Suzuki traded to A's for pitching prospect

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Updated at 1:00 p.m.

CHICAGO — The Nationals acquired Kurt Suzuki from the Athletics last August to help fill the void created by Wilson Ramos' torn ACL, and the veteran catcher responded by becoming a key part of a division championship roster.

One year later, with Ramos fully healthy and firmly establishing himself as the club's long-term answer behind the plate, the Nationals are sending Suzuki back to Oakland, where he may get a chance to help that club reach the postseason.

The Nationals dealt Suzuki to the A's late Thursday night, a club source confirmed. The trade was first reported by the Washington Times.

The Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Dakota Bacus from the A's in exchange for Suzuki. Bacus, who will report to Hagerstown of the Single-A South Atlantic League, joins the Nationals after going 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA (48 ER/121.1 IP) in 26 games/21 starts for Beloit of the Single-A Midwest League. Bacus ranked 7th in ERA and tied for 8th in wins among A's farm hands.

Because the trade took place after the July 31 deadline, Suzuki would have needed to clear waivers or else be claimed by Oakland. That's the same process that brought him to Washington one year ago, when the first-place Nationals were desperate for catching help with Ramos rehabbing from a torn ACL and Jesus Flores struggling with a heavy workload.

Ramos relieved injury isn't serious

Associated Press

When word began circulating Tuesday night that Wilson Ramos had re-tweaked the same hamstring that twice landed him on the disabled list, it was only natural to worry the Nationals catcher was looking at yet another long recovery.

Ramos, though, knew immediately this wasn't as bad as the previous two. And he got confirmation of that Wednesday morning when team orthopedist Wiemi Douoguih told him he would only need to miss one or two games.

"He saw me yesterday and said it was a little thing, not too hard," Ramos said. "He said see how you feel tomorrow and we'll see what we can do. This morning I woke up and I felt better. ... I feel good to play."

Ramos wasn't in the Nationals' lineup for the second game of this series with the Giants, but he did some jogging in the outfield earlier in the day and emerged with no significant issues.
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Dodgers blow out Nats, complete sweep

What was slated to be a pitchers duel between two of the best young arms in the National League developed quickly into a one-sided disaster on Sunday.

It was just another day at the office for Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw, while Jordan Zimmermann turned in the worst start of his major league career. Zimmermann lasted just two innings for the first time in his five MLB seasons, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

The Dodgers completed the sweep in their 9-2 victory, sending the Nats to an unfortunate start to the season’s second half. Even in relative good health and with a new-look lineup, the Nats still couldn’t move the needle on offense. They have now scored two runs or less in 11 of their last 12 losses.

“The bottom line is all of us, myself included, haven’t been producing like we should,” Ryan Zimmerman said. “There’s nobody to blame besides us, no coaches or anything like that.”

With Kershaw on the mound, the Nats went with a bit of a different lineup in hopes to break their recent scoring slump. Bryce Harper played center field and batted leadoff for just the second time in his career, and Scott Hairston started in left. Kershaw, however, saw no trouble with the Nationals for the most part. 

Game 92: Nats at Phillies

Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

They hit four homers and knocked out Cliff Lee last night, so the Nationals have to like their chances in tonight's series finale against Kyle Kendrick, right? Well, not necessarily. Though they've historically had success against the Phillies right-hander, they were thoroughly dominated by him only three weeks ago, held to one run and two hits on June 19.

The good news: Jordan Zimmermann starts for the Nationals in his final tune-up before next week's All-Star Game. The right-hander has been brilliant all year, of course, though his last two starts haven't quite lived up to his usual lofty standards (seven runs, 14 hits in 11 1/3 innings).

I am not in Philadelphia for the series finale at Citizns Bank Park. Had to hoof it back to Bethesda for tonight's episode of The Baseball Show, which airs at 11 p.m. on CSN. Hope you'll tune-in, and hope you'll enjoy the conversation here as always...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 187
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, Wind 7 mph LF to RF

NATIONALS (47-44)
CF Denard Span
SS Ian Desmond
LF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman

Game 80: Nats at Mets

Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

NEW YORK — Hello again from Citi Field, where the Nationals look to make it two in a row against the Mets this afternoon, sending Taylor Jordan to the mound for his big-league debut.

