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Byline: James Wagner A week after dismissing the entire coaching staff along with Manager Matt Williams, Randy Knorr, Bobby Henley and Matt LeCroy will remain with the organization in new [...]

Byline: James Wagner Another day brought yet another bullpen meltdown by the Nationals, this one perhaps the hardest gut punch in a season full of them. Washington's relievers needed to [...]

Byline: James Wagner Much will come to define this Washington Nationals season when it is over, and with every loss it becomes more likely the end will arrive earlier than [...]

Byline: James Wagner Stephen Strasburg played catch before Wednesday's game and is slated to throw a bullpen session on Thursday, thus ruling him out for his next turn in the [...]

Byline: James Wagner Updated, 1:15 a.m. Bryce Harper left Wednesday's game in St. Louis in the fourth inning with left glute tightness, an issue that first popped up in Tuesday's [...]

Byline: James Wagner The Nationals' lineup is healthier now than it has been for much of the season. But still, since Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon returned from [...]

Byline: James Wagner Ian Desmond left Tuesday's game after five innings with lower back tightness, minor discomfort that he believes won't prevent him from playing Wednesday. Desmond said his back [...]

Byline: James Wagner CINCINNATI -- Wherever Dusty Baker returns, he is instantly everyone's best friend again. Like in his return to Chicago earlier this season, Baker's pregame press conference was [...]

Byline: James Wagner A 162-game season is grueling for anyone, let alone a veteran outfielder who recently turned 37. To help, Washington Nationals Manager Dusty Baker has made a habit [...]

Byline: James Wagner Ryan Zimmerman is even keeled to the core. When things haven't gone well, as they have not this season, Zimmerman sticks to the same routine and swing. [...]

Byline: James Wagner A 162-game season is grueling for anyone, let alone a veteran outfielder who recently turned 37. To help, Washington Nationals Manager Dusty Baker has made a habit [...]

Byline: James Wagner The Nationals wrap up a seven-game home stand with a Sunday afternoon game against the Cardinals. The Nationals can split the four-game series with a win. Jayson [...]

Byline: James Wagner Stephen Strasburg has been one of the best starters in the National League this season. His 2.79 ERA is 17th in the NL, while his batting average [...]

Byline: James Wagner Fans sitting in Section 236 of Nationals Park, in the third and highest deck in right field, don't usually expect home runs to be hit their way. [...]

Byline: James Wagner Fans sitting in Section 236 of Nationals Park, the third and highest deck in right field, don't usually expect home runs. They shouldn't. Most home runs in [...]

Byline: James Wagner Turner's case involves various factors, and one consideration is the service time clock. The Nationals are in the win-now mode of their team history, so if they [...]

Byline: James Wagner Everyone has a reputation -- or, as Dusty Baker calls it, a jacket. This player can't hit a fastball. That pitcher struggles against left-handers. This guy has [...]

Byline: James Wagner Stephen Drew had no idea where the ball was -- even with sunglasses on and his left hand shielding the sun. 'A helpless feeling,' he said. Joe [...]

Byline: James Wagner Off to the best start in team history, the Washington Nationals guaranteed the immediate future of their team's architect by picking up the two-year option on General [...]

Byline: James Wagner Bryce Harper dropped the appeal of his one-game suspension and will serve it during the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, the team announced before the nightcap. Harper [...]

Byline: Chelsea Janes;and James Wagner If there is such thing as an ideal first game of a doubleheader -- and many players these days would probably say there is not [...]

Byline: James Wagner The moment Kyle Barraclough saw Bryce Harper make contact, he hopped on the mound, looked down and let out a yell. The ball sailed into the first [...]

Byline: James Wagner;Adam Kilgore It had become a ritual for the Strasburgs of San Diego, an annual opportunity for a young family to sort out business, to assess the past [...]

Byline: James Wagner Zimmerman entered Tuesday's game with one home run, 12 RBI and a .611 OPS hitting cleanup much of the season. After Zimmerman's weekend of stranded base runners [...]

