Scherzer in trouble after walks, grand slam (Nats lose 6-2)

Scherzer in trouble after walks, grand slam (Nats lose 6-2)
Home runs have been Max Scherzer's biggest bugaboo since late last summer. Walks? Not so much. But add a bunch of free passes to yet another bomb surrendered by Scherzer, and the Nationals ace really finds himself in trouble. The Cardinals pounced on Scherzer during a five-run top of the third tonight, the big blast coming via Stephen Piscotty's first career grand slam, taking control of this Friday matchup on South Capitol Street. The home run - the 15th Scherzer has surrendered in 69 1/3...

Game 49 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

Game 49 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
You wouldn't necessarily think it, given the number of potent left-handed bats in their regular lineup, but the Nationals actually are more productive when facing left-handed pitchers than right-handed ones this season. They enter play tonight with an .812 team OPS against lefties, fifth-best in baseball. It helps that the Nationals' two best lefty hitters (Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy) fare quite well against southpaws. And then, of course, it helps that right-handed hitters like Ryan...

Harper, Espinosa snap out of funks with towering homers

Harper, Espinosa snap out of funks with towering homers
When Bryce Harper stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning tonight for his third at-bat of the game, something was noticeably missing: His batting gloves. Harper occasionally decides to hit without them, so the sight of the struggling Nationals slugger gripping the bat with his bare hands perhaps left many thinking he purposely was trying to shake things up, trying to find anything that might change his luck. And so, of course, when Harper proceeded to crush a baseball 434 feet...

Rookie's homer off Ross gives Cards early lead (Nats win 2-1)

Rookie's homer off Ross gives Cards early lead (Nats win 2-1)
Joe Ross has pitched effectively so far against the Cardinals, just as he did when he faced this same team four weeks ago. Mike Leake also has pitched effectively so far against the Nationals, unlike he did the last time he saw this lineup. Aledmys Diaz's leadoff homer in the top of the fourth gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead, the lone run to cross the plate so far in tonight's series opener at Nationals Park. Ross already owns one win over the Cardinals this season, having held them to one run in...

Game 48 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals

Game 48 lineups: Nats vs. Cardinals
It was four weeks ago when the Nationals embarked on what looked like one of the toughest road trips they've ever faced, the first leg of a prolonged stretch of games against mostly tough competition. That trip began in St. Louis, previously a house of horrors for this team. But the Nats flipped the script, sweeping the Cardinals for the first time in their history and kicking off that tough stretch in impressive fashion. Now the Cardinals come to D.C. for a four-game weekend series in what...

Nationals rediscover their swagger during St. Louis sweep

Nationals rediscover their swagger during St. Louis sweep
ST. LOUIS - That the Nationals just swept the Cardinals at Busch Stadium for the first time ever was notable enough. That they did it despite Bryce Harper going hitless in all three games this weekend was downright scary. Scary for future competition. "That tells me that somebody's in trouble," manager Dusty Baker said. "Somebody's in trouble because Bryce ain't going hitless for too long a period of time. Whenever you can do that without your star having a good series ... we picked him...

Scherzer, Martinez dealing and dueling (Nats win 6-1)

Scherzer, Martinez dealing and dueling (Nats win 6-1)
ST. LOUIS - Max Scherzer looks like his old self so far today. And that must be bringing some semblance of relief to any Nationals fan who might have started worrying about their previously struggling ace. Scherzer mowed through the Cardinals lineup in his first crack this afternoon, striking out four and displaying much better command than he did in his last two troublesome starts. Pitching in his hometown, Scherzer took the mound sporting an uncharacteristic 4.35 ERA that was far and away the...

Game 24 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 24 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - In their 11-plus seasons of existence, the Nationals have never found themselves in this particular situation: a chance to sweep a series in St. Louis. Shoot, they had only taken two of three once before at either version of Busch Stadium, back in 2007 when Manny Acta's club pulled it off. Today, though, the Nats are in position to do it. They won Friday night's game 5-4. They won yesterday's game 6-1. Now they'll send St. Louis native Max Scherzer to the mound in an attempt to...

Ross shows no rust after layoff, carves up Cardinals

Ross shows no rust after layoff, carves up Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - He had thrown a grand total of two innings in the last 15 days. He hadn't pitched at all in 10 days. And he was facing one of the toughest lineups in baseball. Potential recipe for disaster? Not for Joe Ross, who hadn't been fazed by any situation he'd faced so far in the major leagues and wasn't about to start now. "Hey, man, there's nothing finer than a young pitcher that gets confidence and knows that he belongs here," Dusty Baker said. "And he certainly has confidence....

Nats clinch series with 6-1 win in St. Louis

Nats clinch series with 6-1 win in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS - The Nationals have been coming to this version of Busch Stadium for a decade now, and there may be no ballpark in America that has been less welcoming to the club from Washington than this one. That storyline may finally be changing. With a 6-1 win over the Cardinals this afternoon, the Nationals have now won two in a row and clinched their first series victory in St. Louis since 2007. And they've made it look relatively easy so far this weekend. Their 5-4 win Friday night was a...

