The Nationals announced Friday afternoon that third baseman Ryan Zimmerman will go on the 15-day disabled list. In his place, they are calling up highly valued prospect—and on-field jerk—Bryce Harper. more ›

It was a great day for D.C. sports. Along with the Capitals, who won their first-round NHL playoff series against the Bruins, the Nationals and Wizards recorded victories, too. more ›

The Nationals won their home opener against the Cincinnati Reds on a wild pitch in the 10th inning that allowed Ryan Zimmerman to slide home for the winning run. more ›

In signing a six-year contract extension worth at least $100 million yesterday, Ryan Zimmerman all but guaranteed he'll be wearing a Nationals uniform through the end of the decade. more ›

With a tip of the cap to Russian Machine Never Breaks, here's footage of commercial star, noted feminist and goal-scorer (though not so much of late) Alexander Ovechkin, exhibiting some of his finest dance moves, many of them at Club Glow. If you're at all offended by truly awful dancing, this will be nearly as graphic to you as those Missy Reilly Smith advertisements. more ›

Congratulations appear to be in order for Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who -- if published internet reports are accurate -- will win his first Gold Glove when winners are officially announced later today. Zimmerman, whose defensive play at the hot corner in 2009 was one of the few real consistent highlights for the Nationals during a tumultous season, is reportedly one of four debutant winners this season. Zimmerman was the likely favorite for the award with last year's recipient, New York's David Wright, having an injury-plagued season, but the face of the Nationals did have competition from San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff for this year's honor. The official Gold Glove winners will be announced later today; and even though ESPN is busy wondering whether baseball's highest defensive honor really means anything, we feel confident stating that Nationals fans will take whatever positives they can get their paws on. more ›

Nationals 5, Marlins 4: It was probably the most exciting home game of the season: even though it seemed like the Nationals thought that yesterday's game was a 3 p.m. start, numerous late-inning heroics led the team to their first win in over a week over the always-pesky Marlins. The first seven frames were about as forgettable as it gets at Nationals Park, the only bit of entertainment being Hanley Ramirez's fourth inning solo home run for the visitors. But the Nationals turned things on in the eighth, loading the bases on two walks and a single. Pinch hitter Mike Morse tied the score with a two-strike single up the gut off Florida reliever Kiko Calero. But that was merely an appetizer for the ninth inning. Normally-reliable closer Mike MacDougal allowed the Fins to retake a two-run lead on former National Nick Johnson's RBI single; but Willie Harris and Ryan Zimmerman homered in dramatic fashion, placing whatever fans who stuck it out into a frenzy. For Zim, it was the fifth walk-off of his career -- and two comebacks in two innings is certainly one of the better highlights of a season mostly spent in the doldrums. more ›

• Nationals 5, Reds 4:: Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Ryan ZImmerman provided all the offense Washington needed to overcome a four-run fifth inning from the Reds and win their first series on the road since the middle of June. The three sluggers had big games in support of John Lannan, who looked incredibly average for the second straight start. Willingham delivered the most impressive blow, a towering two-run homer in the fourth inning with Dunn on base. Not to be outdone, Dunn was an on-base machine, reaching base four times (two doubles and twice hit by pitches) -- while Zimmerman's hit was the most timely of them all, a single which pushed both Dunn and Willingham home to retake the lead. The pen also came up big again: Jorge Sosa (2-1) got five outs in relief for the win, and Mike MacDougle picked up where Sosa left off and got the last four outs for the save, his 13th. The Nationals are off on Monday -- it's probably a good thing, as the team will be focusing all its efforts towards signing Stephen Strasburg before the midnight deadline.
• Liberty 60, Mystics 59: Not a typo there, folks -- this game really was that offensively-challenged. Washington couldn't carry over its momentum after a big double-overtime win against Connecticut two days ago, dropping this ugly one to conference doormat New York. To blame? If dismal shooting from beyond the arc and at the free throws line wasn't enough to assure the loss, fouling the opposition's best player -- Janel McCarville, who had 19 points -- on a final shot McCarville herself called "ugly" certainly did the trick. This one hurts: in a three-way tie for second at the beginning of the night, the Mystics fall all the way to fifth place after the loss.

