Who's On First?

[lz477]

Woot. Another win for the Nats. Are you going to make any trades to get a guy by the name of Jack Cust, or are you gonna pull the trigger on another average player?

I've got my eyes on a couple of guys in the minors in another organization. I'm really trying to find a left hander with a little pop to come off the bench as a pinch hitter. Zinter didn't get it done earlier in the year and Rushford is struggling too.

[Mav3rek]

Nice work, keep it up.

[philliesphan18]

Hah - Rushford - he's a joke! I hope you find a *good* player that fits your descriptions.

[lz477]

April 27th

Game 22: Nationals (9-12) at Phillies (8-12)

Sweet Revenge for McLeary and the Nationals

Left: Chase Utley hits is 6th home run of the year, the 4th against the Nationals. Right: Andy Abad slides safely into second and would later score on Augie Ojeda's single to put the Nationals ahead for good.

Four runs, three earned over five innings of work wasn't as good as his previous start against Philadelphia, but good enough for Marty McLeary to walk away with his second victory of the year Wednesday night. The Phillies, Brett Myers wasn't as sharp as his previous start either, being charged with the loss, his third of the year after giving up six runs over 6 1/3 innings of work.

Last week, McLeary and Myers each gave up one run a piece over a combined 14 innings of work. Neither starter however, was awarded with a decision as the Phillies eventually pulled out the win on a Chase Utley ninth inning homer.

Wednesday night, the Nationals got their revenge thanks in part to 14 total hits, including a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth off the bat of shortstop Augie Ojeda, who was 4-4 on the day and a 2-5, 2 RBI night by second baseman Jason Wood.

Despite the loss, the Phillies Chase Utley continued his hitting onslaught versus the Nationals going 3-4 with his sixth home run of the year.

R.A Dickey (0-4) of the Nationals and Freddy Garcia (1-1) of the Phillies will wrap up the three game series tomorrow.

Boxscore: WAS 6 - PHI 4

[lz477]

April 28th

Game 23: Nationals (10-12) at Phillies (8-13)

Five Runs Late Not Enough For Nationals Comeback

Left:Continuing his recent hot streak, Augie Ojeda was 4-4 on the day. Right: Greg Dobbs celebrates after his second inning home run.

Washington scored a combined five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull to within three runs of the Phillies, who jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but the Nationals couldn't get any more off of Philadelphia closer Tom Gordon in the ninth.

Though the Phils managed 10 runs, Nationals killer Chase Utley only managed one hit in four trips to the plate, but did knock in and score a run. It was the very top and bottom portions of the Phillies lineup that wreaked havoc on Washington starter R.A. Dickey. Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell, Rod Barajas and Shane Victorino each had two hits and Rowand, Barajas, Greg Dobbs and Jimmy Rollins all hit homers to pound seven runs off of Dickey in just three innings.

Philadelphia received quite a scare in the first when Chris Coste hit a liner back towards the mound, ricocheting off Philly Starter Freddy Garcia's left shoulder. Garcia proved to be fine physically, despite giving up 12 hits during his 7 1/3 innings of work. The Nationals hit parade was led by Doug Clark and Chris Coste who were both 2-4 at the plate and Jason Wood 3-4 and Augie Ojeda who had his second straight 4-4 game.

The Nationals head back home to Washington to begin the weekend series against a still struggling Mets team tomorrow.

Boxscore: WAS 7 - PHI 10

League News

Yankees, Andy Pettitte (SP) suspended 8 games.

Blue Jays, John Patterson (SP) out 7 days with a fractured nose.

[stEdfuNk]

almost to .500! keep it up

[lz477]

April 29th

Game 24: Mets (8-14) at Nationals (10-13)

Nationals Can't Hold On To Early Lead

Left: Danny Ardoin's double gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Right: Carlos Delgado's sixth inning home run put the Mets ahead for good.

Washington starter Travis Smith had another strong outing on the mound, but the Mets Orlanda Hernandez was equally impressive. Both pitchers worked six innings, but it was Smith who picked up the loss after giving up three runs to El Duque's two. The win was the third of the year for Hernandez.

