Hairston delivers in a pinch

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CHICAGO — There is no tougher ballpark in America in which to pinch-hit than Wrigley Field, where the lone batting cage is tucked away underneath the right field bleachers and thus is inaccessible to players during the course of a game.

Scott Hairston, though, has spent his share of time playing inside the Friendly Confines, most notably three months earlier this season while a member of the Cubs. So the 33-year-old outfielder knows the tricks of the trade.

"You have to really keep in mind that your body can get tight on the bench," he said. "So I usually get up every other inning and stretch or ride the bike. I think mainly you have to be mentally focused in that situation and prepared to come in and do your job."

Davey Johnson asked Hairston to do his job in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday night: Come in cold off the bench and face a tough left-hander late in a tie ballgame. That Hairston delivered in a big way, clubbing a three-run homer off James Russell to lift the Nationals to an 11-6 victory, only underscored Johnson's faith that he could be a key contributor to this team.
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Instant analysis: Nats 11, Cubs 6

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Game in a nutshell: The Nationals jumped out to an early 6-1 lead behind another homer from Jayson Werth and a two-run single from Kurt Suzuki. But Ross Ohlendorf and Tanner Roark gave the entire lead back in the bottom of the fifth amid a flurry of base hits. Roark, an Illinois native pitching in front of more than 100 friends and family in the right-field bleachers, did bounce back by striking out the side in the sixth and that actually left him in line for his third win in two weeks when Scott Hairston launched a three-run homer in the top of the seventh, putting the Nationals back on top. Denard Span and Ryan Zimmerman added two more insurance runs in the eighth, and that was more than enough cushion for Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano to close this one out and give the Nationals their second straight victory at Wrigley Field.

Hitting highlight: There were plenty of offensive highlights tonight, but let's focus on the guy who gave the Nationals the lead

Familiar feeling

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You could point to Stephen Strasburg's inability to hold a runner on first base, a recurring problem that led to an early run. You could point to Tyler Clippard's rare meatball of a changeup to Justin Upton in the eighth, a waist-high pitch that landed in the bleachers. And you absolutely could point to the Nationals' continued woes at the plate with runners in scoring position, which left the crowd of 33,002 in a state of complete exasperation Monday night.

At this point, though, it really doesn't matter how the Nationals lose games. It only matters that they continue to lose games, digging themselves into a hole that grows with each passing day at a time when they can't afford to fall any deeper into the abyss.

"Two months left, and we're 13 games back," Clippard said with a sigh.

Not to nitpick, but the deficit actually is 13 1/2 games now after Monday's 3-2 loss to the Braves, the latest in a long line of agonizing losses suffered by the Nationals this season.

"I mean, that's baseball," manager Davey Johnson said. "But boy, we needed that one."
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Span takes a seat vs. lefty

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PHILADELPHIA — With Denard Span struggling to hit left-handed pitching, Nationals manager Davey Johnson decided to bench his starting center fielder tonight against the Phillies' Cole Hamels, plugging the newly acquired Scott Hairston into Span's standard leadoff spot.

Span is putting up strong numbers against right-handers (.305 batting average, .355 on-base percentage) this season, but those numbers plummet when he faces lefties (.154, .222).

Johnson doesn't necessarily intend to turn the Span/Hairston combo into a true righty/lefty platoon, but he believes the mere thought of the two sharing time could play to his advantage.

"I think [Span] will come out of it, but also I think it will send a message around the league that I will use Hairston in his spot," Johnson said. "It also causes some problems for the other managers. When they go to their bullpen in a lefty situation, I might use Hairston. That prevents them from doing that and enables Spanny to hit. So it just opens up more options and creates matchup problems for the other managers."
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Game 90: Nats at Phillies

Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

PHILADELPHIA — Well, we figured Scott Hairston would find his way into the Nationals' lineup tonight, given his career numbers vs. Cole Hamels (12-for-30, five homers, 1.521 OPS). But we didn't figure he'd be stepping to the plate for the very first at-bat of the game.

Yes, Hairston will lead off tonight, a curious spot for him given his career .299 on-base percentage (.233 this season). But perhaps Davey Johnson didn't want to throw his whole lineup out of whack with Denard Span getting the night off, so it was easiest to keep everyone else in place and just put Hairston at the top. We'll see how this works out. We'll also see how Bryce Harper does in center field, the first time he's started out there this season.

Taylor Jordan, meanwhile, makes his third career start, hoping to take another positive step forward. With Ross Detwiler now on the DL, the rookie right-hander knows he'll get at least one more start (Sunday in Miami), so he shouldn't feel the pressure to have to perform tonight. Maybe that will allow him to relax and just do his thing.

Updates to come, please check back...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 183
Weather: Chance of storms, 86 degrees, Wind 5 mph out to RF

NATIONALS (46-43)
LF Scott Hairston
SS Ian Desmond
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman

Hairston excited to join "winning team"

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PHILADELPHIA — Scott Hairston signed a two-year contract with the Cubs in February, wanting to spend the entire time in Chicago but always aware of the possibility of a trade sometime before it expired. And when that trade happened late Sunday night, when he found out he'd been dealt to the Nationals, the veteran outfielder had one immediate reaction.

"Winning team," he thought.

Nearly 24 hours later, Hairston was in the Nationals clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park, having just watched his new team lose 3-2 to the Phillies but no less excited to be a part of a Washington club gearing up for a pennant race.

"I know this is going to be good for me, to be in this environment," he said. "I haven't been in a winning environment in quite a while, so it feels good."

Rizzo not looking to make more trades

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PHILADELPHIA — Mike Rizzo didn't just know he needed a veteran, right-handed outfielder for his bench, he knew Scott Hairston was the guy he wanted more than anyone else.

Rizzo acknowledged today he had some interest in signing Hairston as a free agent over the winter, then set his sights on the 33-year-old as a trade target several weeks ago. Rizzo had been in discussions with the Cubs and made a concerted effort to get the deal done before this week's series against the Phillies.

"Scott was the main guy we were looking for," Rizzo said. "He kind of fit the parameters that we were looking for as far as the history of doing exactly what we brought him in here to do. Being knowledgeable of the league had a lot to do with it. Knowing some of the players in the clubhouse and knowing the makeup, character and work ethic of the player put him at the top of our list."

The Nationals sent 21-year-old right-hander Ivan Pineyro to the Cubs in exchange for Hairston. The deal, which was finalized late last night, also included a swap of players-to-be-named later, though the Nats could receive cash instead, helping cover some of the remaining $3.5 million owed to Hairston through 2014.
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Nats acquire Hairston for Pineyro

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Updated at 10:30 a.m.

In the market for some time for a veteran, right-handed-hitting outfielder to bolster their bench, the Nationals late last night acquired Scott Hairston and a player-to-be-named from the Cubs for minor-league right-hander Ivan Pineyro and another player-to-be-named.

The club officially announced the trade this morning, and Hairston is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Nationals open a four-game series in Philadelphia.

Hairston, 33, fills an obvious need for the Nationals, who have struggled to get production both from their bench (reserves are hitting a collective .174 with a .516 OPS) and against left-handed pitching (.215 batting average, .612 OPS) this season. The journeyman outfielder owns a career .813 OPS against left-handers, though that number has fallen to .684 this year.

The Nationals figure to use Hairston as a pinch-hitter late in games while giving him an occasional start against lefties, hoping he can