Thursday, July 21, 2005
New Line-up Record: 1-1: Nationals Lose to Worst Road Team; Stanton 10th player to Reach 1000 Appearances; W. Cordero Dropped, Kelly Added; SS Larkin?
The first series in this Home stand, duped "Swamp Series 1" is now over. The Nationals lost the series 2-1 against the worst road team in MLB (I might be wrong about that, but they are at least one of the worst road teams). Houston, a team on a hot streak, arrives in RFK tonight for 4 games (over four days, not 4 games in one day) in "Swamp Series 2" (Washington, DC was built on a swamp, the Washington Monument is sinking, and the weather on Monday and Tuesday was rather swampy).
Notes from the Wednesday Game: Several Nationals hit very long fly-outs that would have been home-runs in other, more "modern" ball-parks, proving Boswell and his e-mail column correct (interesting and timely - it was about the outfield distance marks, and how they are probably incorrect by about 10 feet). One such player was Preston Wilson, who hit a towering fly ball about 400 or 408 feet to center field, which ended up being an out as that particular fence has written on it "410 feet." Hernandez hit four batters (hopefully not because Schneider was hit two times in the previous game) and still hasn't reached that 13th win. Wednesday waiver wire pick-up OF Kenny Kelly entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, with 2 outs already recorded. He took over the running duties (pinch runner) for Baerga. He took a rather long lead from first base, but was neither picked off nor moved further than that base before the game was over. Two more highlights from the game: 1) Stanton seems to either pitch to one batter and give up a hit or a balk and end up with 0 IP next to his name in the box score, or he pitches a very solid inning in his four appearances for the Nationals. Fortunately for Stanton, he pitched a very solid 1 hit/1 strike-out/no runners scored 1 inning of baseball in the 9th (just 9 pitches tossed towards the catcher) in his 1000th career appearance in a game (Stanton article). 2) Church was allowed to stay in the game, late, and proved that he can hit in the ninth (a double). ESPN.com's box score. Nationals.com's recap.
Notes:
Wil Cordero, who never was able to get a hit as a pinch-hitter, is now "off the roster" (the Nationals do have 10 days to try to get someone to trade for him, or to release him or to place him in the minors). As the Nationals.com article notes: "Cordero, who was the heart and soul of the 2003 Expos, hit .118 (6-for-51) with two RBIs in 29 games for the Nationals this season. He went 0-for-14 as a pinch-hitter and 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position. He also spent a lot of time on the disabled list because of a left knee injury."
Nationals.com notes about the Wil Cordero-Kelly issue (also included in those notes is an injury report on Johnson - won't run the bases until the end of the week).
Church:
For those that recall Church being pulled late in the game on Monday: "Ryan Church had a cramp in his right leg, and Marlon Byrd had to replace Church in the top of the ninth."
SS Barry Larkin: SS Barry Larkin, currently a special assistant to the general manager noted that he is thinking about making a come-back with the Nationals. As the "Notes" linked above note: "According to a baseball source, Larkin would be the everyday shortstop, and Guzman would remain on the bench and be a late-inning replacement on defense" and "Also according to the source, Larkin's wife, Lisa, will make the final decision as to whether or not Larkin will un-retire."
Minor league pitchers Joe Horgan and Jacobo Sequea:
They have been "outrighted" to the teams they are currently playing for (New Orleans or Harrisburg), meaning that they are now off the Nationals 40 man roster.
Other:
First page of ESPN.com's Baseball Section: Article titled "All About Heart: The personality and profile of a winning team is often defined by the nothing-to-lose player commonly known as the "grunt." - Jamey Carroll is one of the "grunts" in the article.
Houston Series: Washington (54-41; still in first) vs. Houston (48-46)
Tonight: Loaiza (6-5) vs. Roy Oswalt (12-8) Nationals.com preview; ESPN Stat pack.
Friday: Drese (7-8) vs. Roger Clemens (7-4)
Saturday: Armas (4-4) vs. Backe (8-6)
Sunday: Patterson (4-2) vs. Rodriquez (5-4)
Notes from the Wednesday Game: Several Nationals hit very long fly-outs that would have been home-runs in other, more "modern" ball-parks, proving Boswell and his e-mail column correct (interesting and timely - it was about the outfield distance marks, and how they are probably incorrect by about 10 feet). One such player was Preston Wilson, who hit a towering fly ball about 400 or 408 feet to center field, which ended up being an out as that particular fence has written on it "410 feet." Hernandez hit four batters (hopefully not because Schneider was hit two times in the previous game) and still hasn't reached that 13th win. Wednesday waiver wire pick-up OF Kenny Kelly entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, with 2 outs already recorded. He took over the running duties (pinch runner) for Baerga. He took a rather long lead from first base, but was neither picked off nor moved further than that base before the game was over. Two more highlights from the game: 1) Stanton seems to either pitch to one batter and give up a hit or a balk and end up with 0 IP next to his name in the box score, or he pitches a very solid inning in his four appearances for the Nationals. Fortunately for Stanton, he pitched a very solid 1 hit/1 strike-out/no runners scored 1 inning of baseball in the 9th (just 9 pitches tossed towards the catcher) in his 1000th career appearance in a game (Stanton article). 2) Church was allowed to stay in the game, late, and proved that he can hit in the ninth (a double). ESPN.com's box score. Nationals.com's recap.
Notes:
Wil Cordero, who never was able to get a hit as a pinch-hitter, is now "off the roster" (the Nationals do have 10 days to try to get someone to trade for him, or to release him or to place him in the minors). As the Nationals.com article notes: "Cordero, who was the heart and soul of the 2003 Expos, hit .118 (6-for-51) with two RBIs in 29 games for the Nationals this season. He went 0-for-14 as a pinch-hitter and 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position. He also spent a lot of time on the disabled list because of a left knee injury."
Nationals.com notes about the Wil Cordero-Kelly issue (also included in those notes is an injury report on Johnson - won't run the bases until the end of the week).
Church:
For those that recall Church being pulled late in the game on Monday: "Ryan Church had a cramp in his right leg, and Marlon Byrd had to replace Church in the top of the ninth."
SS Barry Larkin: SS Barry Larkin, currently a special assistant to the general manager noted that he is thinking about making a come-back with the Nationals. As the "Notes" linked above note: "According to a baseball source, Larkin would be the everyday shortstop, and Guzman would remain on the bench and be a late-inning replacement on defense" and "Also according to the source, Larkin's wife, Lisa, will make the final decision as to whether or not Larkin will un-retire."
Minor league pitchers Joe Horgan and Jacobo Sequea:
They have been "outrighted" to the teams they are currently playing for (New Orleans or Harrisburg), meaning that they are now off the Nationals 40 man roster.
Other:
First page of ESPN.com's Baseball Section: Article titled "All About Heart: The personality and profile of a winning team is often defined by the nothing-to-lose player commonly known as the "grunt." - Jamey Carroll is one of the "grunts" in the article.
Houston Series: Washington (54-41; still in first) vs. Houston (48-46)
Tonight: Loaiza (6-5) vs. Roy Oswalt (12-8) Nationals.com preview; ESPN Stat pack.
Friday: Drese (7-8) vs. Roger Clemens (7-4)
Saturday: Armas (4-4) vs. Backe (8-6)
Sunday: Patterson (4-2) vs. Rodriquez (5-4)