The Mets started the scoring in the first when Carlos Beltran singled to center scoring Carlos Delgado after his double in the previous at bat. The Nationals Doug Clark responded in the later half of the inning with his first career lead-off home run.

Washington then took the 2-1 lead in the fourth when Danny Ardoin knocked in Chad Mottola who had just doubled. Andy Abad and George Lombard each singled to load the bases, but an inning-ending double play by Augie Ojeda killed the rally.

The Mets then tied it on Endy Chavez's solo home run in the fifth and Carlos Delgado gave them the lead and eventual win when he homered in the sixth.

New York's bullpen continued it's dominance as Duaner Sanchez, Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner pitched three shutout innings to close out the win.

Jason Simontacchi of the Nationals (2-3) and John Maine (2-2) of the Mets will be on the mound for game two tomorrow.

Boxscore: NYM 3 - WAS 2

[lz477]

April 30th

Game 25: Mets (9-14) at Nationals (10-14)

Simontacchi Solid In Win

Left: Chris Coste slides safely under Paul LoDuca to score the first run of the game. Right: Jason Simontacchi was a force on the mound throwing eight innings of one run ball.

Washington starter Jason Simontacchi picked up his third victory of the year, giving up one run on only four hits and striking out seven Mets hitters over eight innings.

Nationals third baseman Chris Coste scored half of Washington's runs on his way to a 3-4 day at the plate, all coming off of Mets starter John Maine. Doug Clark, Chad Mottola, Danny Ardoin and Andy Abad each had at least two hits on the day as well.

New York's only run came from David Wright's solo home run in the 7th. The long ball was only his second of the year.

The Nationals will try for their first series sweep of the season tomorrow, when they send Chris Michalak (2-1) to face the Mets Mike Pelfrey (0-2).

Before Saturday's game, Washington optioned starting pitcher, R.A Dickey to AAA Columbus and called up newly acquired lefty starter Stephen Randolph. Dickey had struggled as the teams opening day starter with an 0-5 record and an ERA of 9.96.

"I think after Robby (Dickey) got knocked around on opening day, he lost a lot of confidence and just wasn't ever able to turn it around," Acta remarked. "Hopefully, he'll get down to Columbus and regain that lost confidence and rejoin the big club soon."

That is if there is still room in the rotation for him if Randolph pitches as well for the Nationals as he did in the minors and the rest of Washington staff continues their solid play. In five starts between AA and AAA, Randolph has a 4-1 record with an ERA of 2.32 and 26 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.

"We were excited to get Stephen in a trade a couple of weeks ago and he's performed well at Columbus for us," Nationals GM, Jim Bowden said about Randolph. "We wanted to let him get one more start in Friday, before we made the move, because we were planning on him taking Robby's (Dickey) spot in the rotation," Bowden added.

Boxscore: NYM 1 - WAS 6

League News

Rockies sign (1B) Jason Hart for 3 years at 100K.

Blue Jays sign © Chris Robinson for 3 years at 100K.

Royals sign (SP) Kris Wilson for 3 years at 1.20M.

Mariners sign (RF) Tike Redman for 3 years at 200K.

[lz477]

Standings and League Leaders for April

American League Leaders

Hitting Stats

Batting Average

Ty Wigginton, TB - .417

J.D. Drew, BOS - .376

Jose Vidro, SEA - .368

Aubrey Huff, BAL - .363

Luis Castillo, MIN - .356

Home Runs

Wily Mo Pena, BOS - 10

Mark Teixeira, TEX - 9

Jason Giambi, NYY - 9

Michael Cuddyer, MIN - 8

5 tied with 7

RBI

Justin Morneau, MIN - 28

Vladimir Guerrero, LAA - 27

Mark Teixeira, TEX - 25

Coco Crisp, BOS - 23

Wily Mo Pena, BOS - 22

Stolen Bases

Ichiro Suzuki, SEA - 11

Brian Roberts, BAL - 6

Grady Sizemore, CLE - 5

Bobby Abreu, NYY - 5

Carl Crawford, TB - 5

Pitching Stats

Wins

Rich Harden, OAK - 4

Mark Burehrle, CWS - 4

Carlos Silva, MIN - 4

Chin Mien-Wang, NYY - 4

Several tied with 3.