Jordan kind of burst on the scene out of nowhere. He wasn't in big-league camp this spring. He opened the season at Class A Potomac, got bumped up to Class AA Harrisburg and dominated (7-0, 0.83 ERA). The 24-year-old actually grew up near Viera, Fla., pitching at Brevard Community College before the Nats made him their 9th-round pick in the 2009 draft. He had Tommy John surgery in 2011 but has fully recovered. And now he's in the Big Apple, making his major-league debut for a team trying to claw its way back into a pennant race.

Given the situation, Davey Johnson is trying to take as much pressure off Jordan as he can. Kurt Suzuki is starting a day game after a night game, providing veteran influence behind the plate. Johnson didn't say much to the right-hander when they met this morning; he just wants the kid to go out there and pitch, not thinking too much about who he's facing.

It's always fun watching somebody make their debut, and today should be no different. So check back here for updates along the way. And if you missed the news earlier about Ross Detwiler's stiff back, here's the full story about the left-hander...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside D.C. market), MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 89
Weather: Partly cloudy, 81 degrees, Wind 11 mph out to RF

NATIONALS (40-39)
CF Denard Span
2B Anthony Rendon
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche

Zimmermann, Nats roll past Rockies

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For a team teetering on the .500 mark all year long, each Nationals win brings with it the question of whether it can start something much bigger. ‘Could this be the one?’ the players are often asked after big wins, victories that seem like they could mean something much more than one game.

But in the Nats’ convincing 5-1 victory over the Rockies on Thursday night, their second in as many games, they made beating an average team look routine. Their ace pitcher dominated and they made offensive chances count. If they are ready to get things going, this is how they should beat teams with less talent top to bottom.

“It’s nice going late into a game and having some runs, having a little cushion there,” Adam LaRoche said. “Played so many games where we’re down by one late or up by one. Yesterday was big, frustrating road trip but a great way to end it and then keep it going tonight. We’re looking to spark something.”

The Nats scored five runs in the win, far more than they needed thanks to starter Jordan Zimmermann. The likely N.L. All-Star tossed eight innings with zero earned runs and struck out a season-high nine batters. It was the third time in his last four outings he’s lasted at least seven innings with zero earned.

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Instant analysis: Nats 5, Rockies 4

Associated Press

Ross Detwiler allowed three runs over five innings in his return from the DL.

Game in a nutshell: In the rubber game of the first series of a long road trip, the Nationals found themselves needing to rally from behind to beat a tough Rockies club. Ryan Zimmerman gave them an early 2-1 lead on his 10th homer of the season, but Colorado came right back to take a 3-2 lead off the just-reinstated Ross Detwiler. Still trailing in the seventh, the Nationals "rallied" to tie the game thanks to back-to-back balks called on reliever Wilton Lopez (who was subsequently ejected). They then took the lead in more conventional fashion, getting back-to-back doubles from Roger Bernadina and Zimmerman, then an RBI single from the red-hot Ian Desmond (who went 4-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games). Solid relief work from Craig Stammen, Xavier Cedeno and Drew Storen bridged the gap to Rafael Soriano, who did allow one run to score in the ninth before sealing his 17th save. Thus the Nationals head to Cleveland with a series victory, a winning record (33-32) and a deficit in the NL East that has now been trimmed to 5 1/2 games.

Hitting highlight: Obviously, Zimmerman's two-run homer and RBI double played crucial roles in today's win, but let's not ignore

A gut-check win

USA Today Sports Images

Craig Stammen retired all 12 batters he faced to earn the win.

ATLANTA — Already missing their best young player, their veteran leader, their top catcher and one member of their rotation, the Nationals took the field Friday night at Turner Field understanding how much was, and is, at stake this weekend against a Braves club that entered play with a 5 1/2-game lead on them in the NL East.

