Orioles hit two early homers off Scherzer (Nats win 4-2)

Orioles hit two early homers off Scherzer (Nats win 4-2)
When the Nationals were rolling offensively, it was their power that separated them from other teams. But recently the offense has stagnated, evidenced by a lack of home run production. As MASNsports.com's Mark Zuckerman tweeted tonight regarding the Nats' power numbers, the Nats have been outhomered by 18 in June. #Nats have been out-homered 27-9 this month. That's a bit of a problem. -- Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) June 21, 2018 That trend repeated itself again early in their series...

Game 71 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles

Game 71 lineups: Nats vs. Orioles
It was scorching hot this afternoon ... and then a storm of biblical proportions broke out and doused the entire area. What does that mean for tonight's opener of Part 2 of the Battle of the Beltways at Nationals Park? Stay tuned, but it does appear as though the rain will be clearing out before scheduled first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Assuming that first pitch does happen, it'll be Jefry Rodriguez on the mound making his first career start, his second career major league appearance. The lanky...

Game 70 lineups: Nats vs. Yankees

Game 70 lineups: Nats vs. Yankees
The Nationals look for two wins in one day as they wrap up the pair of makeup games with the Yankees at Nats Park. Juan Soto's first career pinch-hit home run, a two-run shot, lifted the Nats past the Yankees 5-3 in the completion of the suspended game from May 15. Right-hander Erick Fedde (0-1, 5.91 ERA) takes on Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray (4-4, 4.98) in the makeup of a postponed game from May 16. This is Fedde's third start of the season and the sixth of his career. At New York five...

Game 62 lineups: Nats vs. Giants

Game 62 lineups: Nats vs. Giants
The Nationals welcome the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals to Nats Park today. They hope that inspiration, and the quality pitching of veteran Gio Gonzalez, can get them back into the series against the Giants. San Francisco won the first game 9-5. Gonzalez (6-2, 2.27 ERA) has 198 career starts with the Nats. He is 85-56 with a 3.42 ERA in his career for D.C. The Giants counter with right-hander Dereck Rodriguez 1-0, 1.93). The Nationals have finally activated Adam Eaton. The starting...

Strasburg exits after two innings (Giants win 9-5)

Strasburg exits after two innings (Giants win 9-5)
Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was very hittable in the first two frames Friday night against the Giants. The Giants put together three runs on five hits, highlighted by a solo homer from Andrew McCutchen and run-scoring hits by Alen Hanson and Hunter Pence. McCutchen's sixth homer gave San Francisco the 1-0 lead and Pence's double in the second made it 3-0. Strasburg ended up lasting only two innings before being removed from the game. So something is definitely wrong. He allowed three runs...

Taylor displays power and glove prowess early (Nats win 9-5)

Taylor displays power and glove prowess early (Nats win 9-5)
MIAMI - Manager Davey Martinez spoke before Friday's game about how hard Michael A. Taylor has been working on having quality at-bats as he attempts to get out of a rough patch at the plate. Taylor was hitting only .157 with 22 strikeouts in his last 15 games. During batting practice, Taylor showed aggression in his swing with back-to-back homers over the center field wall, well past the 407-foot marker. That seemingly transferred to the game. In the second, facing Marlins starter José...

With injuries piling up, can Nats prevent a breaking point?

With injuries piling up, can Nats prevent a breaking point?
Injuries continue to pile up for the Nationals. Big ones like outfielders Rafael Bautista (knee) and Howie Kendrick (Achilles) out for the year. Small ones (hopefully) like Ryan Madson's chest strain. Injuries that seemingly looked like they wouldn't take as long to recover from as they have, like Brian Goodwin's wrist, have lingered into a second month without any big improvements. Starting second baseman Daniel Murphy has not recovered fully from microfracture surgery on his knee and has...

Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers

Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers
To answer your question before you even ask it: No, I don't know if tonight's game is going to be played, delayed or postponed. The forecast obviously looks terrible. As it continues to look Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening. As always, when I know, you'll know. If by some chance they're able to play, it'll be Max Scherzer on the mound for the Nationals. Scherzer was supposed to start Wednesday night against the Yankees on normal rest. Now he's on an extra two days' rest. Is that a...

Game 43 resumed: Nats vs. Yankees

Game 43 resumed: Nats vs. Yankees
It's a beautiful day for baseball ... let's play 1 1/3! Well, that's what the Nationals and Yankees will try to do. The forecast obviously isn't great, but they're preparing to resume last night's suspended game at 5:05 p.m. and then play the originally scheduled game at 7:05 p.m. Whether any or all of that happens remains to be seen. Stay tuned. A reminder regarding tickets: Only tickets for tonight's game will get you into the park today, beginning at 3 p.m. That ticket gets you into...

Rendon homer ignites the offense (game tied 3-3, game suspended)

Rendon homer ignites the offense (game tied 3-3, game suspended)
A fast start for the Nationals against the Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka. Anthony Rendon with a solo homer in the first, his fourth homer of the season, on a 1-1 pitch. In the second, the Nats strung together three hits in four at-bats. Howie Kendrick doubled. Andrew Stevenson single to left-center scored Kendrick. Pedro Severino's RBI double scored Stevenson. Meanwhile, left-hander Gio Gonzalez allowed two base runners in each of the first two innings and got out of jams. His curveball was a...

