Lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter

Lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals in Jupiter
JUPITER, Fla. - Spring training lineups don't always resemble regular season lineups. And today presents the perfect reminder of that. Eric Thames is leading off for the Nationals against the Cardinals, with Kurt Suzuki batting second. Has Davey Martinez lost his mind? No. This is simply a way to get two veterans two quick at-bats and then let them head home. You won't be seeing this 1-2 combo at any point during the regular season. We'll also see Howie Kendrick batting behind Juan Soto, a...

Seven Nats exhibition games to be broadcast on MASN

Seven Nats exhibition games to be broadcast on MASN
MASN announced today that seven Nationals exhibition games will be televised this spring, including next week's highly anticipated Grapefruit League opener against the Astros and new manager Dusty Baker. The first six televised games will all come from FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. The seventh broadcast game will come from Nationals Park, where the defending World Series champions will face a team made up of organizational prospects in a just-announced 4 p.m. exhibition finale dubbed...

Thursday morning World Series Nats Q&A

Thursday morning World Series Nats Q&A
We're in uncharted waters here, folks. Everything from here on out is brand new, and there's no road map to show us the way. The Nationals are going to the World Series for the first time ... but they're now in Day 2 of a six-day layoff before they take the field again at either Minute Maid Park or Yankee Stadium. What do we do to fill all this free time? We answer your questions, that's what we do! I know you've got plenty of them stored up, whether looking back on the regular season or...

15-year journey to the World Series was worth the wait

15-year journey to the World Series was worth the wait
On March 30, 2008, a wide-eyed young third baseman named Ryan Zimmerman christened the brand-new Nationals Park with a walk-off homer against Braves reliever Peter Moylan. In that moment, as the 23-year-old "Face of the Franchise" circled the bases to a thunderous roar, it was impossible not to wonder if this was merely first of many more thrilling moments to come in that ballpark. Surely there would be pennant races and October clinchers and maybe even a World Series contested on these...

Pennant party: Nats sweep Cards, reach first World Series (updated)

Pennant party: Nats sweep Cards, reach first World Series (updated)
For a team that had to scratch and claw its way back from a 19-31 start to the season, that had to excel in late September to clinch a spot in the National League wild card game, that had to come from behind to win that do-or-die game against the Brewers and that had to come from behind again to win a do-or-die game against the Dodgers to capture its first ever postseason series, this felt too easy. Up seven runs in the first inning in search of a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series?...

Lerner never considered firing Martinez, wants to re-sign Rendon

Lerner never considered firing Martinez, wants to re-sign Rendon
During those dark days of late May, when the Nationals owned the second-worst record in the National League and calls for change were growing from outside the organization, Mark Lerner did exactly what the clubhouse did. He stuck with his guys, especially manager Davey Martinez. "It never crossed my mind to dismiss Davey, no matter all the pressure that was put on us," Lerner, the Nationals' managing principal owner, said this evening before Game 4 of the National League Championship Series....

NLCS Game 4 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

NLCS Game 4 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
The Nationals have played 2,456 games during their 15 years of existence. Many of those games carried little to no meaning. A decent number of them were significant but not historic. Twenty-eight of them have come in the postseason. None have featured the stakes that are on the table tonight. For the first time in their history, the Nats are playing for a pennant. One more win over the Cardinals and they'll win the National League Championship Series and reach the World Series. And if they do...

With pennant in grasp, Nats turn to Corbin to keep it rolling

With pennant in grasp, Nats turn to Corbin to keep it rolling
Yes, Patrick Corbin signed with the Nationals last winter because they offered him more years and more dollars than any of the other contenders for the free agent's services. But he also came to Washington because of what he knew he could be a part of: A rotation that would rival any other in baseball, and a team that expected to play in October. All of that stood out to Corbin, who after coming through the Angels' farm system and then pitching six years in the majors for a Diamondbacks team...

With Game 3 rout, party's on at Nationals Park (updated)

With Game 3 rout, party's on at Nationals Park (updated)
Surely there were some among the throng of 43,675 on South Capitol Street tonight who saw the home team holding a 6-0 lead over the visiting Cardinals in a postseason game and felt a sudden shiver go down their spines. Those folks must still be shell-shocked by the events of Oct. 12, 2012, a day that lives in infamy around these parts because of what happened after the home team took a 6-0 lead on the Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. That night has haunted this...

Robles returns to lineup, schedule could force tricky decisions

Robles returns to lineup, schedule could force tricky decisions
Davey Martinez had been saying for days Victor Robles would return to the Nationals lineup once his hamstring was healed enough to ease any concern about more serious injury. Tonight, the Nats manager and medical staff decided it was safe for the rookie center fielder to take the field again. Robles, who hasn't played since straining his right hamstring during Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 4, will start tonight in center field and bat eighth for Game 3 of the NL...