And then Stephen Strasburg departed after only two innings with a strained right oblique muscle, and suddenly a Nationals club that had been furiously trying to tread water for two months now looked on the verge of sinking below sea level.

The best ballclubs, though, have to overcome adversity somewhere along the way, and what better place for the Nationals to start than right here and right now, their season on the brink of major calamity?

So it was that Craig Stammen produced an emergency relief appearance for the ages — 12 batters faced, 12 batters retired — and a struggling lineup manufactured three early runs and a maligned bullpen hung on for dear life over the final three innings to pull out a 3-2 victory that felt like something far more significant than a run-of-the-mill win on the final day of May.

"It was an outstanding effort, and a big win," manager Davey Johnson said. "We needed it bad."
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Karns strong in debut, will start Sunday

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Nathan Karns was in Harrisburg on Monday night, preparing to pitch against Class AA Reading, when coaches told him his start would be pushed back a day. No real reason was given, and instead of studying the Senators' next opponent (the Akron Aeros), coaches wanted him to take notes on the Nationals' big-league game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Karns said he didn't know what to think, but went ahead and got started on charting the Orioles.

"I was kind of thrown off by that," he said. "I was like, 'OK, I'll chart the big-league game and we'll see how this is going to help me against Akron.'"

Soon after he started jotting down notes, Harrisburg manager Matt LeCroy walked into the room and gave him the real reason for his unexpected homework assignment: Karns was getting called up to Washington, to face the very same Orioles the very next day.

Previewing Karns' MLB debut

USA Today Sports Photos

Right-hander Nate Karns was 4-2 with a 4.60 ERA at Class AA Harrisburg.

Nate Karns wasn't supposed to the be first minor-league pitcher summoned by the Nationals to start a big-league game this season, but circumstances made him the best choice for tonight's surprise outing against the Orioles.

With their Class AAA Syracuse rotation struggling mightily through the season's first two months, the Nationals elected to dip down into the ranks at Class AA Harrisburg, plucking the 25-year-old Karns and throwing him to the wolves tonight in Washington.

Not that Karns hadn't earned the opportunity. This is, after all, the organization's reigning pitcher of the year and the fifth-rated prospect in the entire system entering 2013 (according to Baseball America). He also impressed this spring in his first big-league camp, allowing one earned run in 3 2/3 innings of relief against the Mets and Cardinals.

"I caught him a couple of times, and he's got a good arm," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. "Obviously, spring training is really early, and he

Nats call up Karns to start Tuesday

Photo by USA Today

In need of a spot start with lefty Ross Detwiler on the disabled list, the Nationals will call up right-hander Nathan Karns to make his major league debut on Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

Karns, 25, is heading to Washington from the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. Relief pitcher Xavier Cedeno will be optioned back to Syracuse to make room on the roster.

The Nationals’ 2012 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Karns will be thrown right into the mix to face the second highest scoring club in the majors. He will be tasked with shutting down the Orioles who beat the Nats 6-2 on Monday behind 12 total hits.

Davey Johnson referred to Karns as one of the team’s top three choices to make the start. The Nats’ skipper liked what he saw out of him in spring training and now wants to see what he can bring to the major league level.

“He’s one of the good young arms in the organization. He’s been throwing the ball pretty good lately,” Johnson said. “It’ll be a good test. We’ll find out.”

Two pitches doom Haren in loss to Phillies

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Sometimes a baseball game can come down to one pitch. In the Nats’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies on Saturday, it may be traced back to just two.

Starter Dan Haren was grooving through the Phillies lineup in the top of the second, having struck out four of the first five batters he faced, when back-to-back home runs put the game in Philadelphia’s hands. The Nats would come back to tie it up later on, and then lose it, but a contest decided by two runs in many ways came down to two consecutive pitches.

