Nats Try to Salvage Season against Royals

On Monday, the Nationals took a big step in the right direction. First, by breaking a 6 game losing streak. Second, by scoring enough runs... 2... to land a starter a win whose name isn't Stephen Strasburg. The last time the Nats got a win that wasn't started by Strasburg was 10 days ago from Livan Hernandez.

To take it a bit further: The last Washington Nationals starter to get a win that isn't named Strasburg or Hernandez was on May 31st. 20 games ago. That was Luis Atilano. Unfortunately, this has become the problem with starting pitchers over the last month or so. The Nats simply can't score enough runs to win, even when their starters give them a quality outing.

Well, Monday night the 2 runs were enough to take out the abysmal Royals. Although the Royals are 17-19 in their last 36. I don't think we even want to discuss what the Nats record is over that time frame. (The answer is 12-24... yea... ouch.)

The Nats look for a sweep of this series to get their derailed season back on track. Not on track for the wild card, or the division, but for respectability. They'll have to do so on Tuesday on the remarkable 5-4 record of Luis Atilano and hits unsavory 4.77 ERA. The Nats will face Royals RHP Anthony Lerew for the win. Lerew has only 15 games of MLB experience since 2005, and it will be only his 2nd start on the year. If there is a day for the Nats bats to wake up, it must be Tuesday against this greenhorn starter.

The Nats have a 4:35 pm start from Strasburg on Wednesday, and hopefully that can end this series with a 3 game winning streak to take the trip to Baltimore for a 3 game series against the MLB worse Orioles (19-50). Last year on this date, the Nationals were 21-47, so yes, the Orioles are on pace to be worse than the Nats were last year. Take THAT Peter Angelos... Oh, what's that? You're making money on the Nationals success this year? Damn.

Oh my Boesch: Nats continue their losing skid

Detroit Tigers left fielder Brennan Boesch was a nightmare on Wednesday for the Nationals. He went 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI. Since Boesch was called up from their AAA affiliate in Toledo on April 24th, he has been incredible. He's hit .344 with 9 home runs and 34 RBI.

Livan Hernandez was a different story. Livan almost got yanked in the 2nd inning with no outs. He walked 3 runners in the 2nd inning, one with the bases loaded. He seemed to be fighting control issues throughout the whole game. His delivery looked choppy and forced. When all was said and done, Livan made it 6 2/3 innings, giving up 8 runs on only 7 hits. That's not a typo; he walked 6 Tigers. That is not Livo's game.

The Nats offense did what it has done so often this season: scored early runs. Dunn got a home run off of Verlander in the first, Bernadina in the 2nd. But the team would score only one more run in the 6th off of a Pudge RBI. The Nats lost 8-3. The Nationals pitching, besides a 21 year old kid, has been uninspired. In June, the starting pitchers ERA is above 4.00. Without Strasburg, it's worse.

It seems like since Strasburg came up and the Nats left DC (and the Pittsburgh Pirates as an opponent), the pitching rotation has disintegrated. Jim Riggleman has changed the starting line up almost impulsively. The last time the Nats fielded the same 8 guys back to back was June 5th and 6th; or 11 days ago. Not exactly the consistent lineup you hope for.

Instead, the Nats have lost 20 of their last 31 games, and have spiraled to 4 games below the .500 mark (31-35). The solid pitching from the early part of the season is gone, the offense is stagnating, and the "regular starters" are getting no consistency. Players certainly need time off, but spot starting a guy like Michael Morse (who is batting .424 in 33 ABs) just doesn't make any sense. Especially when you start Willie Harris instead (who is now batting .158 after going 0 for 3 on Wednesday).

Riggleman has a tough job, and it's easy to forget while watching frustrating games. He has rarely had a lead late into the games, and he's had to go to the bullpen early. But the Nats need to do something, and they need to do it badly.

I propose a move in the outfield to put Bernadina in center and Morse in right once the team returns to DC. You just have to find a way to get Morse in the lineup. The team looks to avoid a sweep on Thursday with Luis Atilano on the mound before Strasburg goes for the Nats on Friday against Mark Buehrle. The Nats absolutely need the win on Thursday to avoid a dreadful 1-5 road trip. We'll see what Riggs does to get this team moving again. Until later...

Nats Thrilled for Return Home

The Washington Nationals are now 20-20. The Nats look to be on their way back down to earth, but let's examine the start of the coming homestand.

