Felipe Lopez comes up big, Nats win in 12

With the Nats come from behind victory in the bottom of the 12th today, the team clinches their third win in a row, and have now won six of their last eight contests. What was a beautifully crafted game from the mound was also an ugly game from the plate, but the Nats seemed to have that little extra which allowed them to come out on top 3-2.

The Nationals showed a lot to their fans as they won their second consecutive series these last two nights. This team is going to have its ups and downs, but it is comforting to know that there will be the ups…hopefully we can ride this wave a little longer.

Shawn Hill is back

The Nats ace now appears to be fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of the rotation at the start of the season. Tonight he faced the Atlanta Braves line up head on pitching 8 innings allowing only one run and four hits. He only recorded one strikeout but also only put up two walks. What was most important about Hill’s outing was that he was able to pitch into the 8th inning, effectively. In his previous starts his biggest problems had been endurance related…he had said that he still had tightness in his forearm earlier this month when he returned, but he looked plenty healthy today.

The bats didn’t show up, but clutch hitting kept the Nats in it

Lenny Harris, meet Randy St. Claire. One of you is very good at your job, the other is not. The Nationals pitching saved them today, its usually impossible to win a 12 inning game with only 6 hits, but thanks to Shawn Hill and the Nats bullpen they pulled it out.

The bottom line is the Nats bats re playing peekabo, first you see it, then you don’t.

Quick Nat stats:
-One Nat had a multi hit game (the game winner probably would have been a sac fly had the outfield not been playing in)
-Nats only struck out 5 times, but also only drew 5 walks
-Only 1 extra base hit
-Nats answered the next half inning each time the Braves scored

A Flair for the Dramatic

This Nats have now had several walk of hits in the last few games. We’ve established the Nats aren’t a team that is going to grind you into the ground, so often when they pull out wins it’s pretty exciting.

Conversely this team has great pitching, even when their bats are silent the game will be close (like today). You will hardly ever see a blow out, it’s always interesting and I love it.

Box Score

Nats heart of the order makes an appearance, Nats win 6-3

Nationals fans I would like to introduce you to something that you may not have seen in a very long time. It is a productive middle of the order. I know you may be thinking,

“But shouldn’t the middle of the order combine to go 0-8 with 5 k’s? Shouldn’t we have the number 8 hitter hit walk off homers as our pitching carries us through the game, only to pray for that clutch hit?”

No! Actually teams that go to the, ‘playoffs,’ have hitters who like to produce in the middle of their line up. I know it may sound crazy, but tonight you got to see how effective it is!

Now that you two are acquainted, you two hopefully will become good friends and longtime partners at baseball games. I know the productive middle of the order is shy, but I hope he can stay around a while and you two can have a long meaningful relationship.

Oh..the Nats won tonight 6-3

The Braves own middle of the order

Chipper Jones and Mark Teixiera did a good deal of the damage against the solid Nationals pitching staff tonight. Chipper went two for five with a solo homer in the top of the 6th and a single in the 1st. Teixiera also helped the Braves get on the board with a double in the top of the second which allowed him to score on a Kotsay single.

The heart of the braves order was also the center of the rally in the top of the 6th that took Tim Redding out of the game.

Tim Redding and the 6th inning

Tim Redding the railroad slows down at the 6th inning, and usually can’t get passed it. It is probably due to a lack of endurance and a little bit of age, but for Redding he usually turns a beautifully pitched 5 innings into an average start with an ugly 6th. Today’s 6th for Redding was relatively tame. He allowed a solo homer to Larry Jones, and then after being ahead 0-2 on Teixeira, walked him on the next four pitches. Acta took him out before he could do anymore damage.

Redding’s last three 6th innings.
Against:
NYM- relatively tame, allowed a single to Carlos Betran and was taken out. The Mets did score 3 runs this inning however

FLA- Two hits, a Home Run and a Double, three earned runs let up.

ATL- Three hits; Single, Double and a Home Run, three earned run’s allowed.

Middle of the Order shows Heart

Zimmerman and Johnson came out swinging today and helped put runs on the board early for the Nats, with back to back jacks in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Zimmerman also came up big in the bottom of the 7th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, driving in two runs with an RBI double. Milledge also helped drive in two more with a double to score Zimmerman and Guzman in the 7th.

Zimmerman’s Line: 3-4, 1 single, 1 double, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Johnson’s Line: 2-4, 1 single, 1 hr, 1 RBI
Milledge’s Line: 1-4, 1 double, 2 RBI

Chad Cordero leaves the game

This was a scary moment, and still is a scary time for Nats fans. After allowing two base runners and only one out Cordero waved to the Nationals trainer for help. It was clear what was wrong, Cordero grabbed his arm and immediately tried to stretch it out…he could be out a while.

Box Score

Braves vs. Nats, a choppy preview

The Washington Nationals (9-17) will again welcome the Atlanta Braves (12-13) to Nats Park for their second two game series in a week. This one will see Tom Glavine return to the mound for the first time since pulling his hamstring against the Nationals in the first inning in his last outing, causing him to have his shortest start of his career and go on the disabled list for the first time.

The Nats will go up against the 40 year old Glavine and the 22 year old Jair Jurrejens, a talented young righty for the Braves. Both these teams are still looking for their identity this season and thus far have depended on their pitching to weather the storm. The Nats will be trying to break out of the cellar, as the Braves will be trying to break into the top of the standings in this NL east battle.

Braves Last Series

In their last series against the Mets the Braves lost two of three in Shea. The Braves had been hot coming into their last series in Washingotn, having won 5 in a row but their spark was extinguished by John Lannan and the bullpen blanking the Braves offense.

The Braves haven’t picked it up since, dropping one out of two to the Marlins and two out of three to the Mets. Both John Smoltz and Tim Hudson earned losses at Shea, proving that the top of the talented Atlanta rotation is not invincible. The Braves will need to pick it up if they want to reclaim the division as their own.

