GB&U: Not Enough In the End

RESULT: Nats lost to Mets 10-8.

GOOD: Anderson Hernandez. Trying to make the Mets regret trading him, Hernandez went 2-for-5 in the lead-off spot with 3 RBIs. Guz went 2-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBIs. He's back up to .311. Zim continues to hit, going 3-for-5 with a ribbie. Zim's up to .286.

BAD: John Lannan. 3 IP, 5 ERs on 8 hits and a walk. Location, location, location. He couldn't hit his spots, and aiming them over resulted in a plethora of hard hits, including 2 of the Mets four homers on the night.

UGLY: Bullpen. Estrada gave up two earned in one-third of an inning. Manning gave up two solo shots in two-thirds. Bergmann gave up one earned in one inning. Not very good.

NEXT GAME: Wednesday at 7:10 pm from Shea Stadium. Odalis Perez (6-10) versus Mike Pelfrey (13-9).

GB&U: Hammered in Atlanta

RESULT: Nats pounded by the Braves 10-5.

GOOD: Kory Casto. He went 3-for-5 hitting in the clean-up spot. Good for him. Bad for the Nats that Casto has to hit 4th in a weaker than normal line-up (no Milledge, no Dukes).

BAD: Marco Estrada. Ponch was just merely bad, giving up two earned in 2.2 IPs on 3 hits and 2 BBs.

UGLY: Jason Bergmann. If he wants to stay in the rotation, he's doing a lousy job of it. He managed only 7 outs last night, allowing 7 ERs on 5 hits and 3 BBs, including walking two straight to load the bases and giving up a hit to the Braves starter. His indignancy after the game adds to the problem.

"I was extremely [upset]," Bergmann said. "I don't want to have the whole year ruined on a couple of bad starts here at the end."

Those are the words of a guy that doesn't realize how bad he's been and how much he's been hurting the team his last few starts.

NEXT GAME: Tonight in Game 2. Tim Redding (10-8, 4.55) against Mike Hampton (2-2, 5.67).

GB&U: Cubs Take Rubber Match

RESULT: Nats lose 6-1 to Cubs.

GOOD: Austin Kearns. Put the Nats on the board with his 7th home run of the season. Want to know why the Nats are so bad this year? Check out this analysis on Runs Created by Fire Jim Bowden. Excellent work.

BAD: Jason Bergmann. 6.1 IP, 4 ERs, 4 hits, 4BBs, 6 Ks. He's a reliever. Get over it.

UGLY: Only 4 hits and one walk yesterday off Rich Harden, Carlos Marmol and Jeff Samardzija. In fact, the Nats got Harden into exactly ONE three-ball count before the 7th inning. That is not winning baseball.

INJURY UPDATE: Good news: Elijah Dukes is rehabbing in Columbus. Bad news: He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes yesterday.

NEXT GAME: Off-day Monday. Tuesday starts a three-game series with the Los Angels Dodgers. Collin Balestar (2-6, 4.99) takes on Derek Lowe (0-10, 3.89) for the Dodgers.

GB&U: Rock Bottom?

RESULT: Nats lose 12-0 to Mets, shut out for league-leading 18th time. Sixth straight loss.

GOOD: Nothing. Absolutely positively freaking nothing. They were one-hit by a pitcher coming off the disabled list. They forced in a run by walking the starting pitcher. They gave up a base hit to a relief pitcher. They gave up 11 walks total. In the 8-run 3rd the Mets got four hits and five walks. A routine ground ball that would have halved the 8-run inning went right between the recently re-signed shortstop's legs. The batting averages of the three pinch-hitters? .257, .217 and .198. They have a guy on the bench that CAN'T EFFING PLAY and hasn't for NINE DAYS but yet still has not been put on the disabled list. WHO RUNS THIS TEAM?!?

BAD: See above. You know how bad it was? The Mets player of the game, recently called-up Daniel Murphy's bio page doesn't have a picture up yet, just a silouette of an anonymous player. Yuck.

UGLY: Jason Bergmann. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. The numbers don't even tell the story. 3 IPS, 10 runs, 6 earned, 8 hits, 6 walks, 1 (one) strikeout. Simply terrible.