Lineup busts out early vs. Garcia (Nats win 6-1)

Lineup busts out early vs. Garcia (Nats win 6-1)
ST. LOUIS - Dusty Baker faced Jaime Garcia countless times while managing the Reds, offering him plenty of opportunity to figure out how best to beat the Cardinals left-hander. "This guy knows how to pitch," Baker said this morning before his Nationals faced Garcia at Busch Stadium. "You've got to get to him early." Is a four-run top of the first early enough for you, Dusty? The Nationals pounced on Garcia this afternoon, scoring four times before the Cardinals ever had a chance to bat....

Game 23 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 23 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - It's been raining steadily here since late last night, and more is expected later today. But there does appear to be a potential window of opportunity for the Nationals and Cardinals to play the second game of their weekend series, in between the two cycles of precipitation. We'll see. If and when they do play, Joe Ross will be on the mound for the first time in 10 days, his last start having been cut short after only two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger. Rather...

Strasburg dominates late to improve to 4-0 for first time

Strasburg dominates late to improve to 4-0 for first time
ST. LOUIS - Take a snapshot of Stephen Strasburg's first trip through the Cardinals lineup last night and you find a whole lot of hard-hit balls, four of them landing for hits, leading to a pair of runs. Take a snapshot of Strasburg's second trip through that lineup and you find better results, though still a couple of hits including his third double surrendered in only three innings. Now take a snapshot of Strasburg's third trip through the very same lineup and you find utter domination:...

Taylor, Espinosa lead Nationals out of scoring funk

Taylor, Espinosa lead Nationals out of scoring funk
ST. LOUIS - Michael A. Taylor insisted he had no idea how many innings the Nationals had gone without scoring, but he - like everyone else on the roster - knew it had been awhile. So when he was presented with an opportunity to do something about it, Taylor put an end to that streak and set the Nationals on their way to a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals in the opener of a 10-game trip through the Midwest that should serve as a test of this team's true talent level. "It's definitely nice,"...

Nats open tough road trip with 5-4 victory in St. Louis

Nats open tough road trip with 5-4 victory in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS - The Nationals picked a good time to start hitting again. And Stephen Strasburg picked a good time to mow down one of baseball's tougher lineups. Behind a four-run explosion in the top of the fourth and seven strong innings from Strasburg, the Nats opened their toughest road trip of the season on a positive note. They pulled off a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals, though it included some tense moments late once they turned to their bullpen to finish what Strasburg started. Riding a...

Taylor homers, Cards strike back vs. Strasburg (Nats win 5-4)

Taylor homers, Cards strike back vs. Strasburg (Nats win 5-4)
ST. LOUIS - What better way for a Nationals lineup struggling to score runs to open a 10-game road trip than with a home run from the very first batter to step to the plate on this daunting swing through the Midwest? If only the rest of the lineup was able to follow Michael A. Taylor's lead with some more production. Taylor's opposite-field homer on the third pitch of tonight's game set a positive tone for a Nationals club that sorely needed one. His solo shot into the right field bullpen...

Game 22 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

Game 22 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
ST. LOUIS - Hello from the Gateway City, where the biggest event in town this weekend isn't the Nationals-Cardinals series but the FIRST Championship, a national robotics competition that has left the downtown area overrun with thousands of teenagers who are infinitely smarter than you or I will ever be. While these kids are creating artificially intelligent robots, we're sitting in a ballpark obsessing over the Nats' inability to score a run. Talk about a blow to the ego... But anyway,...

Strasburg faces Cardinals in final spring tune-up

Strasburg faces Cardinals in final spring tune-up
JUPITER, Fla. - Hello from Roger Dean Stadium. Again. Why does it feel like we're here every other day? Probably because we are. This is the Nationals' third scheduled game in Jupiter in the last five days. The first (against the Marlins) was rained out. Then they played the Cardinals on Saturday. Now they're playing St. Louis one more time this afternoon. After yesterday's rainout in the scheduled finale at Space Coast Stadium, Stephen Strasburg was pushed back to start today. He'll be...

Espinosa wows crowd, Nats with pair of plays at shortstop

Espinosa wows crowd, Nats with pair of plays at shortstop
JUPITER, Fla. - For all his offensive shortcomings - and there remain plenty - Danny Espinosa has long since established himself as an elite defensive infielder. The vast majority of the work he did to build that reputation has come at second base, but those who have followed the 28-year-old throughout his career know he has always fancied himself as a shortstop first. With each passing day this spring, everyone else is understanding why that has been the case all along. Given a chance to be...

Roark tosses five scoreless, lowers ERA to 0.64 (Nats blank Cardinals)

Roark tosses five scoreless, lowers ERA to 0.64 (Nats blank Cardinals)
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 7, Cardinals 0 Recap: After torrential rain and lightning washed out Friday night's game against the Marlins, the Nationals returned to Roger Dean Stadium today face the complex's other tenants, and then proceeded to drub the Cardinals. Tanner Roark and relievers Felipe Rivero, Sean Burnett, Matt Belisle and Aaron Laffey combined to shut out a St. Louis lineup that included Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina. At the plate, the...