Oh, I am SO staying up. And not just because I'm avoiding writing a paper or studying for finals. Really. Also, Barry, I'm going to need you to relay to Ryan Church STAT that there is a Facebook group dedicated to defending him from the forces of evil and Nook Logan. I kid you not. Can you get a reaction quote on that?

Heck, I have to leave work early to get home in time to watch...

The lineup makes sense, actually... more or less alternates lefties and righties (or switchies)... and if Casto has "New and Improved Game" at the plate... it could be interesting.

They need lots of six-pitch ABs to wear Peavy out... or catch him on an off night. Another team you don't want to be down a run at the end of 8.

The Nats, of course, are a different story...

WHAT happened to chris snelling? first we endure restovich's complete ineffectiveness for multiple games and now we get the new (and improved?) kory casto show?

did i miss something, what did snelling do to fall so far off the radar screen?

seems like the church move is working so far. as of the 4th he has scored both runs (she writes while listening to the game on her laptop in bed). these night games kill me.

"he did it basically because Church and Kearns are swinging the bat better than anyone else in the lineup right now, and Church's OBP is good, and he can be on ahead of Kearns, etc."

Well played, Mr. Acta. Well played!

To Bill from DC:

Chris Snelling: .208 AVG and .333 SLG and does not hit the cutoff man.

#9 is in the books. JP returns somewhat to form, and Chad fullpack Cordero...stole that from Don Stanhouse...gets 3 hard hit fly outs to close it out. King does well & Rauch steadys the ship. Jake Peavy a tough luck...ahhhh...loss. What was he thinking by going into the windup with Church on first. We'll take it. Take the rest of the night off everybody. Casto..a timely hit..who knew.

Of course I stayed up to see how Patterson pitched and was rewarded by an excellant game and a first win for JP. Thank goodness the relief pitchers and Cordero did not manage to give this one away! And some of the breaks went our way for a change. Patterson looked really good and hopefully will be all the way back soon.

I'm in Germany this week, so catching the West Coast games is easy. Just have to get up at 4 am, not at all difficult when I'm jetlagged anyway and better than 1 am for a home start!

Nice job by Patty, drawing nearer to the Nasty of old. Chief's long fly balls are a great way to get the heart started in the morning.

BTW, the margin of victory essentially was a brain cramp by Peavy, pitching from the windup after putting Church on base with a HBP. Smart move of Church to grab a "gimme" stolen base and get into position to score, which he shortly did.

I like Church high in the lineup. Cleanup is a good place. Third would be even better, and I could live with leadoff.

(No snarky comments about where the sluggers belong, please. A team that led off with Sori can hardly stand on John McGraw-era logic regarding lineups.)

So far, RC and D. Young are the poster men for OBP and plate discipline. Some combination of them and a slugger or two in the top of the order should plate a ton of runs -- such as when Nick comes back or if (when) Lopez' or Belliard's bat gets hot.

I for one could do without the stream of snarky comments suggesting that it's a real chore to cover a bad baseball team, e.g., "anybody else staying up for this one." If you find it so distasteful, get a job with the New York Times. I'm a fan of the Nats, and I have no interest whatsoever in whether the beat writer thinks he's demeaning himself by covering them. The people who would feel sympathy for you aren't fans, and don't read articles about the team.

... first of all, there's no sense me staying up. I'm so far removed from Nats baseball broadcasts, they'd have to pipe in sunshine just to set the atmosphere.

... as much as I appreciate Barry's writing skills and devotion to the team, I have to agree with 'Mark'. This is no place for condescending attitudes from the media. I've spent my life around newsrooms and press runs, and I know that some - not suggesting Barry is like this - scribes get their knickers in a twist over something inconsequential and instead of confronting the source, they take it out in childish fashion on the readers, viewers or fans. Barry: that was a poor choice of comment.

... and now to the game. I'll be quick off the mark here and confess that last year, and during much of this season, I was a Church-basher. I wasn't happy with his attitude the last couple of years, and I allowed that to colour my impressiion of him this year. But this morning I've gotta say I'm a fan; I'm a booster; I'm a Ryan Church supporter. He gets put into the clean-up spot... and he delivers the first AB. Then he shows his smarts on the ridiculous Peavey debacle - wind-up instead of stretch. This guy can be as much the future of the Nats as the other Ryan can be.

... and to finish off, I've always been a big fan of Kori Casto. It is gratifying indeed to see the confidence the team has in him, and to see him come through. I'd like to see him stay in the show after Nook returns, just to give him an experience of the bigs, more so than he got earlier in the year.

Stayed up and was happy i did. QUestion,,,I am trying to remember...back when C Cordero was getting all those saves and was an ALL star selection....what was his M.O. in those days?...was he getting a lot of warning track outs then?

