Nationals News

"After thrilling Minute Maid Park crowds for five consecutive games with dramatic comeback victories, towering home runs and an exciting brand of baseball, the Astros were rather ordinary Thursday night. That was perfectly fine with the Washington Nationals, who struck the Astros in the jowls and stole the final game of the homestand with an 8-3 win."

"The Washington Nationals have lost both of their veteran catchers to injury and now plan to hand over the starting job to 23-year-old Jesus Flores for at least a month. Paul Lo Duca (fractured bone in his right hand) and Johnny Estrada (inflamed nerve in his right elbow) will be placed on the 15-day disabled list today, club officials said. Flores will be recalled from Class AAA Columbus to take over as the everyday catcher, and outfielder Elijah Dukes also will join the big league roster in time for tonight's game against the Florida Marlins."

"For all of the reasons Washington Nationals fans could salivate over the prospect of Michael Burgess in the team's outfield within a year or two — the eight home runs he already has clubbed for Class A Hagerstown being chief among them — there are also plenty of sobering reminders that Burgess is, in fact, only 19 and still learning how to play."

"Another loss, and this club would head home on an all-night flight to the District on a three-game slide and rightfully feeling glum. Instead, manager Manny Acta got another gutsy performance from left-hander John Lannan and a surprisingly productive hitting display from a makeshift lineup, all of which resulted in a satisfying 8-3 victory before 33,433 at Minute Maid Park."

"In the offseason, the Washington Nationals spent $6.25 million to acquire free agent catchers Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada. On Friday they plan to put both players on the disabled list -- Lo Duca with a broken bone in his right hand, Estrada with a ligament problem in his right elbow -- and turn the regular catching duties over to the man they think will hold the position for years to come, Jesús Flores."

"So if the Nationals seemed relieved after an 8-3 victory over the Astros on Thursday night -- ending Houston's five-game winning streak -- forgive them. They know that because John Lannan allowed just one run over six innings, and because they got home runs from the most unexpected of sources -- reserves Willie Harris and Rob Mackowiak -- they prevented the start of what could have become a tailspin."

"Well aware of the danger red-hot Lance Berkman brings with a bat in his hands these days, the Washington Nationals twice decided to take their chances with Carlos Lee in the late innings Wednesday night. The strategy of walking Berkman intentionally worked out when Lee struck out in the seventh, but Lee made the Nationals pay with the game on the line in the ninth. Lee hit a line-drive single to center field to score Kaz Matsui from third base to send the Astros past the Washington Nationals 4-3 at Minute Maid Park."

"The Washington Nationals demoted Matt Chico to the bullpen yesterday and announced fellow left-hander Mike O'Connor will replace the struggling starter in the rotation. O'Connor will start Saturday night against the Florida Marlins; Chico was available to pitch in relief last night against the Houston Astros. "We just want to release Matt from some of that tension that he's having every five days going out there," manager Manny Acta said. "And we want to give O'Connor a shot. He pitched well at Triple-A, and we still see him as a starter.""

"Slumps — and the hysteria that surrounds them — make ballplayers do strange things. The Chicago White Sox, for instance, offended sensibilities Sunday by bringing two naked female dolls into their clubhouse and arranging bats around them in an X-rated display. Actually, not all of the bats were around their inflatable guests. One of them was ... oh, never mind. Anyway, this is how the White Sox, last in the American League in hitting at .232 (going into last night), tried to get their offense going again — with some unconditional love from a couple of blown-up Baseball Annies. To complete the picture for you, each wore a sign over her breasts bearing an, uh, inspirational message. Call it a Shrine to the Mendoza Line. If the dolls had any effect on the team's fortunes, it was delayed. The Sox managed only four hits that day and four the next before "erupting" for seven runs and 11 hits in a win over the Twins."

