Washington Nationals

By e chigliak lt;p>...So I got a little hung up on Austin Kearns' past and future yesterday, when in fact, there were a few other things of note in&nbsp;<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=teamreports-2008-mlb-was&prov=sportsxchange&type=team_report" target...

By e chigliak ed. note - "Here's what an anonymously generated yahoosports.com article entitled, "Nationals Team Report", has DC GM Jim Bowden saying (under a subheading, "Quote To Note") about the Washington Nationals' relationship with the DC Faithful..."):

By TwoTonsOfIrony Willie Harris's diving catch against the Mets in September to hold onto that gem from Perez and spoil the Mets (always feels good) 1-0. Poll What was your best moment of the season? Zimmerman's Opening Day walk-off. Belliard's walk-off vs. O's off Sherrill in the Bottom of the 12th Willie Har...

By e chigliak Ross Detwiler, the Washington Nationals' #1 pick, 6th overall in 2007, made his Arizona Fall League debut last night for the Peoria Saguaros, throwing two scoreless innings while allowing 1 hit and 1 walk and striking out 1 Mesa Solar Sox batter to do his part in a 9-2 Saguaros' win which he...

By e chigliak A month before Mr. Brown's predicition, Baseball America's Aaron Fitt ranked Zinicola as the 6th best overall prospect (and 3rd Best Pitching Prospect) in the Nationals' organization in his article, "Top 10 Prospects: Washington Nationals", which also recognized Zinicola's slid...

By e chigliak The MiLB.com organizational "Season in Review" of the Washington Nationals' system recognizes outfielder Roger Bernadina as the MiLB.com Hitter of the Year, and DC fans saw what Bernadina was capable of defensively during his two stints with the team this season...Bernadina's definit...

By e chigliak Ian Desmond's starting at short, left-handed hurler Cory VanAllen's pitching and Leonard Davis is the DH for the Peoria Saguaros in the first game of the AFL season for the DC prospects against the Scottsdale Scorpions...Play just got underway out West in Arizona...more Saguaros' news later...

By e chigliak LHP Cory Van Allen - 23, '08 stats - (6-3), 3.32 ERA, 57 K's in 15 GS, 16 G, 78.2 IP w/ Rk -GCL Nationals, A Potomac, AA Harrisburg. SS Ian Desmond - 22, '08 stats - .256 AVG, 15 2B, 12 HR's, 46 RBI's, 15 SB in 96 G w/ GCL Nationals, AA Harrisburg. 

By e chigliak In Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell's 9/17/08 "State of the Nationals" type chat with the Nationals' Managing Principal Owner Theodore N. "Ted" Lerner, Mr. Boswell writes that: More Reading..."Will The Nationals Be Able To Sign A #1 Pick?"

By e chigliak The Nationals argued for a $3.65-million salary for the right-hander, who was 7-4 with a 3.19 earned-run average and 29 saves last season. Cordero led the majors with a franchise-record 47 saves in 2005 for Washington." Cordero insisted that he will not be back with the Nationals if Bowd...

By e chigliak The Nationals' new young Manager had surrounded himself with a wealth of baseball experience, as DC GM Jim Bowden told Washington Times in an 11/26/06 article entitled, "Acta Hires Staff of Veteran Coaches: Mr. Harris is a little more blunt in his assessment of the problems the Nationa...

By e chigliak and Cristian Guzman also made Washington Nationals' history, as recorded by MLB.com's Jeff Seidel in his Opening Night article entitled, "Opening Night has many perspectives", in which Mr. Seidel writes: Here's how federalbaseball.com recorded that first hit and run scored in Natio...

By e chigliak The Best Game of 2008 for the Nationals? I picked Zimmerman's walk-off winner on Opening Night and Belliard's walk-off to beat the Orioles... but John Dugan, at the Washington Nationals Examiner, chose the Nationals 1-0 win over the NY Mets on September 16th in his post entitled, "Best Gam...

By e chigliak August 30, 2008...Bottom of the tenth...Elijah Dukes vs Vladimir Nunez...Braves at Nationals...8-8 tie...Bases Loaded...2 Outs...Full Count...Dukes Takes Ball Four!! Dukes' Discerning Eye walks in a run after the two previous batters, Lasting Milledge and Ronnie Belliard failed to cash in on a bases loaded...