My name is also Mark, and I am not nearly as moody as the Mark above. Just FYI.

Mark, he's saying he'll stay up so that we don't have to b/c the game is, you know, being played in the Pacific Time Zone and because the game will, you know, end late and that might be a problem for many people since, you know, they work.

Yeah, Barry, quit having a sense of humor! It's offensive to a guy who talks about "knickers" and "colours."

Fell asleep in the 7th. Thanks Barry, for staying up for me.

Let me add my voice to the chorus of folks glad that it's someone's job to stay up and watch the game, 'cause I sure can't when they're on the West Coast.

consider mine added as well. thanks for your coverage, barry.

pk, re Chad, he's been a flyball pitcher as long as I can remember.

Barry, thanks for staying up. I doubt I could have if I was at home where I belong instead of in Europe.

Those who don't want to stay up can buy the $.35 paper... it's a free country!

#1 35 cent paper typically doesn't cover West Coast scores.

#2 Count on Barry for play-by-play, not his bid for a Pulitzer.

Ditto to the above. I stayed up for it, and appreciate that someone else (who gets paid to watch and write about the Nats) did so, too.

Which game was it earlier in April where the opposing pitcher had had a stellar game and then tanked when he faced the Nats, just like last night? You'd think with so few wins I'd remember the game, but for the life of me I don't. Maybe it has to do with having turned a year older overnight...

Juan-John, wasn't it in Atlanta against John Smoltz? I was there. One of the first Chad Cordero heart attacks I've had.

Barry,
I think one of the most frustrating things is the lack of shuffling within the organization as we weed out players.

On the Way UP PLEASE!!!
Columbus Clippers-
Tony Batista -3B- .309 3HR 6 Doubles with 25 hits .519 in Slugging (why isn't he up as a pinch hitter? we could showcase him for trade bait? He is clearly not part of the long term plan)

Honorable Mention
Joel Hanrahan 1.69 ERA (Who do you send down though?)

Emilio Fruto (doing well but needs more time at AAA)

Harrisburg Senators
Josh Whitesell - 1B - .354 BA .447 OBP 4HR's (This is more of a PLEASE GIVE UP ON BROADWAY PLEA!!!) Broadway has still not taken his demotion well. Broadway is Batting .171 with a .298 OBP But does have 4 HR's

Rogeravin Bernadina - OF - .294 Avg 10 SB (this guy is fast and even got to play a spring league game with the nats... ) I would rather see him at AAA getting more development for MLB and either Bench or Release Abraham Nunez .204 or George Lombard .217 who are both 30 and not batting over the Guzman line...

Potomac Nationals

DEE BROWN -OF- Who did this guy wrong in a former life to still be at A ball? The only to POTOMAC NATIONALS that batted higher than him last year were JOSE VIDRO AND JOSE GUILLEN (while they were on a Rehab Assignment)!!!! Dee is batting .358 and my only knock on him is runners left on base...
John Lannan P 4-0 2.56 ERA Pitching well and would have a lower ERA if Knorr had a quicker hook.

Hagerstown Suns
Mike Daniel -OF- Could Replace Dee Brown in Potomac. .300 5 HR .400 OBP Has outperformed Higher Prospects of Chris Marrero (.286 1 HR), Justin Maxwell (.236 4HR), and Stephen King.

Barry, your report in today's (May 1) paper on the San Diego game was simply excellent.

Stayed up for the whole thing, and will glady do so again tonight! Patterson was great, finally hit 92 on the fastball in the early innings!!

I don't know about you, but I am much relieved about Patterson. There were hints his last outing... and while he's not back all the way, he looked a lot more like the old JP than the 2007 opening day JP.

Happy coincidence to be SD and even happier to be at the game last night.

Thinking of going again, anyone other Nats fans around?

I hear ya Wigi, but I'll feel a lot more confortable when those Ks start increasing. I know I know, baby steps...

And thanks for ALL you do Barry.

To BrianH - I think Restovich was worse all around than Snelling who, despite having the low BA, at least provides a very high OBP (.367, which can't be sneezed at on this team). OTOH, this might have been more important if this team could actually get a hit with RISP.

Basically, my question is - why does a hack like restovich, a marginal prospect like casto (who we just tried this with a few weeks ago) and, to a lesser extent b/c of his defense, logan get all these chances while snelling was yanked in very churchian fashion? along those lines, look what church is doing now he finally has consistent PT.

when not injured, snelling's career has been marked by plate production, so shouldn't we at least give him enough ABs to figure out if that will translate here, instead of running another revolving door that sets nobody up for success?