The Capitals won in Boston, the Nationals' pitching stayed amazing, Chris Pontius delivered the fatal blow in New England and the Wizards are, well, the same. more ›

Jayson Werth, of all people, played the hero at Nationals Park last night. Meanwhile, in New York, it was just ugly for the Wizards. more ›

In yesterday's games, the Capitals dropped the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Boston Bruins in overtime, and while that Nationals home opener ended wildly, it started with some great pitching. more ›

The Nationals couldn't finish the season-opening sweep yesterday, losing 4-3 to the Chicago Cubs. And the Chad Tracy crazy is on hold. more ›

In yesterday's games, the Nationals stayed on pace to go 162-0; the Capitals knocked off the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference on the final day of the regular season; and United played to a scoreless tie. more ›

The Nationals opened the season with a win in Chicago, and back home, the Capitals eked their way into the NHL playoffs. more ›

Nationals 5, Pirates 2: The biggest sign of great things to come for Stephen Strasburg wasn't the huge ovation he received from the 40,395 at Nationals Park last night after finally breaking 100 miles per hour on the radar gun -- which he did several times. It wasn't the dominating second inning, during which he struck out the side. Nor was it the multiple times he made Pittsburgh hitters look completely foolish on pitches that were so utterly filthy, yours truly felt the immediate desire to hit the confessional. more ›

Bryce Harper -- the LeBron of the diamond -- has been drafted and his rights as a professional baseballer now belong to the Washington Nationals. Before you get too fired up about the man, the myth, and the legend, here's some things you should know: more ›

Astros 8, Nationals 7: The Nats let a furious late-inning rally go to waste, scoring three runs in the eighth and ninth innings -- only to watch Lance Berkman get the better of closer Matt Capps, knocking in the tying and winning runs in a 8-7 defeat. more ›

With all due respect to the pitching duel between Chris Carpenter and John Lannan in St. Louis, the vast majority of last night's action -- and hence, the vast majority of this post's content -- was the result of some friendly ping-pong balls falling the right way and an announcement made by people in suits in a television studio in New Jersey. The Wizards, after several documented years of draft lottery futility, overcame close to 1-in-10 odds to win the right to select John Wall with the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. (Take that, Russian gazillionaires and hip-hop moguls!) Yeah, Washington could also take a guy like national player of the year Evan Turner, but let's get real here -- they're taking Wall or I'll eat my hat. Plus: I'm sure that Turner's nickname would be tougher to conjure up.) Wall already has the talking heads eating out of his palm and he sure looks like a solid bet. For what it's worth, Wall seems happy with heading to D.C. more ›

Cardinals 6, Nationals 2: Much-touted reliever Drew Storen -- who, if all goes to plan, will be closing every Stephen Strasburg win in a couple of years -- made his major-league debut last night and didn't allow a hit, getting a big strikeout of Matt Holliday with two on; but the Nationals still lost their fourth in a row last night against St. Louis, 6-2. Aside from embracing Storen's first big league action, the easy thing to do would be to precipitously write off the current four-game tumble as the team finally crashing down to Earth after a fortunate first few weeks -- and with a Pythagorean expectation of only 18-21, some will certainly do this. But there are mitigating factors at work here. Last night's loss is Washington's eighth road game of a tough nine-game span, one of the longest stretches away from home the Nats will embark on all season. (Only ten-game swings between May 25 - June 3 and July 16-25 are longer road trips this year.) And there's not many places tougher to finish out an exhausting trip than the Gateway to the West: St. Louis is one of the better teams in the majors at home and has quietly been one of the stingiest teams in the National League. Plus, you know, there's that Pujols guy. The reigning MVP went three-for-three and scored twice, while others surrounding him in the Cardinal lineup pitched in; Washington's lineup offered no such help in the proximity of Ian Desmond, whose four-hit night went mostly to waste. more ›

