A St. Louis stinker

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Ross Detwiler was roughed up for seven runs (three earned) in only 2 1/3 innings.

Updated at 7:45 p.m.

ST. LOUIS -- They wanted to get this thing over with.

Sure, it's always nice to celebrate at home in front of your own fans, but the Nationals have been inching toward their first-ever division title for quite a while now, and each day that passes without them finishing it off feels like a wasted day, another day in which Davey Johnson feels forced to play all of his regulars instead of giving them a pre-postseason breather.

So the Nationals desperately wanted to celebrate at Busch Stadum Sunday afternoon, either via their own win over the Cardinals or an admittedly unlikely Braves loss at Turner Field.

"I mean, we just want to do it," shortstop Ian Desmond said. "It doesn't matter where it's at."

Well, if they do it now, it will have to take place at Nationals Park. The worst-case combination of Atlanta's 6-2 win over the Mets and Washington's 10-4 loss in St. Louis leaves the magic number stuck on 1 and leaves the Nationals trying again for the clinch Monday night at home, with John Lannan on the mound against a Phillies club that was already eliminated from postseason contention over the weekend.
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Davey: Morse, Garcia injured

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In Davey Johnson’s media session before Monday’s game, the Nationals manager revealed two injuries that sound relatively minor at this point. 

Outfielder Michael Morse was absent from the lineup card and Johnson confirmed it is another issue with his hand. Davey said he didn’t know which hand and really had no specific information.

“I’m not really 100% sure. I know he came into the training room after the game he was having trouble with his hand. I think he was looking forward to getting a shot or something so I’m just going to stay off of him.”

Johnson said he will know more once Morse visits with a team doctor.

The other injury news deals with relief pitcher Christian Garcia who is now dealing with bicep soreness. Davey said the right-hander felt fatigue in his arm after an appearance in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game against Milwaukee. Garcia allowed a two-run homer to Taylor Green and afterwards may have tried too hard to respond, at least in Johnson’s opinion.

“I think he was just out there on cruise control until that home run. Then he turned it up probably a little higher and it probably fatigued him.”

Johnson added after discussing the injury his plans to convert Garcia into a starter over the offseason. He said nothing will change until the spring where the team may work Garcia to get him ready to begin next season as a starter. It is a decision based on his stuff, but also his injury history of two Tommy John procedures.

Sun-day, bloody Sun-day

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Bryce Harper picks up the ball after Jayson Werth lost it in the sun.

There's apparently something about the September sun at Nationals Park, the way it hovers just above the third base stands in late afternoon and aligns itself perfectly with routine flyballs hit to center and right fields.

"Once 4:05 comes around, you've got the shadows at the plate," Bryce Harper said. "You've got the left field stands, with the red seats or whatever. And then you've got the sun monster behind. It's just something that happens, and you've just got to play with it and hopefully it doesn't happen any more."

"It" is the stomach-churning feeling outfielders get when they realize they can't see a routine flyball fast approaching them from underneath that bright sun. "It" was a feeling both Harper and Jayson Werth experienced Sunday afternoon, each at critical moments during what would become a 6-2 loss to the Brewers.

Harper completely lost sight of Ryan Braun's fourth-inning flyball to center, letting it fall to the ground for a gift double. Braun wound up scoring Milwaukee's first run of the game.

"You can't catch what you can't see, you know?" Harper said with a shrug. "Nothing you can do about it."
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Game 152: Brewers at Nats

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Chien-Ming Wang tries to lead the Nationals over the Brewers today.

It's been three months since Chien-Ming Wang last started a big-league game for the Nationals, but today the veteran right-hander will be handed the ball by Davey Johnson for a pennant race game in late September. If ever the Nats could hope to get something out of their $7 million investment over the last three seasons out of Wang, today would be the day.

Wang will face a potent Brewers lineup, but one that was silenced yesterday by Gio Gonzalez. Johnson feels like a right-hander should have an even better chance of success against the right-handed-heavy Milwaukee club, so Wang was his choice for this start.

Fellow righty Yovani Gallardo gets the nod for the Brewers against a Nationals team looking to lower its magic number for the NL East title to either 5 or 4.

Plenty of updates to come...

MILWAUKEE BREWERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, Ch. 50, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 184
Weather: Sunny, 68 degrees, Wind 10 mph LF to RF

NATIONALS (92-59)
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche

Wang will start Sunday

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Chien-Ming Wang tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief last night.

Faced with a decision to pitch a starter on short rest or use a spot start from his bullpen on Sunday against the Brewers, Nationals manager Davey Johnson has decided to send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound for his first start since June 19.

The situation arose after a postponed game on Tuesday against the Dodgers forced a doubleheader the following day.

After using both Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan on Wednesday against Los Angeles, Johnson looked towards Sunday with a decision between Craig Stammen and Wang. The Nationals’ manager narrowed it down between the two based on matchups; the Brewers offer a lineup loaded with right-handed bats. Giving the start to Wang also allows Johnson to keep Stammen in his current role in the bullpen, a middle-inning specialist with the ability to pitch in long relief.

"The other guy I was going to do is Stammen, but I really like the role that he is in," Johnson said. "He is invaluable in the role. If I started him, I would lose him two or three days before and two or three days after. I don't want to do that at this point."
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Who starts on Sunday?

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Craig Stammen is a candidate to start Sunday's game against the Brewers.

Perhaps the most significant domino effect of yesterday's doubleheader against the Dodgers is the fact the Nationals will need to find a fill-in starter for Sunday's game against the Brewers.

Not wanting to bring back either Jordan Zimmermann or John Lannan on short rest, manager Davey Johnson has said he'll use someone out of his bullpen, almost certainly a right-hander (to combat Milwaukee's right-handed-heavy lineup).

The two prime candidates, then, are Chien-Ming Wang and Craig Stammen, creating a bit of a dilemma for Johnson.

Wang, obviously, has more experience as a starter, both over his career and over this season. But the veteran has been plagued by injuries and until last night hadn't appeared in any game at any level since a

Encouraging/discouraging

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Bryce Harper, slumping since the All-Star break, sat out last night's win.

PHOENIX -- It's been a while since we compiled one of these things, looking alternatively at some of the more encouraging and discouraging developments involving the Nationals.

So as the Nats head west following a four-game sweep of the Astros and prepare for a weekend series with the Diamondbacks in advance of a big, three-game showdown with the Giants, let's take a look where certain players on this roster currently stand.

ENCOURAGING: Jordan Zimmermann continues to develop not only into a front-line pitcher for the Nationals but into one of the best pitchers in the National League. With last night's demolition of Houston's lineup -- six scoreless innings, 11 strikeouts -- Zimmermann improved to 9-6 with a 2.35 ERA (second-best in the NL). Most impressively, he's getting better as the season progresses. Yes, there was a little hiccup last weekend against the Marlins. But even with that one included, Zimmermann is now 6-0 with a 1.47 ERA over his last nine starts. During that span, he's walked only eight batters while