"There was a dominant performance from Roy Oswalt, though not dominant enough to keep Ryan Zimmerman in the ballpark. There was a surreal encounter between Paul Lo Duca and a group of fans seated behind the third-base dugout that started razzing the veteran catcher after he reinjured his right hand. And there were any number of unusual plays in a ballgame filled with unusual moments. In the end, the Washington Nationals were done in again by some late heroics from the Houston Astros and were left to contemplate a demoralizing 4-3 loss at Minute Maid Park."

"fter seven largely unsuccessful starts, the Washington Nationals moved struggling left-hander Matt Chico to the bullpen Wednesday, replacing him with lefty Mike O'Connor in a move the club hopes will remedy the rotation's largest problem and allow Chico to grow more comfortable. "We just want to release Matt from some of that tension that he's having every five days going out there," Manager Manny Acta said. "We want to give O'Connor a shot. He pitched very well in Triple-A.""

"But in the half-hour after the 4-3 loss at Minute Maid Park -- one that ended when Houston left fielder Carlos Lee hit a line-drive single to center with one out and runners at the corners in the bottom of the ninth -- Joel Hanrahan sat at his locker, his back to the visitors' clubhouse. An ice pack wrapped around his right elbow. His teammates ate quietly, showered, watched video. Hanrahan sat still, bare-footed, silent."

"Astros manager Cecil Cooper let out a huge sigh of relief and finally allowed himself to smile. The previous three hours spent in the tense home dugout offered few chances for him to do either. "First let me say, I can't keep going through this," Cooper said. "This is killing me. It's pretty nerve-wracking sitting over there praying for base hits, but they kept coming, though." And coming and coming. There were enough of them for the Astros to come from behind four times Tuesday night before finally putting away the Washington Nationals 6-5 at Minute Maid Park."

"The loss of Chad Cordero could have been a devastating blow to the Washington Nationals' bullpen, which was already struggling when the 26-year-old closer tore a muscle in the back of his right shoulder. Instead, Washington's relief corps has banded together and given manager Manny Acta its best work of the young season since losing the former All-Star. In the 10 games before last night's loss, the bullpen posted a 6-0 record and 3.96 ERA (nearly a half-run lower than its season-long mark) and helped Washington go 8-2 over that span."

"The Washington Nationals arrived at Minute Maid Park a team on a roll, having just completed a highly successful homestand to resurrect their wayward season. Last night's unsightly 6-5 loss to the Houston Astros quickly took the luster off that feel-good story."

"No reliever in baseball has been used more frequently than Washington Nationals right-hander Luis Ayala. Heading into Tuesday night's game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, only one pitcher had been used more frequently than Nationals right-hander Saúl Rivera. That would be Ayala. Balancing the bullpen is a daily concern for Manager Manny Acta, who has a rule that relievers don't appear more than three consecutive days. But as the club heads into the grind of summer, Acta and pitching coach Randy St. Claire look at much more than just how often their relievers are throwing."

""I thought I could catch it," Kearns said. The ball sank. Kearns dove. Not only did it fall to the Minute Maid Park turf, but it trickled past his glove. Kearns popped up, but the tying run scored easily, and lumbering Lance Berkman scooted all the way home from first with the run that gave the Astros a 6-5 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday night. "

"There were times during the Washington Nationals' first homestand at RFK Stadium in 2005 when someone would connect with a pitch and send the ball flying toward the power alleys, causing general manager Jim Bowden (and surely others) to jump out of his seat in anticipation of the forthcoming home run. Each time, the ball would be caught somewhere well short of RFK's deep outfield fence, and Bowden (and fans) would slink back into his seat, coming to grips with the fact this park was a hitter's nightmare."

"Two years ago to the week, the Lerner family and Stan Kasten took control of the Nationals. It's easy to lapse into the pleasures of the May moment with the Nats winning nine of their past dozen games. Why not just enjoy the modest rebound of a team that, after losing 15 of 17, has regained the low-budget respectability of its past two seasons? Why not? Because that's not the yardstick by which the Nationals measure themselves or the standard to which they should be held."