Bonus Ugly: Manny Acta. Manny, you're losing me. You created a stir last night arguing a call that was correct, then tonight when the first base umpire VERY CLEARLY missed the call on the first batter of the game, you sit there on your hands and do nothing. There's a reason these calls keep going against the Nats: You continue to do nothing when you have a right to speak out, and the umps have no fear of retribution or threat of being embarrassed in front of the crowd because you won't come out of the dugout. Being the manager of a major league team is an interactive position. You have to make your presence known. It's called "gravitas".

NEXT GAME: Tomorrow night against these same Mets. Rookie Collin Balestar (2-4, 4.66) faces Oliver (no relation) Perez (8-7, 3.90).

It's also Ladies' Night. Be nice to the ladies.

GB&U: Day Trippin'

RESULT: Nats beat Rockies 6-3 in Game 1 of double-header.

GOOD: Lastings Milliedge. Two no-doubt-about-it homers and a run scoring single. He's fairly mashing the ball these days. Jason Bergmann! Good Jason shows up in the sunshine. 7 IP, 1 ER (Holliday's homer), 7 hits, 2 BBs and 7 Ks. Good day's work. Emilio!, Zim and Belly all had two hits apiece.

BAD: Kearns, Flores and Guz (GUZ!) all 0-for-4, though Guz walked once and scored in his first start in 11 days. Word has it he needed to introduce himself to Emilio! at second base whenthe Rockies came to bat.

UGLY: Dukes to the DL. I talked about it earlier, but this is really a bummer. The team is going out of its way to say this is a calf strain, but one has to wonder if it's not related to rushing back from knee surgery less than five weeks ago. A lost season for Dukes, too. Would have been fun to watch him develop teh next 45 games. He needs those at bats.

INJURY UPDATE: In addition to the above, Boy oh boy Alberto missed again with his "glute" injury.

NEXT GAME: Already underway! Odalis got the first two, walked Holliday and grooved one to Atkins who didn't miss it. 2-0 Rocks after one full. Ubaldo Jiminez on the hill for Colorado. he needed 17 pitches in the first, so maybe this ends up one of those old fashioned Coors Field football games.

Nats Win Game One Behind Milledge, Bergmann

Denver -- The Washington Nationals had to get to work a little earlier Thursday than usual due to the rainout of Wednesday night's game against Colorado. But when you're playing good ball and on a semi-roll like the Nats are right now, you want to get back on the field as quickly as you can anyway. In game one of the afternoon double-header, the Nats rode strong starting pitching by Jason Bergmann and two home runs by CF Lastings Milledge to defeat the reeling Colorado Rockies 6-3 at Denver's Coors Field. Washington has now won five of their last six games.

Bergmann and Rockies starter Jeff Francis -- making his first start since being returned to the roster from the 15-day disabled list -- matched each other pitch-for-pitch for four innings, each being economical with hits and walks, perhaps due to the early start time after the long rain delay the previous evening. But the Nats finally got to Francis in the fifth -- in a big way. Lastings Milledge drilled a fastball over 400 feet for a home run to get the party started for the visiting Nationals. 1B Ronnie Belliard (2-for-4) followed with a double to the right field wall, and LF Willie Harris doubled him in. 2B Emilio Bonifacio (2-for-5) then smacked his third triple in a week to score Harris, and the Nats took a 3-0 lead.

Washington would continue to pound Francis (L, 3-8, 5.81) in the sixth. Ryan Zimmerman (2-for-5) led off with a bunt single, but was erased at second as RF Austin Kearns grounded into a fielder's choice. But with Kearns at first, Milledge came up and blasted his second home run of the game to deep left field, and raised the Nats lead to 5-0. The Nats scored a security run in the top of the seventh against Rockies reliever Jason Grilli. Cristian Guzman, starting for the first time in eleven days, walked and Grilli allowed Kearns to reach on a throwing error, putting men on the corners for Milledge. The center fielder delivered once again, drilling a pitch into center field, scoring Guzman to make the count 6-0. Milledge finished 3-for-4 with two home runs (10, 11) and four RBIs. It was his second career two-homer day, his first with the Nationals.

