Hairston delivers in a pinch

USA Today Sports Images

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.
Read more

Instant analysis: Nats 11, Cubs 6

USA Today Sports Images

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

Nats ready to look at young players

USA Today Sports Images

CHICAGO — The Nationals never thought this would be the case in a season with the highest of expectations, but they are preparing to start looking at more young players over the next six weeks at the expense of a few veteran regulars.

Manager Davey Johnson said he plans to give Tyler Moore more starts at first base down the stretch, perhaps going so far as to platoon the 26-year-old at first base with veteran Adam LaRoche.

"I'm not in the position I'd like to be in, but there is a necessity to look at some guys," Johnson said. "And we'll be doing that. I mentioned the other day that Tyler Moore has to get some at-bats, some regular at-bats. And I'll be doing that with some other guys. I'm not going to go into naming them, because that's gonna happen on a daily basis. It's not gonna be a set plan."

Johnson also said rookie right-hander Tanner Roark could get a chance to move into the rotation, perhaps swapping spots with Ross Ohlendorf, who makes his return from the disabled list tonight.
Read more

State of the Nats - 8/19

Photo by USA Today

Team Record: 60-63 (24-26)

N.L. East Standings

Wild Card Standings

Offensive Game of the Week: Jayson Werth 8/17 vs. Braves - 2 for 3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2B

Pitching Line of the Week: Tanner Roark 8/17 vs. Braves - 4.0 IP (in relief), 0 ER, H, BB, 6 SO, 50 pitches, 37 strikes

Top Storylines

Any chance at NL Wild Card? - Losing two of three against the Braves this weekend didn't do any favors for the Nationals' disappearing hopes of a playoff spot this October. They had chances in each game they lost, but saw the Braves capitalize on mistakes and prevail with the series win. Now the Nats continue their road trip with a 9.5 game deficit separating them and the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds aren't offering much help for the Nationals as they've won nine of their last 12 games, but they did lose two in four-game series against the Brewers this past weekend. They now return to Cincinnati to play the Arizona Diamondbacks who have won five of their last six. The Diamondbacks, as you see above, are the other team separating the Nats and the final Wild Card spot. The Nats have 39 games left on their schedule, the Reds 38 and the Diamondbacks 40. The Reds obviously have the edge right now, but stranger things have happened.

Marathon men

USA Today Sports Images

ATLANTA — Their starting pitcher had departed some 4 1/2 hours earlier, ejected after plunking a batter in the first inning and then losing all semblance of his command in the second. Their manager had been ejected, too, not to mention their left fielder later in the evening.

Eight relievers (one of them actually a starter) had cobbled together 14 innings of work, though the last six of those innings wouldn't have been necessary had their closer recorded one more out in the bottom of the ninth.

Their star 20-year-old, scratched from the lineup earlier in the day with a bruised left triceps muscle after getting drilled by a pitch the previous night, had been forced into action late.

Then again, pretty much everyone in uniform was forced into action for this 5-hour, 29-minute marathon, with 44 of the 50 active players on the two rosters appearing in the game.

So when it finally ended, when Adam LaRoche had homered in the top of the 15th and Dan Haren had pitched the bottom of the inning — in the rain — to earn the first save of his 11-year career, the Nationals could only sit back and enjoy the feeling that comes only after you pull off an 8-7 victory over your fiercest rivals.

"Golly," LaRoche sighed. "What a battle."
Read more

Instant analysis: Nats 8, Braves 7 (15)

USA Today Sports Images

Game in a nutshell: Tensions were high when this game began, with everyone at Turner Field wondering if Stephen Strasburg would retaliate for Bryce Harper's repeated plunkings by Braves pitchers. Only two batters in, he answered that question, drilling Justin Upton in the left hip with a fastball. Umpire Marvin Hudson immediately issued warnings to both dugouts and Upton quietly took his base, so that should have been the end of it. Except Strasburg completely lost his command in the bottom of the second, throwing seven straight balls, the last three of them wild pitches, the last two of them behind Andrelton Simmons' back. Hudson had no choice but to eject both Strasburg and Davey Johnson, leaving the Nationals in a real bind. Tanner Roark, though, came through with four huge scoreless innings of relief. The Nationals lineup pounded out seven runs and 15 hits off Braves pitching, with Jayson Werth reaching base four times to lead the way. Asked to protect a late lead, Drew Storen struck out the side in the seventh. Tyler Clippard gave up a homer in the eighth, but Rafael Soriano still was given a two-run lead for the bottom of the ninth ... which he still blew. Jason