Nationals 14, Colorado 6 (F/8): Well, it rained. Then it rained some more. And then the Nationals put up a seven spot in the top of the eighth. Then it rained, again. Finally, the men in blue put an end to an oft-delayed, waterlogged game, one the Nats won against Colorado at Coors Field. Ryan Zimmerman wouldn't let the weather distract him; the Nationals' patrolman on the hot corner crushed two longballs off Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin and batted in six runs in total, all before Washington blew the game open with nine hits in the eighth. It was good timing too -- after the Rockies went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning, the umps understandably ruled the field unplayable. (It sure looked a mess out there on the television broadcast, with standing water everywhere and temps hovering in the mid-30s.) With both teams getting the same number of outs, the game could be ended -- but, of course, not until we waited for thirty minutes thanks to baseball's draconian policy on calling games in progress, which mercifully happened at 1:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. But what's an extra half-hour or so to get to 20 wins? After all, Washington didn't win their 20th game in 2009 until June 19, in their 66th game of the season. more ›

Nationals 3, Mets 2: The Washington Nationals are four games over .500 for the first time in over four years, despite being outscored by 16 runs on the season. They are 8-3 in one-run games, and but 1.5 games behind in the division. There are quotes coming out of the locker room like "When we lace it up, we're going to give you nine innings of hell." They are getting things that winning teams get, like five-plus shutout innings from 25-year-old rookies (Luis Atilano, who picked up his third win last night) and a save from a 39-year-old journeyman reliever (Miguel Batista) when the stud closer really needed the night off. The team's best offensive and defensive player (Ryan Zimmerman, who homered last night) is getting help from a veteran catcher who is hitting .393 (Ivan Rodriguez, who had another four hits last night), timely outbursts of power (last night it was Adam Kennedy) and speed on the base paths (the Nats stole four bases last night without being caught). The best prospect in baseball is on his way shortly, and the front office appears to be leaning towards using the first pick in this summer's draft on the next big phenom. more ›

Nationals 3, Braves 2: So who saw this coming from Scott Olsen? The lefty -- who appeared destined for a trip back to the minors after a two-inning, six-earned run performance on April 20 -- carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Thursday, while Willie Harris' bases-loaded pinch hit staked the Nationals to a 3-2 win. Olsen was very impressive: in his third consecutive quality start, Olsen exhibited excellent control by retiring 16 straight at one point, and extending his scoreless inning streak to 20 before allowing two runs in the eighth. It was a real pitching display at Nats Park last night -- Braves starter Tim Hudson was dealing too, but he made two mistakes to Ivan Rodriguez and Adam Dunn, who both hit solo homers to stake Washington to a 2-0 lead. (Fun fact: Rodriguez's first Nationals Park blast pushes the number of big league parks he's homered in to 34.) But in fairness, Harris came up with the biggest hit, despite it being of far less elevation -- Willie's single up the middle gave Washington its third win in its last at-bat, but the team's first win after being tied after 8 innings.
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Braves 7, Nationals 6 (F/10): I know it's still only May and the baseball season is a long and arduous journey. (Feel free to add your own platitude about the grandiosity of it all in the comments, if you feel so inclined.) But there's more evidence than not that these Nationals of ours are a scrappy bunch. They showed it last night, when they came back three times from deficits to force extra innings. But a fourth comeback proved a task too difficult, and the Nats fell 7-6 -- the first time Atlanta won a road game in eleven tries. Luis Atilano, who had produced two straight starts of six innings and had only allowed three combined earned runs in both, was touched a bit, giving up six runs on seven hits and walking five -- and most of that even came after Atlanta's next big thing, Jason Heyward, left the game in the second inning with a groin issue. But Ian Desmond, Ivan Rodriguez and Josh Willingham all chipped in to bail him out, each delivering hits to pull the Nationals up out of the well that Atilano kept tripping them into. So let's be optimistic: despite Matt Capps' first loss of the year (and, let's be fair, 4.2 IP, three hits and one run is not too shabby a line for your relief corps) at least the Nationals proved that they're more than capable this season of going punch for punch when presented with the challenge. Considering the way things have gone over the last couple of seasons, that's not too shabby. more ›

