Notes and quotes after an off-day yesterday ... so it’s sort of a hodgepodge of leftovers... KEIBERT RUIZ STILL BUILDING: Going into the second of two with the Baltimore Orioles in D.C. on Wednesday, Keibert Ruiz was 3 for 40 (.075/.119/.150) with one home run, a walk, and six Ks in 10 games and 42 plate appearances since he returned from a prolonged IL stint. Ruiz, 25, dealt with a rough bout of influenza, and, as he told reporters, eventually lost 18-20 lbs. over the course of the illness, but after two rehab games he returned to the majors. “He played two games and it’s good to have him ba ..read more

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ win in the 1st of 2 with the Orioles... TREVOR WILLIAMS LOWERS ERA TO 1.96: Trevor Williams had nine batters reach base in his five-inning, 79-pitch, scoreless outing last week in Arlington, TX, giving up five hits and four walks. Williams worked his way out of two bases-loaded, no-out jams in what ended up a scoreless start, with manager Davey Martinez claiming afterwards his right-hander was some sort of a magician. “He got out of some tough situations,” the skipper said. “That lineup is good over there, it really is.” “He threw some really, really good pi ..read more

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ second baseman... Luis García, Jr. went 4 for 4 at the plate in the Nationals’ series finale with the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, and combined with a single in his final plate appearance on Saturday’s game, he has reached base in five-straight PAs. As the club mentioned in their post-game notes following their 11-8 win on Sunday, he has now reached base in 9 of his last 11 PAs going back to his pinch hit home run in the series opener with Toronto in D.C. on Friday. García, Jr. has also now reached base in 14 straight games, with hits in 13 of the 14. On t ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ 11-8 win over the Blue Jays in the nation’s capital... “Today was a hitters’ duel, basically,” Davey Martinez said after his club’s 11-8 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the series finale in the nation’s capital. “I’m glad we ended up on top.” Trailing 6-1 after two and a half, with starter MacKenzie Gore done after just three innings in which he gave up six hits, two walks, and six runs, two earned, with a costly error in the top of the second, on which one run scored, and after which the Jays added four on a Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. grand slam, the Nation ..read more

Notes and quotes from Saturday’s loss in the nation’s capital, plus a totally not jinxy look at Kyle Finnegan’s season so far... IRVIN AND UNEARNED RUNS: On a wet infield in the nation’s capital on Saturday, the Washington Nationals played a really sloppy inning of baseball in the top of the first, with two errors behind starter Jake Irvin, and a walk, a pair of singles, and a two-run double (not in that order) leading to four (unearned) runs for the Toronto Blue Jays in what ended up a 6-3 win for the visiting team. Irvin settled in after that and held the Jays off the board through the next ..read more

Luis García, Jr. came off the bench and hit a pinch hit home run to spark the Nationals’ comeback in a 9-3 win over the Blue Jays last night... OFFENSIVE WOES ... THEN LUIS GARCÍA, JR.: Joey Meneses went 4 for 30 (.133/.133/.167) with a double and five Ks on the Nationals’ seven-game road trip to Miami and Texas. Jesse Winker went 4 for 27 (.148/.233/.259), hitting one home run, and taking three walks while striking out eight times in 30 plate appearances. Keibert Ruiz started 5 of the 7 games, and went 2 for 18 (.111/.200/.278), hitting a home run, taking a walk, and striking out three times ..read more

Former Nationals’ coach and, for three games, manager now part of coaching staff for the Polish national team... WARSAW, Poland – “I’m the winningest manager (by percentage) in Nationals’ history,” said John McLaren, with a grin, sitting in the lobby of an upscale hotel minutes from Old Town Warsaw. It is a glorious spring morning in the Polish capital, a city of about 1.8 million whose World War II horrors are always just around the corner and enough to scare any hardened historian. But McLaren – a baseball lifer who turns 72 in September – has come to the “New York City of Eastern Europe” i ..read more

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ 7-1 loss in the finale in the Rangers’ home... MITCHELL PARKER IN TEXAS: Mitchell Parker, in his third start in the majors, dealt with some adversity, but handled it well. Parker gave up leadoff and one-out singles and a base-loading walk in the first inning of the outing last weekend in Miami, then threw a wild pitch which allowed a run to score. A second walk, his first two in the majors, after he’d struggled walking batters in the minors, loaded the bases back up, but he got out No. 3, and held the opposition to the one run over four innings, in an 82-pit ..read more

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ 1-0 win over the Rangers in Arlington, TX. MAGICIAN: Trevor Williams retired the side in order in the first inning last night, but given a 1-0 lead to work with in the top of the second inning of the second of three with the Texas Rangers in Arlington, TX, the starter surrendered three straight singles, as the home team loaded the bases with no one out. A weak grounder to third and an out at home, a foul-tip strike three, and a groundout over to short followed as Williams worked his way out of the early jam. Washington’s starter stranded two, two-out walks ..read more

Notes and quotes on MacKenzie Gore’s start against the Rangers, and the Nationals’ loss in the series opener... CJ ABRAMS’ WORLD: Going into last night’s series opener in Arlington, TX, CJ Abrams had reached base safely in 15 straight games, with a .317/.414/.700 line, five doubles, three triples, four home runs, and eight walks in 70 plate appearances over course of the on-base streak, and hits in 14 of the 15 (reaching via HBP on an 0 for 3 night in his only hitless game in that stretch). Abrams homered (7) and walked twice in the series finale in Miami on Monday night, and his manager, Dav ..read more