a Marlins lineup that...

Rehab for Strasburg, Ross slowed by discomfort

Rehab for Strasburg, Ross slowed by discomfort
Stephen Strasburg's return from a neck injury has been slowed after the right-hander felt discomfort after facing live hitters last week prior to the Nationals' game in San Francisco. Strasburg made it through his July 9 simulated game against teammates at Oracle Park without any significant issues, manager Davey Martinez said, but the problem in his neck cropped up after the fact. "After talking to him, the conversation was it just didn't feel right," Martinez said today during his...

Nats ransacked by Padres in second-half opener (updated)

Nats ransacked by Padres in second-half opener (updated)
Had this performance come last weekend, with the Nationals on fumes at the end of a brutal stretch heading into the All-Star break, it might've been understandable. Annoying, but understandable, given the circumstances. But for this to happen in the first game out of the break? With everyone refreshed and ready to go again? That isn't going to sit well with anyone employed by the Nationals who had to watch tonight's 24-8 beatdown at the hands of the Padres, a game that featured all kinds of...

Nats balancing rest and momentum heading into break

Nats balancing rest and momentum heading into break
It might be easy to look at the recent body of work and be down on the Nationals entering the All-Star break: a four-game sweep at home at the hands of the Dodgers, a four-game series split with the Padres when winning three of four was right in their grasp, a loss in the first game against the Giants and a growing list of injuries. But looking at the greater body of work shows that the Nationals are carrying some real momentum into next week's pause: Over their last 30 games, they are 18-12,...

Another injury and another loss for Nats (updated)

Another injury and another loss for Nats (updated)
Who said it couldn't get worse for the Nationals? Be honest, because I know you're out there. After a tough loss Thursday night to end a four-game series in San Diego, and with an already jam-packed injured list, why would you say that knowing full well that it could, in fact, get worse? Indeed, it did get worse for the Nationals in the form of a 5-3 loss to the Giants in front of 27,345 fans at Oracle Park to start the final series of the first half of the season, while also losing their...

Game 87 lineups: Nats at Giants

Game 87 lineups: Nats at Giants
The beauty of baseball is the everyday nature of the sport, making it easy to shake off bad losses and move on to the next game. So even though it wasn't a happy flight from San Diego to San Francisco following last night's heartbreaking loss to the Padres, the Nationals can put it behind them right away with tonight's opener against the Giants. Paolo Espino will take the mound for his first road start of the season (and the first since his major league debut back on May 19, 2017 with the...

Ross lands on IL but expected to return after break

Ross lands on IL but expected to return after break
The Nationals have been talking for months about the need to monitor Joe Ross' workload after the he opted out of the 2020 season. They weren't necessarily planning to give the right-hander time off right now in advance of the All-Star break, but when he reported tightness in his forearm following his between-starts bullpen session Wednesday, it was an easy decision for the club to take him off the active roster. Ross was placed on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation before...

Rotation decision looms as Fedde returns, Strasburg gets closer

Rotation decision looms as Fedde returns, Strasburg gets closer
The Nationals get Erick Fedde and Kyle Finnegan back from the injured list tonight, surprisingly quicker than most expected in Fedde's case. And at some point in the not-too-distant future, they believe they'll get Stephen Strasburg back as well, the final and most significant return to a rotation that has needed some patching together through the season's first half. The Nats have been going without Strasburg and Fedde since June 24, when Fedde woke up with a strained oblique one day after...

After rain, Dodgers rally to send Nats back under .500 (updated)

After rain, Dodgers rally to send Nats back under .500 (updated)
The largest crowd at a D.C.-area sporting event since Dec. 22, 2019, when the Washington Football Team hosted the New York Giants in Landover, gathered on South Capitol Street tonight to watch some baseball, get an early start on Independence Day weekend and witness a fireworks display on a picture-perfect Saturday evening. What the sellout crowd of 42,064 at Nationals Park got instead was a compelling yet ultimately frustrating 5-3 loss to the Dodgers, a 1-hour, 44-minute rain delay that...

Game 81 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (Schwarber, Avila to IL)

Game 81 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers (Schwarber, Avila to IL)
How's this for a primetime nationally televised matchup tonight at Nationals Park: one of the best pitchers in baseball versus Clayton Kershaw. What, you don't believe Paolo Espino is one of the best pitchers in baseball? Among all major leaguers with at least 35 innings pitched this season, he ranks 11th in ERA (2.02), 12th in WHIP (0.869) and first in walks per nine innings (1.01). Are you a believer now? OK, so the 34-year-old journeyman faces a really tough test tonight in the Dodgers,...

With homer barrage, Nats take down Mets again (updated)

With homer barrage, Nats take down Mets again (updated)
As the balls flew off the bats of Kyle Schwarber (twice), Trea Turner and Gerardo Parra, and as Paolo Espino was carving up the Mets for five scoreless innings, the mood inside of Nationals Park was ... well, how exactly to describe this? Was it ecstasy? Was it delirium? Was it some emotion that has yet to be defined, because nobody in attendance had ever witnessed anything quite like this on a baseball field in a long time? And then how to describe the vibe as the Nationals bullpen turned a...

Game 76 lineups: Nats vs. Mets

Game 76 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
And so begins the closing stretch of the first half of the 2021 season, a stretch that will test the Nationals unlike any that have come before. Fourteen games in 14 days, all against contending teams. It begins tonight with a one-off against the Mets, another makeup from the season-opening series that was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The great mystery for the last 24 hours has been the identity of the Nats' starting pitcher tonight. This should've been Erick Fedde's game, but...

Espino's memorable week now includes first career save

Espino's memorable week now includes first career save
The call to the bullpen came after the bottom of the eighth, the Nationals at that point trailing the Phillies 12-11. Paolo Espino was told to warm up, and that he would be pitching the bottom of the ninth if his teammates managed to tie the game or take the lead. And when that's exactly what they did, getting a two-run single from Starlin Castro to go up 13-12 in the craziest game of the season, Espino began to make his way to the mound, now tasked with recording the final three outs but not...

Nats rally twice, pull out all stops to beat Phillies 13-12 (updated)

Nats rally twice, pull out all stops to beat Phillies 13-12 (updated)
In order to pull off their ninth win in 10 games, the Nationals needed another Kyle Schwarber three-run homer to highlight a five-run top of the fifth, a Josh Bell grand slam to cap a six-run top of the sixth, a two-run single by Starlin Castro in the top of the ninth to re-take a lead that had just been lost and then the first save conversion of Paolo Espino's career (with some help from a bleeding Jordy Mercer at second base). And it all worked out. Somehow. Some way. Adding another...

Scherzer set to come off IL on Tuesday in Philly

Scherzer set to come off IL on Tuesday in Philly
Max Scherzer appears to be confident he's ready to come off the injured list as soon as he becomes eligible in two days. The Nationals ace threw off the bullpen mound in between games of Saturday's doubleheader, his final significant hurdle in his return from a tweaked groin muscle, and clearly was pleased with the results. Scherzer didn't stop to talk to reporters who were standing on the warning track between the bullpen and the dugout at Nationals Park. He said everything he needed to say...

Espino delivers latest pitching gem as Nats sweep Bucs (updated)

Espino delivers latest pitching gem as Nats sweep Bucs (updated)
The notion of the Nationals thriving with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Daniel Hudson all on the injured list at the same time would've sounded fairly ludicrous to anyone who considered that nightmare scenario two weeks ago. How could this team, deficient in pitching depth and offensive might, not only survive but actually get better with those three arms unavailable? In this most unusual season, that's exactly what's happening. The Nats are slowly climbing their way back up the...