Davey Johnson will be back as manager of the Washington Nationals in 2012.

The Nationals announced Monday that they’re picking up Johnson’s managerial option.

He took over as Washington’s manager in June, after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned. The Nationals went 40-43 under Johnson and finished 80-81, in third place in the NL East.

Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Monday “it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served” if the 68-year-old Johnson continued in the role.

The Nationals are the fifth major league club managed by Johnson, who won World Series titles as a player and a skipper. He was the 1997 AL Manager of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Davey Johnson will be back as manager of the Washington Nationals in 2012.

The Nationals announced Monday that they’re picking up Johnson’s managerial option.

He took over as Washington’s manager in June, after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned. The Nationals went 40-43 under Johnson and finished 80-81, in third place in the NL East.

Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Monday “it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served” if the 68-year-old Johnson continued in the role.

The Nationals are the fifth major league club managed by Johnson, who won World Series titles as a player and a skipper. He was the 1997 AL Manager of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Davey Johnson will be back as manager of the Washington Nationals in 2012.

The Nationals announced Monday that they’re picking up Johnson’s managerial option.

He took over as Washington’s manager in June, after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned. The Nationals went 40-43 under Johnson and finished 80-81, in third place in the NL East.

Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Monday “it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served” if the 68-year-old Johnson continued in the role.

The Nationals are the fifth major league club managed by Johnson, who won World Series titles as a player and a skipper. He was the 1997 AL Manager of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Davey Johnson will be back as manager of the Washington Nationals in 2012.

The Nationals announced Monday that they’re picking up Johnson’s managerial option.

He took over as Washington’s manager in June, after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned. The Nationals went 40-43 under Johnson and finished 80-81, in third place in the NL East.

Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Monday “it became obvious that the Nationals would be best served” if the 68-year-old Johnson continued in the role.

The Nationals are the fifth major league club managed by Johnson, who won World Series titles as a player and a skipper. He was the 1997 AL Manager of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Halladay will get a little extra rest after the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Washington Nationals was rained out Sunday.

Maybe that’s a good thing.

Halladay is tied with Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw for the league lead with 175 2-3 innings. The workhorse right-hander led the majors with 250 2-3 innings last season, then pitched another 22 innings in the postseason as the Phillies made it all the way to the NL championship series.

So far, it doesn’t look as if Halladay has been affected by all those innings one bit. He is 6-1 with a 2.51 ERA in his last eight starts and is tied for the NL lead with 15 victories.

Sunday’s game was called more than two hours before the scheduled first pitch, and it’s unclear when Halladay will make his next start. NL East-leading Philadelphia is off Monday and opens a three-game series against West-leading Arizona on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

Halladay last pitched last Monday, when he allowed one run and nine hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-3 victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Philadelphia and Washington split the first two games of the series. Livan Hernandez tossed 6 2-3 innings of one-run ball in the Nationals’ 4-2 victory on Friday night, but the Phillies bounced back with an 11-3 win Saturday night.

Sunday’s game will be made up on Sept. 20 as part of a split doubleheader. The scheduled unveiling ceremony for the Harry Kalas statue was pushed back to Tuesday.

It’s also uncertain when Chien-Ming Wang will return to the mound for the Nationals, who are off Monday before opening a 10-game homestand Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds. Continued…

Wang, who missed more than two years following shoulder surgery, pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory at the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. It was his first win since June 28, 2009, for the New York Yankees at the Mets.

The right-hander, who won 19 games in 2006 and 2007 with the Yankees, is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts for the Nationals.

By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Halladay will get a little extra rest after the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Washington Nationals was rained out Sunday.

Maybe that’s a good thing.

Halladay is tied with Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw for the league lead with 175 2-3 innings. The workhorse right-hander led the majors with 250 2-3 innings last season, then pitched another 22 innings in the postseason as the Phillies made it all the way to the NL championship series.

So far, it doesn’t look as if Halladay has been affected by all those innings one bit. He is 6-1 with a 2.51 ERA in his last eight starts and is tied for the NL lead with 15 victories.

Sunday’s game was called more than two hours before the scheduled first pitch, and it’s unclear when Halladay will make his next start. NL East-leading Philadelphia is off Monday and opens a three-game series against West-leading Arizona on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

Halladay last pitched last Monday, when he allowed one run and nine hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 5-3 victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Philadelphia and Washington split the first two games of the series. Livan Hernandez tossed 6 2-3 innings of one-run ball in the Nationals’ 4-2 victory on Friday night, but the Phillies bounced back with an 11-3 win Saturday night.

Sunday’s game will be made up on Sept. 20 as part of a split doubleheader. The scheduled unveiling ceremony for the Harry Kalas statue was pushed back to Tuesday.

