NATIONALS PLACE AUSTIN KEARNS ON DISABLED LIST

Fromteh Nats Press Release:

The Washington Nationals today placed right fielder Austin Kearns on the 15-Day Disabled List, retroactive to August 25, with a stress fracture of his left foot. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made this announcement.

Kearns is expected to miss two-to-four weeks with the injury which was originally sustained on August 3. He was examined yesterday in Washington, DC by orthopedist Dr. Edward Magur, who recommended rest and immobilization with a walking cast. This is Kearns’ second DL stint this season. He missed 38 games after having surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow on May 23.

Kearns has batted .217 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 32 RBI in 86 games this season with Washington.

Did anyone know Kearns was hurt? Was this reported anywhere? Originally sustained August 3? He's been playing on a stress fracture for over three weeks?

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.

Nats beat Phils 4-3; Halt 12 Game Skid

Philadelphia -- For one game, at least, the breaks fell to the Washington Nationals. It was the Philadelphia Phillies reliever that surrendered an eighth inning lead. It was the Phillies shortstop that could not handle a ground ball, allowing a go-ahead run to score. It was the Phillies second baseman that threw a ball away to lose a double play. It was the Phillies first baseman who struck out three times and left four runners on base. And it was the Phillies starting pitcher that allowed one earned run over six and two-thirds innings, only to be victimized by a lack of run support.

Granted, the Nats did a bunch of similar things that kept this game close as well, but on this night they made fewer mistakes than the competition and quietly got back into the win column.

The winning runs scored in the top of the eighth against Phillies reliever Ryan Madson (L, 3-2). Ryan Zimmerman led off with an infield single and Lastings Milledge singled to right field. 1B Ronnie Belliard put down a perfect sacrifice moving both runners up. Nats RBI leader Jesus Flores dumped a ball into shallow center field scoring Zimmerman, and slumping Austin Kearns muscled a ball up the middle for an RBI single, plating Milledge with what turned out to be the winning run. Manager Manny Acta called on closer Joel Hanrahan in the bottom of the eighth, and Hanrahan did his job, pitching two shutout innings to nail down his fourth save of the year.

"It's a big weight off our shoulders," Hanrahan said. "We knew people were writing about it everywhere. Now we want to win a couple more."

Things should not have been that close though. Reliever Saul Rivera had an atypical poor outing in the seventh, giving up two earned runs on three hits, including light-hitting catcher Carlos Ruiz' third home run of the season. The other run came courtesy of Ryan Zimmerman's two base throwing error (sixth of the season) on a Shane Victorino nubber and ground-out RBI by pinch-hitter extraordinaire Greg Dobbs. Rivera (4-5) was credited with his fifth blown save of the season, but was awarded the win as he was the pitcher of record when the Nats took the lead in the eighth inning after he had departed.

The game was scoreless through five innings, as veterans Tim Redding and Jamie Moyer matched each other pitch-for-pitch. Neither hurler factored in the decision, but both took advantage of slumping offenses to keep their respective teams in the game. Redding finished six innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and one walk, striking out five. He gave up a run in the sixth when OF Jayson Werth double to deep right field, and all-star 2B Chase Utley drove him in with a single up the middle.

Moyer was just as good, going six and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and three walks while striking out four Nationals. He was, however, victimized by his defense. Nats 2B Anderson Hernandez and SS Christian Guzman started the sixth inning off with back-to-back singles. After Zimmerman struck out, Milledge hit a would-be double play grounder to third, but Guzman made a hard "take-out" slide into second, and on the turn Utley fired the ball down the first base line, drawing 1B Ryan Howard off the bag for an error. Hernandez scored without a throw for an unearned run. In the top of the seventh with one out, Moyer walked Kearns and gave up a single to Willie Harris. After pinch-hitter Aaron Boone popped out to Howard, Hernandez pushed a ball up the middle that Jimmy Rollins got his glove on, but then lost in the transfer from glove to throwing hand. It was officially scored a hit, but the Phillies faithful scored the play an error and rained boos down on 2007's N.L. MVP, who is also in the midst of a 3-for-33 slump at the plate.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. After twelve straight losses, the Nats were perfectly happy that the boos were coming from the other side of the field last night.