The Mets are coming to DC for the first time this year. They're in last place, but only a game behind the 3rd place Nats. Unfortunately, the Nats are coming off of a dreadful 5 game losing streak for a 3-6 road trip. Fortunately, 2 of those wins are against the Mets at Citi Field. The Nats have basically had the Mets number this year: the Nats are 4-2 against at Citi this season. The Nats are 11-8 at home on the season and are looking to monopolize on their success at home with a start from their newly found "ace" on short rest.

Livan Hernandez volunteered to pitch on short rest after the double header in Colorado, which the Nats were already considering according to Jim Riggleman. Livo is 4-2 on the year with his only to losses on days that he pitched against Ubaldo Jimenez, who is one of only 2 starters in the league with a better ERA than him. Livan has looked great in every outing thus far, averaging just over 7 innings per game and allowing only 9 runs all season with a 1.46 ERA. If the Nats are going to win today, it's going to have to be on a very solid start from Livan on only 3 days rest. Maybe it's asking too much from the 35 year old, but he says he's ready for it.

Facing Livan is R.A. Dickey, a Mets aquisition from the Twins who will be making his first start in the NL. He has a career 5.43 ERA and throws a lot of knuckleballs. The last time the Nats faced a knuckleballer, Charlie Haeger of the LA Dodgers, they lit him up for 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings. It might not be a great comparison, though, because Haeger was just put on the DL with an 0-4 record and an 8.49 ERA. That game was also Luis Atilano's first win, for those keeping track.

The Nats will try to get things back on the right track with this short 5 game road trip before they get back on the road for another 10 games mostly on the left coast with San Fran and San Diego for 3 each and then Houston for 4. By the end of this road trip, the Nats will have played only 24 games at home and 31 on the road, so this homestand is crucial for this team to get the momentum going.

Game 31: Nats take the Marlins and the series

The Nationals took the series from the Marlins today to go 17-14 for a 2nd place tie in the NL East with the Mets. The Nats travel to New York tonight for the start of a 9 game road trip. The Nats will take on those very Mets in 3 game series starting on Monday. That will tell a lot about where this early part of the season is going for the Nats, so watch closely.

Let's go a little with today's game against the Marlins. The Nats took an early lead, as they have done so often this season, in the 2nd inning with a sacrifice double play (weird to think of that, but it's possible) that scored Nyjer Morgan. They got another run in the 3rd with an Adam Dunn RBI single through the shift that scored Adam Kennedy from 2nd. Then Livan Hernandez, who had yet another simply amazing outing, gave up a solo home run to who else, but Hanley Ramirez. That was the only run that Livan gave up all day, bringing his ERA allll the way up to... 1.04. Wow. That's 2nd in the NL only to Ubaldo Jimenez. After 7 innings of 1 run, 5 hit ball, Livan called it a day after 110 pitches, 75 of them for strikes. Time to Clipp and Save, right? Well... maybe not so easy.

Tyler Clippard entered the game after Sean Burnett gave up a single in the top of the 8th. Then Clippard immediately gave up a single to Wes Helms and walked Hanley Ramirez to load the bases. With no outs. Clippard has gotten himself into this spot one too many times this year (see tomorrow morning's post for more on this), and his offense has bailed him out every, single time. Clippard ended up giving up a sac fly that tied the game 2-2 before he got himself out of the jam. But the Hammer was out to save the day.

Willingham came up in the bottom of the inning with 1 out and crushed a home run to left field into the wind, eventually giving the Nats the 3-2 win. Capps came in and had a painless 1, 2, 3 inning and got his MLB leading 13th save of the year, and the Nats moved to 3 games over .500 for the 2nd time this year. It was a great (although cold and windy) day for baseball in the city, and the team went 4-2 on the homestand. They hope to do the same thing on the road trip, but it will be difficult with a 3 game series with Mets (who are playing very good baseball right now), a 4 game series with the Rockies, and a 2 game series against the Cardinals. If the Nats can come out on top here, it's really going to speak volumes about where the club is going this season.

Nats take first against Braves

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Cliff Owen

In last night's fantastic game between the Nationals and the Braves, there were a lot of contributors. So many, in fact, that MASN didn't show the Silver Elvis Wig winner last night. Any help from the blogosphere?