Nats who's hot/who's not - 8/14

Photo by USA Today

By Steve Roney
CSNwashington.com

The Nationals' past week, at a glance:

Record: 4-1

Team slash: .305/.388/.470

Team ERA: 2.80

Runs per game: 6.0

Opponent runs per game: 3.0

Opponent slash: .244/.294/.339

HOT

Tanner Roark, RP: 2-0/0.00 ERA/0.67 WHIP/6 IP/1 K 

Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Ro-ark. The rookie reliever made his first three career appearances this week, picking up the win in the most recent two. He doesn't have overpowering stuff -- he's thrown two-thirds of his 70 pitches for strikes, with only two swings and misses -- but he's gotten the job done in fairly high-leverage situations. Working two innings in each of his appearances, he's been able to serve as a very effective bridge to Rafael Soriano, who has saved both his victories. Without more swinging strikes, his .190 BABIP will rise -- along with his ERA -- but Roark has had a dream start to his career.

Jayson Werth, OF: 10-19/2 HR/6 RBI/.591 OBP/1.486 OPS

Put simply, this is what we've been waiting for from Jayson Werth. Not the video game numbers of the past week, or even the past month -- but his incredibly hot tear has brought his season numbers (.327/.399/.529, 17 HR) in line with his pay grade for the first time since he donned a Nats jersey. In fact, the 34-year-old is exceeding even those expectations: the batting average, if it holds up, is the highest of his career, though his .444 BABIP since the All-Star break portends a looming regression. The Nats are likely playing for bragging rights and to set the table for next season; if Werth can continue to swing a hot bat, both he and the team can end the year on a high note, which will bode well going forward.

Worth the wait

USA Today Sports Images

If you're going to slog your way through 3 hours and 20 minutes of baseball — with a 77-minute rain delay in between the fourth and fifth innings on top of all that, not to mention a heated dugout argument between teammates — in front of a crowd that included mostly close friends and family by night's end, you might as well emerge victorious.

So despite the fact there were plenty of negatives to harp on the Nationals late Tuesday — the in-plain-view spat between Jayson Werth and Gio Gonzalez, another hamstring injury for Wilson Ramos, a 2-for-13 performance with runners in scoring position — the simple fact they walked away with a 4-2 win (their fourth straight) over the Giants left everyone in the home clubhouse feeling better.

"Nice to win, first of all," Adam LaRoche said. "It's tough burning your starter like that, as well as he was throwing. ... Good win, good little streak we're on. Better late than never, but we're still in a hole pretty good, so we've got a lot of work to do."

Indeed, the Nationals gained no ground on Tuesday, neither in the NL East nor in the NL Wild Card race. But the standings have become secondary for this underachieving club for now. These guys just want to win games, something they hadn't been able to do with any regularity over the season's first four months.
Read more

Instant analysis: Nats 4, Giants 2

USA Today Sports Images

Game in a nutshell: Why have the Nationals and Giants been such big underachievers this season? Look no further than each club's continued struggles to score runs and produce hits in big situations. We saw it on display tonight, with the Nationals going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and the Giants going 1-for-9 in those situations. A strange and very slow-paced game saw both starting pitchers perform well for four innings before an intense thunderstorm struck and produced a 1-hour, 17-minute delay. That knocked both Gio Gonzalez and Madison Bumgarner out and put the game in the hands of the bullpens. Adam LaRoche delivered the biggest hit, a two-run homer in the sixth that gave the Nationals the lead for good. That put Tanner Roark in line to earn his second win in four days, though this one still didn't come easily for the Nationals. Fernando Abad and Ryan Mattheus combined to allow a run in the seventh, trimming the lead to one. Kurt Suzuki provided a key RBI in the eighth on a sac fly. That allowed Rafael Soriano to close it out in the ninth and give the Nationals their fourth straight win.