One, two, three: Nats new lineup connects again in 9-3 runaway

One, two, three: Nats new lineup connects again in 9-3 runaway
One, two, three. The Nationals' top of the order, in it's present form, is clicking. Bryce Harper leading off has been a find. Trea Turner can still do Trea Turner things from the two-hole. Matt Adams has been scorching the ball and the Nats have taken full advantage of his hot bat in the No. 3 spot. All this adds up to another runaway win against the Bucs as the Nats win, 9-3. The trio at the top of the order has combined for 11 hits, five homers, 10 runs and 14 RBIs in these last two...

From last spot in lineup, Difo delivers four times

From last spot in lineup, Difo delivers four times
Davey Martinez had Wilmer Difo bat ninth Tuesday night with a specific goal in mind, especially with Bryce Harper batting leadoff for the first time in five years. "Hey, you got one job to do," the Nationals manager told his young infielder. "And that's get on base." Well, technically speaking, Difo did get on base in his first at-bat. He just never stopped rounding them after launching a solo homer into the right-center field stands. "He hit the home run, he said: 'I got this guy!'"...

Lineup shakeup leads to 12-4 blowout win for Nationals

Lineup shakeup leads to 12-4 blowout win for Nationals
Who knew the best way to induce an offensive explosion from the Nationals' lineup was to move Bryce Harper to the leadoff position, Matt Adams into Harper's customary No. 3 spot and drop Wilmer Difo to ninth? Hey, as manager Davey Martinez said the afternoon when asked about the unconventional decision to stick Harper at the top of his lineup: "Why not?" It may not become a permanent thing, but it certainly worked just fine tonight. Behind Harper's three-run blast, Adams' pair of solo...

Martinez gives Gonzalez rope, lefty responds with big win

Martinez gives Gonzalez rope, lefty responds with big win
It was as animated as Gio Gonzalez had been during a postgame interview in several years. After getting pulled by new manager Davey Martinez following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth on Monday night in San Francisco, the veteran left-hander didn't hide his true feelings about the matter. "It sucks, because I want to be out there," said Gonzalez, who had thrown 94 pitches at the time of his exit. "Apparently, I've just got to some way, somehow convince (Martinez and pitching coach...

Kendrick helps Strasburg after slow start (D-backs win 5-4)

Kendrick helps Strasburg after slow start (D-backs win 5-4)
Arizona jumped on the scoreboard first. After right-hander Stephen Strasburg dealt a 1-2-3 first, A.J. Pollock led off the second with a solo homer, his sixth HR of the season. After a walk to Daniel Descalso, Ketel Marte moved him to second on a groundout to first base. Nick Ahmed's single scored Descalso. The Diamondbacks led 2-0. In the third, center fielder Andrew Stevenson took away extra bases with a diving catch of a David Peralta line drive in front of him and to the right. The...

Zimmerman, Taylor finally heating up at the plate (Nats lose 4-3)

Zimmerman, Taylor finally heating up at the plate (Nats lose 4-3)
LOS ANGELES - It took about three weeks, but Ryan Zimmerman and Michael A. Taylor have finally gotten hot at the plate. And at the same time, no less, much to the Nationals' happiness. Zimmerman and Taylor each delivered big extra-base hits early tonight to stake the Nats to a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers and continue their recent upswing. Zimmerman led off the top of the second with a double down the right field line, eventually scoring on Pedro Severino's sacrifice fly to center. That hit was...

Aggressive approach pays off early vs. Kershaw (Nats win 5-2)

Aggressive approach pays off early vs. Kershaw (Nats win 5-2)
LOS ANGELES - How do you beat Clayton Kershaw, Davey Martinez was asked this afternoon. "You've got to be aggressive," the Nationals manager said. "He's going to be in the strike zone. So get a good pitch you can hit." How about three pitches to three batters? Is that aggressive enough? The Nats came out swinging tonight against the Dodgers' three-time Cy Young Award winner, and they were greatly rewarded for the no-holds-barred approach, scoring two runs in the top of the first to give...

Hellickson and Madson on Nats' 8-6 win over Mets

Hellickson and Madson on Nats' 8-6 win over Mets
NEW YORK - In his first regular-season game of 2018, Jeremy Hellickson was hit around by the Mets in each of the five innings he pitched in. Hellickson hadn't pitched in a game that counted since last Sept. 23, when he was a starter for the Orioles against the Rays. Over the last month, he has been getting stretched out in warm-up games and side sessions from the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. He returned last night and kept his new team in the game, a game they would eventually...

Cole rebounds from early homer (Braves win 5-3 in 12)

Cole rebounds from early homer (Braves win 5-3 in 12)
Right-hander A.J. Cole allowed a home run on the fourth pitch of the game. Ozzie Albies hit a solo homer over the right-center field wall to give Atlanta the early lead. Coming off an April 3 start in Atlanta in which he allowed 10 runs on 10 hits, there was cause for concern that a game like that was in the offing. After that, Cole settled down and retired 8 of the next 9 batters he faced. The Nationals were the victim of double plays in the first and second frames. It marked only the third...

Scherzer and Kendrick ignite quick start (Nats win 2-0)

Scherzer and Kendrick ignite quick start (Nats win 2-0)
Nationals starter Max Scherzer set the tone early by striking out two in the first: Ozzie Albies swinging and Freddie Freeman looking. Then the Nationals offense did likewise in their half of the first. Anthony Rendon doubled and Bryce Harper walked. With two outs, Howie Kendrick lined a double down the left field line to score two. The Nationals have scored at least one run in the first inning in eight of their 10 games. Update: Scherzer allowed a single to Kurt Suzuki in the second, but no...