Well the Cuban Jedi Knight himself, Livan Hernandez, didn't have his best stuff or anywhere close this best outing of the year, but he got the win nonetheless. He threw 41 pitches in the first inning and 123 in only 5 1/3 innings (his shortest outing of the season by almost 2 full innings). As a matter of fact, in Livan's two shortest outings before this one (both 7 innings), he threw only 88 and 99 pitches. But somehow the offense and defense of the club stepped up, putting Livan at 4-1 for the year with a 0.99 ERA in 5 starts. Here is a great article on Livan and the Nats from Doug Glanville of ESPN.com from before last night's start.

Now let's talk about the defense, because wow. Zimmerman looked great, but come on. He's Ryan Zimmerman. He ALWAYS looks great on defense. He started the 5-4-3 game ending double play to give Matt Capps his 11th save of the year in 11 tries and continues his great run after winning the MLB Delivery Man of the Month for April. (And helping me stay in first in my fantasy league.) Adam Kennedy also had a great pick at first on that double play on a terrible throw from the AG (both of those players were defensive subs by Riggleman at the end).

The real story is Roger Bernadina. Roger dropped a routine fly ball in the first that turned into an unearned run that put the Braves up 1-0. But in the top of the third, with the Nats up 2-1 after a homer by the Hammer and an RBI single by Desmond, Bernadina went after a line drive to right by Troy Glaus with Chipper at 3rd base and 2 outs. Roger went completely horizontal, dove fully extended, to make the most remarkable catch I have seen all year (and it WAS SportsCenter's top play last night).

Photo Credit: Nats320 (What a great picture grab. Thanks!)

Then the bats caught fire once again. Last night featured home runs for Willingham to left, Desmond to center, and Dunn to right... WAY into right. Second deck scoreboard pavilion deep. The offense looked to be firing on all cylinders throughout the game. Desmond had an RBI single to give the Nats the lead in the 2nd, and the team never fell behind again. This team is resilient and so much fun to watch this season at 14-12 and in 3rd place in the East. The Nats will go for yet another series victory tonight with a win against the Braves. If they can win tonight or tomorrow, it would be their 5th series win of the year.

Game 26 vs. Atlanta and Strassy

Welcome back to this very long session of consecutive games. Tonight the Nats will take on the Braves in DC for their first meeting of the season. The Jedi Master (Happy Star Wars Day) Livan Hernandez will take on Sith Lord Kenshin Kawakami. Here are the matchups:

• Hernandez: 3-1; 0.87 ERA; 10 K. Livan hasn't gone less than 7 innings in any of his 4 starts this year. He also has one complete game shut out this year, which was the only time that he threw more than 100 pitches. The pinnacle of effective.
• Kawakami: 0-4; 5.48 ERA; 10 K. He hasn't gone longer than 6 innings all year even though he averages 88 pitches a game (with as many as 103). Kawakami is much less effective this year than he was last year, but last year's record was still a dismal 7-12.

After a day off yesterday, the Nats starters should all be in today and, against this year's Kawakami, shouldn't have any trouble with the bats, which the team needs. The Nats offense has gotten cold, lately, with only 4 regular players with averages above .270 (Rodriguez, Guzman, Zimmerman, and Morgan. And Rodriguez and Zimm were both out with injuries, Zimm for a lot of days).

The Braves are coming of 9 losses in the last 12 games, although they just came off of a sweep of the disappointing 8-17 Houston Astros in Atlanta. But in their last road trip, the Braves were 0-7, and looked simply dreadful. They're hoping that they can break that streak of away losses and get a win in DC. However, if Livan looks anything like he has so far this year, they may easily be looking at 8 straight away losses. The Nats are going to have to get their bats of their shoulders, though.

Today's Lineup

1. T. Plush, 8
2. Guzzie, 4
3. Zimm, 5
4. Freddie Physical, 3
5. Hammer, 7
6. Pudge, 2
7. Roger Bernadina (Bernie from here on out), 9
8. Ian Desmond (Hee-Sop according to Nyjer), 6
9. Livo, 1

In Jesus-related news, Stephen Strasburg has been promoted to AAA Syracuse, putting him on pace for a June 6th start in DC the last weekend game in DC for almost two weeks. Buy your tickets now to see Jesus-burg in action! Except don't buy them just to see Stephen, because rain could totally screw you. Buy them to see baseball. That's what it's all about, after all.

Maybe this blog writer will take a trip up to see Strasburg in his start against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (formerly Red Barons) on May 27th. His family does live there after all.... If he can get off from his day job, this is possible.