Who’s Hot: Mark Teixeira (Maryland’s Son): 5-12, 4 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB

Who’s Not: Matt Diaz: 1-7, 2 K, 0 RBI, 0 extra base hits

Probable Starters

Tom Glavine (0-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. Tim Redding (3-2, 3.67 ERA)
Shawn Hill (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Jair Jurrejens (3-2, 3.45 ERA)

What to Look for

Old Fogies Coming off injuries:
Chipper Jones back has been bothering him and has caused him to miss the last two games against the Mets in their last series. Chipper is one of the hottest hitters in the majors right now and his absence unquestionably played a role in the Braves dropping both those games. Chipper is supposed to be in the line up Tuesday so look to see if he looks healthy in his first few at bats…if he’s not it’s good news for Washington.

Tom Glavine is coming off the DL for the first time in his career Tuesday, to face the team he hurt himself playing against. There is no way of knowing how he will respond after a stint on the DL seeing as he has never been there in his 20 year career, however for a pitcher that relies on accuracy and already has poor endurance…he may not exactly dazzle in his first start back.

Jair Jurrjens not only has a cool name, he is impressing many with his maturity and control for a pitcher of such a young age. So far in five starts he has struck out 25 but only walked 13, a virtue the Nats starters need to take on themselves. He also has a solid 3.45 ERA and is coming off three good starts in a row. Not bad for a 22 year old.

Minor League Monday

Columbus Clippers
Jesus Flores- Jesus is not playing very heavenly. After getting the bump to the minors for Johnny Estrada many people were not very happy, myself included. The only silver lining was Flores could have some time to play everyday and develop in Columbus. Since his demotion he is hitting only .231 in the minors with 13 K’s in 39 at bats. He’s striking out 33% of the time! He was hitting .364 in the majors! I can’t explain it, maybe it’s a cold slump, maybe it’s a bad attitude about being demoted. Whatever it is, he better pick it up.

Harrisburg Senators
Luke Montz-Montz is a 24 year old catcher still in double A, he is trying to change that. In the last 10 games Montz is batting .412 with three homers and 15 RBI’s. Overall he is batting .373 with five homers and 23 RBI’s with a ridiculous OPS of 1.126. Right now Montz is simply on fire, he is on the fringe of prospect status but he’s getting a little bit old. Even if he did get the call up to triple A today he would still have to out play Jesus Flores just to get a chance in the majors.


Hagerstown Suns
Michael Burgess-Burgess hit four homers this week as his stock as a prospect skyrocketed. In 23 games in low A ball this season Burgess has 8 homers and 17 RBI’s. He combines incredible power with a good overall athletic frame that allows him to play solid defense in the outfield. With 27 strikeouts, and a batting average of only .253, Burgess has a lot of developing to do. However at only the age of 19, his power is proving to many why he is one of the best power hitting prospects in the minors.

The Nats win a series...against a first place team!

The Nationals are starting to pick it up. For only the second time this season the Nats have pulled off something that is routine for playoff teams, they won a series.

Not only did they claim the series, they actually at times looked like a playoff team with key hits, good pitching, and a shut down bullpen. The Nats have started do what made them an overachieving team last year, capitalize on everything. Today the Nats only had 4 hits and scored 2 runs, that’s extremely hard to do. Right now it really looks like if Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson start producing to their ability, and start driving in runs, the Nationals could equal their surprising record from last year.

It had been a rough week for D.C. The Capitals were eliminated, the Wizards are getting their ass kicked by the Cavs, and the Redskins making personnel decisions scares everyone. It was good to have John Lannan come out and shut the door on the Cubs giving the Nats a good weekend and at least a little something for D.C sports fans to be happy about.

John Lannan shines at home

John Lannan came out and for the third straight game pitched a gem. After tossing seven shut out innings against a top notch hitting team in the Cubs he has extended his consecutive shutout innings streak to 19! Not bad for a 24 year old, former 11th round pick.

Today Lannan allowed only four hits in seven innings of work and lowered his ERA to 2.64 on the year. At times opposing batters looked just baffled, especially the heart of the order which went 1-10 on the day. Not only is Lannan’s stuff looking great, he’s pitching smart, he just does not make mistakes in the strike zone and forces the bottom of the order to beat him. The only thing more you can really ask from Lannan is to cut down on the walks…but with 19 straight scoreless innings, we can’t exactly ask for much more from him.

Lannan's Season Stats:

2-2, 2.64 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 31/14 K/BB

The Nationals Batting report-brought to you by Lenny Harris

Ryan Zimmerman had been picking it up coming into today’s game. He had been 4 for 11 in his last three games, however he had driven in only one run and had no extra base hits. It looked like all he was trying to do was poke the ball to try and find a way out of this miserable stretch he’s going through. It hasn’t helped…today Zimmerman couldn’t help his team at the plate going 0-4 with three K’s. (He did make a few great plays with the glove though)

Wil Nieves wants to stay in the majors. He knows when Lo Duca and Dukes come back at least one person needs to be sent down…and with him and Estrada already in the majors…its going to be hard to keep all three. Right now Wil Nieves has a five game hit streak, going 8-16 in that stretch including the game winning homer Friday night. He has played solid defensively as well, if it were up to me I’d just cut Estrada and keep Wil not Will Nieves.

Cristian Guzman continues to hit well this season. He is batting a strong .309 and is getting hits to move the leadoff hitter around. Unfortunately though he is still only getting on base at .339. He has only walked 5 times this season in 106 at bats, and as we talked about earlier this year, on base percentage is the key to winning baseball.

WGN loves Nats Park

I’m currently in Ohio, so I’m forced to watch the game on WGN with the Cubs announcers. They are loving the Nationals stadium, atmosphere, and the overall baseball experience in Washington D.C.

Things they have commented on though only 3 innings:

-The president’s race
-The Mega HD Scoreboard
-Screech
-The lovely view
-The high press box behind home plate “What are the odds anyone will ever get a foul ball up here”
-The batting cage in the club house
-The Oval Office locker room

This makes me happy, not because some arbitrary announcers like our park but because of what WGN and the Cubs stand for. The Yankees and the Red Sox may have the best baseball tradition, but the Cubs are renowned for their great baseball atmosphere. If the two guys who broadcast games from the box in Wrigley are impressed with our new home…that’s a good sign.

Here’s to a great new start for baseball in D.C.

Rotowire Says...

Opponents are hitting .328 against Matt Chico....

