No nostalgia for Lannan in return

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After making his return to Nationals Park on Friday night, John Lannan didn’t have much to say about the experience, he wasn’t nostalgic about returning to the mound in D.C. or being in the opposing locker room for the first time in his career.

But if Lannan wasn’t in the mood to talk about those things after his team’s 9-2 loss to the Nationals, that can be understood. The 28-year-old, in fact, put out one of the worst starts of his entire career, allowing a career-high eight earned runs including two homers in the second inning alone. That’s the first time he’s allowed multiple home runs since Aug. 31, 2011 when he was in a Nats’ uniform.

“It just wasn’t a great day,” he said afterwards.

Lannan lasted five innings, surrendering nine hits and five walks. Usually a groundball pitcher who keeps the ball down, Lannan’s fastball kept soaring up in the zone and the Nats took advantage.

Even Adam LaRoche, who entered Friday 0 for 15 against Lannan, got in on the fun. The Nats’ first baseman extended the streak to 16 in the first inning, striking out with the bases loaded and two outs. But he later notched two hits against the deceptive lefty, including an RBI double in the third. 

LaRoche’s second hit was just a two-out single in the fifth, but Lannan saw it as the biggest mistake of the night. LaRoche extended the inning and Lannan promptly unraveled, allowing a total of four runs in the frame, including one on a bases loaded walk to pitcher Dan Haren.

Lombardozzi shines in Nats' win vs. Phillies

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Ask Steve Lombardozzi to do just about anything for his baseball team and he’ll do it. Since his debut with the Nats in 2011 he’s played second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. Last year when catchers were going down left and right, Davey Johnson said he would call on the Columbia, Md. native as the emergency backstop if the situation ever presented itself.

So when it was discovered Danny Espinosa would be out at least a few days with a floating chip in his right wrist, naturally Lombardozzi was there to step in. The super utility man known as ‘Lombo’ made the most of the opportunity, going 3-for-4 with two RBI in the Nats’ 5-2 win over the Phillies on Friday night.

“You never want anybody to get injured,” Lombardozzi said. “But when my name’s called, I’m gonna be ready.”

The 24-year-old Lombardozzi doesn’t say much. In a rare postgame session with reporters, he spoke softly and kept his answers short, always polite and often deflecting praise to his teammates. But after his three-hit performance at the plate, a big part of the Nationals’ win, Lombardozzi’s teammates weren’t quite as restrained.

Nats run into rolling Wainwright

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Struggling to score over their previous two games and missing two regulars in their lineup, the Nationals could have used a game against some run-of-the-mill, meatball tossing pitcher. Perhaps the last man they would have liked to face on Tuesday was Adam Wainwright. 

Not only is Wainwright one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, he took to the mound a source of extra motivation. Knowing he had trouble with Washington hitters in particular last season, and knowing he wasn’t at his best the last time he pitched at Nationals Park in Game 5 of the NLDS, Wainwright had an axe to grind. 

Unfortunately for the Nats, they had to be sacrificed.

“That start, even though we won the game, that served as motivation,” he said. “That game to me was a game that I live for and I was disappointed in the effort I put out there. It just gives you incentive to work harder in the offseason and come back stronger.”

State of the Nats-4/15

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Team Record: 7-5 (3-3)

N.L. East Standings

Offensive Game of the Week: Adam LaRoche 4/9 vs. White Sox – 2-for-4 with 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Pitching Line of the Week: Ross Detwiler 4/12 vs. Braves – 7.0 IP, ER, 5 SO, 4 H, 2 BB, HR, 90 pitches (58 strikes)

Top Storylines

Wilson Ramos pulls hamstring – In the second game of their series with the Braves, the Nationals suffered their first injury to a major contributor this season. Ramos pulled his left hamstring running out a groundball for the third out of the eighth inning. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list as the Nationals brought up Jhonatan Solano from Triple-A Syracuse. The team is lucky to have Kurt Suzuki in store ready to start in his absence.

Braves pound Gio, sweep Nats

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In what should be a season-long battle of two powerhouse clubs, each with goals even bigger than the N.L. East division in mind, the Braves struck first with a convincing series sweep at Nationals Park. The surging Braves showed the Nats an early glimpse of what they are capable of, that this division may have the two best teams in the National League.

It’s only halfway through April, but a 9-0 drubbing in front of 39,389 fans at Nationals Park sent an early season statement.

“This division got tougher,” Ian Desmond said. “I don’t think there’s going to be a 100-game winner in this division. It’s going to be a battle all year long.”

