Drew Storen

The question of how baseball could be so cruel to this city may be answered some day. It existed in horrible form in the nation's capital for decades, and then it vanished for 33 years. It came back gnarled and wretched for seven more seasons, only to yield to this blissful summer, to the moment Friday past midnight when Drew Storen stood on the mound at chilled Nationals Park and, with two outs in the ninth inning, threw 13 pitches that could have moved the Washington Nationals ...

SAN DIEGO — Nearly a quarter of the way into the season, the Washington Nationals are hovering just two games above .500. It's not exactly where the Nationals or their fans thought they'd be after winning the NL East last year at 98-64, the best record in baseball. "We have not been very consistent," third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said after the Nationals lost 13-4 to San Diego on Sunday as the Padres salvaged a split of their four-game series. "Part of that has been injuries, but you...

Storen keeps struggling with his pitch location Before Friday night, Manager Davey Johnson had not found the right situation for Drew Storen to pitch in for a week. The Nationals had either been blown out or pulled ahead with a large lead, games not conducive for a setup reliever. And so Storen sat for a week after he allowed two runs (one earned) in a blown save against the Braves. Johnson decided Storen needed work, no matter the situation, and so Storen entered Friday with the Nationals trailing,...

LOS ANGELES — The Washington Nationals ' losses have grown familiar in style, a chain of zeroes and ones, of wasted pitching performances and weak offense. Wednesday night, though, brought cruel and potentially damaging variety. It is one thing to lose a series. It is another to lose a left-handed starting pitcher and a star-crossed catcher. By the fourth inning of the Nationals' 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers , Ross Detwiler and Wilson Ramos had each left with injuries...

VIERA, FLA. — Two weeks ago, as he sometimes does in order to study his mechanics, Drew Storen queued up film of himself pitching in college at Stanford. He laughed at some of the pitches batters swung at and missed. "That's a home run in the big leagues," he said aloud as he watched. Storen felt as though he were watching a different person. It is difficult for him to fathom that the skinny kid wearing a straight-brimmed red hat was him less than two years ago. "If you look at where I am now to where I...

Way past midnight, and Drew Storen just sat there, head buried in his hands, looking straight ahead into the nothingness of an offseason no one saw coming with two outs and two strikes on two different hitters in the ninth inning. Where would he go? What would he do with his car, keep it here or drive it back to Brownsburg, Ind.? "Haven't really thought about it," he said, pursing his lips. "Haven't really thought about any of it. " It was just after 12:45 a.m. on the last...

For three months, Drew Storen remained quiet, the agony of defeat stewing inside him. The last time he appeared before Washington Nationals fans, he stood on the mound at Nationals Park on a chilly October night struggling to find the strike zone in Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. A two-run lead in the decisive game evaporated into a gut-wrenching two-run loss. Storen emerged from his offseason on Saturday at the Walter E. Washington...

With both equally messy, both unable to cook much more than mac and cheese, Drew Storen describes the high-rise District apartment he and Tyler Clippard have shared since May 2010 as "a two-man frat house. " For more than two years, the routine has been the same: Two young right-handed relievers, best friends on the team, enter the abode. But only one Washington Nationals closer leaves. A year ago, Storen racked up 43 saves and claimed dibs on the job. His...

VIERA, Fla. — On his first day as Washington Nationals manager, Davey Johnson would not let Tyler Clippard pitch. Clippard had mentioned a tired arm, and Johnson needed to hear no more. Even with closer Drew Storen unavailable and an extra-innings game unfolding, Johnson would let Clippard nowhere near the mound. It was a new feeling for Clippard. Over the past two seasons, Clippard has thrown more innings (179 1 / 3 ) and chucked more pitches...

SARASOTA, Fla. — The Washington Nationals could begin the regular season without closer Drew Storen as he recovers from elbow inflammation, potentially leaving the job of saving early-season victories to veteran Brad Lidge and second-year flamethrower Henry Rodriguez . Manager Davey Johnson did not rule out Storen recovering in time for opening day, but he is preparing to start the year without the 24-year-old who saved 43 games...