Nats lose before even recording an out, get blanked by the cubs 7-0

Tonight Matt Chico was Matt Chico, and Carlos Zambrano was Carlos Zambrano, that was the problem.

As soon as Matt Chico took the mound this evening he was struggling. The Cubs recorded two runs and three hits before the lefty even recorded an out in the first inning. A pop out later Chico’s handouts kept coming; one walk and one more RBI single. The Nats were in a 3-0 hole before they even got an at bat, and against one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League.

The bats didn’t help much either. Zambrano may be one of the best in the business, but 6 hits and only 5 walks will not win even a pitchers duel. Felipe Lopez continued his hot streak; Christian Guzman and Ryan Zimmerman got their expected scattered hits, but no one else really stepped up to fill the gap and put runs on the board.

This is disappointing to say the least, the Nats were coming off such an emotional high the night before with Wil Nieves belting a walk off homer for the victory. It would have been nice to see them come out hard and extend the winning streak to three.

Matt Chico is not the best winless starter in baseball

Chico has now had two good starts in this young season, and four bad. While he is only 24 and still shows great promise, currently he is regressing. He is letting runners on base, getting hit, and giving up the long ball. His strong season last year at the age of 23 (7-9, 4.64 ERA, 94 K) is promising that he can still be a solid MLB starter.

Can and will sadly are two different things. It’s clear Chico needs to change something, whether it his approach, mechanics, or just overall attitude. Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire needs to take him aside and do something…anything really…and if it doesn’t work he’s not too young to send down. While I ripped on Mike O’Connor last night as a reliever, the fact is he is an effective starter and deserves a chance in the rotation. I say if Chico struggles again, a shake up isn’t out of order.

Your Turn Readers

I'm tired of talking…if you read this article…comment. Tell me something…anything that you are feeling about this game...team…or season. I want to hear it…best comment gets put up as its own post.

GO.

Box Score

Photo coutesy of AP/Pablo Martinez

Injury Report

Paul Lo Duca- Lo Duca got hit in the hand on an inside pitch earlier this year and has been out ever since. Some at the time viewed his absence as a way to avoid playing in Shea for the first time since his bitter departure, but a few weeks later it has become obvious that he was seriously hurt. He is however set to start rehabbing in single A Potomac early next week, and if successful should be up shortly.


Elijah Dukes- Dukes will start his rehab from a hamstring injury in single A Potomac today (Saturday). Dukes went down on opening night and hasn’t seen a baseball diamond since. While he has great talent, he is still a young, raw player who may need to spend a week or two in the minors before he is ready to be called up. Look for Dukes to be back with the big league club in early to mid may.

Wil Nieves comes up huge, Nats win second in a row

Lastings Milledge showed up late to the game last night and lost his starting spot to Willie Harris. He took responsibility, at first verbally yesterday, and now tonight with his bat. Going 2 for 2 from the plate with two walks, Thrilledge more then made up for his absence the night before, however he was not the hero of the night.
Coming to the plate with one on and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Wil don’t call me Will Nieves delivered a much needed walk off homer, clinching the win for the Nats. Big hits were something the team had been missing this season, but the last two nights they have come and the Nats have their first winning streak since the first three games of the season.

Odalis Perez- The best winless pitcher in baseball?

Ok well maybe that’s John Lannan…But still, the bottom line is the Nationals Starting pitching has been excellent. Constantly you can expect six strong innings with no more then three runs, which gives any line up, even the Nats, a chance to win the ball game. Perez is more then earning his pay check so far this year, and for the Nat sake, hopefully him, Tim Redding, and John Lannan keep their early successes going.

Mike O’Connor’s misuse

With the bases loaded in the top of the 8th, in arguably the most important situation of the game, the best managers will not be afraid to bring in their best pitcher from the bullpen. In today’s game the good managers know that closers aren’t only for the 9th, they know that the best pitcher in the pen needs to pitch in the most critical point. Call it closer by committee, call it smart, call it whatever.

Tonight when the Nats had a one run lead and the bases loaded in the 8th, Manny Acta was faced with a decision on who to bring into the game. Jesus Colume was available; he has been lights out all year. John Rauch the make shift closer was available too. No Manny doesn’t use either of them, Manny decides to bring in the pitcher who has been in the majors for all of two days, Mike O’Connor. I’m sure Acta thought…O’Connor’s a lefty, “Murtons a lefty…clearly this is a good idea.”

Reasons this was not a good idea:

1. Mike O’Connor has been a starter in the minor leagues for the last 2 years; he was called up to the big leagues only yesterday and pitched yesterday. O’Connor hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen since 2004 in class A ball which means he clearly isn’t used to pitching on back to back nights yet.

2. Mike O’Connor hasn’t been proven in tough situations yet, especially not in front of a huge crowed with the bases loaded.

3. Relief pitchers and starting pitchers have a different warm up and mentality, starting a game and coming in with the bases loaded are two completely different situations to adjust to.

Reasons to be Happy

1. we won
2. 2 game win streak
3. a win streak in general
4. Heart of the Order has woken up
5. Aside from the newbie, the Nats bullpen did a great job against a good team
6. 2nd walk off homer in Nats Park history.

Box Score

Photos Courtesy of AP/Pablo Martinez

Nats welcome the red hot cubs, Series Preview

The Chicago Cubs (15-7) will visit Nationals Park for the first time this weekend to try and keep their hot streak alive. The Cubs have won nine out of their last eleven games, eight of which have come since the injury of all-star outfielder, and former National, Alfonso Soriano. Their winning streak has been spurred by doing all the right things; their starting pitching has been great (aside from Ted Lilly), six regular players batting over .300, and the team is getting on base .368 percent of the time.

The Washington Nationals (7-16) on the other hand have been playing much better baseball over the last week, but still have a long way to go. They have won three out of their last seven, which is an improvement on the nine game losing streak earlier in the year. The Nats line up seems to be finally producing with Lopez returning to old form, which is something baseball fans in Washington desperately need.

Cubs Last Series

The Cubs come to Washington coming off of a split two game series in Colorado which saw them end a six game win streak. The Cubs pitching cooled down a little bit in the Rocky Mountains as they let up 10 runs in two games after only allowing nine runs in the four games prior. The Cubs also recorded their 10,000 career win in the first game of the series.