Strikeouts

Johan Santana, MIN - 38

John Garland, CWS - 33

Tim Wakefield, BOS - 33

Mike Mussina, NYY - 32

Jose Contreras, CWS - 31

Kenny Rogers, DET - 31

Mike Maroth, DET - 31

Saves

Octavio Dotel, KC -9

Jonathan Papelbon, BOS - 8

J.J Putz, SEA - 7

Fernando Cabrera, CLE - 6

3 Tied with 5.

National League Leaders

Hitting Stats

Batting Average

Todd Helton, COL - .396

Russel Martin, LAD - .370

Nomar Garciaparra, LAD - .369

Alex Gonzalez, CIN - .365

Andruw Jones, ATL - .363

Home Runs

Todd Helton, COL - 9

Alex Gonzalez, CIN - 8

8 tied with 7

RBI

Todd Helton, COL - 24

Scott Rolen, STL - 24

Lance Berkman, HOU - 23

Pedro Feliz, SF - 22

Chase Utley, PHI - 21

Stolen Bases

Juan Pierre, LAD - 8

George Lombard, WAS - 8

Jose Reyes, NYM - 8

Felipe Lopez, ATL - 7

Jimmy Rollins, PHI - 7

Pitching Stats

Wins

Derek Lowe, LAD - 5

Kevin Correia, SF - 5

Jason Jennings, HOU - 4

Chris Capuano, MIL - 4

Chris Carpenter, STL - 4

Tim Hudson, ATL - 4

Strikeouts

Derek Lowe, LAD - 36

Zack Duke, PIT - 35

Chris Carpenter, STL - 34

Roy Oswalt, HOU - 31

Carlos Zambrano, CHC - 31

Aaron Harang, CIN - 31

Tim Hudson, ATL - 31

Saves

Armando Benitez, SF - 8

Luis Ayala, ATL - 8

Trevor Hoffman, SD - 7

5 tied with 5.

[philliesphan18]

Wild Card maybe?!?

[lz477]

May 1st

Game 26: Mets (9-15) at Nationals (11-14)

Nationals Complete Sweep of Mets

Left: Chad Mottola goes deep in the first to give the Nationals the early 2-0 lead. Right: George Lombard was 3-4 on the day and stole his ninth base of the year.

The Washington Nationals completed the three game series sweep with a 5-2 win Sunday over the New York Mets. The Nats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first thanks to Chad Mottola's seventh home run of the season. The Mets then tied it in the second off of Anderson Hernandez's two run single.

In the fifth, Mets starter Mike Pelfrey exited the game after he was struck in the leg by a line drive off the bat of Scott McClain. Though Peflrey managed to still make the play and throw McClain out at first, it will be the last play he makes for a while. An MRI after the game revealed a small fracture in his left right leg and the Mets immediately placed him on the DL and announced he would be out for at least 40 days.

"The second I saw it hit his leg, I knew it had to have broken something," Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado said. "That guy hit the ball hard and the fact Mike was still able to hobble over, pick up the ball and get the throw to me in time was pretty amazing."

Oliver Perez came in for relief and Washington took advantage, scoring three runs in the sixth and held on to the lead for the 5-2 victory. The Nationals managed three hits off of seven hits in Perez's 2 1/3 innings of work, including Carlos Mendez's two-run home run and Chris Michalak's RBI single.

The Mets loaded the bases with only one out in the ninth off of Nationals closer Lee Gardner, but were unable to score as Gardner struck out the next two batters, Hernandez and pinch hitter Shawn Green to pick up his sixth save.

The Nationals will fly out to California tonight to start a three game series in San Diego with the red hot Padres who are currently on a four game winning streak.

Boxscore: NYM 2 - WAS 5

League News

Dodgers, Nomar Garciaparra (1B) out 12 days with minor MCL sprain.

[lz477]

Week 4 Standings and Stats

Player of the Week

Augie Ojeda

.450 AVG, 3 R, 3 RBI for the week.

4 for 4 at the plate in back to back games against the Phillies.