Jason Bergmann, meanwhile, was on cruise control by that point, putting up nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard. By the time Matt Holliday reached him in the eighth inning with a solo shot (22) to center, this game was well in hand. Rookie Steven Shell tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, allowing C Yorvit Torrealba's fifth home run of the season, a two-run blast. But closer Joel Hanrahan came on to retire the side, earn his second save, and put this one in the books for DC. Bergmann finished seven innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits and two walks, striking out seven. The victory raises his season record to 2-8, 4.13.

Game two starts at 6:35 pm eastern, with Odalis Perez (4-8, 4.16) facing Ubaldo Jiminez (8-9, 3.61) for Colorado.

NATS NOTES: The win makes Washington 43-71, 19 games out of the NL East lead.

Before the game, OF Elijah Dukes was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained calf muscle. A report indicated that the MRI exam of Elijah Dukes' bothersome right calf revealed a strain far more significant than the team first believed, and as a result, Dukes, the team's starting left fielder, will miss four to six weeks.

RHP Garrett Mock was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to take Dukes' spot on the roster. This is Mock's fourth stint with the big league club this year.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: This Ain't So Hard

RESULT: Nats come from behind to beat Reds 10-6.

GOOD: Austin Kearns! 3-for-5 and an RBI. Emilio Bonifacio! 2-for-5, swinging bunt double, triple to straight-away right field. Alberto Gonzalez. 3-for-5, two runs. Ronnie Belliard! Pinch-hit 2-run homer! PETE ORR!!! Pinch-hit two run single.

BAD: Jason Bergmann. Six runs--five earned--in six innings on six hits and three walks. Gave up five runs in the second putting the Nats in a hole tonight, but recovered and kept 'em in it for a while until the bats heated up.

UGLY: Elijah Dukes hit his calf with a swing in the eighth inning and had to be helped off and left the game. It was described as a cramp, and he's day-to-day. The Nats can't afford him to be hurt again. Dukes did not start due to arriving late for the game today, and Manny has very few rules, but the first one is: Be On Time. Hopefully Dukes got the message today and this doesn't linger.

INJURY UPDATE: Guzman entered the game at short, with Gonzalez moving to third and Harris to left field when Dukes hurt himself. Guz did not handle a ball, but at least we know who's closer to returning, him or Zimmerman. Zim was a DNP.

NEXT GAME: Sunday matinee. It's a battle of rookie pitchers, as Colin Balestar (1-3, 5.13) takes on Johnny Cueto (7-10, 5.02).

GB&U: Nats Fall and Can't Get Up

RESULT: Nats lose to Giants 6-3.

GOOD: Wee Willie Harris. 2-for4 again. Homered again. Maybe Bowden will reward him with a 2-year, $16 MM contract? Paul LoDuca. As much as it pains me, Cap't Red-Ass came through when he had the chance with a ground-rule double, infield single and 2 RBIs.

BAD: Jason Bergman. You can't put your team in a hole early, and Bergy just wasn't ready to start this game. Lead-off homer to Fred Lewis. Tow-run shot to Bengie Molina. Down by three after one. That's a death sentence to this team.

UGLY: Jim Bowden's propensity for handing out "reward" contracts. Look people, I admire as much as anyone what Guzman's done this year. Remarkable really. But making a guy with a lifetime .305 OBP your highest paid player? Really?? Bowden said yesterday that Guzman did the team a "favor" taking into consideration his last bloated contract and how he spent 4/5 of it not earning it.

FAVOR? Giving a pudgy shortstop who is allergic to walks $16MM for two years is a favor. Great that it's not a longer deal. But it's $2-4MM more PER YEAR more than he would have gotten on the market, which makes up for those extra year or two he may have gotten. It will be real interesting to see what Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson get as free agents this off-season. That's when we can really determine how lousy a deal this is.

Also, Bonifacio better be ready, as JimBow and Rizzo think. Because if Guz has to lead-off again, it's that much worst. Guz is a #2 or #8 hitter. That's it.

Another also: Closers grow on trees (see: Rauch, Jon). Stop worrying about it. The trade was a good one. I don't agree with Bowden often, but he got this one right:

"You have to trade a reliever when you have the chance to get an everyday position player who's 23 years old. You have to do it."

He's the fastest guy in professional baseball. He was MVP of the Dominican League last winter. He can hit and is learning plate discipline. He's 23! Again, this was a good deal. Stop worrying about trading "the closer". If he were still setting up Cordero, people would be throwing Bowden a parade today, getting a potential 40-steal guy for a set-up man. Closing is all about opportunity, nothing else. Now Hanrahan has that opportunity. A star is born. Rant over.