"The Washington Nationals are by no means a power-hitting club. No member of their regular lineup has hit as many as 30 home runs in a season. Still, there was some measure of curiosity for the team about how their new home, Nationals Park, would play, particularly after they departed cavernous RFK Stadium, where crushed balls often turned into warning track outs. The conclusion? "It's fair," Manager Manny Acta said. If anything, statistics would indicate that the park slightly favors pitchers, though the Nationals' lineup might have something to do with that."

"There was a time when Randy Knorr, the manager of the Class A Potomac Nationals, would dread when his pitchers started a hitter with two consecutive balls. Any batter would know, right then, that a fastball was on its way, and he would likely be able to crush it. "I wanted to pull the guys off the field," Knorr said yesterday. "I was afraid one of the fielders might get hurt." Things have changed, not only at Potomac, but throughout the Washington Nationals' minor league system."

"It was supposed to be the weakest link in an otherwise improved Washington Nationals roster. The new-look lineup? Wasn't going to be a concern. The tried-and-true bullpen? Still the strength of this team. The starting rotation? Well, at least the Nationals weren't holding open auditions for jobs like they did a year ago. Who knew that unit would be the least of manager Manny Acta's concerns one month into the season?"

"The Washington Nationals' logjam at catcher has benefited at least one of the team's three players at the position - Johnny Estrada, who said yesterday his elbow hasn't recovered as well as he had hoped from offseason surgery and still isn't healthy enough for him to catch consistently. Estrada has started just nine games this season, finishing only six of those games and catching back-to-back games twice."

"The end result is this: After coming home on a 2-15 slide, the Nationals leave it having won eight of 11. And despite fielding a makeshift lineup for the capper — which was missing Ryan Zimmerman's name for the first time in 206 games and had Lastings Milledge in his third different spot in three days — Washington's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates was some of the most seamless baseball the team has played all season."

"The last time Ryan Zimmerman didn't appear in a game for the Washington Nationals, Alfonso Soriano was the leadoff hitter and left fielder, José Vidro the second baseman, Tony Armas Jr. the starting pitcher. A utilityman named Melvin Dorta filled in for Zimmerman at third. That was Sept. 18, 2006. Yesterday, though, Zimmerman relaxed in the Nationals' dugout during their entire 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, his first game off after playing 205 straight, including all 162 last season."

"But as they gathered at midfield yesterday afternoon, bathed in sun as they shook hands following a fine 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, their circumstances were markedly different. Smiles are no longer forced, bats are no longer strangled, and wins come more than once a week. "I think now," catcher Paul Lo Duca said, "the guys in here are starting to believe that we can win." "

"Snell (2-2) was touched up for two runs in the first inning and later allowed a solo homer to Aaron Boone, as the Nationals (14-18) finished off the four-game set with a 5-2 win over the struggling Pirates. With the loss, the Pirates (12-19) are 3-7 in their past 10 games and dropped to 6-12 on the road."

"Ian Snell hardly was joking a few days back, when he vowed to "get back to being myself" and throw more heat. He fired fastball after fastball, an incredible 69 of his 101 pitches. And, as if determined to show he was not trying to trick anybody, all but five of his 28 batters got one with the first pitch. Quite a show. One problem: Those fastballs misfired more often than not, and Snell would be charged with four runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings of the Pirates' 5-2 loss to Washington yesterday at Nationals Park."

"The way Matt Chico spoke about his performance yesterday, the uninformed might have thought the Washington Nationals left-hander had tossed a gem, instead of allowing five runs in 41/3 innings. "I know the line doesn't look all that great," Chico said. "But I'm taking a lot of positives out of this one that I haven't from the last three or four." Coming off three straight poor outings in which he posted a combined 11.08 ERA, Chico was perhaps a little more effective yesterday in the Nationals' 9-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates."

