Zach Walters’ walkoff single cashed in a 9th-inning leadoff double by Wilson Ramos, sending in PR Sandy Leon from third as the Nats rose above .500 with their fourth Grapefruit League win, 7-6 over the Cards. After the game, the Nationals announced LHPs Bill Bray, Brandon Mann, and Will Ohman and RHP Tanner Roark were …
Three Nationals hit home runs, including prospects Anthony Rendon and Chris Marrero, as the Washington nine tripled up the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 yesterday afternoon. The big fly was the first for Marrero and Ian Desmond, both solo shots smacked into the left-to-right wind that was officially listed at 9 m.p.h., but described as gusting …
Highlighted by a three-run double from Carlos Rivero, the Nationals rallied for five runs in the top of the 8th and held off the Braves in 9th for a 6-5 win on Friday night. Five straight batters reached base, starting with a Jhonatan Solano single, a Eury Perez single, a walk from Anthony Rendon, an …
The Nats posted a picket fence in the second, third, and fourth innings but couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead over the Mets last night in Viera, settling for another extra-inning tie at 4-4. Like Gio Gonzalez on Monday, Nats starter Stephen Strasburg struggled some with the heat but was stone-cold killer with his offspeed offerings, …
The Nats mustered just three hits on offense, scoring their lone run on a Carlos Rivero sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th in a 5-1 loss to the Marlins this afternoon. Dan Haren took the loss by virtue of giving up the first Miami run on two hits and no walks. He struck …
A five-run fifth erased a 3-2 lead as the Braves handed the Nats a 9-5 loss at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. The loss was the second in four games and was delayed by rain for nearly an hour. Ross Detwiler made his first start of the spring but was charged …
With a starting lineup of just two Washington Nationals bench players, the Nationals reserves were still on the money in a 6-4 win over the Mets on Monday night. Gio Gonzalez made his spring debut, laying a couple of goose eggs on the bottom of the scoreboard despite a walk and a pair of errors …
Rain delayed play for 66 minutes in the 4th inning but those that waited it out were rewarded in the 5th by seeing Anthony Rendon smack a two-run, opposite-field home run as the Nats and Marlins played to a 2-2 tie in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon. The blast took starter Jordan Zimmermann off the …
A two-run sixth by the Mets off non-roster invitee Bill Bray broke a 3-3 tie as the Nationals lost the first game of Spring Training, 5-3. The first outing for Nats ace Stephen Strasburg was marred by a Ruben Tejada home run in the last of the first with no outs. Strasburg was also touched …
The wait is over. Sure, it’s a week earlier than last year but it sure doesn’t feel that way.
For most folks, that’s because expectations have never been higher for the parent club. As a minors guy, it means I have some semblance of a routine back again — the end of previews and Top 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or more and the beginning of boxscores.
As mentioned earlier this month, I don’t expect there to be too much drama this year… at least from a minors’ perspective. Perhaps a guy competing for one of the last spots in the ‘pen or at the end of the bench.
The signing of veterans like Will Rhymes, Chris Snyder, and Chris Young seems to suggest that even a significant injury won’t automatically open the door for a minor-leaguer. Sorry to anyone sticking pins in their voodoo dolls in hopes of seeing, say, Anthony Rendon at second base on Opening Day.
In any case, the days without baseball for 2013 are gone. Time for us to peek at the goal for “our guys” for three or four weeks.