“We got a good taste of what they’re bringing to the table this year.”

Center fielder Denard Span said the Nats weren’t exactly surprised by what the Braves brought to D.C. this weekend, but perhaps humbled by the resulting sweep.

“They just gave us a good ol’ fashioned kick in the butt,” he said.

Instant Analysis: Braves 9, Nats 0

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Game in a nutshell: Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals were in trouble right from the first pitch of the game. B.J. Upton took a fastball to left field for a leadoff double and the Braves never looked back. An Evan Gattis double two batters later took the lead and a Chris Johnson single two batters after that made it 3-0 in the first. Matters got even worse for Gonzalez in the third inning with a leadoff homer by Justin Upton and a three-run shot later in the frame by Andrelton Simmons. Seven earned runs later and Gonzalez had his worst day in a Nats uniform.

Hitting lowlight: The Braves are not only hot at the plate, but have one of the hottest pitchers in baseball right now in Paul Maholm. The Atlanta lefty tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings to extend his streak to begin the season to 20 2/3 innings without a allowing a run.

Game 12: Nats vs. Braves

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Today the Nats will try and avoid being swept for the first time this season.

The Nationals have found themselves on the wrong end of two close games so far in their first series with the Braves. They hope to avoid the sweep on Sunday with Gio Gonzalez pitching, Gonzalez holds a 0.82 ERA through his first two games. The Nats will go up against lefty Paul Maholm who has yet to allow a run in 12 2/3 innings this season.

There are no surprises with the Nationals lineup, Kurt Suzuki is in at catcher. The team called up Jhonatan Solano this morning so look for him in the dugout.

Updates to come...

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)
Weather: Sunny, 63 degrees, Wind 10 mph out to RF

NATIONALS (7-4)
CF Denard Span
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman

Zimmerman's error looms large in Nats' loss

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Stephen Strasburg did not have his best stuff in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, his curveball did not have the usual break or precision and his changeup kept finding its way into the dirt. But despite not being sharp, the Nats’ ace did all he could to put his team into position to win. And if it weren’t for a two-out throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman in the fourth inning, he may have kept Atlanta off the board altogether.

Strasburg’s pitch count was high early on, but he had the Braves on the ropes in the fourth with two outs and nobody on. He induced a weak grounder by Justin Upton towards Zimmerman who rushed the routine throw and missed Adam LaRoche at first by several feet. It was Zimmerman’s second throwing error in as many games and once again proved a deciding factor in the team’s loss.

The next batter, Evan Gattis, promptly took a high fastball deep into left-center over the visitor’s bullpen for a two-run shot. The Braves never looked back on their way to winning the second of this weekend’s three game series.

“I should have set my feet, that’s why it’s so frustrating,” Zimmerman said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating, I had more time and I should have just set my feet and made a strong throw like I’ve been doing all year on those balls.”

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Ramos leaves game with pulled hamstring

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Wilson Ramos injured his left hamstring running out a ground ball for the third out of the eighth inning of the Nationals’ loss to the Braves on Saturday afternoon. After trying to beat the throw, he walked back to the dugout holding the back of his leg and was replaced by Kurt Suzuki in the top of the ninth.

The Nationals will have Ramos checked out by team doctors on Sunday to determine a timetable for return, but manager Davey Johnson said early returns indicate he’ll be absent a few weeks.

“That’s the heartbreak of the day. He’s playing well, hits the ball hard and tries to leg it out, and pulls a hammy,” Johnson said. “We’ll see how he comes out of it tomorrow, but we’ll probably have to get somebody in here.”

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Instant Analysis: Braves 3, Nats 1

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Game in a nutshell: Stephen Strasburg did not have his best stuff on Saturday and early on there was no question about it. But as an ace, he did his job in putting the Nationals in position to win. He threw six innings of inconsistent but effective ball, finishing the day with no earned runs. He did surrender a home run to Evan Gattis in the fourth inning, but the two runs were not earned because it happened after a throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman. The Nats’ third baseman had his second error in as many games with a routine toss that missed first by a few feet. That allowed Justin Upton to get on in the fourth with two outs and set up Gattis’ homer. Atlanta put another run on the board in the ninth on a fielder's choice grounder by Jason Heyward, the Nats couldn't turn the double play and the runner at third came across.

Hitting highlight: The Nats had a long day at the plate facing the veteran Tim Hudson. Their one shining moment came in the fifth inning with a solo homer by Danny Espinosa. The Nats’ second baseman hit his first home run of the year and took the first pitch he saw in the at-bat. A nice sign of progress for the otherwise struggling Espinosa.