Who’s Hot: Geovany Soto:5-8, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 R, 0 K

Who’s Not: Reed Johnson: 0-5, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Starting Pitchers
Rich Hill – 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Jason Marquis- 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Probable Starters

Ryan Dempster (3-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.37 ERA)
Carlos Zambrano (3-1, 2.67 ERA) vs. Matt Chico (0-4, 6.04 ERA)
Ted Lilly (1-3, 7.30 ERA) vs. John Lannan (1-2, 3.42 ERA)

No Free Passes

The Cubs have the third best on base percentage in the Major Leagues right now, getting on base as a team at .368. If you take away Alfonso Soriano’s .230 OBP from when he was healthy, the Cubs would probably take over the Red Sox as having the best in the bigs. With top three in on base percentage in the league being the Red Sox, Cardinals and Cubs (all well over .500) it’s getting tough to ignore the importance of the stat. (The nationals are 5th to last with a .311 on base percentage).
What’s scary about the Cubs is not only are they getting on base at a high level, they have the bats to hit them in. If the Nationals want to be successful against them, they need to cut down on the walks they let up. Free passes lead to easy losses. To beat the Cubs, the Nats need to make them earn their runs.

What to look for

Everything seems to be in place for the Nats to break out in a good way. The Nationals batters have all had good games in the past week, just not at the same time. The defense has clamped down and the pitching has always been in place. While the Cubs are a great team this season, the Nats can really turn it around if they take 2 out of 3 at home.

Nats win with help of Lopez

The Nats fought back tonight. Going down 3-0 in the 5th usually has led to the Nats bowing over without any attempt at a comeback; not this time. The Nats rallied, not once, not twice, but three times en route to their 10-5 victory over the Mets.

Felipe Lopez is productive….

No really, he is. Lopez going into tonight had 2 RBI’s in 18 games. Lopez had no homers and only two extra base hits. Tonight Lopez blasted 6 RBI’s tripling his total for the season. Felipe Lopez of the last few nights is the same Felipe Lopez from the Reds all those years ago. The Nationals need that Felipe Lopez and not the one they have seen since he’s come to Washington.

Nats continued to keep the big names quiet

While the Nationals pitching performances in this two game series were far from excellent, they still did a good job of keeping the Mets two biggest players off the base paths.

David Wright in series: 0/8, 0 Hr, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 ST (Wright is now 0 for his last 14)

Jose Reyes in series: 1/10, 0 HR, 0 RBI, O BB, 1 K, 1 ST

Now the Nats need to focus on not letting Luis Castillo, Raul Casanova, or Ryan Church to beat them.

Shawn Hill and the call up of Mike O’Connor

Shawn Hill looked solid in his second start of the season against a good Mets line up. He allowed only 6 hits in 5 innings and struck out five. This is a good sign for the Nats because now they have when healthy a very solid rotation with Hill, Perez, Redding, Chico, and Lannan. Nobody in that list is a star, but all of them are very solid and can promise 6 good innings every time out.

The Nationals best starter in the minors, Mike O’Connor got the call up Thursday and earned the win in his first major league game in 2008. O’Connor had been great in Tripple A Columbus so far this season and looks to take over as the club lefty specialist as Ray King got the demotion in his place. I’m not quite sure what the Nationals are trying to do with this; it’s clear that Acta was completely abusing Ray King. Lefties only hit 4-17 against King, so it’s obvious that he still has the ability to be a solid lefty specialist, he was just kept in to face righties after he got that one lefty out. It’s really risky only having one lefty in the bullpen, perhaps they should have found a way to keep both O’Connor and King on the major league club.

Check this out...

Barry Syvluga wrote a great article in the Washington Post today about last nights two starters, Tim Redding and Johan Santana, and their two very different paths to how they got to where they are today.

Excerpt:
"In 1998, a young right-hander from Rochester, N.Y., began his first professional baseball season just east of his home town, in Auburn, the Houston Astros' affiliate in the New York-Penn League. Name of Tim Redding. On the same starting staff was a left-hander from Venezuela, just 20 by the time he got there at the end of the year, Johan Santana. The two were teammates again the following spring at Michigan, Class A ball, hard-throwers with high hopes."

Click here to read the article

Chad Cordero gets a diagnosis...

After meeting with shoulder/arm specialist Dr. James Andrews (who evidently, is a big deal) Chad Cordero was officially diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis and weakness in the shoulder.

I wonder how much that diagnosis cost….

Anyways the good news is his arm doesn’t need surgery and he doesn’t need to go on the DL. He will stay with the club and do rotator cuff exercises to rebuild strength and hopefully build his endurance and velocity. Hopefully the Chief will be back at full strength in a few weeks.

Now to get Elijah Dukes and the Godfather healthy…

Santana pitches and hits Mets past Nats

Everything was going so well…going into the fourth inning Redding and Santana were locked in a pitcher duel with the Mets leading 1-0. The 30 year old Redding who has seemed to finally settle down in Washington had all but muted the explosive Mets line up, only allowing a pair of double to Beltran and the opposing pitcher, Santana. In the bottom of the fourth everything seemed to click into place, the ever struggling Wily Mo Pena and the overachieving Wil Nieves partnered for a pair of singles. Then the Redding Railroad showed up as Tim Redding smacked a double off the wall scoring both runner…the Nats…had a lead.

Could it be that the good pitching and fundamental baseball that have come to define the Nationals over the year had returned? Were we finally that pesky team that just sticks around long enough to get their break, such as their pitcher smacking a double off one of the top hurlers in baseball, just to sneak into the lead and steal the win. It had worked yesterday against the Braves, so why not today against the Mets.

Maybe we’re not quite back to that point yet…In the very next inning after claiming the lead, Redding committed a cardinal sin of later inning pitching…walking one of the 7-8-9 batters. Not only did he walk Brian Schneider with one out, he couldn’t get the ball over to allow Santana to put down the sacrifice, walking him as well. All it took from there was fielders choice and then an infield hit and the Mets tied it up. Bad baseball.
The Mets of course rallied in the fallowing innings, and the bullpen clamped down stopping the Nats from putting any more runs on the board. The Nats ultimately lost 7-2 and are still having trouble putting any sort of string of victories together.