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been named to the 2009 National League All-Star team. Every team gets an All-Star, and Ryan Zimmerman is the Nationals'. As the face of the franchise, Zimmerman is the perfect representative for the Nationals: much like the team, he is both hitting better than last year and has a lot more errors. Fans still have the chance to vote shortstop Cristian Guzman into the final National League All-Star slot. more ›

We might not have Congressional representation, but at least there's this: voting for the July 14 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis ends today at 11:59 p.m. EST -- and Ryan Zimmerman needs your help to get to the Gateway City. Zimmerman currently sits third in the race for National League third basemen behind New York's David Wright and Atlanta's Chipper Jones. Although he led the balloting for some time during his record-setting hitting streak earlier this season, it now seems unlikely that Zimmerman can make up the 700,000 vote gap which separates him from Wright. But the race for second is separated by a mere 50,000 punched holes; finishing ahead of Jones wouldn't guarantee that the franchise third baseman would be the Nats representative in the game, but it'd go a pretty long way: after all, outside of outfielder Adam Dunn -- who's currently sitting 12th among N.L. outfielders -- it's pretty slim pickings for All-Stars. Heck, two players on the Nats ballot aren't even with the team as of this moment. Fans can vote up to 25 times online; you can find the ballot here. (Of course, whether a team who's currently on pace to lose 115 games should even be allowed an All-Star is a topic for another day.) more ›

The Nationals may still be the worst team in the Major League, but at least they can hit. They currently lead the National League in OPS with .808, and are in the top three in the league in Batting Average, OBP, and Slugging. Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman are at the top of the National League in most offensive categories, with Elijah Dukes, Nick Johnson and Jesus Flores not far behind. more ›

It's never good when a team is swept in a series. It's also never good when a team gives up a 9th inning lead. It takes a special team to get swept in a series by giving up three straight 9th inning leads. This rare feat was accomplished by the Nationals over the weekend, as they dropped three games to the Marlins. The result is that three pitchers from the bullpen, Saul Rivera, Steven Shell, and Wil Ledezma, were sent down to the minors after Sunday's game. To replace them, the team called up Jason Bergman, Garrett Mock, and Kip Wells. This is a dramatic move, and sends the message that there's a degree of losing that even the Nationals organization cannot tolerate. more ›

The Nationals have won 3 of their last 13 games, and possess the second worst record in the National League. The team is currently batting .235, have an OBP of .310, are slugging .357, and have an OPS of .667. They also have 229 total RBIs and 781 total bases. What is amazing about all of these statistics is that the Nationals trail all other NL teams in each of them. In fact, these numbers would be the worst in the MLB, if not for Seattle's .305 OBP and Kansas City's 227 RBIs. It is really amazing how bad this team's offense is. If you filter any of these statistics using runners in scoring position, or runners on, etc., you just need to look at the bottom of the list to find Washington. more ›

The Nats are 3-3 in the last week. They even managed to score 25 runs in those 6 games, up from the 17 that they scored in the previous 7 games. They are still only batting .218 as a team with a .267 OBP in the last 7 days, putting them second to last in the National League during that period. Overall, the team is last in the National League with a .234 batting average, second to last in OBP at .311, last in slugging at .357, and last in OPS at .668. That said, they don't have the worst record in baseball, and have actually won 18 of their last 34 games. If they could learn to hit, they might actually live up to the admittedly meager .500 ball expectations that they had this year. more ›

In the last week the Nats have gone 4-2. They've won 7 of their last 10 games, and earned a better record, 14-19, than four teams in the National League. Austin Kearns looks like he has decided to earn his $5 million salary, batting .318 over the last week and adding a home run in last night's game. Even Rob Mackowiak has turned it around, batting .429 in the last seven games. Soon he may even have more hits than strikeouts. It is an exciting time to be a Nationals fan. more ›

Bonjour! This Nats update is coming to you straight from Paris -- that is the level of our devotion to this team. How has the team repaid us? Well, they've gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, own a better record than 6 teams in baseball, and have all but guaranteed that they will not finish last in the NL East. They are currently 6 wins away from tying last year's record, a feat that... more ›

Since we last left the Nationals, the team has gone 4-3 and pulled itself out of last place in the NL East. They are one win away from 63, and thus avoiding the humiliation of triple digit loses this year. They are also nine wins from tying last year's total. These are the metrics we have to use to judge a team that wasn't really competing for the post-season anyway (during the pre-season, Vegas... more ›