Hitting highlight: Is LaRoche snapping out of his midseason funk? It's probably too early to declare that, but the results over the last week-plus certainly have been encouraging. With a 2-for-4

Werth earns well-deserved praise

Associated Press

Jayson Werth has been an easy target for cynical baseball fans, both from within the District and around the sport, since signing a $126 million contract with the Nationals prior to the 2011 season. That contract figure forever will be attached to Werth's name, and even his staunchest supporters will admit he'll never live up to that mammoth number.

Try for a moment, though, to ignore the money and focus simply on what Werth has done on the field for the Nationals, most notably over the last two seasons. His actual contributions have been immense.

"He's doing an unbelievable job leading this team," Bryce Harper said. "It's a lot of fun to watch, being able to see him get hits against unbelievable pitchers and seeing him do his thing."

Washington fans got an opportunity to shower Werth with some well-deserved praise Saturday night when the veteran right fielder reached a personal milestone and delivered the biggest blast of the Nationals' 8-5 victory over the Phillies all with one mighty swing. His two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh highlighted a five-run rally, putting the Nationals ahead for the first time in a game they once trailed 4-0, and represented the 1,000th hit of his career, to boot.

For that, the crowd of 32,676 coaxed Werth out of the dugout for a curtain call.
Read more

Roark shines in MLB debut

Photo by USA Today

It's hard to pull silver linings out of what was a brutal loss for the Nationals on Wednesday night, their fourth straight and last of a sweep at the hand of the Atlanta Braves.

The Nats did see, however, Tanner Roark make his major league debut and throw two scoreless innings with just a hit allowed.

The 26-year-old from Wilmington, Illinois - a town of just over 5,000 people - entered the game in the fifth inning with the score tied at 2-2, replacing starter Jordan Zimmermann. And as he did, over 100 of his family and friends back home huddled around a projector screen they hooked up to a computer in a garage to watch Tanner realize his lifelong dream.

"I have a bunch of texts from all my buddies and family and friends back home watching on a big screen in a cul de sac where I live," he said after the game.

Roark had his fiancée, her parents, and her brother and wife in attendance at Nats Park on Wednesday and couldn't hide his excitement afterwards, despite the team losing the game. He was admittedly nervous on the mound and was still calming down hours after the experience.

Roark joins Nats, Detwiler to 60-day DL

Photo by USA Today

In need of a long reliever with the ability to start if called upon, the Nats selected right-hander Tanner Roark from Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday. Roark will fulfill the role of Ross Ohlendorf who is on the 15-day disabled list (retro to Aug. 1) with shoulder inflammation.

Ross Detwiler was also transferred to the 60-day disabled list with a lower back strain and lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno was sent back down to Triple-A.

Roark, 26, is up in the majors for the first time in his career and was told of the decision on Sunday night. Though excited to finally realize his dream, Roark wasn’t allowed to tell many people for fear the news would get out.

“I was told to keep it quiet,” he said. “I was doing my best to keep it quiet. I told my parents and told them to keep it quiet. I told my fiancé, that was about it.”

Acquired by the Nats in a 2010 trade with the Texas Rangers, Roark was thriving at Syracuse with a 9-3 record and a 3.15 ERA through 105 2/3 innings. He made 11 starts and 22 relief appearances, flashing a versatility that he’ll likely use at the major level.

“He can do both,” manager Davey Johnson said. “He’s been throwing the ball good, Spin [Williams] really liked him. He fits well.”

The Nationals may need a starter in a few weeks when Taylor Jordan hits his innings limit. He is said to have three or four starts left and, with Ohlendorf and Detwiler rehabbing, Roark could see his role expanded if the opportunity arises. Johnson said Roark would be a viable option in that scenario.

Read more >>