By e chigliak The Washington Nationals earned the #1 pick in '09 with a 59-102 record in 2008. Unless something dramatic happens between now and the next draft, Strasburg awaits...with his agent, whose name has not yet entered into the discussion, Scott "Maximum" Boras set to argue on his clients' behalf...

By e chigliak According to this Chico Harlan post at the Nationals Journal entitled, "Breaking News: All of Acta's Assistants Gone, Except St. Claire," the Nationals sort-of cleaned house today, letting Tim Tolman (3B), Jerry Morales (1B), Pat Corrales (Bench) and Rick Aponte (BP) go. Manager Manny...

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By e chigliak According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Nationals to alter coaching staff", the Washington Nationals are going to make some changes to what a recent Washington Post article quotes an "unnamed team official" calling, "the worst staff in baseball", before the '09 sea...

By e chigliak The link is just to today's Game Thread, Up here in NJ, the local FOX affiliates have decided to show the Cubs/Brewers while the Yanks/Sox are in a rain delay...so after switching the Nationals/Phillies game to a national broadcast it's not unavailable outside of Philly and DC...no MLB.tv eithe...

By e chigliak Nationals' #'s Against Jamie Moyer... Cristian Guzman - 10 for 37, .270 AVG, 4 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI's.  Ryan Zimmerman - 3 for 18, .167 AVG, 4 BB.  Jesus Flores - 5 for 16, .400 AVG, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI's.  Austin Kearns - 5 for 14, .357 AVG, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI's.  Gary Carter vs Moyer - 8 for 20, .400 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's.

By e chigliak Elijah Dukes works the count full and takes a leadoff walk using his Discerning Eye. Willie Harris flies out unproductively to center. Kory Casto grounds out allowing Dukes to take third. Luke Montz lines a fastball to right to score Dukes from third, 3-1 Phillies. Pinch Hittin’ Pete Orr grou...

By e chigliak Nationals' #'s Against Joe Blanton... Aaron Boone - 2 for 4, .500 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI's.  Elijah Dukes - 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 1 2B. Cristian Guzman - 2 for 6, .333 AVG.  Willie Harris - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI. Ryan Zimmerman - 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB and 2 RBI's.

By e chigliak DC's rookie right-hander, 22-year-old Collin Balester (3-6), 4.83 ERA, makes the fifteenth start with Washington, having already faced tonight's opponent, the Florida Marlins, twice, winning his major league debut on July 1st by pitching 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 run and 1 hit in...

By e chigliak RBI singles by Pete Orr and Wil Nieves in the Nationals eighth make it respectable at 9-4. Speigner's the only bump in the bullpen, with Marco Estrada, Jason Bergmann, Garrett Mock, Charlie Manning and Saul "Sa-ool" Rivera throwing scoreless frames in relief of Redding. Marlins win. 9-4 fi...

By e chigliak The top of the Nationals' order: Anderson Hernandez, Alberto Gonzalez, Ryan Zimmerman and Lastings Milledge combine to go 11 for 19 with 9 RBI's, 2 doubles (both by Gonzalez), 1 HR (Zim's 14th), and even two two-out RBI's, one each from Gonzalez and Milledge. Elijah Dukes and Willie Harri...

By e chigliak As bad as the Montreal Expos were—so bad that Major League Baseball was ready to fold the franchise before moving it to the nation’s capital, remember? — they played their final quarter-century in Canada without once losing as many games in a season as the 2008 Washington Nationals will....

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By e chigliak Nationals president Stan Kasten, GM Jim Bowden and manager Manny Acta all love to throw around the word “progress.” Nationals' #'s Against Scott Olsen... Cristian Guzman - 4 for 9, .444 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.  Ryan Zimmerman - 5 for 29, .172 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BB. 

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By e chigliak Garrett Mock’s back for the eighth, Ryan Zimmerman fields a grounder and throws wide of first, Casto makes the catch and tags the runner, Edgar Gonzalez, but the Ump says he’s safe...(He wasn’t)...Adrian Gonzalez lets Mock walk him. Nationals’ Manager Manny Acta turns to the pen. Kevin Kouzmano...

By e chigliak When the Washington Nationals acquired Lastings Milledge from the New York Mets back on 11/30/07, MLB.com writer Bill Ladson quoted, in article entitled, "Nationals acquire Milledge from Mets", a then-22-year-old Milledge, who explained why he thought it was best for him to play ce...

