Padres Win Matinee 5-2 On Gerut’s Home Run

Posted on May 29, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
San Diego, CA–San Diego outfielder Jody Gerut hit a three-run home run off Washington Nationals rookie reliever Charlie Manning in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday and the Padres held on to win the game 5-2 and the series two games to one.

In a battle of two of the lowest run-producing line-ups in the National League, San Diego triumphed by winning the rubber match and sending the Nats to a weekend series in Arizona bruised and feeling like they should have fared better against a team that came into play tied for the worst record in the majors.

When a team is struggling, sometimes one big hit makes all the difference, and the Padres got that hit from forgotten outfielder Gerut. Once a prized prospect in the Cleveland organization, Gerut has fought injuries and bounced to the Cubs and Pittsburgh — with several minor league stops in between — before settling this season in the Padres outfield, after a hideous start to the season from veteran Jim Edmonds, which found Edmonds placed on the waiver wire. Gerut hit 22 home runs in his rookie season with Cleveland in 2003 and, now healthy, is starting to produce for the Padres.

The ill-fated inning for Washington started with Saul Rivera on the hill, who had relieved starter John Lannan in the previous inning. Rivera (L, 3-3, 4.64) got the first out as Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded out, but shortstop Khalil Greene got San Diego’s rally started with a single to center field. Michael Barrett then singled to right field, moving Green up to second. At that point, Manager Manny Acta went to the pen again, calling on the rookie to face Gerut, making his first at bat of the game after entering as a defensive replacement. Manning has done nothing but struggle since his recall last week, and he would fare no better against Gerut. Manning quickly got ahead in the count 1-2, but Gerut delivered the next offering into the right field grandstand for the 5-2 lead. Manning’s ERA now stands at 9.00 after four appearances covering three innings.

The Nationals hitters were held down all day by five Padres pitchers. Starter Wil Ledezma went five innings, giving up one earned run on just two hits and three walks, striking out seven. He was followed by Bryan Corey, Cla Meredith (one earned run on one hit and one walk), Heath Bell (W, 2-3, 2.37) and Trevor Hoffman, who finished up after Gerut’s heroics for his eleventh save of the season. Nats starter John Lannan threw six innings and battled some control issues, as he allowed five hits and three walks in five innings of work, but he mitigated the damage and only surrendered two earned runs, when Edgar Gonzalez drove in his little brother Adrian and Kouzmanoff with a bases-loaded single in the fourth inning.

The Nats’ two runs were the manufactured kind. In the top of the fourth, Lastings Milledge bunted safely, stole second and third, and scored on an Elijah Dukes’ sacrifice fly. In the seventh, Dukes walked with one out, stole second, took third on a ground out and scored on a Ryan Langerhans single.

The Nats were beneficiaries in Wednesday’s game of Jesus Flores’ grand slam, but when a team is struggling they can’t always depend on that “one big hit” surfacing, and it was noticeably absent Thursday in sunny San Diego.

The Nationals travel to Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks Friday night. Tim Redding (6-3, 3.59) looks to get the Nats off on the right foot in Arizona against Micah Owings (6-2, 3.73) at 9:40 pm EDT.

NATS NOTES: With the loss, Washington stands at 23-32, last in the National League East.

Justin Maxwell, of Double-A Harrisburg, will miss up to six weeks with a right wrist injury. The team has released few details, but Harrisburg Manager John Stearns indicated there is concern with “possible ligament damage.” Maxwell has been placed on the minor league 7-day disabled list.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

GB&U: Killing the Pain in San Diego

Posted on May 29, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
RESULT: Nats beat Padres 6-4.
GOOD: Jesus Flores! He hit his first major league GRAND SLAM off Shawn Estes to provide the big punch the Nats needed in this game. Flores is now hitting .344 after going 2-for-4 again. And did you catch Paul LoDuca in the MASN booth for the telecast, with don Sutton fighting laryngitis? I think he’s got a future in broadcasting, maybe sooner than later.

BAD: Brian Sanches. He failed to record an out, allowing both hitters he faced to reach, including a two-run shot from Pads lead-off hitter Scott Hairston.

UGLY: Odalis Perez’ mouth. Emergency root canal just hours before the game. He was all hopped up on painkillers all night. He was weak, groggy from the meds, and unsure of whether he could go six pitches or six innings. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine.

NEXT GAME: Get-away matinee in San Diego. John Lannan (4-5, 3.57) takes on Wil Ledezma (0-2, 4.65). Facing Webb and Haren this weekend, it would be nice to take 2-of-3 against the Padres, now tied with Seattle for the worst record in the bigs at 20-34.

Filed under: FLORES, NATS, O PEREZ, PADRES | Leave a Comment »

GB&U: Nats Outhomered By Padres?!?