Nationals 3, Cubs 1: Will Livan Hernandez, Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps -- the Nationals' pitching trio that took to the mound on Tuesday night -- all be able to maintain ERAs below one though an entire season? Nope. But, oh, to enjoy it while it lasts. Hernandez, Clippard and Capps blew through the Cubs last night, allowing only seven singles and two walks in a thoroughly masterful pitching performance. Ian Desmond helped his pitchers with a nice night at the plate and on the bases: two hits with runners in scoring position, two RBIs, two steals and a run scored. But great pitching, present and future, was the order of the day for the Nats. As impressive as Hernandez and Co. have been early this season, count us among those salivating over Stephen Strasburg's five innings of nearly-perfect ball this afternoon. At this rate, if Livan can even just keep it up until mid-season, the dynamic phenom -- 0.52 ERA, 17.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 23 K in four starts at Double-A Harrisburg -- could probably pick up the rest of the slack. It's tough to get too excited about a staff ERA which currently floats around five, but dare we say: on the mound, things are looking up for the Nationals. more ›

If the Caps are going to pull this series out and avoid one of the biggest stomach punches in Washington sports history, they're going to need to play hard from the moment they step out onto the ice in Game 7. The Caps obviously didn't heed their coach's criticism about starting games poorly -- Mike Cammalleri scored twice in the first ten minutes to put the Caps into an early hole again. The Caps are being outscored in the first period during this series 8-3; the rest of the way, Washington is up 18-10. One gets the feeling that if the Capitals would have come out like they meant it from the start of this series, we'd already be talking about facing Philadelphia. Oh, and scoring a couple of goals on the power play -- on which, Washington is mired in a 1-for-30 slump -- would probably help a little bit too. more ›

Canadiens 2, Capitals 1: The Caps couldn't wrap up the series in Game 5, and now have to head back to Quebec for what will certainly be a challenging Game 6. Be sure to visit us tomorrow morning for our full report. more ›

Capitals 6, Canadiens 3: So much for the vaunted home ice advantage that Montreal earned with a split at Verizon Center in Games 1 and 2. Bell Centre, the largest arena in the NHL with a capacity of 21,273, was silenced -- perhaps for the season -- as the Caps put six on the board and the first nail in the Canadiens' coffin, taking a 3-1 series lead. Washington battled back from a 2-1 deficit with goals from Mike Knuble (shorthanded), Jason Chimera and Alex Ovechkin (his second of the game), before Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom added empty netters to put the game away. Ovechkin also broke an 0-15 power play drought with the Caps' first goal of the game. Semyon Varlamov was very solid in net despite allowing three goals. Varlamov made 36 saves, and was especially good in the second period as Montreal threw 21 shots on goal. In the opposite net, Carey Price got the start in place of the shaky Jaroslav Halak and drew not one, but two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for firing pucks towards the Caps bench after Chimera's and Backstrom's goals. A Russian machine may never break; but the Montreal Canadiens' collective psyche is certainly broken beyond repair. more ›

Rockies 10, Nationals 4: Poor Miguel Olivo. He must feel kind of bummed, being the only Rockies starter to go hitless on Tuesday night and all. Colorado easily handled the Nationals, who continued their yo-yo routine around .500. The killer blow in an eight-run third inning that dug the Nationals their second 10-0 hole in three games? A bases-clearing double by Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa. De La Rosa hardly pitched a gem; but with a ten-run lead behind you, who really needs to? (Despite that, I couldn't help but be impressed, digging beyond just tonight's box score -- De La Rosa has notched an amazing 18-3 record since last June 5.) Washington lefty Scott Olsen, in a tight race with Craig Stammen to see who will avoid being the man replaced by Stephen Strasburg when he's inevitably called up later this summer, sputtered through a two-inning start and was responsible for six of the ten Colorado runs. Highlights for the Nats were few and far between -- though Ryan Zimmerman did hit his second homer of the year, and Cristian Guzman's four-hit evening was certainly pleasing. Of note: the Rockies were playing with heavy hearts -- the team had learned of the death of 48-year-old team president Keli McGregor hours before the game. more ›