By e chigliak The Padres take the first two of three with the finale of the weekend and season series tomorrow at 1:35 pm EST in Nationals Park, with "Opening Night" Odalis Perez against Cha Seung Baek on the mound. The Nationals look to avoid getting swept at home in the next-to-last series of the season i...

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By e chigliak Nationals' #'s Against Chris Young... Cristian Guzman - 0 for 2, .000 AVG. Willie Harris - 1 for 8, .125 AVG.  Ryan Zimmerman - 3 for 8, .375 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's, 1 SB.  What If Nationals Don't Get The #1 Pick? Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...

By e chigliak With 5 runs in the top of the fourteenth inning, the San Diego Padres, the 27th best team in the Majors fell behind in the hunt for the #1 overall pick in '09 by beating the next-to-worst Washington Nationals in Nationals Park. At the same time, the Nationals' loss put them only four away from 1...

By e chigliak The Nationals dropped two of three on the road in San Diego from 5/27-5/29. The 14th Start of the Washington Nationals' Collin Balester era gets underway at 7:35 pm EST in Nationals Park. Balester vs Peavy. According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Dukes playing hurt for Nat...

By e chigliak Jason Bergmann’s on in relief, and the first pitch to Schneider ends up in the Nationals’ bullpen for Schneider’s second HR. 6-0 NY. Guzman makes a sliding play on Santana’s grounder, and throws him out by two steps at first. Jose Reyes pops out to Boone foul of first. Bergmann walks Daniel Murp...

By e chigliak 4/23 Nationals 2 Mets 7 in DC - (4-0 NY) 8/12 Nationals 3 Mets 4 in DC - (6-4 NY) 8/14 Nationals 3 Mets 9 in DC - (8-4 NY) 9/15 Nationals 7 Mets 2 in DC - (10-5 NY) 9/16 Nationals 1 Mets 0 in DC - (10-6 NY) 9/17 Nationals 7 Mets 9 in DC - (11-6 NY) 9/18 Nationals vs Mets in DC... The Mets vs Tim Redding...

By e chigliak DC relievers Jason Bergmann, Levale Speigner and Charlie Manning all give up runs, with Bergmann pitching 1.0, and Speigner and Manning 2.0 each, before Garrett Mock pitches a scoreless top of the ninth. The Mets use eight pitchers in all and now will have to pray for a long successfull outin...

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By e chigliak Nationals' #'s This Series... Cristian Guzman - 4 for 8, 1 2B, 1 RBI. Elijah Dukes - 1 for 5, HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI's.  Willie Harris - 2 for 6.  Mets' #'s This Series... David Wright - 1 for 8.  WWJD?  Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...

By e chigliak DC lefty Odalis Perez held the desperate, teetering-on-the-brink, New York Mets to just 4 hits in 7.1 shutout innings, before handing the ball to the Nationals' left-handed reliever, Mike Hinckley, who pitched Washington out of a two-on, one-out jam when he drew a grounder out of Jose R...

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By e chigliak The Nationals' one run holds up as Washington lefty Odalis Perez holds the NY Mets to 4 hits over 7.1 shutout innings. Hinckley comes on to close out the eight, and "Wild" Joel Hanrahan comes on close out the win. The Nationals beat the Mets...AGAIN!!! Mets' fans ponder the cruel nature of the univ...

By e chigliak Nationals' #'s Against Mike Pelfrey... Cristian Guzman - 3 for 10, .300 AVG.  Ryan Zimmerman - 5 for 20, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's.  Mets' #'s Against Odalis Perez... Lannan's efforts apparently impressed his Manager, Manny Acta, who told Mr. Carig:

By e chigliak Conversation with a Mets' Fan... Still 2-1 DC in the Mets' sixth... FB: What if they switched lineups? Would Wright be hitting 30/100 in the Nationals lineu... FB: "Yet..." After Elijah Dukes' 3-run Blast:) Nationals now 57-93. (Countdown To 100 Losses Stays At...7.)

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By e chigliak Cristian Guzman - 7 for 21, .333 AVG, 3 2B, 7 K's, 1 SB. Willie Harris - 2 for 3, .667 AVG.  Ryan Zimmerman - 0 for 6, .000 AVG, 3 K's.  Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park... Let's Go Nats Go!!" ed. note- ** = "Let's Go Nats Go!! Is Not Really Nationals' 'official team cheer.'")