Posted on May 28, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
RESULT: Nats lose to Padres 4-2.

GOOD: Aaron Boone homers again! Who needs Zim? (uh, the Nats do) Anyway, Boone connected off of Randy Wolf in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead, a lead the Nats would hold for jst two innings. Boone has 5 homers, tied for second with Nick Johnson and Cristian Guzman. The back-up corner infielder has more homers than the entire starting outfield, despite having less than one-third the number of at bats (339 for Milledge, Pena and Dukes, 80 for Boone).

BAD: Meathook: 0-for-4 with a K. His average is an even .200. He’s just 7-for-35 overall with the one home run, coming Monday against Milwaukee.

UGLY: Rob “Mendoza” Mackowiak. Another pinch-hit appearance, another pop out. He’s hitting .149/.255/.234 (7-for-47). Seriously, just let the pitchers bat!

NEXT GAME: Wednesday night from San Diego at 10:05 pm EDT. Odalis Perez (1-4, 4.13) versus Shawn Hill (1-0, 2.33). Estes is a remarkable story, pitching very well in three starts after missing almost all of 2006 and all of 2007.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

Filed under: MEATHOOK, NATS | Leave a Comment »

Homers in Seventh Do In Nationals In San Diego

Posted on May 28, 2008 by bottomfeeders10

San Diego, CA–Adrian Gonzales and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back solo home runs off two Washington Nationals relievers in the seventh inning to turn a tie game into a 4-2 victory before 18,774 at Petco Park in San Diego Tuesday night.

With two outs in the frame, Gonzales hit his fifteenth of the season on a 0-1 count with two outs from just promoted rookie Charlie Manning (L, 0-1, 7.71). Manning had successfully struck out Padres second baseman Tadahito Iguchi and got right fielder Brian Giles to ground out to short. But Gonzales made no mistake on the one-strike fastball, depositing it over the left-center field fence, taking a lead the Padres would not relinquish. Left fielder Wily Mo Pena tried to make a leaping catch at the wall, but came up empty. “I tried to get the ball in on him and the ball stayed up in the zone,” Manning said. “I made a mistake and paid for it.” It was Gonzales’ fourth home run in his last six games.

Manager Manny Acta then pulled Manning in favor of Joel Hanrahan, who has been in command much better of late, but Kouzmanoff took the first pitch he saw from Hanrahan to almost the same spot in left-center that Gonzales hit moments before. Hanrahan got out of the inning and pitched the eighth as well. He went one and one-third innings, allowing just the one earned run on two hits and no walks, striking out three in the process.

It was a tightwalk all night for the Nats, as starter Shawn Hill was without his best stuff all night. He surrendered only two earned runs on five hits in five innings with five strikeouts. But he also walked five Padres, giving them plenty of base runners all evening. San Diego managed to cash in on Hill’s mistakes in the third inning, as he walked Gonzales, Kouzmanoff and Khalil Greene in succession, then gave up a single to catcher Michael Barrett (1-for-4, .188 ) on a 3-2 count with two outs.

The Nationals’ pair of runs came in the first inning, as Aaron Boone — filling in again for sore-shouldered Ryan Zimmerman — homered against Padres starter Randy Wolf, driving in Cristian Guzman (2-for-4, .301), who had doubled the previous at bat. It was Boone’s fifth home run of the season, tying him with Guzman and Nick Johnson for second on the team, behind Zimmerman’s team leading eight. Although the Nats reached Wolf for seven hits, they could not push another run across the plate. Heath Bell (W, 1-3, 2.45) pitched a perfect one and one-third innings for the win and Trevor Hoffman added to his all-time lead in saves with his tenth of the season.

Game two of the three-game series is Wednesday night in San Diego, with Odalis Perez (1-4, 4.13) matching up with Shawn Estes (1-0, 2.33) at 10:05 EDT. Estes, 35, is making a comeback after missing most of 2006 and all of 2007 with injuries. He has started three games for the Padres and has yet to allow more than two earned runs.

NATS NOTES: The loss puts Washington’s record at 22-31, nine games behind division-leading Florida.

Manager Manny Acta said Zimmerman (sore left shoulder) was available for pinch-hitting in the game. It was Zimmerman’s second consecutive day off.

Hill pitched on eleven days rest, missing one start, during which he received a cortisone shot for the pain in his elbow. He’s been unable to throw between starts as he is accustomed to, and after the game theorized that perhaps that’s where the lack of command may be coming from. He threw 82 pitches, only 38 for strikes.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Nats Fall to Brewers in Extra Innings 4-3

Posted on May 27, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
Washington, DC–On as perfect a summer day as one could ask for in the Nation’s Capital, a Memorial Day crowd of 28,552 was witness to a memorable ball game despite the home standing Washington Nationals losing to the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in eleven innings.