Washington faces the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field for the first of a three-game series this afternoon at 2:20 pm. John Lannan (6-12, 3.81) takes the mound for the Nats against Jason Marquis (8-7, 4.67) for the first place Cubbies, who own the best record in baseball.

NATS NOTES: The win raises the Nats record to 45-83. They trail the New York Mets by 26 games in the N.L. East.

SS Cristian Guzman made his first start after missing six games with an injury to his left thumb.

GB&U: I Don't Have It In Me to be Funny Today

RESULT: Nats lose to Philies 4-0, loss number 12 in a row, shutout for the league-leading 19th time this season.

GOOD: Ronnie Belliard. He went 2-for-4. New bullpen fodder Marco Estrada pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and get this: NO WALKS! Keep it up, kid! EMILIO! 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Anderson Hernandez, making his first appearance as a National, went 3-for-4 hitting in the 8 hole.

BAD: No power! Nine hits, but only one extra base hit. Hard to go score when you need to string three singles together in one inning.

UGLY: Austin Kearns is almost an automatic out these days. Since his season high batting average mark of .231 (!) on August 5, he's gone 6-for-47 with one home run and 3 RBIs (both on that HR). His season numbers: 302 ABs, .215/.306/.305 with 6 HRs and 30 RBIs.

NEXT GAME: Another one today against the Phils. Tim Redding (8-8, 4.66) faces ageless Jamie Moyer (11-7, 3.64) at 7:05 pm from Citizen's Bank Park.

GB&U: Muscled Out in Milwaukee

RESULT: Nats fall to Brewers 5-4 in 13 innings.

GOOD: John Lannan. Six innings of one-hit ball. This guy can't buy a break.

Lastings Milledge. He's been on a tear this week. Sunday he went 3-for-6 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for6, Ronnie Belliard went 2-for-5 and Cristian Guzman went 2-for-6. Austin Kearns hit his monthly home run.

BAD: Emilio! Bonifacio went 0-for-6 and is hitless in his last 17 at bats. Also, our pinch-hitters went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

UGLY: Luis Ayala. Now that Wily Mo is gone, do we need to re-name the "Ugly" award? One batter faced. One home run allowed. One Loss. ERA stands at 6.04. This is what his manager had to say about him after the game:

"We can't even hide him now," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "He comes into situations like this and he's just not making pitches."

That ain't good.

NEXT GAME: Nats try to avoid the 4-game sweep at 2:05 eastern, Garrett Mock makes the start (0-2, 4.91) facing David Bush (6-9, 4.50)

GB&U: Housecleaning Ends With Sweep

RESULT: Nats finish sweep of Reds 4-2.

GOOD: Collin Balestar. He looked very sharp against a struggling team. He went 5.1, allowing one earned (Votto's 14th homer) , six hits and two walks with five Ks. He moves his record to 2-3, 4.55. Lastings Milledge homered for the second day in a row. Austin Kearns was 3-for-4. Emilio Bonifacio was 2-for-4. Can we just call him Emilio, you know, like the soccer stars how they go by one name? Wouldn't that be cool?

BAD: Kory Casto. 1-for-4, three left on base. He's scuffling right now with full-time play.

UGLY: Cincy's Defense. They made just the one error today, but it was a big one: the ball that hopped over Dunn and went to the wall for two runs. The bloop by Nieves in the first should have been caught too, although Bob and Don on the TV thought it was a great piece of situational hitting, strategically hitting a weak pop fly 20 feet past the second baseman into the sun to make it an indefensible play. Ugh. No wonder only 9000 people watch on TV. And we get two more years of this?

INJURY UPDATE: Dukes, Zim and Guz all sit. Nothing like a two-man bench, eh Manny?

NEXT GAME: Tonight in Colorado against the Rockies. Tim Redding (7-6, 4.34) takes the mound against all-star Aaron Cook (14-6, 3.53).

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: There Was a Game Last Night?

RESULT: Nats lose to Phillies 8-4. That's nine in a row. If they continue, I'm gonna have to write a book about 2008.