Capitals 5, Canadiens 1: Most NHL early-round playoff series usually turn on one particular moment. As much as one can diagnose after but three games, the obvious choice for the Washington Capitals in their opening matchup with Montreal is Nicklas Backstrom's inspiring Game 2 hat trick, which seemed to shake a mini-slump for the powerful Caps. But could it be that we'll remember this series more for Jaroslav Halak's shaky arm? Alexander Ovechkin said that he could tell Halak -- who played fine in Game 1 -- was vulnerable on Saturday night because his arm was shaking during a break in the action. Dan Steinberg goes Zapruder-style and concludes that, indeed, Halak's arm was "shaking like a feather floating over an Icelandic volcano." If there was any doubt that Halak was rattled by the Caps' spirited comeback, it was eliminated on Monday night. Washington skated rampant over a Montreal team that was oh-so-close to taking a 2-0 series lead back to Quebec, knocking Halak out after three unanswered goals in the second period. Of course, Ovie can make any goalie look helpless; after Halak exited, the Russian proceeded to terrorize Habs backup Carey Price, scoring on a one-timer from his knees to cap a four-goal middle period. Semyon Varlamov got the start over Jose Theodore and likely hammered down the Game 4 start, recording 26 saves and looking sharp. The Caps offense absolutely brutalized the Canadiens at even strength -- three Montreal skaters registered -4 ratings. more ›

Nationals 5, Brewers 3: Last season, the Nationals won five games in all of April. Considering that, a celebration of getting to .500 after ten games doesn't seem like such a ridiculous idea. Ace John Lannan appears to have shaken off the rust, and the offense delivered some clutch hitting in the bottom of the eighth inning to overturn a deficit against Milwaukee. Lannan was fantastic, getting big outs when he needed them, and Matt Capps remained perfect with his fifth save in five chances. Reliever Brian Bruney picked up the win, but it really belonged Lannan, who dropped his ERA from 8.31 to 5.75 with a 103-pitch effort. more ›

Phillies 14, Nationals 7: These Washington Nationals sure have a bad habit of surrendering leads, as any team with subpar pitching will. Wednesday night marked the fifth time in the season's first eight games that the Nationals blew a promising headstart, and it might have been the most explosive choke yet. The Nats jumped all over Phils starter Kyle Kendrick in the first, just like they did last Thursday in a 6-5 win -- second baseman Adam Kennedy crushed a bases-loaded double and the Nationals had a 3-0 lead. Then Craig Stammen took the hill. The bullpen was getting ready before Stammen recorded an out, as he allowed four hits, a walk, and a sac fly. Not content to blow one lead, the Nationals loaded the bases again and scored another three runs off Kendrick in the second. Of course, the Phils proceeded to come back with another three in the bottom of the frame on a Chase Utley home run. But it wasn't just Stammen who struggled -- Shane Victorino pummeled Nats pitching all night en route to a four-hit, five-RBI, three-run effort filling in for the injured Jimmy Rollins at the top of the Philadelphia order and the Phils eventually pulled away. Things got so messy that pitcher Jason Marquis got the chance to pinch hit in the fifth, as Jim RIggleman ended up having to use 19 of his 25 available players in this debacle. more ›

Union 3, United 2: Your roving DCist sports editor was in Philadelphia last night, checking out the scene at MLS' first regular season game in the city of Brotherly Love. My first impression? No one should doubt that United fans can move with the best of them. Bolstered by nearly 1,000 United supporters who made the trek to Philadelphia, folks in black and red overtook yours truly's section of the parking lot. (Lot 8 North, anyone?) After entering the park, United's famously vocal fans were shoved way up into the upper echelon of roomy Lincoln Financial Field -- their singing and chanting not muffled by the elevated location, but rather the French striker who preyed on their charges all night. Sebastien Le Toux struck early and often for the expansion Union, taking advantage of some awful United marking to head in the first home goal in Union history at the third minute mark. The former Seattle Sounder then added another two at forty and eighty minutes to complete his hat trick, pushing the Union and a soccer-crazed crowd into a joyous rapture. more ›