Bob Uecker & Analyzing the Current Nats Starters

I'm going to start this blog with the sincere comment of the day. Bob Uecker is going in for heart surgery today to repair a damaged aeortic valve. This condition is serious and may require a follow up procedure. Uecker will miss at least 3 months, but probably more. My thoughts are with Bob Uecker and his family, including the Milwaukee Brewers family. Uecker has been the radio guy for the Brewers for 40 years this season, and is one of the broadcasting faces of baseball. Brewers games won't be the same without his play-by-play. I may just make a point of watching "Major League" this weekend.

Now, back to the Nats:

It recently came across the wires that the Nats are going to shuffle up their starters a bit to spread out our two lefties in the order. Previously, Olsen had been 5th in the rotation, and Lannan 1st. Making back to back lefties in the rotation. Now Olsen has switched with Stammen after the off-day to put some distance between them. So now the rotation officially is:

1. John Lannan (LHP; 1-1; 5.53 ERA; 10 Ks)
2. Luis Atilano (RHP; 2-0; 2.25 ERA; 2 Ks)
3. Livan Hernandez (RHP; 3-1; 0.87 ERA; 10 Ks)
4. Scott Olsen (LHP; 1-1; 6.14 ERA; 14 Ks)
5. Craig Stammen (RHP; 1-0; 6.75 ERA; 9 Ks)

If you would have told me 30 days ago, as the team was leaving spring training, that this rotation would be producing the way that it has, I would have had some nasty words for you for getting my hopes up about the return of real baseball to DC. And I would have been eating my words.

My offensive and defensive rundown was extensive yesterday, so I won't be quite as extensive with these guys, because I've been talking about most of them (Atilano, Hernandez, Stammen) all season. So read ahead for my thoughts, including the first Stephen Strasburg mention of my blogging campaign.

You may look at the rotation, and say "whaaaat? Atilano is number 2 in the rotation? Why not Livan?" Well, the answer is simple, really. Atilano is a placeholder for Marquis while he's on the DL with "loose bodies" in his elbow. Although, if Atilano keeps pitching like this, who knows. The likelihood of that seems low, however. Other teams are starting to get more tape on Luis with every start, and at some point sooner than later, he's going to get blow up in a start. It's inevitable. It's a matter of how he recovers after that. Does he go back to hitting his spots are just throw meatballs down the middle? Time will tell.

Lannan is having a... well... a year. Some people out in the Natosphere are speculating that he's hurt because he's not pitching his best. Missing some spots, etc. The problem with a guy like Lannan is that he's a Greg Maddux style pitcher. You may say, "What the heck, Capitol Baseball guy, how is being like Maddux a bad thing?" Well, Maddux is obviously one of the best pitchers of this generation. A member of the horrifying Braves trio that was Maddux-Smoltz-Glavine in their prime. But Maddux was the best of the best location pitchers. He wasn't going to overpower you, but he was always going to hit his spots. When he didn't, he got lit up. And Lannan is missing spots, and giving up more solid hits than we, and the team, have come to expect from him. In my amateur opinion, John isn't hurt, he's just missing spots. Only time will prove me right or wrong.

Bringing up Garrett Mock was the wrong call by Rizzo and Co. on the Opening Day roster. Give them credit, however, because they fixed it quickly. Turns out that Mock may have been hurt as well. Which leads me to this point: come on, pitchers! Communicate with your trainers -- I'm looking at you Garrett, Jason Marquis, and Ross Detwiler. I know you're trying to make a mark on the team, but you'll make more of one when you finally pitch healthy, and you won't hurt the team nearly as much. Olsen should have been up all along; no reason a guy making $1 million for a 1 year deal should start in AAA. If you're gonna make the investment, give the guy the chance at least. They did, and it's been the right call so far.

Livan and Atilano have been covered extensively here in other blog posts, so I'll refer you to the archives to hear my thoughts on them.

Enjoy game one against the Marlins from Sun Life Stadium where Olsen will take on Ricky Nolasco. Should be another great early season game.

Livan Hernandez Looks to Continue Domination

Well Livo is back and going for his 3rd win against Hi My Name is... Tom (Gorzelanny). While Gorzelanny is 0-2 and Hernandez is 2-1, it may not be as easy as it looks for the Nats. First, the Nats bats have cooled significantly in the last week or so. And not that they're not getting hits, but they're having trouble capitalizing off of their hits. Second, the Cubbies have gotten hot over the last week, even in the cold Chicago climes. In Gorzelanny's first three starts, his offense gave him almost no run support (although in his second start he left after taking a line drive to the shoulder). The Cubs offense may be ready to do just that.