Game 11: Nats vs. Braves

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

The Nats send Stephen Strasburg out to the mound in the second game vs. Atlanta.

The Nationals lost a tough one in extra innings last night due to a collapse by their bullpen. They hope pitching will not be an issue today as ace Stephen Strasburg takes the ball. The Braves will send veteran and longtime Nats nemesis Tim Hudson to the mound.

The Braves' lineup looks a little different today with Evan Gattis starting behind the plate, they have B.J. Upton at the top and Chris Johnson at first. Strasburg was 3-1 against Atlanta last season, but held a 4.10 ERA with 12 ER in 26 1/3 innings pitched. His last outing vs. the Braves was on Aug. 21 when he gave up just one run through six with ten strikeouts.

Could be another great game as these division rivals get to know the 2013 versions of each other.

Updates to come...

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: FOX, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 69 degrees, Wind 11 mph out to RF

NATIONALS (7-3)
CF Denard Span
RF Jayson Werth
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman

IBB to Harper proves costly for White Sox

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By Michael Huberman

CSNwashington.com

Sometimes one pitch makes all the difference between winning and losing. For Robin Ventura and his starting pitcher Dylan Axelrod, one pitch in the fourth inning was the beginning of the end for the White Sox Thursday night against the Nationals.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, with the game tied at three and Bryce Harper at the plate, Axelrod uncorked a wild pitch. Nationals’ starter Dan Haren, who had doubled to deep right, easily scampered home to put the Nationals up 4-3 while Jayson Werth took second base.

White Sox manager Robin Ventura immediately came out to protest, claiming Axelrod’s pitch had hit Bryce Harper in the foot. For Axelrod, it was tough to tell if his pitch had hit Harper.

“It was hard for me to tell from my angle,” he said. “The ball bounced kind of funny, that’s why we thought it might have hit him. It was hard to tell, nobody really knew for sure.”  

Haren gets win as Nats sweep White Sox

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Nationals starter Dan Haren may not have looked much sharper in his second start with the team than he did in his first, but the result was certainly better. The 11-year veteran took the victory in the Nats’ 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox despite throwing 101 pitches through five innings and allowing three earned runs off ten hits. It wasn’t pretty, but he got the job done.

“Today I took a few steps forward,” Haren said. “I think I threw the ball better than maybe the line score would dictate, but the conditions weren’t great out there. The most important thing is that we won the game. Obviously I did a little better than last time, but I still haven’t been at my best yet.”

Haren fared better than his woeful six-earned run outing in Cincinnati last weekend, but he was nowhere near his best in front of the 24,785 fans at Nationals Park on Thursday night. Haren’s ten hits allowed made him the first Washington pitcher since the Senators’ Casey Cox in 1970 to give up at least nine in their first two games of the season.

Haren began the first inning on a good note with a 19 pitch scoreless frame.  He gave up a run in the second on a Tyler Flowers sacrifice fly and then two in the fourth inning off back-to-back RBI singles. Haren didn’t allow any home runs this time, he just wasn’t hitting his spots.

Zimmerman gives advice to Wall on 1st pitch

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Given a chance to throw out the first pitch at Nationals Park as a rookie in 2011, Wizards point guard John Wall made one of the worst attempts in ceremonial first pitch history. That may not be official, but most would probably agree. He spiked the ball just a few feet in front of the mound and embarrassment ensued.

Here is how he described the unfortunate showing when reflecting on it this week:

“I tried to throw a bullet like I was really Strasburg or somebody & it didn't work,” he said. 

On Thursday Wall will have a chance for redemption before the Nats game against the Chicago White Sox and he says this time he will just try and lob it in to home plate. 

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was asked to offer some advice to Wall before his second try.

“I don’t know if I can help him with what he did last time. That’s a pretty tough fix,” Zimmerman said. 

Gio has long day in Nats' win

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After beginning Tuesday’s game with two called strikes and a strikeout on the White Sox’s first batter Alejandro De Aza, somehow Gio Gonzalez’ day quickly turned into a near disaster. He allowed the next three batters to reach base, balked in a run, and finished with 33 pitches in the first inning alone. Somewhere along the way he lost his command and lost it bad.

Gonzalez was happy with his velocity and stuff, he chalked it up more so to simply still finding his way in just his second start of the year. He mentioned six days rest as a factor as well.