Capitals 5, Thrashers 2: So many easily divisible numbers, so little time! The Caps were presented with their Presidents' Trophy -- which team captain Alexander Ovechkin refused to acknowledge. (Oh, those pucksters and their superstitions.) Ovechkin then notched his 50th goal of the season, a game-winner in the third period and his second of the game, and a goal which pushed him past Sidney Crosby (again) in the race for the NHL goal-scoring crown. Nicklas Backstrom notched point number 100 on that second Ovie goal. (Split the puck, I guess?) The Caps' fifth straight victory tied a franchise record as their 30th home win of the season. Jose Theodore got the win, marking the fourth time in his career he has reached the thirty-win plateau. more ›

Nationals 6, Phillies 5: While technically the game finished well before what we consider "last night," we only get to celebrate this once a year: the Nationals won for the first time this season yesterday. Wilie Harris certainly earned the right to don the post-game silver Elvis wig as the player of the game; his two-run homer in the fourth off Phils starter Kyle Kendrick pushed the Nats to a 5-2 lead. But it was consistency at the top of the lineups that really put a win on the board. The first four hitters in the D.C. lineup went 7-for-14 with three extra base hits, while Washington also got RBIs from positions two through five in the lineup. And is that a bullpen I see? Tyler Clippard (who picked up the win), Brian Bruney and Matt Capps (earning his first save as a Nat) got through the final 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run, no small feat against a lineup that's battered Nationals pitching this Opening Week. One man who certainly won't be missed around Nationals Park: Phils third baseman Placido Polanco. Polanco extended a 23-game hit streak against Washington with another two hits yesterday, and he moves on boasting a torrid .500 average in his first three games. more ›

Phillies 8, Nationals 4: Phew, it's a good thing we got that whole Philadelphia invasion thing out of our system and can now focus entirely on baseball, right? One thing: it's still the Nats and that same old awful starting pitching. New starter Jason Marquis fared slightly better than John Lannan did on Monday, but he still struggled to find consistency as the Phils beat Washington 8-4. Marquis allowed six earned in four innings of work, sandwiching three innings of acceptable work with a jittery first inning featuring three walks, one hit batter, and a wild pitch and a fifth inning in which Ryan Howard crushed his second homer to knock Marquis out. Two games into the 2010 season, here's the Nationals top two starters' combined line: 23 recorded outs, 15 hits, 11 earned runs, six walks and only two strikeouts. Blech. On the bright side, Ian Desmond continues to prove that he could be the offensive answer for this team at shortstop, hitting a laser home run to dead center in the third, and smashing a double one inning later, raising his slugging percentage since his call up last September to .606. (Though his two errors in two games is certainly concerning.) Oh, and since there wasn't an Obama sighting or Opening Day festivities, attendance was back to 27,240, or 65 percent of capacity. So let's see: horrid starting pitching, random outbursts of offensive promise and a stadium with plenty of seats that went unfilled. Sounds like we're back to the usual brand of Nationals baseball, alright. more ›

Capitals 6, Penguins 3: Never has deja vu been so exciting. The Caps beat the Penguins 6-3 for the second time this year on Mellon Arena ice and completed a four-game regular season sweep of the Pens. Though most will say it really doesn't mean much until the Caps prove they can beat Pittsburgh four times in this postseason, the sweep should help the Caps' mindset as they head to the playoffs, which, as we all know, ended last year in a Game 7 nightmare against Crosby & Co. more ›

Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2 (SO): See, now, this is what we're afraid of. The Caps, coming off an intense -- some might call it playoff-like -- win over the Penguins on Wednesday, sauntered into Raleigh and came out flatter than a playing card, allowing two goals in the first period and waiting until midway through the second period to really get into gear. It's a testament to the talent level and depth of the team that Washington managed to get back and tie the game by the end of regulation, but this game was pretty much every Caps fans worst nightmare come playoff time in the flesh. Think about it: the Caps will wrap up the top seed in the Eastern Conference by the weekend. The Presidents' Trophy is only slightly further away. It's quite possible that going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Caps will have a two and a half week period in which they will play nary a really important game. And -- as any fan of the league can tell you -- the eight-seed in the NHL is a dangerous, dangerous thing. Factor in the fact that everyone and their grandma will be hoping for a conference final matching up Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, and the fear that the Caps could overlook a plucky team becomes a lot more realistic. more ›