NEXT GAME: Wednesday night, 10:15 pm. Colin Balestar (1-2, 5.87) on the mound against Kevin Correia (1-5, 5.81). Enjoy. I'll be at Camden Yards celebrating the heroes of my youth, the 1983 World Series Champion Baltimore Orioles. Cal, Ed-die, Palmer, The Earl. Ah, sweet memories.

GB&U: This Is Not A Recording

RESULT: Nats lose to Angels 3-2.

GOOD: Jason Bergmann. Seven innings, one earned run on six hits and NO WALKS, with six strikeouts. This wasn't the Mariners he dominated, it was the AL West leading Angels, legitimate contenders.

Bonus GOOD: Willie Harris! Two home runs in as many days! If you made a bet during spring training that Harris would have four times as many homers as Wily Mo Pena in the first week of the summer, you may collect your bet.

BAD: L-Millz. 0-for4 sees his average tumble to .239. He's 0-for-13 since clubbing his big home run Friday night.

UGLY: Defense. In the eighth inning, the defense let the team down. Chone Figgins bunted to third to lead off, and when defensive replacement Pete Orr and pitcher Saul Rivera collided, Figgy was safe. He then stole second, took third on Flores' throwing error, then Lopez booted Aybar's grounder allowing Figgins to trot home. Rivera couldn't recover, and allowed Garrett Anderson to drive in Aybar, and that's all she wrote.

NEWS: The team announced Nick Johnson will undergo surgery on his injured right wrist. The procedure, quite obviously, will shelve Johnson the rest of the season. Good thing we didn't trade Meathook in Spring Training.

NEXT GAME: Tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. Shawn Hill (1-4, 5.22) hosts Jon Garland (6-4, 4.06) at 7:10 pm.

Doumit Powers Pirates Over Nats 7-5

Pittsburgh, PA -- Ryan Doumit, catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, went 2-for-3 with his fourth home run of the series and drove in three of the Pirates seven runs, leading his team past the visiting Washington Nationals 7-5 in a Thursday matinee in the River City. Doumit was absolutely on fire in the three-game series, going 9-for-11 with four home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs to help the Pirates take two out of three from the Nationals.

The Pirates jumped all over Nats starter Jason Bergmann (L, 1-4, 5.48), scoring two in the first, two in the second and two in the fifth. Bergmann finished the day going four and two-thirds innings, surrendering six runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and one walk. He struck out two. In the first, Pirates third baseman Freddy Sanchez reached on Ronnie Belliard's throwing error and Doumit launched a 2-2 pitch to right field, continuing his dominance of Washington pitching. In the second, Doug Mientkiewicz, Chris Gomez and Jack Wilson all singled consecutively off Bergmann, and Bergmann compounded the trouble by then walking pitcher Tom Gorzelanny, forcing in a run. Nate McLouth then hit a sacrifice fly to score Gomez. It could have been worse, but Sanchez grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Nats got one back in the third, as Cristian Guzman (3-for-5, 3 RBIs) singled and scored on Elijah Dukes' triple with one out. But the Nats stranded Dukes there, as Lastings Milledge popped out to second and Aaron Boone flied out to left.

The fifth inning would be Bergmann's final undoing. Gorzelanny helped his case again by singling to center and McLouth hit a ground-rule double to right. Jason Bay then sacrificed to right field, scoring Gorzelanny, and Doumit singled in McLouth. Gorzelanny got the win, his fifth of the season against five losses, going five and two-thirds innings, with three earned runs on six hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

The Nats wouldn't roll over Thursday though. In the sixth inning they started to claw back. Wily Mo Pena doubled with one out, and Wil Nieves walked with two outs. Dmitri Young pinch-hit for reliever Brian Sanches and drew another walk, filling the bases. Guzman delivered for the Nats, singling up the middle, bringing in Pena and Nieves and pushing Young up to second base. Dukes then hit one to right that scored Young from second, but Dukes was gunned out trying to stretch the hit into a double.