By e chigliak The Washington Nationals' loss last night left them 2-12 against Florida this season with one more in Miami to be played today before the two teams finish their 2008 matchup with three in DC next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, September 23rd-25th. The finale of this three game series in...

By e chigliak 14 games into their '08 matchup with the Florida Marlins, the Washington Nationals are now 2-12, having dropped tonight's game in Dolphin Stadium, by a final score of 4-2, and all but the first game of the season between the teams on April 18th, and the second of a three game series on July 1s...

By e chigliak Luis Gonzalez - 5 for 20, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.  Nationals' #'s Against Josh Johnson... Ryan Zimmerman - 0 for 4, .000 AVG.  Nationals' #'s vs Marlins' Closer? Matt Lindstrom... Cristian Guzman - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG.  Ryan Zimmerman - 1 for 5, .200 AVG.  Potomac Nationals Win Carolina League Title...

By e chigliak The Nationals score just 1 run on 8 hits, six of them off Scott Olsen, who wins his seventh game of 2008, (and first since July 19th) improving to (7-10) and lowering his ERA to 4.31 on the season. The Nationals drop to 2-11 against the Marlins in '08, and now with 15 games remaining in the season,...

By e chigliak Shairon Martis' (0-1, 3.60) second start in the Majors comes tonight in Miami, Florida, where the Washington Nationals take on the Florida Marlins, and starter Scott Olsen, in the next-to-last series of the season between the two teams, with the final three in '08 September 23-25th in DC....

By e chigliak 1) What made you want to blog about the Nationals? (Or read Nationals blogs if you don't write.) 3) What's your opinion of Nationals Park? Next Game: Friday September 12th, 7:10 pm EST against the Florida Marlins. Shairon Martis vs Scott Olsen.

By e chigliak The Nationals score one in the ninth to make it a one-run game on Lastings Milledge RBI hit, but the Marlins turn to Arthur Rhodes, who strikes out Dukes to end Florida's improbable comeback win. 8-6 final. Marlins now 13-2 against DC in '08.

By e chigliak Last Night's Game Report...(Mets 10 Nationals 8). Nationals' #'s Against Mike Pelfrey... Cristian Guzman - 2 for 7, .286 AVG.  Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 17, .235 AVG, 1 RBI.  Mets vs "Opening Night"... David Wright - 5 for 12, .417 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's.  Anonymous Mets' Fan

By e chigliak Mets' starter Oliver Perez gives up a walk and a single in the top of the fourth, when DC Manager Manny Acta hits for Lannan, bringing in Alberto "The General" Gonzalez, who singles in a run, followed by Anderson Hernandez, who singles in two, and then Guzman singles, and Oliver Perez is don...

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By e chigliak The 2008 Washington Nationals go to New York tonight and tomorrow for the final two road games of the season, and luckily ever, against the Mets to be played in the Flushing, Queens, NY eyesore also known as Shea Stadium... Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 15, .267 AVG, 2 2B. 

By e chigliak This(Yester)Day In Washington Baseball History... 1908 - Walter Johnson pitched his third consecutive shutout in four days with a 4-0, two-hit victory over the New York Highlanders." DC vs NY Mets - 8-4 NY (w/ 6 G, 9/9-9/10 in NY & 9/15-9/18 in DC) DC vs Atlanta - 12-6 DC wins!!!

By e chigliak The Nationals finish the season series with the Braves up 12-6.  Next game Tuesday night in NY...and federalbaseball.com will be live from Shea Stadium Wednesday night for the second of two with the Mets... Nationals now 56-88. (Countdown To 100 Losses Stuck At 12.)

By e chigliak The finale of the season series between the Braves and Nationals gets underway at 1:35 pm EST. Don't worry about the #'s in the season series, the Nationals have it won. Worry about Ryan Zimmerman and his hit streak, and worry about what Dukes does to poor hanging sliders...Who's Watching The Na...

By e chigliak The Nationals drafted Chris Marrero as a third baseman, but have moved him around to OF/1B with Zimmerman established at third, but I imagine Marrero or Kory Casto could man third competently for a few years if Zim was dealt...the Nationals have drafted a lot of pitchers recently and the out...