"The only thing more noticeable about Cristian Guzman than his performance at the plate these days is the everpresent smile on his face. The Washington Nationals shortstop has good reason to be happy. He's finally playing the way both he and the team envisioned he would when he signed a four-year, $16.8 million contract in November 2004. The terms of that contract have been recited over and over in the 3½ years, and rarely over that time has Guzman looked worth the money. But perhaps he is living up to it now, leading the Nationals with a .303 average and enjoying performances like the one he authored yesterday during Washington's 9-8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates."

"Washington Nationals left-hander Matt Chico had this take on his start yesterday afternoon, one in which he was charged with four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings and gave back a four-run lead in what became a 9-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates: "I'm taking a lot of positives out of this one that I haven't in the past three or four," he said. "I threw a lot more inside than I was in the past, getting them off certain pitches. . . . It's one of those where I feel much more comfortable with this one than I was the last three." "

"At some point, Cristian Guzmán will live down that 2005 season, the wasted six-month stretch that forged an image of him in Washington. Don't sugarcoat it. That summer, it could be argued, Guzmán was the worst player in the majors...Perhaps by yesterday afternoon, though, some of those images had been if not erased, then altered. There was Guzmán, lining a ball over the fence in the first. There he was, with an RBI single. There he was again, drilling a three-run double. Add it all up, and Guzmán drove in six runs in the Nationals' tenuous 9-8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates before a Saturday afternoon crowd of 34,128 at Nationals Park."

"Down by four runs after two innings, the Pirates rallied and tied the Washington Nationals. They could not do it a second time. Shortstop Cristian Guzman went 4 for 5 with a home run and tied a career high with six RBI, including a bases-clearing double in a four-run sixth, that propelled the Nationals to a 9-8 victory over the Pirates at Nationals Park. "

"Adam LaRoche once had a friend tell him that his goal for each game should be to create at least one run, whether scoring one or driving it home. And it was advice he embraced. So, with a casual glance at the box score of the Pirates' 9-8 loss to Washington yesterday at Nationals Park, one might think he had a reasonably satisfying day: 2 for 5, plus an RBI."

"John Lannan has pitched well without Wil Nieves catching him — in both the minor and major leagues — but the two have built such an impressive body of work in such a short time that they almost seem to be a singular unit these days."

"The energy supplied by a young team on the rebound and the unlikely battery of a gutsy left-hander and a well-traveled catcher had, at least for one night, already been sucked out of the ballpark. What was left was a speedbump of a game that ended the Washington Nationals' four-game winning streak and derailed John Lannan's recent streak of brilliance. The Nationals went home with an 11-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Lannan's scoreless streak ended at 21 innings after he surrendered six runs in the third inning."

"The Washington Nationals' left-hander went from brilliant to beaten-up, all in a five-day span. He lasted just three innings in a 11-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates that not only ended a four-game Washington winning streak, but was the shortest of Lannan's 12 major league starts. "

"Paul Lo Duca's stint with the Class A Potomac Nationals was meant to get him at-bats as he came back from a bruised right hand that landed him on the disabled list. The ancillary benefit is that the Washington Nationals' starting catcher got to receive for some of the team's most promising pitching prospects. "I was impressed with all the kids they've got there," Lo Duca said. "It's one of the better 'A' ballclubs I've seen." "

"No one expected Pirates left-hander Phil Dumatrait to be perfect when he made his first start of the season last night against the Nationals. In fact, anything less than a complete meltdown would have been an improvement over Matt Morris. Dumatrait ended up somewhere in between, as he went four-plus innings in the Pirates' 11-4 victory over the Nationals. Third baseman Jose Bautista provided much of the offense with two homers and four RBI -- his first two-home run game since Aug. 25, 2007, at Houston. "

"No matter how down or disappointed he gets, Jose Bautista never quite reaches the point where he thinks of himself in terms of the Mendoza Line. Or in terms of being the best platoon player he can be. Which might explain why, even though he reported to work with a .200 average and had been benched twice over the weekend, even though he had been frustrated enough to pull up his socks for one game and drop them for the next "just to try something different," he had no trouble holding his head high after the Pirates' 11-4 wipeout of Washington last night at Nationals Park."

