"Catcher Ivan Rodriguez left tonight's 5-1 Nationals win over the Dodgers after the sixth inning with tightness in his lower back, but afterward he said he was fine and will miss only a game he had planned to sit out, anyway.

Rodriguez indicated to Manager Jim Riggleman early in the game that his lower back felt stiff. After Rodriguez grounded into a double play to end the sixth inning, Rodriguez left the game for Wil Nieves.

"It was very tight," Rodriguez said. "I don't want to take any chances. But I'm all right."

Rodriguez said tonight's discomfort was not necessarily related to pain he felt against the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this year. While throwing to second base in Philadelphia, Rodriguez felt a spasm in his back.

"It happens to a catcher," Rodriguez said. "If you ask catchers, sometimes they have tightness in their lower back. Basically, that's what happened." "