Nats Chat

The Nats beat Oakland 8-2 on Friday night behind 3 separate home runs and overcoming an early 2-0 deficit. Al & Tim begin the recap with the bullpen stepping up big time for six scoreless innings after Joan Adon exited his start in the top of the 4th due to cramping. Cory Abbott recorded four outs after having to immediately warm up and Jordan Weems threw the final two frames. (14:30) Ildemaro Var...

The Nats lost 6-2 in Philadelphia to drop 3 of 4 in this week's series. Mark & Al begin by with a curious examination of Patrick Corbin's unique pitching line where he did not allow an earned run despite issuing 7 walks. (16:40) Blake Rutherford was 0 for 2 on Thursday night and is hit-less in 16 MLB at- bats since getting called up. Rutherford has played in 5 games this month after hitting .345 t...

The Nats were no hit for the 1st time since they began play in 2005 as Michael Lorenzen led Philadelphia to a 7-0 defeat of Washington. Mark & Al tip their caps to the franchise almost going 20 years without being no hit; good for the longest active streak in MLB. It was just Lorenzen's second appearance with the Phillies after being traded from Detroit last week and he issued 4 walks while throwi...

The Nats split their Tuesday doubleheader in Philadelphia to begin the 4 game series. Al & Mark recap Joey Meneses's late game heroics in Game 2 as his pair of HRs unexpectedly lifted Washington to victory. Hear Mark lay out what the first 162 games of Meneses' MLB career looks like in a stats sense; now that he has reached the unofficial milestone. (14:30) A big part of the 5-4 win was the bullpe...

The Nationals pulled off a road sweep for the first time in almost 4 years as they doubled up the Reds 6-3 on Sunday afternoon. Mark & Al open with Davey Martinez's aggressive managing in pushing many of his top bullpen arms for a 3rd straight day. Kyle Finnegan pitched the 9th inning all weekend without giving up a run. (10:45) CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas homered on the opening 2 pitches of the gam...

The Nats won 7-3 in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon for the 10th victory in their past 15 games. Mark & Al begin with the stunning start by Joan Adon, as he had a Perfect Game going until it was broken up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th. Adon was only called up due to Trevor Williams being briefly away from the team and is now expected to remain on the Big League roster. (16:40) Tim Shovers...

The Nats won 6-3 in 10 innings in Cincinnati to open the weekend series. Mark (Live from his Hotel Room) & Al have a lot to get to, but begin with extended discussions of Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses, who combined for 3 HRs in the victory. (11:40) Jake Alu started at 2B and Ildemaro Vargas took over at 3B on Friday night. Alu came through with another RBI since being called up; his 3rd in as many...

It ended up being a busy Wednesday afternoon in Navy Yard as initially the Nats had an unorthodox walk-off winner over Milwaukee by the score of 3-2. Then roughly an hour after the game; it was announced that Luis Garcia is being sent down to AAA and Corey Dickerson was unconditionally released. Mark & Al examine why Garcia will be headed to Rochester and what that means long term at 2B in Washing...

The Nats did not make any more deadlines on the final day of the MLB Trade Deadline leading up to their 6-4 loss at the hands of the visiting Brewers. Mark & Al examine why Washington did make any additional swaps and what went into the decision to retain Lane Thomas and Kyle Finnegan. (09:30) As for the actual game; Josiah Gray had a disappointing outing where he exited after 3.2 IP. It was the t...

The Nats rallied to top the Brewers 5-3, but just before the series began Jeimer Candelario was shipped to the Cubs in exchange for a pair of prospects. Mark & Al react to the trade and see whether or not Mike Rizzo got proper value in return for the veteran 3B. Both prospects coming from Chicago ranked in the top 20 of their system, Kevin Made (SS), and DJ Herz (LHP). (10:15) The focus turns to 3...

The Nats were beaten 5-2 by the Mets to close out the long weekend series in Flushing. Mark (From NY) & Al on a disappointing day for the offense are able to tip their caps to CJ Abrams for stealing 3 more bases from the leadoff position. Abrams has successfully stolen the last 21 bags he attempted to swipe; dating all the way back to May. (07:30) Lane Thomas did not start but was inserted mid gam...

The Nats topped the Mets 11-6 on Saturday night after jumping out to an early 8-1 lead. Mark ( Live from Citi Field) & Al convene after a busy day in Flushing as New York traded Max Scherzer to Texas in the middle of the game. The lineup feasted on Carlos Carrasco, including Riley Adams who continues to contribute at the plate in his limited playing time. (14:45) Jeimer Candelario reached base fou...