The score was 6-4 entering the eighth and the Nats would strike again. Ryan Langerhans singled with one out and went to third on Young's single up the middle. Guzman provided yet another big hit, driving in Langerhans, cutting the lead to 6-5. But that's as close as it would get, as Dukes and Milledge would both strike out against Pittsburgh reliever Franquelis Osoria with two runners aboard. The Bucs would get an insurance run in the bottom of the frame off Jon Rauch (1 IP, 1 ER, 2 hits, 1 BB) with pinch-hitter Jason Michaels driving in Gomez with a double.

The Pirates turned to Damaso Marte to close the ninth inning, having used their closer Matt Capps in four straight ball games. Marte was perfect, retiring Jesus Flores, Belliard and Pena in order, finishing off the Nats and giving the Pirates the series victory.

On Friday, the Nationals return to interleague play, with their very first games against the Seattle Mariners. Shawn Hill (0-3, 4.35) faces Miguel Batista (3-7, 6.00) in the 10:10 pm EDT start at Seattle's Safeco Field.

NATS NOTES: The loss drops the Nationals record to 26-42, thirteen and one-half games behind Philadelphia entering play Thursday night.

Aaron Boone left the game in the sixth inning with a strain on the right side of his neck. After the game, Boone said he'd likely be back in the line-up within "a day or two".

LHP Odalis Perez will miss his next start, and is a candidate for the disabled list now, according to Manager Manny Acta.

Photo courtesy of A. Amobi, DC Sports Box.

Doumit Powers Pirates Over Nats 7-5 also posted at DC Sports Box

GB&U: Doumit Does It Again

RESULT: Nats lose to Pirates 7-5, Ryan Doumit homers four times for the Bucs in three games against the Nats.

GOOD: Cristian Guzman. 3-for-5, 3 RBIs, one run scored. It's a shame he'll be passed over for the all-star game, because he's clearly been the best player for the Nationals so far this season.

BAD: Jason Bergmann. Another rough outing. 4.2 IP. Six runs, four earned. Eight hits and a walk. He gave up two in the first and two in the second. The Nationals are now 1-7 when he starts.

UGLY: Odalis Perez will miss another start with is shoulder tendinitis. There's a good chance he'll go on the DL, but at the very least, the Nats will have to call someone up to take the start. Clippard? Mock? Someone else? Spin the wheel, see where it lands!

NEXT GAME: Friday in Seattle at Safeco Park. Shawn Hill (0-3, 4.35) versus Miguel Batista (3-7, 6.00)

GB&U: Lopez Dogs It To First

RESULT: Nats lose to Phillies 1-0.

GOOD: Jason Bergmann. Where did this come from. All he's done since returning to the rotation is throw 14 innings of shout out ball against two of the better hitting teams in the National League. Totals: 14 IP, 0 runs, 8 hits, 5 walks, 14 Ks.

BAD: Jon Rauch. Charged with pitching the ninth and holding the Phils to a tie to give the home teama chance to win, Rauch came in and got smoked for three hits and a run--and it could have been more if not for a tremendous relay from Guzman and outstanding effort from Flores to block Dobbs off the plate and keep him from scoring.

UGLY: Down 1-0 with runners on first and third with two outs, and having just watched the previous two batters reach via walk--including several balls in the dirt--Felipe Lopez swung at a slider on the first pitched and rolled it over to second base. That's bad enough--TAKE A PITCH FELIPE!!! But as he jogged out of the box, Utley bobbled the slow bouncer. Had Lopez run hard from the start, it would have given Utley something to think about instead of calmly noticing that he had time, settle, and throw out the barely jogging Lopez. Bad baseball.

NEXT GAME: Tonight, the rubber match against the Phillies. Matt Chico (0-5, 6.07) takes Shawn Hill's scheduled turn and faces ageless Jamie Moyer (3-3, 4.89).

Photo courtesy of A. Amobi, DC Sports Box

Hamels Shuts Down Nats 1-0

Washington, DC--Despite seven innings of shut out baseball by starter Jason Bergmann, the Washington Nationals fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 Tuesday evening before 28,108 decidedly split fans at Nationals Park.

Bergmann made his second consecutive excellent start since returning from Triple-A Columbus. He went seven innings and allowed no runs, five hits and three walks and struck out five Phillies. His opponent, Cole Hamels, was just as effective pitching seven innings himself. He gave up four hits and two walks and struck out a season-high eleven. Neither pitcher figured in the decision, but both provided efforts worthy of a win.

