#Nats and Gio shutout the Royals 2-0 as Nats improve to 18-7: Postgame

Gio Gonzalez had a gutsy 6 inning shutout and shutdown the Royals, and let the park dimensions work for him. The Nats got all the runs they needed in the 1st inning, but had many opportunities to add-on runs.

Jonathan Papelbon got the Save which was his 9th of the season and Shawn Kelley, Sammy Solis, and Oliver Perez all got Holds. Oliver Perez saw 2 batters and struck them both out. Shawn Kelley saw 2 batters and got 1 strikeout, and Papelbon struck out Infante to end the game while he could have had a K on Gordon but the foul tip wasn’t held. Continue reading

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Game #25 #Nats are in Kansas City for a 3 game series: Game Thread

The early May 2016 road show continues today, down-river in Kansas City Missouri, as the Washington Nationals take on the defending World Champion Royals in the Nats first inter-league series of the season which brings the DH (designated hitter) into play here in an AL venue.

Tonight’s game at 8:15pm has Gio Gonzalez going up against Edinson Volquez. Gio is no stranger to AL baseball, and Volquez was a long-time NL pitcher.

Tomorrow’s game has a familiar face as the Nats face Chris Young who was a Nats reclamation project back in 2013 as he pitched at Syracuse Triple-A and then came back for Spring Training 2014 and looked very sharp and opted-out and signed a 1 year deal with the Mariners which he then parlayed into a multi-year deal with the Royals last year. Young will pitch on Tuesday against the Nats’ Tanner Roark. Strasburg goes up Wednesday afternoon against another familiar face as Kris Medlen who the Nats remember well as an Atlanta Brave pitches for the Royals. Medlen as you might remember developed severe arm issues and has worked his way back into the starting rotation for the Royals. Continue reading

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Part III: Around the #Nats Minor Leagues: Firsthand look at Andrew Stevenson, Potomac Nationals

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#Nats sweep the Cardinals for the first time ever: Postgame

The Nats might have lost the shutout but they won each game in the series for the 1st sweep of the Cardinals in Nats history. The Cardinals entered the series with a 12-10 record and now the Nats knocked them below .500 with a 12-13 record.

The Nationals improve to 17-7 behind Ace pitching from Max Scherzer who was locked in a pitchers duel with Carlos Martinez who had a 3-o record and pitching great until Lobaton got a bloop opposite field hit and Scherzer bunted him to 2nd and Matt den Dekker singled him home. Continue reading

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Updated: Today #Nats Game #24 Thread – Max for the Sweep: Game Thread

UPDATED: Wilson Ramos is back, but there has not been a line-up change. There has been a roster change as Pedro Severino was sent back to Syracuse Triple-A.

The Nats go for a sweep of the Cardinals today (and sweeping the Cardinals at Busch stadium is something they apparently have never done in Nats history. The Nats, with already winning the series, has done that for the first time in 9 years in St. Louis. Game time is 2:15pm, and the weather forecast has improved.

Max Scherzer is on the mound for the Nats, and during Saturday’s broadcast he was quoted as saying he has figured out what he was doing wrong. So lets hope he is right and the brooms can come out after today’s game.

The Cardinals have Carlos Martinez pitching today, and has been one of their best pitchers over the last year.

We have some quotes from Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny that are very complimentary to the Nationals:

“The Nats are athletic. You see a team with big power, and you look just at that starting pitching.  We already faced Strasburg and then a  Ross who was extremely good, and we have Scherzer today. You are going to have your hands full with the starters and the bullpen is good. You have an offense with an MVP right in the middle of it, and guys who are supporting him that are all capable of causing big damage. They are just a well rounded club. Dusty is communicating well with them as far as what the expectation is. They are playing well. We had a chance to do a little bit against Strasburg [and didn’t], and Ross had us on our heels all day.”

It would seem that Joe Ross really impressed Mike Matheny.
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Part II: Around the #Nats Minor Leagues: Firsthand look at Giolito, Fedde, Lopez, Stevenson, and more!

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The Nationals come into St. Louis and win the series taking the first 2 games: Postgame

The Washington Nationals go from a point where they couldn’t hit water from a boat to a point where their RISP efficiency today was a nice 3-6 to secure the 6-1 win.

This is the fist series win in St. Louis in 9 years. Of course, Dusty Baker‘s goal is to sweep this series. The Nationals improve to 16-7 and have confidence as the starting pitching continues to be fantastic and the hitting was timely.

The stars of the game were Joe Ross who went 6 innings giving up 1 run, and his first 4 innings were electric with Werth as the offensive star. Sammy Solis had a very good inning of work and earned a Hold since it was only a 3 run lead at that point and he had to work around an error to do it. Felipe Rivero and Shawn Kelley finished off the game with dominance.

Jayson Werth with the hit of the game hitting a 3 run HR to cap a 4 run 1st inning and later had a Sacrifice Fly. Anthony Rendon with 2 hits, and Daniel Murphy with 2 key hits.

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Game #23 Joe Ross is back & waiting on Wilson Ramos to be back: Game Thread

Starting pitcher Joe Ross returns from his blister issue on his throwing hand, and the Nats await Wilson Ramos to return from his bereavement leave in Venezuela. Ben Revere edges closer to his return from the DL, and the calendar is close to turning to May which has the day of May 29th 31st circled with the notation TVT day as Danny Espinosa says “not so fast” as he tries to show his manager he is poised to get above Mendoza and make a positive impact on this team. Espinosa got the Nats the GW RBIs last night on his 1st home run of the season. Continue reading

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#Nats start the road trip with a come from behind win! Strasburg great comeback!

Michael Taylor and Danny Espinosa power the Nats to a victory. Forget Strasburg’s 1st inning because he pitched a gem in his next 6 innings.

Defense backed up Strasburg after the 1st inning and Jonathan Papelbon pulls the string again on inducing a nifty 4-6-3 doubleplay to get out of a jam.

Every Nats position player got on base via a hit or a walk. The Nats were efficient in scoring runs and were 1-2 in RISP hitting.

One of the big plays of the game was an apparent stolen base by Anthony Rendon where he was called out and Dusty Baker challenged the call and won on appeal. Ryan Zimmerman earned a walk and with men on 2nd and 1st, Daniel Murphy knocked in Rendon, and Ryan Zimmerman with key baserunning advanced to 3rd. On a Sacrifice Fly by Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman scored.

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Game #22 Strasburg gets the series opener in St. Louis: Game Thread

This will be a most interesting showdown of starters today with Stephen Strasburg facing off against childhood teammate Mike Leake in an 8:15pm start time in St. Louis. They faced each other last on May 19, 2014 but neither were pitcher’s of record in a marathon game that went 15 innings.

We once wrote about their relationship as teammates on a San Diego travel team and Leake in an interview had unflattering remarks about Strasburg as an 11 year old teammate. Continue reading

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