Strasburg has command issues early (Nats win 7-6 on Wieters hit)

Strasburg has command issues early (Nats win 7-6 on Wieters hit)
Stephen Strasburg had a bit of trouble locating to the first couple of hitters he faced. Seth Smith doubled and Adam Jones walked to open the top of the first. But he then struck out Manny Machado, induced a flyout to left by Chris Davis and struck out Mark Trumbo. The Orioles put together a big second inning against Strasburg. After Jonathan Schoop was hit by a pitch, the Orioles reeled off three consecutive singles. Caleb Joseph had an RBI single to begin the scoring. A sacrifice fly by Seth...

Nats fall behind early, drop series opener 6-4

Nats fall behind early, drop series opener 6-4
BALTIMORE - If the next four nights represent the Nationals' toughest test of the season to date, they didn't exactly pass Part One. Gio Gonzalez served up three home runs during a nightmare first inning, and the Nats never recovered during a 6-4 loss to the Orioles in the opener of this year's Battle of the Beltways. Gonzalez was rocked from the moment he took the mound at Camden Yards, digging his team into a deep hole. The league's most productive lineup, meanwhile, wasn't buoyed enough...

Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks

Game 26 lineups: Nats vs. Diamondbacks
After the most impressive offensive week and month in their history, the Nationals start anew tonight when they host the Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series. This is a good Arizona club that comes to town with the National League's second-ranked offense and second-ranked pitching staff. One of those pitchers is Taijuan Walker, who takes the mound tonight. The young right-hander and former top Mariners prospect has opened the season 3-1 with a 3.94 ERA, having struck out 33...

Rendon leads record-setting explosion in Nats' 23-5 victory

Rendon leads record-setting explosion in Nats' 23-5 victory
As much as they know they'll miss Adam Eaton the rest of this long season, the Nationals also know they're blessed to have one of baseball's deepest lineups, one capable of putting up big numbers even without the services of their injured center fielder. And if anyone doubted that, they needed only watch today's 23-5 victory in which the Nats lineup put a sledgehammer to every Mets pitcher who had the unfortunate task of standing on the mound. (Including one guy who isn't even normally a...

Zimmerman provides early advantage (Mets win 5-3)

Zimmerman provides early advantage (Mets win 5-3)
Right-hander Stephen Strasburg allowed just one hit through two innings in his first start since April 20. Michael Conforto led off the game with a single and later stole second base. But Strasburg got three outs in a row to keep the Mets off the scoreboard. The second inning was a 1-2-3 frame. The Nationals got a one-out double from Michael A. Taylor to begin their half of the first. After a strikeout of Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman followed with a RBI single to left field and the Nationals...

Home runs again bedevil Scherzer (Nats trail 5-3)

Home runs again bedevil Scherzer (Nats trail 5-3)
The Nationals didn't leave their bats at Coors Field. Unfortunately, Travis d'Arnaud also made sure to bring his to South Capitol Street tonight. Despite early home runs from Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters, the Nationals find themselves in a 5-3 hole thanks a pair of d'Arnaud blasts off Max Scherzer. The normally light-hitting Mets catcher has hammered a pair of Scherzer fastballs to left field in his first two at-bats, producing a career-high five RBIs in only four innings. In each...

Friday morning Nats Q&A from 35,000 feet over America

Friday morning Nats Q&A from 35,000 feet over America
OK, these are always fun for me. I'm not just answering your Nats questions today. I'm answering them from seat 27F on my flight from Atlanta to New York, roughly 35,000 feet up in the skies over the East Coast. (That's assuming Delta's on-board WiFi works with no problems, of course.) If all goes according to plan, I should be able to start answering questions around 11 a.m. EDT. I'll try my best to get to everything before the descent into LaGuardia. So, as always, submit your questions...

Dickey's knuckleball presenting challenges tonight (Nats win 3-2)

Dickey's knuckleball presenting challenges tonight (Nats win 3-2)
ATLANTA - The Nationals haven't seen too many knuckleballs the last few years, but they're seeing one tonight, and they'd better be ready to see a lot more of it as this season plays out. R.A. Dickey is on the mound for the Braves tonight at SunTrust Park for the first of what should be several starts against the Nationals in 2017. The 42-year-old right-hander used to be a regular conundrum for veteran Nats hitters when he pitched for the Mets, but he spent the last four years in Toronto, so...

Pair of grand slams propels Nats to 14-4 win over Braves

Pair of grand slams propels Nats to 14-4 win over Braves
ATLANTA - Freddie Freeman may own the Nationals, but Bryce Harper's ownage of Julio Teheran supersedes even the mightiest of opponents. Harper added two more homers to his deep collection off Teheran, including a grand slam that helped the Nationals overcome Freeman's latest blast off them and propel them to a 14-4 victory tonight at SunTrust Park. Joe Ross bounced back from a shaky first inning in his first major league start of the season to pitch seven strong innings and earn the win. Ryan...

Murphy's double in 10th delivers 3-2 walk-off win for Nats

Murphy's double in 10th delivers 3-2 walk-off win for Nats
The first two weeks of the Nationals' season have seen multiple games lost late when the bullpen couldn't post zeros and the lineup couldn't deliver a key hit. Perhaps this evening's 3-2 victory over the Phillies will reverse that trend. Daniel Murphy's double into the left field corner in the bottom of the 10th brought Bryce Harper all the way home from first base and provided the Nationals with their first walk-off victory of the season. The clutch hit came after the Nationals got...