But for all the starting pitching, the story of this game ended up to be a soft, sinking line drive off the bat of Phillies pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs in the top of the ninth inning which drove in pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett with the only run that would cross home plate on this cool but comfortable May evening. Nats closer Jon Rauch (L, 2-1, 2.78) was summoned to pitch the ninth, despite the game being tied. Usually, the tall righty enters only to protect a ninth inning lead, something he's accomplished safely ten times this season. Tonight he would not be as successful.

Phillies third baseman Pedro Feliz led off the ninth with a hard hit double to left field. Bruntlett ran for Feliz, and advance to third on catcher Carlos Ruiz' sacrifice to Rauch. Dobbs then stepped in, and with a 2-0 count he lifted a soft liner that fell just in front of center fielder Lastings Milledge, who tried to deke Bruntlett into thinking he was going to make the play. Milledge could not, and Bruntlett strolled across the plate safely to take the first, and only, lead of the night.

Things might have been worse. With two outs, Shane Victorino sent a liner into left center that Milledge ran a long way and slid to cut off from going to the wall. He bobbled the pick-up slightly, and bounced his relay into shortstop Cristian Guzman, who filed a laser to catcher Jesus Flores. Flores blocked the plate masterfully since Dobbs beat the throw to home, and Dobbs was called out for the third out.

Unfortunately for the Nats, there would be drama but no pay off in the bottom of the frame.

Flores and Wily Mo Pena both struck out against Phils' closer Brad Lidge to start things off. Elijah Dukes then coaxed a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Rob Mackowiak pinch hit for Rauch and with the count 2-2, Dukes stole second without a throw. After two foul ball and another ball, Dukes stole third -- again without a throw. With Dukes at third, Mackowiak also drew a 3-2 walk.

Manager Manny Acta sent Willie Harris in to pinch run for Mackowiak, and the faithful believed that the Nats could make some late inning magic. But on the very first pitch he saw from Lidge, Felipe Lopez grounded to second baseman Chase Utley, who momentarily bobbled the lazy grounder. Lopez, however, inexplicably did not run hard on the play and Utley recovered and easily threw to first to put out the jogging Lopez. Lidge earned his eleventh save, and has allowed only one earned run in 20 innings pitched this season.

Veteran reliever Tom Gordon (4-2, 4.26) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Phillies to earn the win.

Nats SS Cristian Guzman slides safely on a steal of second base against the Phillies.

Wednesday's match-up features Nats' lefty Matt Chico (0-5, 6.07) against the Phillies crafty veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer (3-3, 4.89). Game time is 7:10 pm from Nationals Park.

NATS NOTES: The loss sends the Nats overall record to (20-27), six and one-half games behind division-leading Florida. The Phillies (25-22) are one and one-half out.

Austin Kearns missed his third straight game with soreness in his right elbow. An MRI on Tuesday showed no significant damage though, and the team expects him to miss a couple more games to allow inflammation to settle before he plays again.

It was Kearns' 28th birthday, and a group of fans in the right field corner--which Kearns usually patrols--wore straw cowboy hats and made signs in his honor. He was even seen wearing one of the cowboys hats in the dugout pre-game.

Catcher Johnny Estrada, on the 15-day DL with soreness in his elbow, was examined by Dr. James Andrews who performed surgery on his elbow during the off-season. Dr. Andrews said that the soreness is not coming from the surgically repaired area and the discomfort is being triggered by irritation of the ulnar nerve, something he expects will recede with time and rehab.

Hamels Shuts Down Nats 1-0 also posted at DC Sports Box

Photos of Bergmann, Guzman courtesy of A. Amobi, DC Sports Box.
Photo of fans in cowboy hats (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: "Softball Girls" Take Three of Four

RESULT: Nats Win 1-0.

GOOD: Jason Bergmann. With seven inning of two hit-no run goodness. He even struck out nine! Ok, so Pelfrey counted for three of them. Still!

BAD: Should we re-name bad "Kearns"? 0-for-3, another dropped fly ball. How long do they let him bleed out there? Oh right, what option is there at this point?

UGLY: Nick Johnson out "4 to 6 weeks". With his history, write him off until the all-star break at least. Not good news to a team with very few selective hitters.