Hernandez looks to come out and have basically the same type of outing he had last time out against the Rockies. Unfortunately, he pitched against Ubaldo Jimenez, who just came off of a no-no the start before. He was hot. Ideally in this start, he'd rather not give up 2 big flies to lose the game, but at Wrigley Field for a night game early in the season, home runs probably won't be a huge issue. We all saw the driving wind keep in at least 2 home runs last night. Hernandez will continue working to keep is ERA below 1.00, that's right: 1.00, after 4 starts.

The fact of the matter remains: Livan Hernandez looks as good as ever. He has given up 2 runs in 24 innings pitched. It doesn't get any better among starters in the league. He obviously can't keep this type of production going for the entire season, but the longer he can keep this going, the longer the Nats can stay viable until they get some injuries taken care of.

On the injury note, Pudge is back (woot!), but Zimm will remain out, and I would venture a guess he'll be out until the team goes to Florida. However, if the club loses tonight, don't be surprised if Riggs takes his chances on the day game being a bit warmer for Ryan's hurt hammy. The Attorney General gets the start tonight to give Adam Kennedy a night off, only his second of the season.

Note about the lineups to end the post: Both Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn haven't had a day off all season. This is Game 21. At some point, Riggleman will be sure to look for a day off for both of them. However, don't look for it anytime soon as long as the Hammer is still on fire at the plate (1.000 OPS; with team leading 18 BBs) and while Dunn is finally swinging a decently hot bat.

1. Tony Plush, 8
2. Ian "We Need to Get This Guy a Nickname" Desmond, 6
3. Guzzie, 4
4. Big Donkey, 3
5. Hammer, 7
6. Pudge, 2
7. J. Max, 9
8. The Attorney General, 5
9. Livo "I Swear I'm 35" Hernandez, 1

Rockies at Nats: The Young and the Workhorse

This afternoon, the Washington Nationals will take on the Colorado Rockies for their 9th day game of the season at 4:35 pm. For your useless information, the Nats are 6-3 in day games, and 2 of those 3 losses were against the defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies; the 3rd loss was Jason Marquis' disastrous 7 earned run with no-recorded outs appearance against the Brewers.

1. Nyjer Morgan, 8

2. Cristian Guzman, 9

3. Willie Harris, 7

4. Adam Dunn, 3

5. Pudge Rodriguez, 2

6. Adam Kennedy, 4

7. Ian Desmond, 6

8. The Attorney General (Gonzalez), 5

9. Livo, 1

Above is the Zimmerman-less line up for today, but you should really keep your eyes in tight on today's game for one reason: pitching.

• Nationals SP: Livan Hernandez -- 0.00 ERA in 2 winning starts, allowing only 9 hits in 16 innings, and including a complete game, 4-hit shut out.

• Rockies SP: Ubaldo Jimenez -- 1.29 ERA in 3 winning starts. His most recent? A no-hitter against the Braves on April 17th and the first in the 17 year history of the Colorado Rockies.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Jimenez is 26 years old. Livo? "35." And I use that age loosely.

This is simply one of the best pitching duals that the NL can offer right now. Livan has proven to be a machine for every ball club he's played for, not only as an innings-eating pitcher, but as one hell of a hitting pitcher (the man has a .227 batting average, which is certainly nothing to scoff at over a 14 year major league career). He'll certainly have his bad outings, but who doesn't?

Jimenez is the cornerstone of the Rockies rotation. In his 3 wins, Jimenez has 20 Ks, compared with Livo's 4. The pitching styles couldn't possibly contrast more.

• Fastballs: Jimenez is the proverbial hard-thrower, with fastballs well into the upper-90s, sometimes reaching 100 mph. Hernandez throws mid-80s fastballs, and mid-80s is often generous.
• Breaking pitches: Jimenez breaking pitches will make your head spin, usually coming in at the speed of Livo's fastballs and moving all over the zone. Hernandez's change up and curveball are about the speed of a little league fastball, upper-60s to lower 70s.

If Jimenez is going to pitch well, he's going to have to strike out a lot of guys. He averages around 7 Ks per game. This helps him get out of a jam, as he can sometimes get wild with his pitches.

If Livan is going to pitch well, he's going for the exact opposite result. He has to keep his walks low, because he's not often going to get a K to get him out of trouble. He's a ground ball/fly ball pitcher, and he's embraced that status.

I can't wait to watch this game, to see if the Nats can finally break the barrier and get 2 whole games above .500, rather than the game they're playing now going above, even, above, even. I look forward to your comments below!