Daniel Murphy hit an early grand slam against his former team, Max Scherzer pitched eight fiery innings and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 6-3 on Sunday night for their seventh straight victory.

Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the third inning and a game-ending, three-run drive with two outs in the ninth, leading the Washington Nationals over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 on Sunday.

Howie Kendrick had a bases-loaded triple while Philadelphia scored 12 runs for the biggest first inning in team history, and the Phillies routed the Washington Nationals 17-3 on Saturday night.

Blake Treinen will begin the season as Washington’s closer, even though he has only one big league save. After the Nationals lost Mark Melancon to the San Francisco Giants in free agency, Treinen won the job over Shawn Kelley and Koda Glover.

N.L. Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer probably will miss the Washington Nationals’ opener against Miami on April 3 because of a stress fracture in his right ring finger.

Max Scherzer has come to grips with a finger injury by coming up with a new, unusual grip for his fastball. Limited by a stress fracture on his right ring finger, the Washington ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is throwing his fastball this spring with three fingers on top of the ball, rather than the usual two.

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg may emulate closers and pitch only from the stretch this season in an effort to maintain more consistent mechanics.

Tanner Roark relishes roles as starting pitcher in Washington Nationals rotation after getting shifted to the bullpen for much of 2015.

Adam Eaton donned his “go-to shirt” – a gray T, with the words “Mighty Mouse” in red, and a sketch of the small-but-strong cartoon character who debuted in the 1940s – before and after the Washington Nationals’ first full-squad workout of spring training on Sunday.

Free-agent first baseman Adam Lind and the Washington Nationals have agreed to a $1.5 million, one-year contract, pending a physical, accordin to a person familiar with the deal.

N.L. Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer injured a finger on his pitching hand and will miss the World Baseball Classic.

The Los Angeles Angels have acquired middle infielder Danny Espinosa from the Washington Nationals for two minor league pitchers. The Angels sent right-handers Austin Adams and Kyle McGowin to the Nationals for Espinosa, who presumably lost his starting job when Washington obtained Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

The Washington Nationals acquired center fielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox for three young pitchers, including top prospect Lucas Giolito and hard-throwing Reynaldo Lopez, who made the team’s postseason roster in 2016. The trade was made Wednesday, the last full day of the winter meetings outside the nation’s capital, and comes after Washington failed in its bid to get left-handed pitcher Chris Sale from the White Sox, who sent him to Boston, instead.

Clayton Kershaw got the final two outs to earn his first major league save and finish the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals in Game 5 to win their N.L. Division Series.

Veteran left-hander Rich Hill will start for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the N.L. Division Series.

While going to ace Clayton Kershaw on short rest helped the Los Angeles Dodgers stave off elimination in their NL Division Series against the Washington Nationals, it also has raised the question:

Chase Utley singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the eighth inning after the Dodgers’ bullpen faltered in relief of Clayton Kershaw, and Los Angeles avoided elimination with a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday that forced a deciding Game 5 in their N.L. Division Series.

LOS ANGELES – Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth homered, and the Washington Nationals moved within one victory of winning a postseason series for the first time, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3 Monday for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five NL playoff. Four relievers combined for 4 2/3 shutout innings, putting the Nationals in position to wrap up the NL Division Series on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

Long after the concourses emptied, the sky cleared up as the tarp still covered the field. Game 2 of the N.L. Division Series between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers still had to wait.