No comeback this time from Nationals in 6-1 loss to Cardinals

No comeback this time from Nationals in 6-1 loss to Cardinals
If nothing else, the Nationals have shown through the season's first week-plus they don't easily roll over. Six times in their first eight games, they came from behind to at least tie things up. So it wasn't surprising this evening when, despite trailing by three runs late and showing few signs of life to that point, the Nationals again made things interesting. They couldn't complete the comeback this time, stranding the potential tying runners on base during a furious bottom-of-the-eighth...

Nats lose 4-3 to Phils, despite Zimmerman's clutch homer

Nats lose 4-3 to Phils, despite Zimmerman's clutch homer
PHILADELPHIA - They got the big blast they needed from Ryan Zimmerman, just in the nick of time. But the Nationals bullpen again couldn't seal the deal, and so what could've been an uplifting Sunday afternoon at the park instead turned into the team's first two-game losing streak of the young season. Zimmerman's three-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the top of the ninth brought the Nationals back from the dead to tie a game that had looked lost. But Koda Glover gave up the winning run...

Disastrous first inning sends Nationals on way to 17-3 loss

Disastrous first inning sends Nationals on way to 17-3 loss
PHILADELPHIA - In the annals of worst innings in club history, this had to rank at the top. The Nationals gave up 12 runs to the Phillies in the first, and that might not even have been the worst thing to happen to them in the frame. As disastrous as that 12-spot was, with Jeremy Guthrie taking the brunt of the pounding, and as ugly as the Nationals' eventual 17-3 loss was, the larger concern in the big picture was the sight of Trea Turner departing in the top of the first inning with an...

25-man roster includes Difo and Taylor, no Ross or Guthrie

25-man roster includes Difo and Taylor, no Ross or Guthrie
The Nationals will open the season with only four starting pitchers but six bench players. The club announced its opening day roster this morning, and it does not include Joe Ross or Jeremy Guthrie. Ross, who had been tabbed all along as the No. 5 starter, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Guthrie, who was trying to make it as a long reliever, was reassigned to minor league camp, but he's expected to report to Syracuse to begin the season. With only four starting pitchers (Stephen Strasburg,...

Roark, Murphy sharp in first game back (Nats win 4-1)

Roark, Murphy sharp in first game back (Nats win 4-1)
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 4, Astros 1 Recap: In his first start since returning from the World Baseball Classic, Tanner Roark was exceptionally sharp. The right-hander carried a shutout into the sixth inning before allowing back-to-back hits and departing with one run across the plate, having thrown 71 pitches. Daniel Murphy, his Team USA mate, went 2-for-4 with an RBI double in his first game back from the WBC. Ryan Zimmerman had two hits, a stolen base and a nifty move to elude a...

Sans windup, Strasburg cruises in spring debut (Nats split a pair)

Sans windup, Strasburg cruises in spring debut (Nats split a pair)
NATIONALS QUICK WRAPScore: Nationals (ss) 8, Marlins 5 Recap: Jhonathan Solano's two-run single capped a four-run seventh inning as the Nationals rallied past the Marlins. ... Right-hander A.J. Cole started and was battered for six hits and four runs (three earned) in three innings, with his ERA zooming to 13.50. Need to know: Wilmer Difo, a career infielder, made his first appearance in the outfield when he subbed for center fielder Adam Eaton. The Nationals are hoping to increase Difo's...

What to watch for in tonight's Hall of Fame election results

What to watch for in tonight's Hall of Fame election results
For lifelong baseball fans, few days on the calendar compare to Hall of Fame election day. It's a day to celebrate some of the greatest players in the game's history, not to mention fiercely debate the credentials of those who either just squeaked in or missed out. Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time, Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson will make the official announcement, revealing who received at least 75 percent of the vote from tenured members of the Baseball Writers' Association of...

Arbitration deadline day for four key Nationals

Arbitration deadline day for four key Nationals
Perhaps the quietest offseason the Nationals have experienced in a long time will perk up with a little bit of news today. All major league clubs have until 1 p.m. EST to agree to salary terms with their arbitration-eligible players or else formally submit competing offers to the league, setting the stage for hearings next month. It's not necessarily the most important day of the offseason. We're not talking about decisions that affect whether someone will be playing for the Nationals in 2017...

Nationals hopeful they're closing in on trade for lefty Sale

Nationals hopeful they're closing in on trade for lefty Sale
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Nothing is done until it's done. And nothing is done in this case. But the Nationals front office went to bed late Monday night hopeful they were closing in on a blockbuster trade for White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, one that would likely cost them at least two of their top four prospects. Club officials spent a good part of Day One of the Winter Meetings engaged in talks with the White Sox and by early evening had made significant progress toward a deal for Sale,...

Nats face tender decisions before deadline tonight

Nats face tender decisions before deadline tonight
So much of what the Nationals do this winter is dependent on something else they do. They won't know if Trea Turner is their center fielder or shortstop until they either acquire another outfielder or not. They won't know if Danny Espinosa is still their shortstop until they know if Turner is switching positions. There are dominoes lined up all over the place, but most of them can't fall until the first one does. Which may finally begin to happen today. Whether they're able to consummate a...