It’s also uncertain when Chien-Ming Wang will return to the mound for the Nationals, who are off Monday before opening a 10-game homestand Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds.

Wang, who missed more than two years following shoulder surgery, pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory at the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. It was his first win since June 28, 2009, for the New York Yankees at the Mets.

The right-hander, who won 19 games in 2006 and 2007 with the Yankees, is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts for the Nationals.

Read More: Washington Nationals

The NCAA Baseball Tournament Super Regional stage gets underway this weekend, with four games scheduled for Friday and four more for Saturday. Each matchup is a three-game mini-series, with the winner earning a trip to the College World Series in Omaha. Here is a schedule of the matchups:

No. 1 Virginia vs. UC-Irvine, Charlottesville

• Game 1: Saturday, June 11 at 1 p.m.
• Game 2: Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m.
• Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, June 13

California vs. Dallas Baptist, Santa Clara

Read More: Adam LaRoche (1B – WAS), Tom Gorzelanny (P – WAS), Yovani Gallardo (P – MIL), Jonathan Lucroy (C – MIL), Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers

The Washington Nationals continue to have offensive problems Monday, but their pitching has not been much of a help either Monday night as they are down to the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 going into the sixth. Nationals starter Tom Gorzelanny has been plagued by the long ball.

Gorzelanny has given up two two-run home runs to the Brewers Corey Hart, one in the first-inning and one in the fifth. Price Fielder also got a piece of Gorzelanny in the first-inning by taking him for a solo shot. The Nationals southpaw is obviously having a lot of trouble keeping the ball in the park and it was a problem that plagued him earlier in the season. Gorzelanny also gave up a fifth-inning RBI single to Jonathan Lucroy.

The Nationals offense has once again been not much help as they have only recorded three hits against Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo. Their only run came off a Michael Morse solo shot in the top of the second. Morse has replaced first baseman Adam LaRoche as LaRoche was placed on the 15-Day DL a little before Monday night’s game.

By Andrew Kinback – Nationals editor

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Apr 25, 2011 - The Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates spent the weekend battling each other to each take one game of a three-game series, with the rubber match taking place at 7:05 P.M. EST Monday night. Monday was supposed to be a scheduled off day for both teams, but a cancellation due to rain on April 22 forced the teams to have to work Monday to make up for it.

If the Nationals wanted to leave Pittsburgh on a winning note, then they couldn’t have drawn better than facing Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Maholm (0-3, 4.30 ERA) in the final game. Maholm is 0-4 with a 6.28 ERA against the Nationals in his career, and the Nats are 6-1 in games where Maholm has started. They also own a 5-0 record against him at PNC Park. Second baseman Danny Espinosa is celebrating his 24th birthday Monday night and hopes to add on a couple more RBIs to his team-leading 15 already.

The Nationals will be sending out a lefty of their own in a fully recharged John Lannan (2-1, 3.43 ERA), who is coming off a big win in St. Louis on April 20. Lannan went five-innings, giving up seven hits and two runs while striking out two, and will be looking to fine tune his performance. In the game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he walked three and gave up two home runs, but minimized the damage to get the victory. Monday also marks Lannan’s 100th career start.

Nationals Line-Up

Danny Espinosa – 2B

Ian Desmond – SS

Jayson Werth – RF

Adam LaRoche – 1B

Michael Morse – LF

Wilson Ramos – C

Jerry Hairston Jr. – CF

Brian Bixler – 3B

John Lannan – SP

Read More: Jerry Hairston Jr. (SS – WAS), Jayson Werth (RF – WAS), Adam LaRoche (1B – WAS), Paul Maholm (P – PIT), John Lannan (P – WAS), Brian Bixler (SS – WAS), Ian Desmond (SS – WAS), Wilson Ramos (C – WAS), Danny Espinosa (2B – WAS), Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper left Monday’s minor league intrasquad scrimmage in Viera, Fla. after spraining his left ankle.

A Nationals spokesman said Monday that Harper was trying to beat out a ground ball when he stepped awkwardly on first base. He left the game immediately and is listed as day-to-day.

Harper was the first pick in the 2010 major league draft.

He was 7 for 18 (.389) with five RBIs this spring before being optioned to Class A on March 12.

Harper did not play minor league baseball this past summer, but hit .343 in nine games for Scottsdale of the Arizona Fall League.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper left Monday’s minor league intrasquad scrimmage in Viera, Florida after spraining his left ankle.

A Nationals spokesman said Monday that Harper was trying to beat out a ground ball when he stepped awkwardly on first base. He left the game immediately and is listed as day-to-day.

Harper was the first pick in the 2010 major league draft.

He was seven for 18 (.389) with five RBIs this spring before being optioned to Class A March 12.

Harper did not play minor league baseball this past summer, but hit .343 in nine games for Scottsdale of the Arizona Fall League.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)