Stopping Thunder and Lightening, but still getting rained on.

The Nats kept the Mets top players, David Wright and Jose Reyes, hitless Wednesday night. The dynamic two combined to go 0-9 and left 5 runners on base. This is what teams need to do to beat the Mets…However the Nats could not stop the back end of the line up from combining for seven hits including two doubles by the Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana. Unacceptable.

Struggles against Lefties Continue.

As I pointed out in the preview the only Nats to have success against lefties so far this year were Christian Guzman and Lastings Milledge…only one of them were able to produce tonight, Guzman going 2-4. Aside from a rare good night from Pena and Nieves, the only other National to record a hit was Tim Redding.

Box Score
Photos Courtesy of AP Photo/Pablo Monsivais

Mets vs. Nats series preview

The New York Mets (10-9) will travel to the new Nats Park for the first time to take on the Washington Nationals (6-15) in another short 2 game series. The Mets come into the series needing to capture a win having dropped three in a row, including one to Philly and two at Chicago. The Nats will continue their home stand also in desperate need of a victory, because…well they’re the Nationals.
The struggling hitting won’t catch a break after an Atlanta series that saw the Nats face Hudson and Smoltz, as the they will have to face a pair of lefty’s in the Mets ace Johan Santana, and arguably the most effective starter for them so far, Oliver Perez. Look for another heated series between these two intertwined National League East teams who both have something to prove as both see themselves currently underachieving.

Mets Last Series

The Mets last series resulted in them being the victim of a two game sweep against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley. The Mets combined to only score two runs and give up fifteen as both the bullpen and the starting pitchers could not stay away from the big inning

Hot: actually…no one
Not: David Wright- 0-6, 2 BB, 1 K 0 RBI
Jose Reyes- 1-8, 0 BB, 1 K

The Starters/Losers
John Maine- 6IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Nelson Figueroa- 5IP, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2K

Probable Starters:

Tim Redding (3-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. Johan Santana (2-2, 3.25 ERA)
Shawn Hill (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Oliver Perez (2-0, 2.49 ERA)

The Hefty Lefties

The Nats will have to go against two of the games best left handed pitchers in back to back nights in this series. Neither Santana nor Perez are prototypical lefties either, they both are power pitchers with lefty type movement which means when they are on…they are two of the harder pitchers to hit around. This is not a good sign as the team as a whole has done very poorly against lefties so far this season.

Good Nats vs. Lefties
Cristian Guzman- .462 BA, .464 OBP, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1/1 BB/K
Lastings Milledge-.370 BA, .414 OBP, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 2/3 BB/K

Bad Nats vs. Lefties
Ryan Zimmerman- .192 BA, .222 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1/0 BB/K
Nick Johnson- .150 BA, .308 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 4/7 BB/K
Austin Kearns- .105 BA, .292 OBP, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 5/3 BB/K

Overall vs. Lefties- .227 BA, .299 OBP, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 20/33 BB/K

What to look for:

The Nationals got outscored 14-4 in the last series against the Mets, but there have been some slight signs that their bats are starting to wake up. If the Nats can weather the storm against Santana and Perez and get to the bullpen, they may be able to match the Mets bats.

Tonight will Tim Redding (of the Redding Railroad express) will be going for his fourth win of the season. So far as long as he keeps his pitch count down he has been very effective regardless of whom he has pitched against. Shawn Hill will make his second start of the season Thursday as well. Look for Hill to improve upon his last outing in which he showed signs of fatigue after a great start. The bottom line is the Nats have the starting pitchers to win both games this series, but they will need to match the Mets great bats.

No error here, Nats win 6-0

Two things the Nats haven’t had this season is run support and luck. They got a bit of both tonight as the Nats went on to score 4 unearned runs on way to a 6-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. With the win the Nationals ended a three game skid and finally may have been able to regain a little bit of their pesky swagger they had last season.

After another brilliant start from John Lannan and a solid showing from the bullpen the Nats led 1-0 going into the top of the 9th. With two on and one out, Nieves bounced a ball to the pitcher that should have led to an inning ending double play, instead an arrant throw allowed Milledge to come around and score, starting a 5 run rally which ultimately lead to the Nationals victory.

John Lannan picks up his first “W”

After two great starts, including an 11 strikeout performance against the New York Mets, John Lannan finally picks up his first win of the season. Although ultimately meaningless in terms of the quality of his pitching, it’s got to be a confidence builder for Lannan to see a W besides the one on his cap. While the line up didn’t necessarily clinch it for him, the Nationals at least found one way to get it done for the pitcher quickly turning into the staff ace.

The only things that Lannan needs to improve upon right now are his consistency (obviously) and his control. After tonight, Lannan has 10 walks in 21 innings. A finesse pitcher needs to keep unneeded runners off the base paths. This is because:

1. Pitchers who don’t throw that hard are more likely to miss a spot and give up the accidental hit, and runners put on base by errors or walks will turn into RBI’s.
2. Finesse pitchers need to use the whole count, its just harder in general to pitch with runners on base.

If Lannan can decrease his walk rate it could really help a lot. If you look at the best finesse pitchers of their era, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, both had incredibly low walk rates.

Don’t be fooled

As I mentioned in the intro, 5 of the Nationals 6 runs were unearned. While I’ll take a run anyway I can get one, don’t think the bats are suddenly back(assuming they were ever here). Look at this line for the Nationals tonight: 9 hits, three walks, twelve strikeouts.

While the Nats may have only walked three times and struck out like a JV high school team, you may be excited about the 9 hits. Consider this however, four of those 9 hits came by the way of Willie Harris and Wil Nieves (By the way I am amazed at the different variations of the name William we have on this team; Wil Nieves, Willie Harris, Wily Mo Pena…and not one Will, Bill, or William). These two players are both reserves filling in for injured players (Lo Duca injured hand, Pena injured pride). While their effort is commendable, don’t think that this means the Nats line up as we know it is producing again.

Who’s going to lose playing time to who?