Byline: James Wagner Major League Baseball suspended Bryce Harper and fined him an undisclosed amount for his actions following his ejection Monday, 'which included returning to the field,' according to [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- Ben Revere will meet the Nationals in Chicago for the four-game series that begins Thursday between teams with the best two records in the [...]

Byline: James Wagner Including Tuesday's game, the Nationals rank 11th out of 15 National League teams with a .238 average and 10th with a .712 OPS. With runners on base, [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- Once the school year ends, Dusty Baker's 17-year-old son, Darren, will join his dad in D.C. Darren, best remembered as the little bat boy [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY, MO. -- After his implosion on the mound Tuesday in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon didn't have much to say. Disappointment and [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- As planned, Ryan Zimmerman is the designated hitter in Wednesday's series finale against the Royals, so Clint Robinson is starting at first base. The [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- Think back to spring training, when the Nationals bullpen was an unknown with many new faces and several possibilities. Yet, here we are, 25 [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- Jayson Werth is the designated hitter in Tuesday's lineup against Royals starter Chris Young so Chris Heisey is starting in left field. Wilson Ramos [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For swaths of Monday's game against the Kansas City Royals, Gio Gonzalez tiptoed on a ledge. His pitch count skyrocketed through the first [...]

Byline: James Wagner KANSAS CITY -- As he emerged from the dugout to say hi to friends before Monday's batting practice, Blake Treinen heard his name from the stands. 'Hey [...]

Byline: James Wagner ST. LOUIS -- As the Nationals took batting practice Sunday morning, Wilson Ramos popped out of the dugout. Only a few days earlier, he was in Venezuela [...]

Byline: James Wagner ST. LOUIS -- A blister on Joe Ross's right middle finger prevented him from pitching more than two innings over the past two weeks. His past turn [...]

Byline: James Wagner ST. LOUIS -- When a hitter struggles to hit as much as Michael A. Taylor did to start the season, any gradual improvement is noticeable. And this [...]

Byline: James Wagner ST. LOUIS -- The announcement of Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances came at 1:18 a.m. Eastern time Friday. So it wasn't until later that morning [...]

Byline: James Wagner ST. LOUIS -- For much of the first month of the season, the Washington Nationals' offense has been powered mostly by the few: Bryce Harper and Daniel [...]

Byline: James Wagner Although it isn't easy to sit four out of every five games, Jose Lobaton knows his place on the Washington Nationals. He is the defense-first, switch-hitting backup [...]

Byline: James Wagner The season has barely begun, but the Nationals have already claimed a title of sorts: a FitBit challenge. The fitness competition was part of the company's Step [...]

Byline: James Wagner In spring training, Jonathan Papelbon had a feeling Nationals fansÃámight not receive him well for his role in aÃáfight with Bryce Harper last September. Papelbon was suspended [...]

Byline: James Wagner A player's first hit of the season should carry no extra significance, especially when he is in his 14th major league campaign. But when that first hit [...]

Byline: Jake Russell;James Wagner With reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper on the cusp of 100 career home runs at age 23, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history [...]

Byline: James Wagner All the Nationals were introduced before Thursday's home opener, jogging out from the dugout to form a line along the first base line. When it was Ben [...]

Byline: James Wagner ATLANTA -- The Nationals signed second baseman Daniel Murphy this winter, after years of watching him torment them with the New York Mets, because they knew first-hand [...]

Byline: James Wagner Everything Max Scherzer does has a purpose. His routine on game days, from his pregame meal to his route to the stadium, is exact. His brain churns [...]

Byline: James Wagner VIERA, Fla. -- As a teenager, Ben Revere often watched a VHS tape of hitting instruction. He was always drawn to one section: a breakdown of Ted [...]

Byline: James Wagner Belisle was on his way into Space Coast Stadium on Tuesday morning as Manager Dusty Baker, who was headed to Jupiter with some players for the penultimate [...]

Byline: James Wagner JUPITER, Fla. -- The first time the Nationals were rained on -- back on March 19 -- it was a minor nuisance. There was still enough time [...]