GB&U: It Comes and It Goes Just as Quickly

RESULT: Nats lose to Brewers 7-1, swept in four-game series.

GOOD: Willie Harris went 2-for-5. Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-4. Luis Ayala rebounded with a perfect inning pitched. Way to keep your chin up, Luis.

BAD: Garrett Mock. He got pounded in his spot start. 4.2 IP, 4 ERs, 5 hits, 3 BBs, but 9 Ks. That's right, 9 of his 14 outs were strikeouts.

UGLY: The whole darn weekend. Getting swept is never fun, but at least it was against the second best team in the NL and on the road, away from the legions of fans that flock to Nationals Park but apparently don't watch the team on the TV. Plus now the news that a former low-level scout is the head of a major internet gambling ring. Ew.

DRAFT PICKS: At least the Nats inked their third and fourth round draft picks, SS Daniel Espinosa and LHP Graham Hicks, to go along with second round pick OF Destin Hood and recently signed 5th rounder C Adrian Nieto. All that's left is to get the #1 pick, RHP Aaron Crow, to agree to terms. This one's liable to go down to the wire, which is this Friday, August 15, at midnight eastern.

NEXT GAME: The Nats return home to face their division rival New York Mets this week. These are important games for the Mets, who find themselves tied with Florida 2.5 games behind the Phillies in the division and 5.5 games behind Milwaukee for the wild card.

Tomorrow night at 7:10 pm Odalis Perez (5-8, 4.10) takes on Johan Santana (9-7, 2.85) from Nationals Park.

BREAKING NEWS: Dukes to DL: UPDATE for 4-6 weeks!!!

Straight from the horse's mouth:

The Washington Nationals today placed outfielder Elijah Dukes on the 15-Day Disabled List, retroactive to August 3, with a right calf strain and recalled right-handed pitcher Garrett Mock from Columbus of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.Mock returns for a fourth stint with the Nationals this season. To date, the rookie has posted a 5.27 ERA

(8 ER/13.2 IP) in five games/two starts with Washington. During his most-recent stint with Washington, which came in late July, Mock fired 3.0 one-hit scoreless innings of relief spanning three appearances, during which did not issue a walk, fanned five and posted a batting average against of .091 (1-for-11).

The 25 year-old Mock was 6-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 19 games/17 starts for Columbus. Mock’s strikeout-to-walk ratio in the International League was a stellar 3.8/1 (96 strikeouts/25 walks), and he currently ranks fourth in the IL in ERA.

Dukes, 24, is batting .264 (48-for-182) with six home runs and 23 RBI in 54 games with the Nationals this season. Among those with 200 plate appearances, his .364 on-base percentage leads all Nationals. This is Dukes’ third trip to the Disabled List this season. His previous DL stints were due to right-hamstring and right-knee issues.

And now this from the Washington Redskins Newspaper (I mean, the Post):

An MRI exam of Elijah Dukes's 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.

Bottom(feeder) Line: Ugh. Just when you think you're out, they pull you right back in...

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: Nothing To See Here

RESULT: Nats spanked by Rangers 13-3.

GOOD: Meathook. 3-for-4. LMillz crushed a homer halfway up the stands in left. That's about it.

BAD: Garrett Mock. Making his second spot start of the season, he just doesn't look like he trusts his stuff at this level yet. Maybe there's an underlying reason for that, maybe it's just nerves. Who knows? But what we do know is that he was bad for the second straight outing. The eight strikeouts at least showed some promise. His final line: 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks.

UGLY: The Bullpen. One night after performing so well, They were terrible. Manning, Sanches and Colome all were roughed up. The trio surrendered 9 ERs in 3 IP, along with 10 hits and four walks. Yuck.

MOVES: After the game, the Nats demoted Sanches and Mock and recalled INF Pete Orr and RHP Steven Shell from Triple-A Columbus.

NEWS: Nick Johnson has an appointment at the Mayo Clinic to examine his wrist. He still has considerable soreness after several weeks of immobilization. Johnson has been on the DL since May 15.

NEXT GAME: Today at 1:35 pm in the finale against Texas. John Lannan (4-6, 3.36) faces Vicente Padilla (9-3, 3.73).

In Case You Missed It...

Over the weekend there were a couple player personnel moves of interest.

First, Rob Mackowiak was released Saturday to activate Garrett Mock, who started Sunday's game. Mackowiak recently had complained about his playing time and how the organization misled him to what his role was going to be ont he team. Frankly, he was lucky to have a role on any major league team at this point in his career, and the Nats are probably only one of a small handful that would have even had a spot for him.

Mackowiak hit just .132/.254/.208 in 53 at bats for the Nats this year, and at age 32, is probably past the point of earning a big league check. For a guy like this to go out complaining is a shame. He had a couple decent seasons during his peak years in 2002 and 2004 for the Pirates, and he got the most out of the talent he had. But it was obvious that his bat speed and overall quality just wasn't where it needed to be to contribute to a MLB squad, even one as bereft of hitting as the Nationals.

Mock, 25, was the losing pitcher Sunday, although three of the four earned runs charged to him scored after he'd been taken out of the game. He went 4.1, allowing 4 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks. At Columbus, he'd been 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 11 starts covering 61.2 IPs.

After Sunday's game, Mock was immediately sent back down to Triple-A Columbus and the team recalled righty Tyler Clippard from Columbus to start Monday's game, rather than have John Lannan pitch on short rest.

Clippard, 23, was 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA at Columbus, and has some big league experience. Last season he started six games for the Yankees, going 3-1 with a 6.33 ERA and 1.70 WHIP, numbers that don't inspire, but were inflated by two really lousy starts. He's always had very good K/IP and K/BB ratios in the minors, and so far this season had struck out 59 and walked 25 in 60.2 IPs.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008