NEXT GAME: Friday night in Baltimore for the renewal of the "Battle of the Beltways"! Can you feel the artificially created excitement?!? I wish interleague play would go away. Shawn Hill (0-0) looks for his first DECISION in six starts against Garrett Olson (2-0).

See, I mentioned the Orioles on the blog. Thanks to several of you for noticing :-)

Here's something to either fire you up or piss you off!

Bergmann Outduels Pelfrey, Mets 1-0

New York, NY--In a classic pitcher's duel under the partly sunny skies in the old stadium in Queens, the Washington Nationals defeated the New York Mets 1-0, taking three out of four against their division foes in what is rapidly becoming an intense rivalry.

Both starting pitchers, Jason Bergmann for the Nats and Mike Pelfrey for the Mets, were very sharp all afternoon. Bergmann (W, 1-1, 7.45), making his first start of the season after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus to make the start, went seven innings and surrendered just three hits and two walks, striking out nine Mets batters. Pelfrey (L, 2-4, 4.17) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning but the Nats caught up to him for a scratch run in the eighth. His final line read seven and two-thirds innings, one earned run, three hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief of Bergmann and Jon Rauch held on in the ninth despite some drama for his ninth save.

The lone run came in the top of the eighth and made a winner out of Bergmann. Catcher Jesus Flores led off against Pelfrey and doubled to deep left field, one of the few hard hit balls all day. Willie Harris pinch-hit for Bergmann and sacrificed Flores over to third. Shortstop Felipe Lopez then lofted a fly ball deep enough to left field to allow Flores to carry home the only run the Nats would need on this day.

Bergmann looked to be still very strong in the seventh, as he struck out the bottom of the Mets order in succession, but was lifted for the pinch-hitter as the situation dictated he should, and the plan worked to the Nats advantage. Matt Wise took the ball from Pelfrey and ended the inning without any more damage, striking out Ryan Zimmerman to limit the damage.

The late innings featured some bizarre and ill-advised base-running gaffes by the Mets that would seal their fate. In the eighth inning, with Luis Ayala (1-3, 5.62) on the hill for the Nats, all-star shortstop Jose Reyes led off for the Mets with a bunt single. Second baseman Luis Castillo sacrificed and was thrown out by third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

But Reyes wasn't happy with just being advanced to second. He inexplicably tried to take third on the play since Zimmerman was out of position after making the throw to get Castillo. Shortstop Cristian Guzman, however, noticed and raced to third to take the throw by Aaron Boone -- colliding with Reyes as they met at the bag -- and completed the third-to-first-to short covering third double play. David Wright popped out unceremoniously to end the inning.

In the ninth, still more blundering on the base paths cost the Mets again. Carlos Beltran led off against closer Jon Rauch (2-0, 8 saves, 2.61) with a single to right field. The next batter, Ryan Church, smacked a high fly ball down the left field line that Willie Harris laid out for and caught, sure to make the highlight reels on the eleven o'clock news.

Beltran promptly thereafter stole second and took third on a throwing error by Flores. With the count at 1-2, Mets struggling first baseman Carlos Delgado ripped a low line drive to first that Boone snared -- and he fired to third to catch Beltran napping for the game-ending double play.

The Nationals travel to Baltimore Friday for a three-game series entitled "Battle of the Beltways", as interleague geographic rivals weekend commences. Shawn Hill (0-0, 3.56) is scheduled to face rookie Garrett Olson (2-0, 2.95) for the Orioles.

NATS NOTES: With the victory, the Nats records moves to 18-24. They are currently six games behind first place Florida, who plays tonight in Cincinnati.

First baseman Nick Johnson will miss four to six weeks, as an MRI Thursday morning revealed a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist, an injury sustained in his last at bat Tuesday evening. The team expects to activate Dmitri Young from the disabled list for the weekend series.

According to Manager Manny Acta, Young will see the bulk of time at first base, with Aaron Boone getting some starts, especially during interleague play. Young completed his rehab stint in Double-A Harrisburg in Thursday afternoon's game for the Senators, going 1-for-3, leaving his average during his rehab stint at .375.

Bergmann Outduels Pelfrey, Mets 1-0 also posted at DC Sports Box

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008