[lz477]

May 2nd

Game 27: Nationals (12-14) at Padres (14-11)

Peavy's Potent Pitching Powers Padres

Left: Mike Cameron slides safely into third for his third triple of the season. Right: Trevor Hoffman closed out the ninth for his eighth save of the year.

San Diego won it's fifth straight game Monday night thanks in part to seven solid innings of one run, six hit ball from starter Jake Peavy, who picked up his second win of the year. Marty McLeary was charged with the loss, despite throwing six solid innings himself, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out seven.

The Padres jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Brian Giles' first inning home run. Mike Cameron tripled in the very next at bat, but was stranded on third after Adrian Gonzalez struck out and Josh Bard grounded out.

Washington tied it in the second when Danny Ardoin scored on Andy Abad's 8th double of the season. San Diego then took the lead for good in the bottom of the third after Adrian Gonzalez knocked in Marcus Giles on a RBI run double. Catcher, Josh Bard then knocked in the elder Giles with an RBI single in the next at bat to give the Padres all the runs they would need for the 3-1 win.

The win for San Diego didn't come without some bad news as Padres second baseman, Marcus Giles left in the eighth inning with a minor meniscus strain after making a great diving stop on a hard liner off the bat of Augie Ojeda. Giles is expected to be out 10-11 days.

Game two is tomorrow night in San Diego as the Padres will send Chris Young (1-3) to the mound to face the Nationals Stephen Randolph (0-0), who will be making his first start since his call up from the minors.

Boxscore: WAS 1 - SD 3

League News

Rangers, Ian Kinsler (2B) out 15 days with minor PCL strain.

Royals, Mike Sweeney (DH) out 10 days with strained lower back.

Tigers, Jeremy Bonderman (SP) out 47 days with fractured leg.

Mets, Mike Pelfrey (SP) out 39 days with fractured leg.

[lz477]

May 3rd

Game 28: Nationals (12-15) at Padres (15-11)

Nationals Break Up Padres Streak In Extras

Left: Stephen Randolph was sharp in his first start for the Nationals, but neither he no Padres starter, Chris Young (right)were involved in the decision.

It took 11 innings, but the Washington Nationals came away with a 2-1 win Tuesday night, to break up the San Diego Padres' five game winning streak.

Stephen Randolph, making his first start of the season was fantastic for the Nationals, throwing eight innings of four hit, one run ball. The Padres starter, Chris Young gave up a total of nine hits over his six innings of work, but held Washington to just one run.

The Nationals struck first in the fourth when Chad Mottola scored on Jason Wood's RBI single. San Diego then tied it in the fifth after Jose Cruz homered to left.

The final run game in the top of the 11th, after Mottola led off with a double, reached third on Danny Ardoin's single and scored on Jim Rushford's pinch hit sacrifice fly. The run came off Padres closer Trevor Hoffman who was still pitching in the 11th despite first coming into the game in the ninth.

"A lot of people will question whether or not Hoff should have been out there for a third inning, but to me it doesn't matter what those people may think," Padres manager Bud Black said after the game. "I spoke with him before the start of that last set and both he and I decided he had enough for one more, unfortunately for us, those first couple of guys hit the ball hard and eventually scored," Black added.

The Nationals ended the day with a combined 17 hits and six Washington players had at least two or more hits.

Washington manager Manny Acta was thrilled with the victory, but not so excited about the Nationals pension for gathering a multitude of hits, yet struggling to score many runs. "As I said earlier in the year, we've got to get better at capitalizing on those run scoring opportunities we have," Acta commented. "With the number of hits we've had over the last few days, we should have scored a lot more runs that what we have."

The rubber match of the three game series will be tomorrow as Washington will send Travis Smith (3-2) to the mound to face the Padres, Greg Maddux (3-2).

Boxscore: WAS 2 - SD 1

League News

Royals sign (RP) Travis Harper for 3 years at 1.20M.

Rangers sign Roger Cedeno for 3 years at 200K.

Padres, Marcus Giles (2B) out 11 days with minor meniscus strain.

[lz477]

May 4th

Game 29: Nationals (13-15) at Padres (15-12)

Nationals Shutout Padres to Take Series

Left: Manny Acta was ejected in the second after arguing three seperate calls. Right: Travis Smith makes a bare-handed behind the back catch.

