District Daily: Storen Impresses in Rare Save Opportunity, Thornton Proving to be Valuable Pickup

Sep 7, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher

(22) throws during the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning DoD readers! Get caught up on all the latest Nationals news with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web!

Storen impresses in rare save opportunity

(Bill Ladson, MLB.com)

WASHINGTON — With Rafael Soriano taking a couple of days off and working on his slider, right-hander Drew Storen came on in the ninth and picked up his second save of the season in the Nationals’ 3-2 victory over the Phillies on Sunday.

Storen retired the side in order and ended the game by striking out Ryan Howard. It was Storen’s first save since June 30 against the Marlins. Closing games is nothing new for Storen. After all, he saved 43 games for Washington in 2011. Read full article here.

Matt Thornton, 37, proving to be a valuable pickup for the Nationals

(Tom Schad, Washington Post)

Early Saturday afternoon, Nationals manager Matt Williams was asked to name a few relievers who could potentially pitch the ninth inning in Rafael Soriano’s absence. He mentioned three relievers by name: Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Matt Thornton.

While Storen and Clippard have long been familiar faces at Nationals Park, Thornton is still a relative unknown. After being claimed off waivers by the Nationals in August, he has spent barely a month in Washington’s bullpen. In that month, however, he has been one of its steadiest arms. Read full article here.

Nationals Park to host Winter Classic

(Scott Burnside, ESPN)

The Washington Capitals will celebrate New Year’s Day 2015 with an outdoor game at Nationals Park, a source confirmed to ESPN.com Sunday.

The Capitals will host the Chicago Blackhawks in the Major League Baseball stadium in the NHL’s annual Winter Classic outdoor game on Jan. 1. The stadium, home to the Washington Nationals, has been the preferred location for the game from the moment it was formally announced almost a year ago the Capitals would host the event. Read full article here.