WASHINGTON — One strange throw by Kurt Suzuki undid an entire afternoon of solid pitching by the Washington Nationals. Alfonso Soriano scored the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning on a unique error by Suzuki, giving the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 victory Sunday in the deciding matchup of a three-game series. Washington starter Gio Gonzalez threw five perfect innings and finished with seven innings of two-hit ball. He left with a 1-0 lead, but his performance became an afterthought following a wacky ninth inning.

During a rocky and uneven first month of the season, the Washington Nationals pleaded for patience, vowing their talent and potential would shine through. Over the past three series, capped by Thursday's 5-4 win over the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers that made for a two-game sweep, the Nationals have looked more like the team worthy of the lofty expectations bestowed upon them before the season. The Nationals limped through the first month as barely a...

At the hairiest junctures of a Washington Nationals game, pitching coach Steve McCatty emerges from the dugout and trudges to the mound. When a pitcher is struggling, McCatty is the man called upon to help make it stop. He initiates one of the most public — and perhaps even embarassing — coaching moments in professional sports: the mound visit. It is perhaps his least favorite part of the job. "It's never fun," McCatty said. "Guys don't want to come out of the...

PITTSBURGH — Bryce Harper sat in the Washington Nationals ' clubhouse, ejected before they had even taken the field . Three Pittsburgh Pirates occupied the bases, aided by another throwing error from Ryan Zimmerman. Gio Gonzalez stood on the mound, already trailing after the first pitch he threw soared over the fence and yet to record an out. Faced with bleakness early Sunday afternoon, Gonzalez responded with calm. The Nationals used myriad...

The specter of last October hovered Monday night over the Washington Nationals , the coincidences giving them no choice but to flash back. The chill of late fall accompanied the St. Louis Cardinals ' return to Nationals Park, and a tense nine innings made the postseason feel far closer than five months away. The Nationals faced down their playoff demons. Maybe they can defeat them Tuesday night. The Cardinals topped the Nationals, 3-2 , in the teams' first meeting since the...

Soriano takes leave for birth of son Rafael Soriano missed Monday night's game after his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Nationals Manager Davey Johnson said Drew Storen, who entered Monday night's game against St. Louis not having pitched since Friday, would close should the team face a save situation against the Cardinals in the series opener. "We're going to have the same situation we had a few months ago," Johnson said matter-of-factly before Monday's game, referring to the gut-wrenching loss in Game 5 of the NLDS...

The baseball world assumes that Stephen Strasburg , Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman or Jayson Werth will someday define the Nationals' identity. That may be wrong. Winning teams do not evolve around discrete individuals as much as they coalesce around core groups, like a superior starting rotation or a scary heart of the order. Then synergies among a group of players add up to more than the sum of their parts. In Washington, a dream rotation or a fearsome lineup is years in the future, if it...

NEW YORK — The firepower in their bullpen makes it easy for the Washington Nationals to envision life without Drew Storen , until the ninth inning arrives and the score is tied. Storen will see orthopedist James Andrews on Tuesday for a second opinion on his elbow, a visit that could end with him sidelined for half the season and the Nationals needing to fill a lot of ninth innings. Monday night at Citi Field, they chose Henry Rodriguez ...

Storen keeps struggling with his pitch location Before Friday night, Manager Davey Johnson had not found the right situation for Drew Storen to pitch in for a week. The Nationals had either been blown out or pulled ahead with a large lead, games not conducive for a setup reliever. And so Storen sat for a week after he allowed two runs (one earned) in a blown save against the Braves. Johnson decided Storen needed work, no matter the situation, and so Storen entered Friday with the Nationals trailing,...

Ryan Zimmerman retreated to the video room late Friday night and replayed the central piece of the Washington Nationals' unraveling. He saw himself throw what could have been the game-ending out into right field. Zimmerman watched Drew Storen stare into the outfield and chew on his mouth guard. He saw Davey Johnson gaze blankly from the dugout. It was all there — a defensive error, another stunned reliever and a manager trying to figure out how to halt the...