GOOD: Pete Orr was 3-for-4. Rhymes and everything. Mock and Colome cleaned up without adding to the mess. Wonder how Mock likes pitching out of the pen?

BAD: Austin Kearns. 1-for-5 with four left on base. He's the clean-up hitter hitting .212.

UGLY: Ryan Zimmerman's right hand. Did you see him at first base after he got hit? HIs hand blew up like a cartoon, and was varying shades of purple. The Nats said nothing was broken and he's day-to-day (aren't we all). Great, now the Nats entire left side of the infield have hurt hands and not going on the DL, limiting Manny to a two-man bench. Bad and short-handed (pun intentional).

INJURY UPDATE: Guzman DNP, still day-to-day. Seriously, why not bite the bullet and get a body up here?

NEXT GAME: Tonight against the Griffey-less Cincinnati Red Legs. Odalis Perez (3-8, 4.387) faces Homer Bailey (0-4, 6.52) for the Reds. Game time is 7:35 pm.

Money for Nothing?

With the Major League non-waiver trade deadline approaching Thursday, there's lots of talk about who could be switching teams int he next couple of days. The Nats have already made one trade: the highly discussed Jon Rauch/Emilio Bonifacio deal. Will there be more? Only Trader Jim knows for sure, but it sure seems like he's trying.

There have been media reports (all taken with liberal amounts of grains of salt) that say the Nats have made just about anyone on the roster over 25 available. But what's really there? And what could Nats fans expect as a return? Let's run down the current, shall we?

Paul LoDuca: Every Nats' fans favorite to be moved. The Yankees and Marlins both have injuries at catcher, making them possible trade partners. LoDuca has made it known that he'd be willing to play in NY or Miami, really anywhere closer to horse race tracks. The returns would be minimal though for a 36-year old catcher who was forced out of playing catcher on the worst team in the National League.

Felipe Lopez: He certainly has position flexibility that contending teams may find useful. Hard to believe the ghost of FLop that Nats fans have watched for the last couple of seasons used to be a pretty decent option at shortstop. Currently hitting .235/.307/.313. If the Orioles weren't desperate enough to trade for him, I can't believe anyone else will be either. First candidate to be DFA'd after the deadline. Bonifacio can't get here soon enough.

Ronnie Belliard: Belly is a streaky hitter, but some team might find his decent pop and position flexibility something to take a chance on for the rest of the season. He'd probably only return a "C" level prospect, but it's players like that the Nats have to bring into the system to take a look-see. Won't cost 'em nothin'.

Wee Willie Harris: He's never been hotter in his career, so maybe JimBow can strike while the iron's hot. Willie is a decent defensive player both in the OF and at 2B, and his speed is something that many teams covet. Again, he wouldn't bring a minor league all-star back, but could fetch a low-level thrower that the organization could try to teach to be a pitcher.

Tim Redding: Ace of the Staff. Except for that blow-up in Atlanta, Redding's been pitching very well the last four weeks, and could be a real useful pick-up to a team that is looking to fill a 4 or 5 spot down the stretch. Could the Tigers, Mets or Phillies find him attractive? You bet. His contract is real easy to swallow too. But knowing the way Bowden overvalues his players, it would probably take quite a bit to pry Redding away. All he's done is take the ball every five days for the Nats since he got here and more often than not kept them in the game. He may be more valuable here than the return.

Odalis Perez: Here's a situation where a couple weeks make all the difference. At the all-star break Perez' ERA was around 3.50, now it's at 4.38, and rising every time up. He's lost three of his last four starts, getting hammered in two of them. He's only pitched into the seventh inning once in his last six starts. His window of attractiveness might have already closed. Still, he's a lefty who gets lefties out with a decent K rate.

Austin Kearns: The wildcard. The Mets could use a corner outfielder. Bowden LOVES trading with Omar Minaya. This could be a match in heaven. It would be like Bowden trading one of his own sons, but something tells me he'd even do that if the price were right. Kearns is hitting over .300 since his return from elbow troubles, maybe he could fetch a "B-" prospect out of Omar. C'mon, the Mets have Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez playing left and right fields. You're telling me Kearns wouldn't be an upgrade there?

