Roger Bernadina

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — The San Diego Padres acquired infielder Alberto Gonzalez from the Washington Nationals on Monday for right-hander Erik Davis and cash. Gonzalez will give the Padres infield depth. He made 37 starts last year, including 17 at shortstop and 10 at second base. He hit .247 with five RBIs in 114 games last season. Davis combined to go 14-3 with a 3.52 ERA in 27 games started between Single-A Lake Elsinore, Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Portland last season.

Omar Infante used a clever slide to score on Greg Dobbs' double in the 11th inning, lifting the Florida Marlins to a 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday night. On a night of spectacular plays, Infante made the most important one. With one out Infante singled off Brian Broderick (0-1), then came all the way around on Dobbs' drive to right. The ball beat Infante to home plate and Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was in position to make a tag, but Infante slid head first and reached over and around Ramos to touch the back tip of the plate for the go-ahead run. The Marlins, who have won seven straight in Washington, could have went ahead in the fifth but Roger Bernadina made a sensational catch to keep it tied.

Wilson Ramos capped Washington’s five-run ninth inning with a game-ending three-run homer, lifting the Nationals to a dramatic 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Jerry Hairston and Danny Espinosa each had two-out RBI singles before Ramos connected on a 1-1 pitch from David Pauley, hitting a drive deep to center for his sixth homer. Ramos threw his arms up almost immediately after the ball left his bat and Pauley (4-1) trudged off the mound. The Mariners wasted a fine effort from Doug Fister, who allowed one run and three hits in eight innings.

Danny Espinosa broke out of a dreadful slump with a two-run homer in the seventh inning Monday night to lead the Washington Nationals to a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Espinosa, who was 8 for 73 entering the at-bat, drove the first pitch thrown by Pirates reliever Jose Ascanio into the left-field bullpen, scoring Mike Morse, who had singled off hard-luck Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (1-6). Espinosa’s 22 RBIs leads all rookies, but he has seen his average dip from .281 to .193 in the last 20 games.

Livan Hernandez pitched a three-hitter, Michael Morse homered twice and doubled, and the Washington Nationals routed the St. Louis Cardinals 10-0 Wednesday night for their fifth straight win. Albert Pujols made two errors at third base, leading to a pair of unearned runs, as the Cardinals lost their season-worst fifth in a row. Jayson Werth and Danny Espinosa also homered and Ryan Zimmerman had his second RBI in as many nights since returning from...

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may have irritated a nerve in his right arm using an electrical stimulation machine. The machines are used by athletes to build strength and are attached with adhesive electrodes. Manager Davey Johnson said the device could have been placed too close to a nerve in Strasburg's pitching arm, leading to discomfort in Monday night's start against the Atlanta Braves. Johnson said the Nationals do not expect Strasburg to have continued problems with the irritated nerve but it was too early to determine whether Strasburg will make his next scheduled start Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a run-scoring double in his return from the disabled list to spark a six-run seventh-inning as the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-6 on Tuesday night. Zimmerman had missed 58 games because of an injured abdominal muscle. He was given ovations from the crowd in pregame introductions and for each of his at-bats, with the loudest cheers coming after his double down the right-field line drove in the Nationals' first run of the seventh. Washington's last four runs in the inning scored with two outs.

Jordan Pacheco doubled and scored the tiebreaking run on a ninth-inning wild pitch by Tyler Clippard, giving the Colorado Rockies a 4-3 comeback victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The NL East-leading Nationals took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, but a meltdown by their usually reliable bullpen cost them a chance to hit the All-Star break with their best record since the team moved to Washington in 2005. Colorado's rally was fueled by Eric Young's first homer of the season and a pair of wild pitches.

Jordan Zimmermann turned in another dominant performance with two-hit ball over eight innings, Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in the fourth and the Washington Nationals finally beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-0 Wednesday night. The Braves had won five in a row this season over their NL East rival, and nine straight dating to last season. Zimmermann (5-1) made sure that streak ended with what is starting to become a typical outing, snapping a three-game losing streak that had knocked the Nationals under .500.