NLCS Game 3 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

NLCS Game 3 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
You couldn't conjure up a better forecast for the first National League Championship Series game played in the District of Columbia. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature at gametime will be in the upper 60s, dropping into the low 60s later in the evening. This is what October is supposed to look and feel like. Nationals Park should be rocking tonight, starting with the pregame festivities that will include the ceremonial first pitch thrown out by Parker Staples, a pediatric cancer...

After climbing uphill for months, Nats suddenly out in front

After climbing uphill for months, Nats suddenly out in front
They spent the better part of five months playing with their backs against the wall. There was the infamous 19-31 start. Then a slow climb back into the race. Then a missed opportunity to catch the Braves in the National League East. Then a down-to-the-wire surge to ensure home-field advantage for the wild card game. Then that winner-take-all game against the Brewers, in which they trailed with four outs to go. Then a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit in the best-of-five National League Division Series...

Bullpen duo has become strength, not weak link, for Nats

Bullpen duo has become strength, not weak link, for Nats
ST. LOUIS - The weak link of the Nationals roster, it is well known, is a bullpen that ranked among the majors' worst all season and simply cannot be trusted to close out games. Except that's not entirely true. The weak link of the Nationals roster is the rank-and-file portion of the bullpen, the guys who pitch the sixth and seventh innings, or the guys who have to fill in later when the main arms are unavailable. In the postseason, that portion of the bullpen has barely seen action....

Behind another gem, Nats take commanding lead in NLCS (updated)

Behind another gem, Nats take commanding lead in NLCS (updated)
ST. LOUIS - Another day, another no-hit bid by a member of the Big Four rotation. And thanks to those dynamite performances, plus a couple of clutch hits and more lights-out work from the back end of the bullpen, the Nationals are heading home in complete control of the National League Championship Series. If they win two of their next five games, they're going to the World Series. As closer Daniel Hudson put it earlier today - on a completely different, and far more important, matter: "Hey,...

Martinez still doesn't want to chance it with Robles (Nats win 3-1)

Martinez still doesn't want to chance it with Robles (Nats win 3-1)
ST. LOUIS - Victor Robles strained his right hamstring eight days ago, way back in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. He still hasn't seen action since. Robles was out of the Nationals lineup for the fifth straight game this afternoon with an injury that has been described as "mild" but apparently not mild enough to risk taking the field for a postseason game. "For me, it's just about Victor's health and getting him healthy," manager Davey Martinez said. "I don't want him...

Grateful to witness daughter's birth, Hudson rejoins Nats

Grateful to witness daughter's birth, Hudson rejoins Nats
ST. LOUIS - Daniel Hudson boarded a flight in Phoenix at 6 a.m. Mountain time today, landing in St. Louis at 10:30 a.m. Central time. By 12:45 p.m., the Nationals closer was holding a press conference at Busch Stadium, detailing his whirlwind 48 hours that began with a Game 5 National League Division Series clinch in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, including the birth of his daughter, Millie, in Phoenix on Friday and now a chance to pitch in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series later this...

NLCS Game 2 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

NLCS Game 2 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - They got a one-hitter from their No. 4 starter and backup closer to win Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Now the Nationals send their No. 1 starter to the mound for Game 2, with their closer back in town and available to finish things off if the situation calls for it. Not a bad position to be in. Max Scherzer gets the ball, his first career postseason start in his hometown. It's hardly his first start in this ballpark, though. He's 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA in five...

With final four outs, Doolittle completes Nats' one-hitter

With final four outs, Doolittle completes Nats' one-hitter
ST. LOUIS - When the phone rang in the Nationals bullpen and he was instructed to begin warming up, Sean Doolittle didn't really have time to think about the significance of what was now happening. Yes, Doolittle knew what was going on. Aníbal Sánchez had not yet allowed a hit to the Cardinals. Through 7 2/3 innings. Of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Chances are, if Davey Martinez came out of the dugout and signaled for him, the no-hitter was no longer intact. Or...

Behind Sánchez's brilliance, Nationals take Game 1 (updated)

Behind Sánchez's brilliance, Nationals take Game 1 (updated)
ST. LOUIS - Aníbal Sánchez is not Max Scherzer. He's not Stephen Strasburg. And he's not Patrick Corbin. The rest of baseball may overlook him because of that, but the Nationals most definitely do not. Who cares if Sánchez doesn't have Strasburg's dominant stuff or Scherzer's adrenaline or Corbin's wipeout slider? He's got 14 years of big league experience, a vast repertoire of pitches few else in this sport can match, and the smarts and guts to use every one of them in any...

Suzuki, Robles on roster but not in lineup for Game 1 (Nats win 2-0)

Suzuki, Robles on roster but not in lineup for Game 1 (Nats win 2-0)
ST. LOUIS - Neither Kurt Suzuki nor Victor Robles is in the Nationals lineup for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, but both injured players remain on the active roster, suggesting there's reason to believe both will be ready to return soon. Suzuki, who took a fastball off his wrist and then his face in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday night, was still undergoing tests this afternoon, according to manager Davey Martinez. "I'll know more in...