Bottom(feeder) Line: At this point, I don't think we're going to see anything of any significant value exchange hands for the Nats this trading deadline. I think the fans can expect more of the same as we've had for a while, with the eventual return of Dukes to the line-up, Bonifacio's call-up and maybe a pitcher or two making appearances after September 1. But never count out Trader Jim Bowden. He knows he's on the hot seat, and he has a propensity for being splashy anyway.

GB&U: Break Up the Nats (Two In A Row!!)

RESULT: Nats beat Braves 15-6, set DC mark for runs scored in one game.

GOOD: Willie Harris! 2-for-3, home run, three walks, five rbis from the lead-off spot. Austin Kearns! 3-for-5, home run, five runs, two rbis. Jesus Flores! 5-for-6, two runs, two rbis. Felipe Lopez?!? 3-for-4, three runs, three ribs. WOW!

BAD: Odalis Perez. It's good to have a bad day when your hitters stake you to a 12-2 lead. Perez surrendered five eraned in five innings, allowing 9 hits and two walks. He struggled just long enough to qualify for the win, though Manny had Shell warming in the 4th in case things got closer than they did.

UGLY: Paul LoDuca. PLoD went 1-for-6, stranding six base runners. I guess he didn't get the memo that today was going to be hit parade day in Atlanta.

NEWS: Meathook indeed went on the DL due to a spike in his blood sugar and overall conditioning. I'm not going to make light of Young's situation, as I am Type II Diabetic myself, so I understand better than most what Young is going through. We wish him the best and hope that someone can convince him that the best way he will get any relief from the symptoms of Type II is to really make a concerted effort to lose some weight. For three years I heard my doctor say "lose weight" and it didn't register. I then actually did lose weight (~50 pounds) and went from taking 7 pills a day to control my diabetes down to one.

But the kicker was JimBow's comments about Young when the announcement was made. Here's part of the statement:

"Well, it's a two-pronged approach. The first part is he's got get his diabetes under control, and you've got to get the blood-sugar levels right. The second thing is, we have to get him into first-class physical shape, the same shape he was in last year when he was comeback player of the year."

"First-class physical shape" like last year? You mean, like in this picture? Is that your idea of "first-class shape" Jim? It's stupid stuff like that that really fuels the fire to get rid of this buffoon. Who does he think he's fooling? And does he even believe the things he says?

NEXT GAME: Tuesday night in San Francisco, home of Huey Lewis, Jerry Garcia and Joe Montana. Jason Bergmann (1-6, 4.03) faces washed up Barry Zito (4-12, 5.62).

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2007

Kearns To Have Surgery; Will Miss 3-4 Weeks

Straight from the Nats Press Release:

NATIONALS PLACE RIGHT FIELDER AUSTIN KEARNS ON 15-DAY DL

The Washington Nationals today placed right fielder Austin Kearns on the 15-Day Disabled List (right elbow). The Nationals will make a corresponding roster move prior to tomorrow’s series opener vs. Milwaukee. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

Tomorrow, Kearns will have arthroscopic surgery performed by Dr. Tim Kremchek in Cincinnati, OH, to remove loose bodies in his right elbow. He is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Kearns, 28, is currently batting .187 (28-for-150) with three home runs and 16 RBI in 42 games.

BOTTOM(FEEDER) LINE: Hard to imagine Kearns only missing 3-4 weeks with elbow surgery, but this certainly explains a lot of things with him this season. He says that he injured the elbow in BP up in Baltimore, but an acute injury that produces "loose bodies" sounds pretty fishy--pardon the pun. We imagine Kearns has been having trouble with the elbow for a while, but did not want to use it as an excuse for the poor play. Reason does not equal excuse, and pain sometimes is just pain and sometimes it's injury. Looks like this time it was injury.

The team has not issued a corresponding move as of yet. It will be really interesting to see which way they go with this. One guess: we'll see Ryan Langerhans back in the bigs. He's been hitting well in Triple-A, and has big league experience. Bowden said yesterday he wouldn't "rush" Maxwell or Daniel, so the guess here is ol' Langerhans, especially considering how right-handed the OF is.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

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!

