Astacio, like Ortiz on Saturday, barely made it into the second inning. Unlike Ortiz, Astacio was able to complete the second inning without getting himself ejected from the game. Astacio pitched two innings, giving up 6 ER (7 total) off of 6 hits (1 HR), and 4 walks (strike-outs: 0; Astacio picked up his third loss of the year). Schroder replaced Astacio and pitched the third and 2 outs of the fourth. He gave up 3 runs off of 3 hits (1 HR) and 1 walk. Schroder’s ERA is now 7.04. Hughes pitched the rest of the fourth and the fifth, and finally a Nationals pitcher was able to keep runners from scoring. Hughes gave up zero hits and zero walks, and struck-out none. Rivera gave up run (off of 2 hits and 2 walks) in the seventh inning having relieved Hughes. Rivera pitched the 7th and got 2 outs in the 8th. Rauch finished the 8th (1 out), and Cordero pitched the ninth. Cordero gave up 1 unearned run and gave up one 1 hit. Cordero was the only Nationals pitcher to record a strike-out.

Offensively: Soriano went 0 for 4, Lopez went 2 for 4 (1 double - his 20th; and was CS once), Zimmerman went 0 for 3 and left 6 runners on base, Johnson . . . See the box score.

Highlights: Harper hit his first two major league home-runs, drove in 4 runs and now is hitting .400. Schneider pinch hit for him in the 7th and would end up going 2 for 2 with 2 RBI. Astacio went 1 for 1 at the plate, and Hughes also went 1 for 1 at the plate. Hughes is now hitting 1.000.

Those ERRORS: Johnson had a throwing error (his tenth error), Soriano also had a throwing error (9th), and for some reason Jackson continues to somehow sneak into games - this time he committed his 8th, 9th, and 10th errors (throwing, fielding, and missed catch).

Injuries, or why did Robinson send pinch-hitters in to hit for Zimmerman, Escobar, and Harper? Zimmerman had gone 0 for 3 and had left 6 runners on base when he left the game, but he hadn’t committed any errors, and he wasn’t immediately replaced at the plate but in the field. Jackson trotted out to play third base for the bottom of the 5th inning, after Zimmerman lined out in the top of the fifth inning. Was/is Zimmerman hurt? Nope, Robinson wanted to give Zimmerman a breather:

replacing Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the fifth with the Nationals down, 10-2. Manager Frank Robinson wanted to give Zimmerman a breather.

The number one reason that the Nationals lost the game? Robinson. The score was 10-2 when Zimmerman came out of the game, but before Robinson could fix his mistake (in putting Jackson into the game), Jackson would commit 3 errors and cost the Nationals the game. The Nationals would end up getting the score as close as 11-10, one of Jackson’s three errors allowed the 8th inning to build up in opportunity for the Phillies (0 outs when error occurred), and by the time the inning was over, the Phillies would add one more run to their total. That extra run cost the game. The top of the order was up, but they saw that the team was down by two runs, and they couldn’t find the energy within them to make up 2 runs, 1 run maybe, but not 2 runs.

- Jackson

Oh, and for Escobar and Harper, I can not find any information as to why they were pulled.

AP recap
Washington Post Recap - "What if Ryan Zimmerman had stayed in the game?" - Game too fast for him, admits Jackson:

"The game is just a little fast for me right now," said Damian Jackson.

Harper's Great game - as mentioned by Washington Post writer Barry Svrluga

Before Sunday, Brandon Harper had played in exactly three major league games, had been to the plate precisely eight times -- all after spending eight seasons in the minors, and another injured, since being drafted out of Dallas Baptist University in 1997.

Oh, so that's why Harper was pulled after hitting two-homers - he is a right-handed batter, and a right-handed reliever had entered the game.

Schneider, who singled when he hit for Harper in the seventh and later added a two-run single, heard Harper talking and joked, "You'll remember getting pinch-hit for more." Schneider, a left-handed hitter, came on to face right-hander Ryan Madson.

Washington Times recap

To Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson, it wasn't the season-high five errors that prevented his club from erasing a nine-run deficit yesterday. The difference was a couple of calls.

Not his calls, like the call to replace Zimmerman with Jackson, but the Umps "bad" calls ("Robinson said two rulings turned the game in the favor of the Phillies").

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President's Race
All about "First president for a day" - The day (Thursday) that Zuckerman was George Washington.
- President's - not Thursday but July 25th.
Todd Jacobson of Fredericksburg.com - "Mascot infamy" - Jacobson also ran in the President's race.
"A rough ride for Teddy Roosevelt in this presidential race" - By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer and his day at the races.
Picture
Picture shows Howard Fendrich as Teddy Roosevelt, an intern (Ryan Thomas) as Thomas Jefferson, and Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times as George Washington.

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Politics:
If elected Washington DC Mayor, Michael A. Brown promises to stop construction on the new baseball stadium and instead:

refurbish RFK Stadium for the team.
"The city is going to build a stadium for the team or refurbish, from my standpoint. ... I think the city should've selected the location. I don't think [Major League Baseball] should've forced us as to where," Mr. Brown said during an interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times.
"When this deal is done, it's going to be $1 billion. What I'd like to do is reprogram some of those dollars to other things here in the District of Columbia and at the same time refurbish RFK."

- from the Washington Times article.

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Tonight:
Three game series with Marlins in Florida, begins tonight at 7:05pm (see 5 Q's asked by a Nationals blogger (CurlyW), and answered by a Marlins blogger, and 5 Q's asked by a Marlins blogger (Fish Stripes) and answered by CurlyW). Billy Traber tries for his 4th win of the year, and the team hopes that this time their starting pitcher will make it past the second inning, unlike their last 2 games.
LHP Billy Traber (3-1, 5.49) vs. RHP Anibal Sanchez (4-2, 3.70)

Tuesday:
RHP Jason Bergmann (0-1, 7.31) vs. RHP Josh Johnson (11-6, 2.84)


Wednesday:
RHP Tony Armas (8-8, 4.73) vs. LHP Scott Olsen (9-7, 4.49)

Thursday:
Off-day