The first was to Phillies left fielder Dominic Brown. Haren was in control, trusting his stuff after mowing through the first five batters. But Brown is on a hot streak and took the first pitch he saw, a curveball aimed outside, straight into the stands in right-center field.

It was a play that left catcher Kurt Suzuki almost in disbelief, off a pitch they had intended to be out of Brown’s range.

No Harper? No Werth? No problem

Associated Press

Ian Desmond gets high-fives after his fourth-inning home run.

Considering how much the Nationals as a whole were struggling to score runs not that long ago, the lack of both Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth from their lineup Friday night could easily have spelled disaster.

These days, though, the Nationals are getting contributions from just about every slot in their lineup, more than enough to overcome the losses of a couple of key starters.

So it was Friday that they pulled off a rather easy, 7-3 victory over the Cubs thanks not to the contributions of Harper or Werth, but of Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa and Kurt Suzuki, who combined to drive in all of the Nats' runs during the club's fifth straight win.

"It's big when your 3-hole hitter's out of there and you score a bunch of runs," manager Davey Johnson said. "That's big."
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Ramos back, but not in lineup

USA Today Sports Images

Wilson Ramos is on the active roster but isn't starting tonight.

ATLANTA — Though he's back on the Nationals' active roster for the first time in two weeks, Wilson Ramos will have to wait one more day before actually rejoining the starting lineup.

Activated off the 15-day disabled list this afternoon, Ramos remained on the bench for the Nationals' series opener against the Braves, with manager Davey Johnson not wanting to take any chances of his young catcher re-injuring his left hamstring.

"I treat hamstrings anything but lightly," Johnson said. "If he's OK today, he'll play tomorrow. I'm just being overly cautious. Just conforming with medical practices today. I'd rather be safe than sorry. That's all."

Ramos, who hurt himself April 13 running down the first-base line, appeared in two rehab games with Class AA Harrisburg, catching three innings on Friday and then six innings on Saturday. He didn't play or workout Sunday before joining the Nationals on their charter flight to Atlanta, which left Johnson to conclude he might still be a bit sore.
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Everything comes up Nats in win vs. Reds

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Losers of four straight with a searching offense and erratic pitching, the Nationals’ 8-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night was perhaps the perfect medicine for a team in an unexpected position as they near the end of the season’s first month. Their bats woke up, they got the breaks their opponents had been getting, and their starting pitcher was buzzing right from the first pitch. Finally, things were going the Nationals way.

Whether it was offense, pitching, or defense in the field: everything seemed to work out for the home team.

“That was a big day,” manager Davey Johnson said. “A lot of guys were saying to me, ‘It’s been a long time since we were shaking hands.’ I said no doubt about that.”

“It was just a good all-around game. That’s more like who we are: Good pitching, timely hitting.”

Detwiler dominates again

Associated Press

Ross Detwiler tossed seven innings to earn his first win of the year.

MIAMI — On the surface, it may appear baffling how Ross Detwiler has been able to be so successful early this season when his pitching repertoire has been so basic. The Nationals left-hander has thrown 279 pitches in three starts, 258 of them fastballs. That's an astounding 92.5 percent rate.

"A well-located fastball is still the hardest pitch to hit in the big leagues," teammate Ryan Zimmerman said. "I think some people forget that sometimes."

Detwiler is making everyone remember it. Amid a rotation full of star power and pure stuff, the 27-year-old has been the Nationals' best starter so far during this young season. And with seven more strong innings Wednesday night against the Marlins, he finally was rewarded for his effort, leading the Nats to a 6-1 win to ensure a series victory in Miami.

Three starts in, Detwiler now boasts a 0.90 ERA, sixth-best in the majors. And if not for a blown call at the plate Wednesday by umpire Greg Gibson, that number would drop to a miniscule 0.45.

Not exactly your typical "No. 5 starter."