Four hits over seven shutout innings of work from starter Travis Smith, helped lead Washington to it's second consecutive series win and put the Nationals within just one win of a .500 record Wednesday night. The victory was Smith's fourth on the year.

The Nationals had five consecutive base hits in the first inning, but only managed to score one run on a Chad Mottola single. The Nats would get plenty more opportunities to score however and ended up pounding out 16 hits in the game. 12 off San Diego starter and future Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux.

Washington manager Manny Acta was ejected from the game in the second after arguing a different play in each of the first three half innings. The ejection was Acta's third on the short season and though his outgoing personality has come face-to-face with several umpires in the early season, it seems to be rallying the troops in the nations capital as the Nationals have proven pre-season expectations that they would be a flop to be inaccurate.

Despite those early predictions, Acta, the youngest manager in the majors has relished his first managerial experience and sees a lot of potential in his team filled with mostly career minor leaguers.

"I think this team is perfect for me because I know what I'm getting into," Acta said during Spring Training. "I like to put things together. We all know what's lacking. We're going to be patient and do things the right way and hopefully we'll brings some W's to W."

The Nationals will take Thursday off to travel to Chicago to see if they can pick up another "W" to get them to a .500 record Friday night against the Cubs at historic Wrigley Field.

Boxscore: WAS 6 - SD 0

League News

Diamondbacks, Chris Young (OF) out 10 days with pulled hamstring.

Mets Anderson Hernandez (2B) out 7 days with fractured nose.

[philliesphan18]

May 3rd

Game 28: Nationals (12-15) at Padres (15-11)

Nationals Break Up Padres Steak In Extras

Mmmmm... Padres Steak! JK

Seriously though, it looks great. I'm really suprised you're actually winning some!

[lz477]

What you don't like steak?

Seriously though, thanks for the catch. It's amazing how many times I'll check things before I submit a post, but still find minor mistakes here and there. I appreciate everyone who offers up a second pair of eyes to help me out.

[philliesphan18]

Yeah I know how you feel. I sometimes only find mistakes in my dynasty, The Saga of the Holsinger Brothers, until I read it in a post.

[lz477]

May 6th

Game 30: Nationals (14-15) at Cubs (12-16)

Soriano Walk-off Leads Cubs Over Nationals

Left: Joe Dillon scores on George Lombard's squeeze bunt. Right: Alfonso Soriano watches his game winning blast in the bottom of the ninth.

Chicago centerfielder, Alfonso Soriano placed Bryan Corey's first offering into the left field seats in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Cubs over Nationals 3-2. Soriano's blast completed Chicago's comeback in a game that originally started out as a pitchers duel.

Washington managed a run in the first off the Cubs Rich Hill, and added another run in the fifth when Joe Dillon scored on George Lombard's suicide squeeze. All of Chicago's runs came off the Nationals bullpen after starter Jason Simontacchi left in the fourth when he was struck in the left arm by an Aramis Ramirez line drive. Simontacchi will have an MRI on his arm tomorrow.

Before his early exit, Simontacchi had struck out five Cubs hitters and allowed just one hit in 3 2/3 innings of work. Micah Bowie finished the fourth, then gave up a solo homerun to Mark DeRosa in the fifth to give the Cubs their first run of the game. Chicago then tied it in the seventh after Aramis Ramirez hit his sixth home run of the season. After Ramirez's home run, the Cubs loaded the bases, but failed to score any more as Chad Paronto struck out Cesar Izturis and Daryle Ward to get out of the inning. All was quiet the next two innings before Soriano's game winning drive in the ninth.

The Nationals and Cubs will meet again tomorrow as Washington will send Chris Michalak (3-1) to the mound, while Chicago will counter with Mark Prior (1-1).

Boxscore: WAS 2 - CHC 3

League News

Twins sign (OF) Ruben Sierra for 3 years at 300K.

Angles sign (SP) Juan Dominguez for 3 years at 1.2OM.

[lz477]

May 7th

Game 31: Nationals (14-16) at Cubs (13-16)

Run Scoring Error Deciding Factor in Pitchers Duel

Left: Mark Prior was charged with the loss despite giving up just one run on three hits over six innings. Right: Cesar Izturis' throw pulls Derek Lee off the bag allowing Augie Ojeda to be safe at first and George Lombard to score the games only run.