“I’m still trying to get my arm where it needs to be,” he said. “Still a little kinks that I want to work on, especially attacking the strike zone and trying to get the first batter of every inning out. That’s things that I gotta work on and make sure to pound the strike zone.”

About that balk: Gonzalez let up the first run of the game by simply stepping off the mound with the wrong foot. With the bases loaded against Alexei Ramirez, Gio missed badly on the first three pitches to set up 3-0. He then battled back to force a full count before stepping back with his right foot, something home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi noticed right away.

Dunn talks return to Washington

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Returning to Nationals Park for the first time since signing a free agent deal with the Chicago White Sox in 2010, former Nats first baseman Adam Dunn quickly felt back at home on Tuesday. There were familiar faces between players and stadium staff, all of whom Dunn remembers fondly. But this time Dunn headed to the other locker room, the visiting clubhouse. He called it strange, but said it “comes with the territory.”

Dunn isn’t set to start in Tuesday’s series opener, as manager Robin Ventura has catered the lineup towards lefty Gio Gonzalez. So Dunn gets to sit back and take in the experience. Whether he gets in the game as a pinch hitter, or has to wait until Wednesday with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound, Dunn is looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be fun. I loved my time here,” he said. “Obviously I still have some really good friends on the team and it will be good to see everybody from top to bottom.”

Dunn left after the 2010 season in which he hit 38 homers and over 100 RBI for the second straight year with the Nats. But general manager Mike Rizzo decided to go in a different direction, Dunn was 31 and showing his age on defense. It was beneficial for him to transition to the American League if he wanted a multi-year deal.

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.

Nats open season with sweep of Marlins

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All good teams, regardless of sport, have to beat up the little guys when they get the chance. If you play up to certain teams and conversely play down to others, you probably aren’t very good.

So despite playing a Marlins team not expected to compete for much in 2013, the Nationals took pride in completing the series sweep with a 6-1 victory on Thursday. They took care of business against a less talented team and opened their season with three consecutive wins.

“Every game’s a big game, and we’ve had trouble with the Marlins no matter what,” manager Davey Johnson said.

“Not just last year, but through the years. No matter what they put out there, we’ve had trouble with them. So it was good to spank them this series.”

The Nationals split the season series with Miami in 2012, with the Marlins taking nine of the 18 matchups despite winning just 69 total games. In this season opening series, Washington allowed just one run through three games in an altogether dominant showing at Nationals Park.

Nats bring back Young, plus other notes

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After spending almost two weeks searching for a big league job outside of Washington, right-handed pitcher Chris Young has returned to the Nationals with a minor league contract. The 6’10” veteran will report to Viera, Florida to throw a few bullpen sessions before joining the Triple-A affiliate Syracuse Chiefs.

Young was granted an unconditional release by the Nats on March 26 to seek offers from other teams after he opted out of his minor league deal with the club. He appeared in four spring training games with Washington, posting a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings pitched. He allowed 11 hits, two home runs, and kept opponents to a .193 batting average.

Young’s brief stint with the Nationals impressed manager Davey Johnson and left him surprised no one picked him up.

“He had a good spring for us. It was probably that late in the year that a lot of clubs are going with their young guys,” Johnson said.

“He threw the ball good this spring, pitched really well, he’s a competitor. He’s real great insurance.”

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Suzuki gets his turn, plus other notes

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Nationals manager Davey Johnson gave catcher Wilson Ramos the honor of starting Opening Day this week as a reward for his recovery from surgery on the ACL in his right knee last season. In picking Ramos, Johnson left Kurt Suzuki to watch from the dugout on Monday after being the team’s starting catcher through last year’s pennant race and playoff series.

Johnson said he will alternate the two backstops every other game, at least in the beginning of the season. It is a situation both catchers have accepted, despite believing they are each capable of being everyday guys.

“It is what it is, you can’t make it into a bigger deal,” Suzuki said. “Both of us deserve to play every day, Ramos is a great number one catcher. I think we team up well together, we can both complement each other really well. To keep us both healthy for the full season is what is most important. It’s important for us to help the team win ballgames.”

Johnson said who catches each game will not depend on the pitcher or matchups necessarily. He told Ramos and Suzuki to be ready to catch anyone on the staff as a rotation of five pitchers will keep them alternating battery mates.

“I told them they are just going to alternate early on,” he said. “That’s a tribute because I like them both, they’re both great catchers, they both handle the staff very well, both bring a lot to the table.”

“That will get more difficult as the season goes on too.”
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