Austin Kearns was Jim Bowden’s joy, his prized pick. A megaprospect who he drafted 7th overall in 1998, Kearns went on went on tear to make it to the majors ahead of schedule in 2002. He produced, in only 370 at bats for the Reds he batting .315 with 13 homers with an OPS of .907. He was the crown jewel of the Reds franchise…then something set in…perhaps it was reality.
Since his fabled rookie season Kearns has batted .255, and averaged 13 homers a year. So far this year he has been equally awful, batting .213 with only 2 homers. While his on base percentage has continued to be solid, his batting average and slugging percentage have plummeted, continuing to decrease his value.
When Dukes gets healthy, and Wily Mo Pena starts to produce the way he has proven in the last several years he can, who loses playing time? We understand Mr. Bowden your affinity for you’re joy, but show some pride.

Box Score
(Photo’s courtesy of Associated Press/Gregory Smith and Alfredo Lee)

You tell me what to make of this

"In his office, manager Manny Acta was pointing to the 10 hits Washington got off Hudson in 62/3 innings as a sign his team is about to turn a corner, stopping just short of apologizing for being happy after a 7-3 loss.

Just down the hall, hitting coach Lenny Harris was consoling Wily Mo Pena as the teary-eyed left fielder tried to make sense of an 0-for-4 night, including two of Hudson's three strikeouts."

"It wasn't until Willie Harris' double down the right-field line in the seventh inning that the Nationals ended Hudson's scoreless streak of 201/3 innings against them."-The Washington Times

Is this supposed to be a good thing? Sure, 10 hits is a good sign for a team that hasn't been able to hit anything. Yes I know this is a necessary first step to actually (gasp) score enough runs to win games. And sweet, Tim Hudson didnt kick our ass, we scored for the first time in almost a full season against him.

But are we really the team that:
1. Has a manager who is happy, period, after losing by 4 runs?
2. A team who's outfielders need to be consoled after going 0-4 with three K's?

Maybe at 5-15, with three times as many losses as wins...we are.

Can't we just...start over?

Nats lose third in a row, Fall to the Braves 7-3

Write up by Lucky Jarmes:

"It wasn't Hudson.

Despite Braves pitcher Tim Hudson's impressive 5-0, .80ERA against the Nationals, his preformance was not what left the Nationals on the wrong end of a 7-3 game. The Nationals managed 13 hits, leaving stranding 11, in a game that did not see the Nats with out several chances to score.What led to the down fall tonight was a combination of poor pitching, and even worse base running. Untimely hitting also, as if it isn't always the problem, was very apparent tonight. Yet again, a Gnat(the act of intentionally walking the bases, only to either walk or throw a pass ball to score the run anyway) made an appearance as Chico highlighted a 4 inning, 6 run appearance with a walk to Tim Hudson to force home a run, after intentionally walking Blanco to load the bases.

On the offensive side of the game, the Nationals blew opportunities all night. The game started off promisingly, as Guzman was in scoring position with 2 outs. Tim Tolman, possible worst 3rd basecoach in the majors showed last season form in sending Guzman on a Kearns hit directly to the Francoeur. Naturally, Francoeur gunned Guzman at home to end the inning. Later in the game, Thrilledge was gunned at the plate after being sent from second on a ground ball to centerfield. Tim Tolman, I bring back my cry from last year that you should be fired. Right now.

Our Nats showed sparks of a come back both in the 8th, and an attempt at one in the 9th. The top of the 8th found the Nationals hitting smartly. Following a Kearns walk, and Estrada hit, Aaron Boone came in for an infield hit. Larry Jones promptly threw the ball away, advancing the runners and scoring Kearns. However, such signs of rallies need not be held in awe, as Boone tried to advance to second from well beyond the bag at first, and was thrown out by a mile to end the inning.

There were some promising parts of todays game. It really looks like both Austin Kearns and Ryan Zimmerman are coming out of their massive slumps. Kearns, coming off of a display of the power we know him to have, continued to hit well going 2 for 4 tonight. Zimmerman also improved to .226 on the year, going 2 for 5 tonight. It's good to see them hitting again.

Over all, the ugly game extended an uglier road trip. It makes the first loss in an ugly upcoming set of games. After facing Hudson tonight, the Nats go on to face the hot hand of John Smoltz, and then host Johan Santana hurling for the Mets."

Minor League Monday

Columbus Clippers-
Michael O’Connor- O’Connor is getting a little bit old to be considered a prospect anymore. Now at the age of 27, he got his first taste of the big leagues last year filling in for the never injured John Patterson. A George Washington alumni, O’Connor hadn’t done much in the National’s organization to warrant much more then an emergency call up in the middle of July. So far this year however, O’Connor has been arguably the best pitcher in the National’s system. In four starts for Columbus so far, the lefty has gone 2-0, with a 1.96 ERA. In 23 innings of work he has recorded 20 strikeouts and only allowed 4 walks.

Harrisburg Senators-

Yurendell Eithel de Caster-Who? Exactly…Yurndell de Caster is the epitome of a career journeyman minor leaguer. Signed by Tampa in 1996 at the age of 16, De Caster has only managed two career at bats (last year for Pittsburgh). Even more impressive then de Caster’s inability to make it to the show, is his unbelievable versatility. In 2005 with the Indianapolis Indians, de Caster recorded 28 games at third, 25 at first, 13 at second, and 58 in the outfield. Not only is de Caster’s story just plain weird, it warrant’s mention because of how unbelievably well he has preformed so far this year. In 17 games between Harrisonburg and Columbus, Yurendell has batted .328, hit 4 homers and driven in 19 runs. He’s reached base .434 percent of the time and is slugging just under .600. (Another interesting fact about Yurendell, he hit three bombs in the 2006 Olympics for The Netherlands…)

Potomac Nationals-
Jordan Zimmerman- Building upon last weeks no hit bid, Jordan Zimmerman continues to impress with yet another quality start. Friday night against the Wilmington Blue Rocks the 22 year old tossed 5 shut out innings striking out six and allowing only three hits, while lowering his overall ERA to .061 He is still a long way away from the Nationals clubhouse, but the continued development of the young righty is promising.