Chris Michalak and Mark Prior each held the opposing team to just three hits, Michalak over seven innings, Prior over six. But it was an error by former gold glove shortstop Cesar Izturis that allowed George Lombard to score for the only run of the game and give the Nationals a 1-0 victory. The run came in the sixth after Lombard singled, stole second then reached third on Michalak's sacrifice bunt and finally scored on what was a routine grounder off the bat of shortstop Augie Ojeda.

"It's a simple matter of fielding the ball before you throw it," Izturis remarked about the play. "I rushed myself by trying to throw the ball before I had it my glove and ended up bobbling it." "I made a minor league mistake and it cost us the game", Izturis added.

The Cubs did manage to load the bases in the eighth, but failed to score after Daryle Ward hit into a 3-2-3 double play and Derek Lee flew out to end in the inning. Michael Barrett, Aramis Ramirez and last night's hero, Alfonso Soriano went quietly in the ninth as Lee Gardner picked up his eighth save on the season to preserve the Nationals vicotry.

Prior to the game the Nationals placed starter, Jason Simontacchi on the 15 day DL after an MRI revealed he fractured his arm in last nights game. The injury came in the fourth inning when Aramis Ramirez hit a hard line drive back to the mound striking Simontacchi in the left arm.

"No pun intended, but it's a tough break for Jason and the team," Nationals manager Manny Acta remarked about the pitchers injury. "He (Simontacchi) had really started to throw the ball well and we're going to miss the solid starts and the solid bat he's displayed recently."

Luckily, it was Simontacchi's non-throwing arm that suffered the break and he will likely miss a little more than a month to recover and rehab. Washington surprised a lot of people when they decided to not call up recently demoted starter R. A Dickey from AAA Columbus to fill Simontacchi's spot in the rotation, opting to call up former Japanese standout, Masumi Kuwata instead.

Kuwata, 39, was a dominant starter in the Nippon Pro Baseball League in the mid 80's and early 90's before injuries slowed his once promising professional career. This past winter Kuwata signed with the Pirates before being brought over to the Nationals in a trade this spring. In four starts for the Clippers, Kuwata was 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA to go along with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks.

"Jim (Bowden) and I are both confident that Masumi will make the best of this opportunity to play for a major league team," Acta remarked about Kuwata's call up. "Obviously, he'll fill Jason's spot, so that'll give him a couple of days to get acclimated to his new team before he's first start in the bigs."

The Kuwata call up was not the only roster move the organization made Saturday. The ongoing search continues for a left handed bat to come off the bench as a pinch hitter. Washington decided to give switch hitting first baseman Alan Zinter another shot for those duties and called him up from Columbus and optioned Jim Rushford to AAA.

Washington also made two trades, sending outfielder, Ryan Fleming to St. Louis for starter, Randy Kesler and first baseman, Michael Abreau to the Marlins for utility infielder, Scott Seabol. Both players were placed on the Columbus roster.

The Nationals also signed outfielder Mark Little to a one year minor league contract worth 700K, on Saturday and placed him on the Clippers roster.

Washington and the Cubs will close out the series tomorrow. Marty McLeary (2-2) for the Nationals and Chicago ace, Carlos Zambrano (1-3) will be on the hill.

Boxscore: WAS 1 - CHC 0

League News

Giants sign (SP) Jose Acevedo for 3 years at 1.30M.

[lz477]

May 8th

Game 32: Nationals (15-16) at Cubs (13-17)

Zambrano Strong As Cubs Take Series

Left: Augie Ojeda makes a wild throw to first after being pulled off the bag by Jolbert Cabrera's toss. Right: Carlos Zambrano's complete game shut out led the Cubs charge.

A complete game shut out from Cubs starter, Carlos Zambrano and poor defense on the Nationals part, allowed Chicago to come away with a 6-0 victory Sunday and the series win.

Zambrano picked up his second victory on the year, giving up just four hits and no runs, while striking out six and going the distance for Chicago.