The Nats lost 5-1 at the Mets on Friday night for a 2nd straight defeat. Mark (From Citi Field) & Al start with Jeimer Candelario's potential injury while trying to extend a single into a double in the 8th inning. Candelario has had many injuries this month, as we approach Tuesday's Trade Deadline. (06:00) MacKenzie Gore only lasted 5 IP and issued 4 walks in the process. Gore never threw a clean...

After yet another rain delay, the Nats lost 2-1 at the Mets on Thursday evening. Mark (Live from Citi Field) & Al immediately dive into the odd situation where Kyle Finnegan had an over an hour to think about the inherited bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 8th. (06:45) Finnegan entered the game in relief of Mason Thompson; who lost control in the middle of his outing. This has been a periodic...

The Nats ended the successful home stand in thrilling fashion as they scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4. Mark & Al begin by wondering why Rockies Manager kept his struggling Closer Daniel Bard on the mound. Bard was out of the game though when CJ Abrams continued his magical July ride with a walk-off RBI single. (18:00) Jake Irvin had a mixed bag outing, but did tally 7 strikeouts...

The Nats ended a very long night on a high note in the 6-5 victory over the Rockies. There were two separate rain delays that led to a conclusion just before Midnight; only 12 hours before Wednesday's series finale. Al & Mark start with the decisive 4 run bottom of the 8th where Jeimer Candelario had a RBI double and Joey Meneses was the hero with a 3 run blast. "Joey Four Bags" has been on a tear...

**Record scratch** The Nats win streak from the weekend came to an abrupt halt on Monday night in a 10-6 loss to visiting Colorado that was marred by plenty of sloppy play. Mark & Al recap the grisly details from Patrick Corbin's outing where he ceded 10 hits and his ERA is now up to 5.01. (11:30) Plenty of instances of poor defense in this defeat and this leads to an assessment of what the defens...

Get out your brooms as the 2+ year sweep drought in a 3 game series is thankfully over as the Nats took care of the Giants 6-1 on Sunday afternoon. Al & Tim have plenty to revel in, but especially Lane Thomas' unforgettable day where he tied a franchise record with 4 stolen bases, 3 hits at the plate, and flashed the leather in the field multiple times. However, the conversation quickly morphs int...

Saturday was a special day at Nationals Park as it began with the introductory Dylan Crews Press Conference and was followed by a 10-1 thrashing of the Giants. Al & Tim start with all the offensive accolades for CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, and Alex Call. Abrams homered on his Bobblehead night while Ruiz & Call each are slugging over .500 in July. (21:30) Josiah Gray issued 3 walks right away, but set...

The Nats beat the Giants 5-3 on Friday night to begin the home stand. Al & Tim recap Jake Irvin's career best start as he struck out nine and almost made it 7 IP on 111 pitches. What is a realistic ceiling for Irvin as we move forward? (11:10) This was not a night to complain about the bullpen as they came through unscathed for the final 7 outs. Jordan Weems came through in a 7th inning jam, and t...

The Nats bullpen imploded again in Chicago, this time they allowed 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to lose 8-3. Mark (Live from Wrigley Field) & Al discuss the continued sorry state of affairs for the 'pen and on Wednesday Mason Thompson was part of the problem. During the final 2 games of the series, the relief pitching gave up 20 runs in less than 6 frames. (13:30) Trevor Williams had a so-so ou...

The Nats led 3-0, but it was all Cubs form there in a 17-3 blowout on Tuesday night. Mark (Live from Wrigley) & Al run through the gruesome details on the "B" Bullpen as they allowed a combined 14 runs in the 7th & 8th innings. It was a particularly tough night for Our Guy Paolo; who ceded 8 runs in less than an inning of work. Will this end up as the worst Nationals Bullpen in history? (16:00) Be...

The Nats topped the Cubs 7-5 to begin their three game series at Wrigley Field. Mark (From Chicago) & Al examine Jeimer Candelario's immediate impact in his return to the lineup by homering right away. Candelario had missed action over the weekend due to a bone bruise in his thumb. (07:40) Keibert Ruiz was picked off, but made up for it with a 2 run shot in the 7th for a 7-3 lead. Ruiz played nice...

The Nats lost the series rubber match on Sunday 8-4 in St. Louis as there was a rain delay for the third consecutive day. Al & Mark (Live from Busch Stadium) begin with the pair of crucial injuries that the team is currently dealing with for closer Hunter Harvey and Jeimer Candelario. Harvey's velocity was down and Saturday and this led to him being scheduled for a MRI back in D.C. Candelario trie...

A long Saturday at Busch Stadium resulted in the Nats winning Game 1 (7-5 extras W) and dropping Game 2 (9-6 L) vs. the Cardinals. Mark (Live from St. Louis) & Al run through the busy start to the series, which has seen plenty of rain delays. Jeimer Candelario did not play in either affair due to his thumb bone bruise and this is a cause for concern due to the looming Trade Deadline (August 1st)....