"Jose Bautista homered twice and had four RBIs in the Pirates' 11-4 wipeout of Washington tonight at Nationals Park. Those raised his season totals to just three home runs, just 12 RBIs and the average at just .215, but one has to start somewhere."

"Dmitri Young's season-long struggle with back pain finally has taken a positive turn, and for that the Washington Nationals first baseman can thank the team's masseuse. Young, who had made virtually no progress over the last month in his recovery from a strained lower back, enjoyed a breakthrough moment Wednesday when Nationals massage therapist Tatiana Tchamouroff worked on his hip flexor for the first time. Young felt immediate relief and was subsequently able to hit balls in a batting cage with authority for the first time in weeks."

"After searching for that elusive clutch hit seemingly the entire month of April, Kearns last night delivered at last. His two-out, RBI single to right in the eighth snapped a tie ballgame and rallied the Nationals to a 3-2 victory, their fourth straight, before a crowd of 24,723."

"Washington Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young experienced a sudden and dramatic breakthrough for his sprained lower back Wednesday night, which will allow the Nationals to send him to Viera, Fla., on Sunday for extended spring training, General Manager Jim Bowden said."

"Austin Kearns approached the batter's box last night, the opportunity of the present outweighing the agony of his recent past. Yes, Kearns had only three hits in his past 32 at-bats, and, yes, his batting average could barely buy a cup of coffee... And so Kearns poked John Grabow's first pitch into right field -- the opposite field for Kearns -- bringing home Cristian Guzmán with the winning run in the Nationals' 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving them two more wins in their previous nine games (seven) than in their first 20 (five) before an announced crowd of 24,723."

"Reliever John Grabow wasn't happy with how he pitched in the eighth inning of the Pirates' 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. "I didn't make pitches, and I didn't get ahead in the count, and I kind of created a big inning," Grabow said. "I was one out away from getting out of the jam, and that's the way it goes sometimes." "

"There was no way, John Grabow understood, that a 0.00 figure would survive under his ERA column all summer. Still ... "You hate to give it up in a situation like this." Those were his words shortly after his slightly misplaced pitch allowed Austin Kearns' tiebreaking, eighth-inning single in the Pirates' 3-2 loss to Washington last night in their inaugural visit to Nationals Park."

"In the last hours of their dispiriting April, the Braves executed a new method of late-innings collapse in yet another one-run defeat. The 12th inning at Nationals Park was an unmitigated disaster for the Braves, relatively speaking. Mark Kotsay hit a two-out RBI single in the 12th for a one-run lead, but Washington scored two runs in the bottom of the inning for a 3-2 win, extending the Braves' losing streak to four games."

"Washington Nationals reliever Chad Cordero tore his right latissimus dorsi muscle on his final pitch of the night against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday and will be out four to six weeks, the team announced yesterday. Cordero received an MRI on his shoulder yesterday — his third in three weeks after starting the season on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis — and the scan showed he had torn the tendon off the lat muscle — which is just below the shoulder blade — where it connects to the humerus bone in his upper arm. The injury will not require surgery, but it didn't leave manager Manny Acta hopeful his closer will make a quick recovery."

"They had lost so many games earlier in the month in excruciating fashion, whether through a lack of clutch hitting or a poor pitching performance or some little fluke that turned disastrous. So when the Washington Nationals came to bat in the 12th inning yesterday evening, trailing the Atlanta Braves by a run, there was perhaps a sense throughout Nationals Park that it was time for fortunes to swing over in Washington's favor at long last. A few minutes later, the Nationals stormed back to win 3-2 behind two walks, an infield single, a fielding error and Felipe Lopez's bases-loaded single over a drawn-in outfield."