"He's definitely not," manager Davey Johnson said. "He's got great stuff, and he locates it well. He uses both sides of the plate as good as anybody I've seen. And his fastball's explosive out of his hand. ... He's still in the learning stages, but he's awfully good just right where he's at."
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Instant analysis: Nats 6, Marlins 1

Associated Press

Kurt Suzuki and Ross Detwiler react to Greg Gibson's missed call at the plate.

Game in a nutshell: After an ugly performance last night, the Nationals got back on track with a near-flawlessly played game in all facets. Ross Detwiler pitched brilliantly, pounding the strike zone and allowing just one run over seven innings to earn his first win of the season. Bryce Harper, back in the lineup but still battling flu-like symptoms, went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI, infield single. Kurt Suzuki homered, tripled and drove in another run on a sacrifice fly. Rafael Soriano, making his first appearance in six days, pitched a scoreless ninth. Ryan Zimmerman even made two picture-perfect throws on the only two grounders hit to him in the game (though he was mysteriously taken out in favor of Chad Tracy in the eighth inning). The Nationals may still have a few issues, but they're feeling a lot better about themselves after taking two of three in Miami, heading up to New York for the weekend with a 9-6 record overall.

Hitting highlight: The Nationals obviously were upset to lose Wilson Ramos to a hamstring injury, but they also knew they had more than a capable replacement in Suzuki. And the veteran

Where we're at, State of the Nats-4/8

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Team Record: 4-2 (3-0)

N.L. East Standings



Offensive Game of the Week: Wilson Ramos 4/6 at Reds – 3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB

Pitching Line of the Week: Stephen Strasburg 4/1 vs. Marlins – 7.0 IP, 3 SO, 3 H, 80 pitches (52 strikes)

Top Storylines

Dan Haren’s poor debut – It was just one game and a tough situation for anyone to start their season in, away at Cincinnati against their deep lineup. At the same time, however, Haren was awful in his final spring start and is looking to bounce back after a bad year last season with the Angels. There is no reason to rush to judgment yet, but his progress this month could be the biggest storyline revolving around the Nationals.

Catching tandem producing at the plate

USA Today Sports Images

Kurt Suzuki was all smiles after homering in the second inning yesterday.

They say competition brings out the best in everyone, and one week into the season Wilson Ramos and Kurt Suzuki appear to be taking that to heart.

The Nationals' two catchers, splitting time behind the plate 50-50, have made the most of what playing time they've gotten so far. The end result: Perhaps the most-productive catching corps in the majors.

The two backstops really took off over the weekend in Cincinnati. Ramos was the offensive star of Saturday's 11-inning victory, clubbing a pair of home runs to lead the Nationals to a 7-6 win. Suzuki then accounted for all of the Nats' offense in Sunday's 6-3 loss, launching a three-run homer in the top of the second (not to mention adding a couple of doubles for good measure).

Put it all together and these two are producing at a level befitting a middle-of-the-order slugger, not a tandem No. 8 hitter...

Red-hot Cincinnati brings Nats back to earth

Associated Press

Ian Desmond reacts after striking out in the third inning.

CINCINNATI -- If the last 48 hours of baseball between the Nationals and Reds are any indication, there are two conclusions to draw about these well-constructed ballclubs: 1) There's a good chance they could see each other again, with the stakes much higher, in October, and 2) Those games figure to be tightly contested and come down to a couple of key moments.

That much was obvious both Saturday and Sunday afternoons as the Nats and Reds traded blows during the final two games of a highly entertaining series. (Friday night's 15-0 whitewashing by Cincinnati was a fluke aberration more than anything.)

On Saturday, it was the Nationals coming up big with the game on the line late. On Sunday, the tables were turned.

Thanks to an aggressive approach against Stephen Strasburg and one ill-fated decision by Danny Epsinosa, the Reds pulled off a 6-3 victory to capture this early-April series between NL powerhouses and send the Nationals home no longer in first place in the NL East.

"They obviously have a good team," shortstop Ian Desmond said. "Every guy in their lineup is pretty much like us: Guys hit the ball out of the ballpark and give good, disciplined at-bats. ... But we didn't put our best foot forward."
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