The game time temperature at the park was 78 degrees, but felt warmer sitting in the beautiful sunshine that bathed most of the crowd. Emotions would rise with the afternoon temperatures, though, as disputed plays and frustrating results were cause for patrons to get hot under the collar.

The deciding inning was ugly for the Nationals, not for the fact they gave up the winning run, but how it went down. With Luis Ayala unavailable to pitch due to overwork earlier in the series, and closer Jon Rauch having already pitched in the ninth inning, Manager Manny Acta let Saul Rivera go back out into the heat for his second inning of relief work. Milwaukee’s stout first baseman, Prince Fielder, led off the frame and doubled down the left field line. Manager Ned Yost ordered fifth-place hitter Corey Hart to sacrifice, and he did his job, moving Fielder over to third. Rivera struck out the next batter, Russell Branyan, on three pitches, and with two outs the home fans remained hopeful that Rivera would emerge unscathed.

It was not to be though, as Gabe Kapler singled on the first pitch he saw from Rivera to drive in Fielder and give the Brewers the cushion they would need. Rivera (L, 3-2, 4.26) managed to get out of the inning without another run, but it was not for lack of effort. He walked light-hitting catcher Jason Kendall and pinch-hitter Craig Counsell on eight pitches, and would throw three more balls to second baseman Rickie Weeks. But Weeks eventually rolled over on a slider and grounded out with the bases loaded to end the threat.

The bottom of the ninth would find no triumphant retort. Brewers Manager Ned Yost summoned his closer of the moment, Salomon Torres, and Torres shut down any thoughts of an extra innings comeback. Aaron Boone (0-for-5) and Wil Nieves both grounded out to short and Lastings Milledge (1-for-5, .242) struck out to end the matinee.

The Nats did have a few offensive heroes on this day, though not quite enough. Cristian Guzman continued his strong spring, by going 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) in the bottom of the first inning to get the Nats started. Jesus Flores, who looks stronger everyday as the Nats regular catcher, went 2-for-4 and raised his average to .340.

The biggest and most exciting play of the day centered around the Nats’ big man himself, Dmitri Young. Down 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, with the Nats having just surrendered the lead in the top of the inning, Young sauntered to the plate with two outs and a chance to tie, and he came through — although in a controversial and contested manner. On an 0-1 count, Young blasted a shot toward the Red Porch in left center field that found Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron racing back to the wall. Cameron leapt at the wall but could not come down with the ball, and the ball ricocheted back into center field. By the time Cameron was able to recover and track the ball down, Young had carried his large frame all the way into third base with what appeared to be a triple.

But no sooner had time been called than Manny Acta came confidently out of the dug out to confer with the umpires. Acta pointed out to the men in black that Young’s blast had carried over the outfield fence and had, in fact, bounced off the front wall of the Red Porch, some three feet or so behind the center field fence before bouncing back into play. After deliberating, the umpires agreed that had indeed been the case, and awarded Young his first home run since August of last season. Yost came out to protest mildly, but left after getting the explanation from the umps.

After the game, Cameron suggested changing the color of the second wall to alleviate the confusion, as both walls are green. “They [the upmires] got it right,” Cameron said. “They’ve got to change it or do something to fix that.”

Nationals starter Jason Bergmann had another terrific outing, extending his scoreless innings streak to nineteen and two-thirds since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus. He pitched five and two-thirds scoreless on the afternoon, allowing four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.

The Nationals travel to San Diego for a three-game series with the Padres starting Tuesday night. Shawn Hill (0-1, 4.08 ) returns to the mound to test his right elbow against Randy Wolf (3-4, 4.76). Game time is 10:05 EDT.

NATS NOTES: The loss drops Washington’s record to 22-30, nine games behind division leading Florida.

Ryan Zimmerman had the day off to rest his sore left shoulder. He is listed by the team as day-to-day on the injury report.

The Nationals are 1-9 in their last 10 extra innings games dating back to last season.

Filed under: ACTA, BREWERS, MEATHOOK, NATS, RIVERA | Leave a Comment »

GB&U: Extra Innings Earns Split for Brewers

Posted on May 27, 2008 by bottomfeeders10

RESULT: Nats lost in 11 innings to Brewers 4-3.

GOOD: Dmitri Young. His first home run of the season to left center field, creating the first home run controversy in Nationals Park history. Knowing there is about three feet between the center field fence and where the stands start for the Red Porch, we knew it was a home run immediately, but it took the umpires meeting at second base to remind themselves of the rules. And poor Dmitri, having to hustle all the was into third when the umpires couldn’t get it right the first time. That’s a LONG way to go for big guy, trust me!

BAD: Middle Relief. Two runs is a tenuous lead anyway, but Manny had to trust the lead to the rookies yesterday and it did not survive. The starters have been really good for the most part this year, but they are going to have to start pitching into the seventh inning or Ayala and Rivera will be fried before 4th of July.