The Cubs first run came on two throwing errors from Nationals second baseman, Jolbert Cabrera and shortstop Augie Ojeda in the second inning. Chicago then scored two more runs in the inning off an RBI single from rookie Felix Pie and a sacrifice fly from Cesar Izturis. Despite not recording a hit on the day, Izturis managed to knock in a second run in the fourth off another sacrifice. Michael Barrett rounded off the Cubs scoring in the fifth with his two run blast.

Other than the Cabrera and Ojeda throwing errors in the second, Washington struggled defensively for most of the day, failing to complete several double play opportunities and making many poor decisions while on the diamond.

"Our poor defense has marred the exceptional strides we've made on the mound, at the plate and even on the base paths this year," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "We're going to stress more solid fundamental play from our guys." "We have the worst fielding percentage in baseball right now and that simply will not do, " Acta added. "I am a fond believer in that old adage that defense wins ball games and that has proven true the last few weeks when we've struggled to win games while struggling in the field."

The Nationals will head north to take on the Brewers at Miller Park, Monday. Hopefully, they'll bring their gloves with them.

Boxscore: WAS 0 - CHC 6

[MrDudleyDoWright]

April 15th

Game 11: Nationals (3-7) at Mets (2-7)

Patient Nationals Come Out On Top

Left: Andy Abad scores off of Doug Clark's single, to tie it in the 6th. Right: Chris Michalak kept the Mets off-balance and off-base for most of the night.

Chris Michalak gave up one run on five hits over seven innings and Doug Clark knocked in two runs in his first start in a Nationals uniform to help lead Washington to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Mets. New York's lone run came in the third when Endy Chavez tripled and scored on an Anderson Hernandez sacrifice grounder. The Nationals tied it 1-1 in the sixth after first baseman, Andy Abad doubled and scored on Clark's single. Washington then took the lead in the 8th, when Chris Coste scored on Abad's single, his third hit of the day. A sacrifice fly from Clark in the very next at bat gave the Nationals an un-needed insurance run, as Lee Gardner closed it out in the ninth for his second save.

A perfect 4 for 4 day could be good enough to keep, shortstop, Augie Ojeda in the lineup, despite the fact that opening day starter Luis Figueroa has completely healed from the minor MCL strain that hampered him earlier in the week. "There never has been a doubt about Augie's glove, but after the way he hit the ball today, I can't possibly take him out of the lineup now," manager Manny Acta remarked.

The Nationals will send Marty McLeary (0-1) to the mound tomorrow to face Pedro Martinez (0-2).

Boxscore: WAS 3 - NYM 1

League News

Cardinals sign (LF) Todd Hollandsworth to 3 years at 300K.

Mets sign (RF) Richard Hidalgo to 3 years at 500K.

Are we that Bad????

[philliesphan18]

I wish you were!

[lz477]

Are we that Bad????

Don't worry, I'm mid-way through May and they're finally starting to come around.

[lz477]

May 9th

Game 33: Nationals (15-17) at Brewers (18-14)

Five Run First Facilitates Nationals Victory

Left: Andy Abad blasts his first homerun of the season. Right: Danny Ardoin rips a line drive single off Jeff Suppan in the first.

Andy Abad's three run homerun capped a five run first inning for the Nationals that Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan had to throw 23 pitches to get out of, en route to a 7-2 flogging of the Brew Crew.

"We were much more selective at the plate today," Manny Acta said about his teams performance on Monday. "Any time you force the opposing starter to throw 80 pitches in four innings of work, good things are almost certain to happen".

Other offensive highlights for Washington included George Lombard's 13th stolen base of the season and a three hit day for both Danny Ardoin and Jolbert Cabrera. All three of Cabrera's hits were doubles to give him a total of 10 on the year. Chris Coste smacked his 10th double of the year as well.

On the mound for the Nationals, Stephen Randolph was solid for the second straight time and managed to pick up his first win of the year by giving up two unearned runs off four hits over seven innings.

Game two of the three game set is tomorrow. Travis Smith (4-2) will toe the rubber for Washington, while Dave Bush (2-3) will be on the hill for the Brewers.

Boxscore: WAS 7 - MIL 2

League News

Rockies sign (1B) Randall Simon for 3 years at 100K.