GB&U: Shea Faithful Getting Restless

RESULT: Nats win 5-3.

GOOD: Tim Redding with six innings of two-hit ball. He's given up two or fewer runs in three of his last four starts.

BAD: Austin Kearns. 0-4. .196/.303/.280. He's SLUGGING .280?!?

UGLY: The Mets faithful really let the home team know what they were thinking as the Mets slinked off the field after the decisive seventh inning. Carlos Delgado is hitting .229.

Honorable Mention: Jesus Flores drew more raves from Manager Manny Acta as he fought back from an 0-2 count and came through with a clutch RBI hit while the game was still in doubt.

NEXT GAME: Thursday at 1:10 pm, get-away day against the Mets. Jason Bergmann (0-1) makes his first start of the season versus Mike Pelfrey (2-3).

GB&U: Who Needs the Batters?

GOOD: O! Perez?!? What got into him last night? The pitching was: meh. The hitting was: WOO-HOO!!! 3-for-3 with two RBIs, very nice. He's now hitting .313 for the season (small sample size alert). And he gets his first win to boot (6.1 IP, 4 ERs, 11 hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks).

BAD: Need we say it at this point? Austin Kearns hitless in five trips, stranding five base runners. Kearns was the only starter without a hit. The damage could (should?) have been worse.

UGLY: Elijah Dukes whiffed in his only plate appearance, pinch hitting in the 9th. He's 0-for-12 since being activated.

NEXT GAME: Tuesday against the Mets at Shea. John Lannan (3-3, 3.40) v. John Maine (4-2, 3.00).

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

Nats Win Fourth In a Row

Washington, DC--Austin Kearns, who entered the game in a 2-for-29 slump, drilled a two-out single in the eighth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Kearns went 2-for-4 in the game, raising his average for the season to .194. But for all the struggles Kearns had in the month of April, with the flip of the calendar to the new month he became a hero for the 24,743 Nationals fans in attendance Thursday evening.

Cristian Guzman singled to lead off the eighth inning off Pirates reliever John Grabow (1-1). After Ryan Zimmerman flied out to right, Nick Johnson worked the count to 3-2 before Grabow hit him with a fastball that was a bit too far inside. Lastings Milledge followed with a strikeout, but with two outs and runners at first and second, Kearns took the first pitch he saw from Grabow to right field, driving in Guzman to take the lead, who slid just past the tag from Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit. John Rauch pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his sixth save to make Guzman's run stand up and deliver the Nats fourth win in row, and seventh victory in their last nine games.

Odalis Perez started for the Nats and pitched very well once again, but again left too early to collect his first victory of the season. Perez went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on two solo home runs to Freddie Sanchez and Doumit, but allowed only one other hit and no walks. He struck out five Pirates as well and he looked very sharp, spotting his fastball and using his deceptive change-up to gather the strikeouts. Luis Ayala (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn the victory.

The Nats got on the board first against Pirates starter Zack Duke, scoring two runs in the second as Wil Nieves' two-run single got the Nats off to their strong start. MIlledge and Kearns has back-to-back singles to start off the inning, and Wily Mo Pena hit a "swinging bunt", grounding out to the catcher, advancing the runners to second and third. With the infield drawn in, Nieves snuck a ground ball past a diving Freddie Sanchez at second base, staking the Nats to the early lead.

NATS NOTES: With the win, the Nats record stands at 12-17, just four games behind division leading Philadelphia. It also raises their record at Nationals Park to 8-7 for the season.

The game time was a crisp 2:04.

General Manager Jim Bowden announced before the game that first baseman Dmitri Young experienced a "breakthrough" with a team therapist before the game--with the massage specialist finding a release point when working on Young's hip flexor, releasing what had previously been debilitating back pain. Young is on his way to Viera, Florida to work at extended spring training to get his swing back in game shape.

Catcher Paul LoDuca was scheduled to play one more rehabilitation game with Class-A Potomac Thursday evening, then activated before Friday's game, taking the roster spot of closer Chad Cordero, who was placed on the disabled list with a strained lat muscle.

Nats Win Fourth In A Row also posted at DC Sports Box