Braves vs. Nats Series Preview

The Washington Nationals will fly north to face an Atlanta Braves team that has won four in a row. The Nats(5-14) and the Braves (9-9) have split their season series so far 2-2, but the two teams have seen their squads go in different directions outside of the confines of Nationals Park. Both teams have their share of struggling hitters, but the Braves are managing to pull out wins.
The first month of the season can often define the tone and the character of a team for the rest of the year. The Braves, tired of hearing the talk of the Phillies and the Mets inside their division (which it has been for the last 20 years) do not want to be a .500 baseball team. The Nationals, having some sort of pride, don’t want to win only 42 games as they are currently on pace to do. Both teams need to win this series to try and turn their season around.

Probable Starters

Matt Chico (0-3. 4.81 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (2-1, 3.37 ERA)
John Lannan (0-2 4.46 ERA) vs. John Smoltz (3-0, .056 ERA)

Solving Smoltz and Hudson

It’s just the Nats luck that in this two game series they will have to face both the hottest pitcher in the league and the most successful starter against Washington in franchise history.
John Smoltz has been smoldering so far, winning all of his starts and sporting a three to one strikeout to walk ratio. Allowing only one earned run all season, the 41 year old Smoltz is only getting better with age.
Season Stats: 3-1, .056 ERA, 21 K’s, 6 BB’s, 16 IP

Tim Hudson on the other hand has been good but not great this season for the Braves. He has suffered some drop in velocity (a growing trend in the MLB this season) and his last outing he only lasted three innings before getting run off the mound by Florida. However so far this year against the Nats Hudson is an impressive 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA, and his career stats against Washington are just staggering:

Career vs. Washington: 10 Starts, 6-1 record, 1.11 ERA,

Tex and Larry

Larry (Chipper) Jones is arguably the hottest hitter in baseball (.449, 6 HR, 18 RBI). He is hitting every pitch, off every pitcher, anywhere he wants. He is so in the zone right now, if you called him by his actual first name, Larry, to his face…he might not even notice.

Mark Teixeira on the other hand is struggling. A great hitter in his own right, the power hitting switch hitter (from the D.C era) can’t seem to find his stroke this season. Hitting only .221 with three bombs, he is far from his career .290 batting average and far off the power pace we are used to seeing. With Teixiera serving as the protection for Jones, I see absolutely no reason to give Larry a single pitch to hit…make the struggling guy beat you, not the supernova.

What to look for

Wily Mo Pena was rushed back to Washington from Columbus. He is not healthy, and he is not hitting well. Don’t be surprised to see him benched in one of the next two games for Willie Harris. That's right a Willy, Willie, swap. Harris isn’t close to the hitter Pena can be, but the Nats cant afford to not be able to move base runners with golden sombreros and pop outs.

Defense is killing the Nats right now, where last year it was one of their strong points. Don’t be surprised to see a shake up in some of the positions. Catching needs to improve, Belliard or Lopez need to learn how to play second base (Willie Harris also can play second), and first basemen need to be able to pick throws when Ryan Zimmerman makes an outstanding play.

Things the Nats currently cant do; Hit, Win

Odalis Perez just can’t catch a break. For the fourth game this year he has pitched more then five quality innings and did not come out with the win. Tonight he tossed six innings without an earned run, recorded seven strikeouts and allowed only five hits. Once again however, he couldn’t get the run support, or the defensive support to pull out his first victory of the season.

The Nationals continued their uninspired play this afternoon as they finished their series with the Marlins by dropping two of three. They just couldn’t find the answer for Marlins staff ace Greg Olson and his hard breaking curve, and while Olson is a good young pitcher…the Nats need to do better then beat only the number four or five starters of the opposing teams.

Containing Hanley

For the first two games the Nationals did a good job of containing Hanley Ramirez, forcing the other Marlins to produce the runs if they wanted to beat the Nats. Ramirez had been relatively silent for the first 25 innings in the series, but in the seventh and eighth innings of today’s game Ramirez smacked two bombs to break the game wide open.

Hanley’s Numbers in the series: .333 (4/12)BA, 5 R, 3 RBI, 2HR, 3SB
Hanley’s Numbers on the season: .373BA, 11 R, 11 RBI , 3HR, 2SB

Say it aint Saul

Saul Rivera coming into today’s game having not allowed a homerun since giving up a solo shot to Aaron Rowand last April 24th. He almost made it one year. Today in the 8th, in what was also his worst outing of the year, he served up Hanley Ramirez’s 5th homer of the season, breaking the homer-less streak. 361 days without a homer is pretty reliable, hopefully he will continue the consistency.

Fire Lenny Harris?

There has been some outcry amongst Nationals fans and up until now I have thought it’s too small a sample size to make a decision. So far however…in the sample size we have…the offensive production has been really poor. Lenny Harris, arguably the greatest pinch hitter of all time, maybe the first coach to get the axe if things don’t improve immediately.

Ironically enough, the pinch hitting has been the worst part of the Nats offensive game.

Nats team batting stats
Overall Hitting .222 (136/614)
Against LHP: .243 (44/181)
Against RHP: .212 (93/433)
At Nats Park: .205 (44/215)
Away Hitting: .231 (92/389)
Pinch Hitting .083 (3/36)

Team On Base: .304
Team Slugging: .336

Box Score

The Nats ace returns, but Washington loses to the $1 man

Wes Helms was an important part of the Florida Marlins in 2006. So important that the marlins wanted him back from Philadelphia after losing him to free agency…and all it took was one dollar. After several great plays in the field Friday, and a game winning hit tonight, as far as the Nationals are concerned its money well spent.
The Nats fell in a heartbreaker to Florida tonight, 6-5, after the walk off hit from Helms in the bottom of the 9th. It was a game that saw seven combined errors, the return of Shawn hill, a 9th inning comeback by both teams, and proof that Austin Kearns bat is in fact not hallow.

The Good:

The Nationals are getting out early- In the last two games Washington has scored in the first inning and had a solid lead to build upon for the rest of the game. This is important as it has been shown that the Nats don’t have the bats to come back like some of other teams in the division. The Nationals best asset is also their bullpen, the best way for this team to be successful then is to get out early and hold the lead with their pitching, as they tried to do tonight. Felipe Lopez flashed signs of his old self again tonight in the leadoff role, which has been the biggest impact on the Nats ability to jump out to an early lead. Hopefully Lopez has found his groove and this will be more then just a hot streak.