By e chigliak Game 2 of 3 In Wrigley...Nationals vs Cubs. Nationals' #'s Against Ryan Dempster... Aaron Boone - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 1 3B.  Cristian Guzman - 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 2 2B.  Cubs vs Odalis Perez... For A Chicago Perspective on the series check out the SBN's Cubs' blog: 

By e chigliak The Nationals fail to score in the ninth, with Myers back out for the shutout with well over a hundred pitches on his arm. Myers gets a groundout from Flores and a swinging K from Kearns, but Anderson Hernandez's swinging bunt dies in the grass where Chase Utley barehands and holds it. Myers en...

By e chigliak Nationals' #'s Against Livan Hernandez... Cristian Guzman - 3 for 7, .429 AVG, 1 RBI.  Austin Kearns - 11 for 25, .440 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 11 RBI's.  Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 13, .308 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 3 RBI's.  Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...

By e chigliak Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Zimmerman and Willie Harris had the other three of the Nationals' 4 hits off Maine and Stokes. Bonifacio walked twice, doubling his season total. Kearns and Zimmerman both ground into DP's, Guzman stranded 4...John Maine ends the day (10-7) with a 3.97 ERA. 

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By e chigliak Nationals' '08 #'s Against Lefties... Cristian Guzman - 46 for 127, .362 AVG, 11 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI's. Braves #'s Against Odalis Perez... Classic Braves vs Odalis Perez Matchup... According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article, "Nationals working on Guzman contract":

By e chigliak Cubs’ third baseman Aramis Ramirez walks to start the NL ninth. NL Manager Clint Hurdle calls Guzman over and tells him the plan...AND CRISTIAN GUZMAN IS ON TO PINCH RUN!!! GUZMAN at first... In The Comments Section... NL Manager) Clint Hurdle just called on GUZMAN!!! TO PINCH RUN!!!! GUZMAN! GUZ...

By e chigliak Guzman... The Class-A Potomac Nationals, or P-Nats, saw the debut of their new 23-year old third baseman tonight, one Ryan Zimmerman, who was the P-Nats' DH against Houston Astros' Class A affiliate, the Salem(Va.) Avalanche. Zimmerman doubled twice, going 2 for 5 with a run scored in an 8-6 P...

By e chigliak Willie Harris, Jesus Flores, Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes, John Lannan and Collin Balester are considered part of the team's future." The Nationals are looking for young Major League-ready players or Minor League prospects in return."

By e chigliak NATIONALS What's gone wrong: One word, injuries. The Nationals, at their best, were not expected to compete in the up-for-grabs NL East, but when they suffered injuries to, and lost, prominent players like Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young, Austin Kearns, Paul Lo Duca, Shawn H...

By e chigliak Rangers’ leadoff batter Ian Kinsler takes the second pitch from DC starter Garrett Mock deeeep to left, off Nationals’ left fielder Wily Mo Pena’s glove, and into the visting team’s bullpen for a leadoff home run that gives Texas a 1-0 lead over Washington. Two outs later, two runs score w...

By e chigliak Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 13, .308 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 3 RBI's.  Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta said Sunday that Lo Duca is likely to get some playing time in the outfield (and possibly first base) once he returns from a broken right hand (possibly by Tuesday)."

By e chigliak Aaron Crow of the Missouri Tigers (via farmsystem) and Mr. Ladson then quotes the Nationals' GM who states: Washington Post writer Chico Harlan quotes GM Jim Bowden in a "Journal Post" entitled simply, "5:25 p.m." where the Nationals General Manager tells Mr. Harlan:

By e chigliak Finally, in a post on "Chatter: A Nationals Blog" at the Washington Times' site, Sports writer Ben Goessling notes in his post entitled, "A Zimmerman update", that Paul Lo Duca, "...said that Ryan Zimmerman has a little nerve issue in his left shoulder," and that Ryan Zimmerman had responde...

By e chigliak For this weekend’s series, the Washington Nationals talent team featuring Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton and veteran play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter will join the Orioles booth, which includes nationally-renowned play-by-play ...

By e chigliak Tomorrow the Nationals are live on MLB.tv against the Orioles, and I should be able to catch the first few innings with John Patterson and Daniel Cabrera facing off on the hill at the Orioles' Spring home, Fort Lauderdale Stadium in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.