UGLY: Aaron Boone. Hitting third, he went 0-for-5 with two Ks and 3 left on.

NEXT GAME: Tuesday night from San Diego. Shawn Hill (0-1, 4.08 ) tests his sore elbow against Randy Wolf (3-4, 4.76)

Filed under: BOONE, BREWERS, MEATHOOK, NATS | Leave a Comment »

GB&U: Bounce Goes Nats Way For A Change

Posted on May 26, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
RESULT: Nats beat Brewers 7-6.

GOOD: Aaron Boone. 2-for-4, 2-run home run and two runs scored. Boone is hitting .324 for the season with 4 homers and 11 RBIs. Boone just keeps producing whenever he is called upon.

BAD: Much of the season, Tim Redding has been the rock of the rotation. But on Sunday, Redding was simply rocked. He allowed five earned runs on 10 hits and one walk. It would have been worse had he not struck out 7 strikeouts.

UGLY: Ryan Zimmerman’s shoulder. Is it sore? Isn’t it? Paul LoDuca said it was. Ryan said “Eh, not much.” Manny Acta is giving Ryan the day of Monday either way. Stay tuned.

Honorable Mention GOOD: Elijah Dukes earned a one out, full-count walk to start the rally in the ninth inning. Dukes is getting beat up a little bit for his low, low batting average. But the truth is that Dukes has more of an idea when he stap into the batter’s box than most of the players on this team.

NEXT GAME: Memorial Day, Monday at 1:35. Jason Bergmann (1-1, 5.47) looks to make it three straight strong starts against Brewers’ ace Ben Sheets (5-1, 2.92). Take time during the festivities to remember those who served and those that gave their lives for your privilege to enjoy a baseball game on a warm summer afternoon.

Filed under: DUKES, NATS, REDDING, ZIMMERMAN | Leave a Comment »

GB&U: Friday Night (High)Lights

Posted on May 24, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
RESULT: Nats beat Brewers 5-1.
GOOD: William Moses Pena. He hits! Wily Mo line-drives his first home run of the season to left center, setting the tone for the victory over the Brew Crew.
BAD: Brewers middle infield defense. Shortstop JJ Hardy booted a routine grounder from Cristian Guzman, turning an inning ending double play into a 4-run rally for the Nats. Finally, a good bounce for the home team. The Nats scored 5 runs total on 3 hits: Pena’s homer, Ryan Zimmerman’s RBI double, and the hit that clinched it, Jesus Flores 2-run double.
UGLY: This game was decidedly absent of ugliness, so the ugly award goes to the Brewers bus drivers. The original team bus left before half the team was on it. After the rest of the team gathered in the player’s lot, they got on the first bus that came around: it was a Nats Express bus! Hope Prince Fielder and Mike Cameron, among others, did not end up at RFK!
NEXT GAME: Tonight against Milwaukee’s Best. John Lannan (4-4, 3.40) faces Seth McClung (1-1, 3.5).

Filed under: BREWERS, NATS, PENA | Leave a Comment »

Langerhans Contract Purchased By Nats

Posted on May 23, 2008 by bottomfeeders10

This just in from the Columbus Clippers website:

May 23rd, 2008

TRANSACTIONS

5/23 – OF Ryan Langerhans purchased by Washington
5/23 – RHP Brian Sanches purchased by Washington
5/23 – LHP Charlie Manning purchased by Washington
5/23 – RHP Chris Schroder optioned from Washington
5/23 – LHP Matt Chico optioned from Washington

Thanks to NFA for the heads up.

The 28-year old Langerhans is currently hitting 306/417/438 with the Clippers with three home runs and a team-leading 24 RBI. He is a fifth OF, another LH bat for the bench who can be a late inning defensive replacement.

The 29-year old Manning is 0-0 with six saves for Columbus over 19 appearances. In 27 2/3 innings of work, he has a 1.95 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 34 strikeouts and 13 walks. He likely assumes the LOOGY role out of the Nationals bullpen.

The 29-year old Sanches is 0-0 with seven saves for Columbus over 14 appearances. Over 18 1/3 innings pitched, he has a 0.98 ERA and 0.64 WHIP with 26 strikeouts and only three walks. His role is likely to replace Schroder as a RH option out of the bullpen.

Nationals Farm Authority always does stellar work with everything related to the minor leagues. If you don’t read him regularly or have him bookmarked, you sure should.

Filed under: CHICO, LANGERHANS, NATS | Leave a Comment »

Kearns To Have Surgery; Will Miss 3-4 Weeks

Posted on May 22, 2008 by bottomfeeders10
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

Filed under: KEARNS, NATS, TRADER JIM | 1 Comment »

Next Page »