Shawn returns to the hill- The Nats ace returned to an overall solid start tonight, allowing only one run and four hits through his first five innings of work. Shawn recorded 6 strikeouts and showed good control with no walks. However as Hill had indicated earlier, he is still not at 100 percent which is likely the reason for his awful last inning of work. Hill finished his start with an ugly sixth allowing three more earned runs and four more hits. Hopefully the 26 year old will not have these types of innings when his endurance returns…

The Bad:

The good situational hitting for the nationals did not continue-The Nats started the game with runners on second and third with no outs. They only managed one run by way of a Nick Johnson ground out…that’s just not good enough. Had both those runs scored, like they should have, the Nats would have had enough runs to come out with the victory. It’s the ability to convert when a team should that separates them from being poor/mediocre and being elite.

The Ugly:

3 Errors, 22 runners left on base

The Godfather....

Dmitri Young has had to battle his demons.

In 2006 while playing for the Tigers he disappeared; evading police on assault charges. No one knew where Dmitri was; not the Tigers, the police, or even most of his family.

Dmitri was in rehab, at the Betty Ford clinic. Whether or not he was there by his choice is up in the air. What is known is that when he found himself with his hands around his wife’s throat, Young had hit rock bottom. After his stint in rehab the Tigers released him. Dmitri had lost his family, his dignity, and now baseball. Some don’t make the choice to collect everything and rebuild after hitting the low of lows, But Dmitri did.

In 2007, with clean blood and a clean head, Young signed a minimum contract with the only team that would take him, the Washington Nationals. While physically he wasn’t his old self, mentally he was stronger then ever before.

As Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of this game is half mental.”

Young exploded after earning a starting spot with the Nationals. He led the National League in batting for much of the first half and earned an all star spot in San Francisco. It was the perfect situation fro the Nationals. They signed a player as a gamble for next to nothing only to have his value sky rocket. Young could now be traded to a team he could actually help get to the playoffs and in return the Nationals could get something they could actually use, prospects.

As with Soriano the year before, the trade deadline came and went and found Jim Bowden sitting at his desk, deal-less. Once again a brilliant, or perhaps lucky, move on Bowden’s part turned useless as he was unable to pull the trigger on a deal to further the future of his young franchise.

Young of course stayed on the Nationals, completed an excellent season and won the National League Comeback Player of the Year award. In the off-season he resigned with Washington, and will likely finish out his career there.

While Dmitri will likely never help the Nationals make a playoff push, his value can now be measure in a new way. Stan Caston has asked Dmitri to show two other troubled young ball players through the darkness of troubled times, Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge.

So far it appears his wisdom has paid off as neither player has yet to cause any distractions. Milledge has been the best all around player for the Nationals and Dukes hopes to provide a spark when he comes back from his strained hamstring. While Young has yet to play this season, as he is in a tough battle with diabetes, his impact on this franchise may be greater then anyone could ever have thought. The Big Teddy bear may end up being the godfather for the next generation of Nationals baseball.

Nats pick up a win, top the Marlins 6-4

The Nats came into the game tonight desperately needing a solid victory. With good situational hitting and yet another solid showing from Tim Redding, the Nats got that victory winning 6-4 over the NL East leading Florida Marlins. It was almost a picture perfect game for the Nats who finally started to hit the ball.
Jumping out of the gates the Nats took a 3-0 lead when they young prospect Andrew Miller, could not throw a strike in the first inning. Miller who dominated in college for UNC only two years ago, only through five strikes in his first 18 pitches, allowing the Nats to put themselves in perfect position to strike first. With the bases loaded and no outs, the Nats finally showed good situational hitting with a Sac Fly by Nick Johnson and a two RBI single by Lastings Milledge.
With a 3-0 lead, the staff ace of the season so far Tim Redding zoned in allowing only one hit and one run, while striking out 10 through the first six innings. The wheels started to come off for Redding however with a 3 run inning in the sixth for the Marlins. A bases clearing double for Nick Johnson in the eighth however gave the Nats the lead which set the stage for Rauch to come on and close the game out.

Containing Hanley:

I said in the preview that containing Hanley Ramirez, possibly the best player in baseball, would be the key to beating the Marlins. Like Reyes in the Mets series, Ramirez has explosive speed and is a double threat who can beat you with both his legs and his bat. The Nats did a good job not allowing Ramirez to beat them with the latter, not giving him many pitches to hit.
The consequence however of pitching around, or in one case tonight pitching at Ramirez, is that you will have to put him on base. This was the case tonight with Hanley going 1 for 2 with a walk and a hit by pitch. While the Nats did a good job containing his bat Ramirez ran wild on them, scoring half the Marlins runs and swiping two bags. It seemed for tonight however that the game plan of avoiding Hanley’s bat worked as he wasn’t able to drive in any crucial runs.

Nick Johnson:

For the first time this season, Nick Johnson looked like the Nick Johnson of old tonight. Going 3 for 4 with four RBI’s, Johnson more then anyone sealed this victory for the club. The Marlins pitchers had trouble locating their spots tonight, and Johnson as a patient hitter took great advantage of this by not chasing any pitches early in counts. By doing this, Johnson found himself in RBI situations ahead in the count, not behind…and that’s what a professional hitter does.
Johnson returning to his old form is good for the Nats for two reasons. First, obviously, they could use a solid number four hitter who will drive in close to 100 runs and hit 20 bombs. Second, having a feared hitter in the four spot will allow Zimmerman to start seeing better pitches to hit, as he did tonight going 2 for 4.

Other Notes:

The Nats shook up their batting order tonight, putting Felipe Lopez in the lead off spot, Guzman to the number 2, and dropping Milledge to the 5 spot. This is the whole line up:
Lopez
Guzman
Zimmerman
Johnson
Milledge
Kearns
Pena
Estrada
It seemed to work as Lopez had a hot night going 3 for 5 and scoring 2 runs. Lopez will need to walk more, but if he can step up and be the player he has the talent to be he could be a great player to put in the leadoff spot. If this isn’t a permanent change, it was still good to see the line up shuffled, sometimes that’s the only thing a manager can do to shake things up and spark some life into a teams’ bats.