If the DCist Flickr pool is a good indication, many of you decided to spend part of your Labor Day weekend the good ol' fashioned American way -- at the ballpark. Flickr user Scott Ableman perfectly caught Ryan Zimmerman's game winning RBI against the Giants on Sunday night, in a nail biting moment with the count full in the bottom of the ninth. The Nationals inched out for a final score of 2-1.... more ›

The Nationals have left their fans in quite a quandary this year. What criteria do you use to judge this team? One perspective says that this team has already exceeded expectations and found some quality pitchers in their system, so the season is a success. And yet, this team is currently the fourth worst team in baseball and has lost 10 of their last 14 games, and are in the midst of a 4-game losing... more ›

Damn Barry Bonds. Damn Cream’n’Clear takin’, media-manipulatin’, fan-hatin’ Barry Bonds. With apologies to sister site SFist, who has stepped up their excitement in anticipation of Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record, my recognition of his record-breaking achievement has gone from tepid acknowledgement to thinly-veiled animosity. It was bad enough that the Nats best baseball of the year – two straight series sweeps and a six-game win streak – was overshadowed this weekend by Balco... more ›

On Sunday, with their 7-2 win over the Brewers, the Nats reached the All Star break and the season’s traditional halfway point. With the team on a not-quite-as-bad-as-expected 66-win pace, those of us who write about them are stuck somewhere between the building euphoria in Boston and the pitchfork and torches crowd in Cincinnati. One of the beautiful things about baseball, though, is that the long season generates plenty of moments, both incredible and pathetic,... more ›

Prompted by the opening of online balloting for the 2007 All Star Game a few weeks ago, we recently started wondering who might represent the Nats in San Francisco (since, you know, somebody has to). Dmitri Young? The guy's hitting for a scorching .500 average over the last 21 games. But he's mired behind popular stars like Albert Pujols and Nomar Garciaparra, as well as reigning MVP Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder's 23-homer bat. Even... more ›

As we mentioned on Wednesday, this year's MLB Amateur Player Draft has shaped up to be extremely significant for the Nats. For the first time, the club could put its full organizational muster toward its primary stated goal to rebuild the system with young talent, starting with the draft. Better and more thorough scouting, stockpiled picks and an open wallet promised a draft unlike the Nats/Expos franchise had seen for some time. Brian Oliver, also... more ›

For a struggling offensive team like the Nationals, there's no greater place to play a few games than the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. And lately for the Nats, there's no greater foil than whiny Wayne Krivsky's Reds. For those reasons, I had quite the time watching the Nats pound the stuffing out of the Reds in last night's 12-7 win. The club's long-slumbering lumber has finally awoken--aided by Cincy's teensy bandbox of a field.... more ›

If we told you that Orioles starting pitcher Erik Bedard struck out 12 Nationals batters in a thoroughly dominating performance on Sunday, you’d have expected the O’s to cruise to their third win in a sweep of their Beltway rivals. Likewise, if we told you that both Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns homered and the Nats opened with a 6-0 lead on the road in Cincinnati last night, you’d have expected a first road win... more ›

We were rubbing our eyes last Sunday as we watched the Nationals sweep the Florida Marlins to win their first series of the year. Then they took 3 of 4 from the Braves and knocked them out of first place in the NL East, and now we’re asking ourselves, “Who the hell are these guys?” With only two of their regular starters hitting over .250 and none of them within shouting distance of .300, they... more ›

With apologies to a certain antacid maker, this is how the Nats spell relief: S-E-R-I-E-S-S-W-E-E-P. Coming on the heels of an agonizing road trip and an eight-game losing streak, there was no better cure for the ailing Nats than coming home to RFK to face the streaky Marlins. By the end of the weekend, the Nats had picked up the three game sweep (which was actually their first series win of the year), as well... more ›

The talk about the Nationals being the worst team in major league history seems to have been slightly exaggerated. That being said, they've been pretty awful in losing 5 in a row, including being swept by the Cubs this weekend. The Nats are 9-22, 10.5 games out of first place in the National League East and 5.5 behind the fourth place Phillies. And they face the surprising Brewers, who have the best record in baseball,... more ›

Put the champagne on ice, kids. The Nats, at 4-9, are threatening to climb out of last place for the first time since last June, ahead of struggling Philadelphia. Both teams are 4.5 games back, but the Nats have one more win thus far. Try washing down your $90 million payroll with that, Phils fans! After a dreadful first turn through the rotation, the Nats starters have rebounded with some impressive performances as of late.... more ›