Barely three weeks ago, Jayson Werth vowed that changes had to be made for the Washington Nationals to win regularly. Werth never specified what those changes were, but since then the Nationals have certainly played well. On Thursday night, they won their sixth straight — their longest winning streak since the end of the 2009 season — and did it dramatically. Danny Espinosa’s three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th gave the Washington a 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jordan Zimmermann turned in another dominant performance with two-hit ball over eight innings, Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in the fourth and the Washington Nationals finally beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-0 Wednesday night. The Braves had won five in a row this season over their NL East rival, and nine straight dating to last season. Zimmermann (5-1) made sure that streak ended with what is starting to become a typical outing, snapping a three-game losing streak that had knocked the Nationals under .500.

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may have irritated a nerve in his right arm using an electrical stimulation machine. The machines are used by athletes to build strength and are attached with adhesive electrodes. Manager Davey Johnson said the device could have been placed too close to a nerve in Strasburg's pitching arm, leading to discomfort in Monday night's start against the Atlanta Braves. Johnson said the Nationals do not expect Strasburg to have continued problems with the irritated nerve but it was too early to determine whether Strasburg will make his next scheduled start Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Gio Gonzalez showed that he's better than his last two outings. After giving up 12 runs in nine innings over those two starts, Gonzalez pitched a gem on Thursday night. The right-hander held Cincinnati's powerful lineup to one hit in eight innings and the Washington Nationals beat the Reds 8-1. Denard Span and Danny Espinosa drove in three runs apiece, giving Gonzalez more than enough support. The 21-game winner from last season struck out seven and walked two. By the time Joey Votto homered for Cincinnati, Gonzalez (2-1)

Jordan Pacheco doubled and scored the tiebreaking run on a ninth-inning wild pitch by Tyler Clippard, giving the Colorado Rockies a 4-3 comeback victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. The NL East-leading Nationals took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, but a meltdown by their usually reliable bullpen cost them a chance to hit the All-Star break with their best record since the team moved to Washington in 2005. Colorado's rally was fueled by Eric Young's first homer of the season and a pair of wild pitches.

Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th home run in May to tie the franchise record for a single month and the Miami Marlins earned their 20th comeback victory Wednesday night, completing a three-game sweep of the first-place Washington Nationals with a 5-3 win. Stanton hit a solo homer in the seventh inning, his 13th this year, and had a two-out RBI single in the first. Still only 22, Stanton tied Dan Uggla's team record for the most homers in a month and totaled 30 RBIs in May. Since the start of the expansion era in 1961, the only other player under age 23 to total more homers and RBIs in a single month was Bob Horner in 1980, the Marlins said, citing information from the Elias Sports Bureau.

Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman homered and Zimmerman drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to give the Washington Nationals a 5-2 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night. Laynce Nix added a pair of insurance runs with an RBI single after Zimmerman's hit in the ninth. Roger Bernadina singled to start the inning before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Espinosa. Zimmerman's grounder rolled just out of reach of a diving Jeff Keppinger and into the outfield to allow Bernadina to score and chase Houston starter Jordan Lyles (0-5)

Freddie Freeman said it was smart for Washington's Ryan Mattheus to walk Brian McCann with first base open in the ninth inning. Why face McCann, a six-time All-Star who hit a three-run homer earlier in the game, when the Nationals instead could face Freeman, a rookie who didn't have a hit in the game at that point? Freeman seized the opportunity, delivering a single to right field to drive in Martin Prado from second base, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 9-8 win over the Nationals on Sunday.

For the first time in his big league career, Ryan Zimmerman is on a team that heads into the All-Star break with a .500 record. He even coined a new term, calling the 46-46 mark for his Washington Nationals at this point of the season a “mini-accomplishment.” Jordan Zimmermann took a shutout into the seventh inning, Roger Bernadina and Rick Ankiel provided the offense, and Washington beat the Colorado Rockies 2-0 Sunday to get to the Midsummer...

John McLaren couldn’t have asked for a better sendoff. Danny Espinosa hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday in his third and final game as Washington’s manager. The Nationals announced that they had hired Davey Johnson as the replacement for Jim Riggleman, who resigned Thursday, ending McLaren’s tenure after one series — which his team won as he got to manage against a good friend in the other dugout.

Wilson Ramos capped Washington’s five-run ninth inning with a game-ending three-run homer, lifting the Nationals to a dramatic 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Jerry Hairston and Danny Espinosa each had two-out RBI singles before Ramos connected on a 1-1 pitch from David Pauley, hitting a drive deep to center for his sixth homer. Ramos threw his arms up almost immediately after the ball left his bat and Pauley (4-1) trudged off the mound. The Mariners wasted a fine effort from Doug Fister, who allowed one run and three hits in eight innings.