Archive: March 30, 2008 - April 5, 2008
Matinee lineups
Sorry these are late. Those noon local time starts sneak up on you. Washington: Guzman -- 6 Milledge -- 8 Zimmerman -- 5 Johnson -- 3 Kearns -- 9 Belliard -- 4 Lopez -- 7 Flores -- 2 Chico --...
By Barry Svrluga | April 5, 2008; 1:18 PM ET | Comments (107)
Cordero to DL; Dukes will return to court
Plenty of news on Friday -- and a second straight winnable game that the Nationals couldn't quite swipe. After the 5-4 loss to the Cardinals (a game in which they left 13 men on base), the Nationals placed closer Chad...
By Barry Svrluga | April 5, 2008; 1:51 AM ET | Comments (44)
Young en route to DC
Dmitri Young is traveling from St. Louis to Washington to have his back checked out. Not good. Manny Acta said he would almost certainly not return to St. Louis this weekend, so the manager -- at least tonight -- will...
By Barry Svrluga | April 4, 2008; 7:32 PM ET | Comments (101)
Single-game parking now available
No lineups yet. I'll get them to you soon. But here's a little release that might interest some folks that plan to drive to games. Straight from the press release: The Washington Nationals today announced they will offer individual game...
By Barry Svrluga | April 4, 2008; 4:31 PM ET | Comments (44)
A look to Columbus
Before we get to the minor leagues -- and it's worth getting to -- some painful reminders of Thursday, a very winnable game. Here's the gamer, which has lots about all those angles, particularly Jimmy Rollins's very heads-up play to...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 10:48 PM ET | Comments (156)
Dmitri Young: Unavailable
Indeed, Dmitri Young's tight back made him unavailable to pinch hit with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning of today's 8-7 loss to the Phillies. Willie Harris thus hit, and he grounded out to first to...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 6:01 PM ET | Comments (61)
Where's Da Meat?
Manny Acta said before the game that Dmitri Young's back was still a little tight, and he couldn't play first base -- even though he played it last Thursday in an exhibition game. He said before the game, though, that...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 4:28 PM ET | Comments (89)
Comeback complete -- but chance wasted
Nats get even on Cristian Guzman's single to left field, one that may have glanced off the glove of third baseman Pedro Feliz and definitely glanced off shortstop Jimmy Rollins. It all allowed Ronnie Belliard to score from second, making...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 3:50 PM ET | Comments (51)
Now, they'll need a comeback
Take a look at that Phillies' six-run sixth, in which 11 men came to the plate. Hard groundball single from Utley. Hard groundball single from Howard. Single past diving Zimmerman for Burrell. Bleeder of a groundball single from Jenkins. Wild...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 3:15 PM ET | Comments (39)
Break up Nats -- and Shawn Hill update
Felipe Lopez has fielded both balls hit to him in left without a problem, and he even received a few fistbumps from Jerry Morales and Austin Kearns after returning to the dugout following the first one. The Phillies, by the...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 2:20 PM ET | Comments (87)
Lopez, Boone explanations
So Manny Acta is on board with the Felipe Lopez-to-left experiment. "I'm not worried. I had a talk with him, and he offered to pitch if we needed him to," Acta said a while ago. "He had the right attitude...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 11:52 AM ET | Comments (121)
Lopez in left field
The Nationals' lineup is being posted right now, and it indeed includes Felipe Lopez in left. Guzman -- 6 Milledge -- 8 Zimmerman -- 5 Kearns -- 9 Boone -- 3 Belliard -- 4 Lopez -- 7 Flores -- 2...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 10:22 AM ET | Comments (58)
3-0? Why not a major shake-up?
I give this advice frequently, but let me repeat it: Deep breaths. Breathe easily. Serenity now. That's it. There you go. Aaaaaah. To review: Odalis Perez over Tim Hudson. Matt Chico over Brett Myers. Tim Redding over Cole Hamels. That...
By Barry Svrluga | April 3, 2008; 12:35 AM ET | Comments (77)
Lannan likely Sunday; Lopez to LF?
So Jim Bowden just dropped a couple of potential bombs. One isn't so surprising. John Lannan will likely be recalled to pitch Sunday's game in St. Louis. This means neither Jason Bergmann nor Tim Redding will have to pitch on...
By Barry Svrluga | April 2, 2008; 6:04 PM ET | Comments (119)
Nationals lineup vs. Phillies
Here are your Nationals against the Phillies tonight. Will have news on Cordero and Phillies lineup later. Cristian Guzman -- 6 Lastings Milledge -- 8 Ryan Zimmerman -- 5 Nick Johnson -- 3 Austin Kearns -- 9 Paul Lo Duca...
By Barry Svrluga | April 2, 2008; 3:17 PM ET | Comments (31)
Nationals Park Debut sets ESPN record
This is interesting. From an ESPN release forwarded by the Nationals PR department: "ESPN's Major League Baseball Opening Night telecast - Atlanta at Washington on March 30 in the debut of Nationals Park - averaged 2,700,000 households and 3,656,000 viewers...
By Barry Svrluga | April 2, 2008; 10:05 AM ET | Comments (63)
Journal down; enjoy off day
Folks, our blog software was down much of the day here. My apologies. I figured, however, I'd let you bask in the glory of having the best record in baseball at this point -- and doing it in two different...
By Barry Svrluga | April 1, 2008; 1:18 PM ET | Comments (111)
Offensive overhaul? Whatever. They're 2-0
Easy now. Deep breaths. Does one 11-run outburst mean that this is a different team? Let's review. The Nationals beat the Phillies today, 11-6. They did so with a four-run outburst in the fifth and a tie-breaking, five-run eruption in...
By Barry Svrluga | March 31, 2008; 8:41 PM ET | Comments (67)
L-Millz, J-Roll, and we've got a game
A while ago, Lastings Milledge hit his first homer as a National, a two-run shot that put the Nationals up 6-2. Now, the Phillies have battled all the way back. They chased Matt Chico on Chase Utley's solo homer in...
By Barry Svrluga | March 31, 2008; 5:17 PM ET | Comments (65)
Cordero: No DL -- yet
Chad Cordero said his right shoulder, in which he has tendinitis, feels a little strange after he had a cortisone shot yesterday. All of this has made for a remarkable trickle-down -- Elijah Dukes goes to the DL with a...
By Barry Svrluga | March 31, 2008; 1:03 PM ET | Comments (130)
Zimmerman 3.0
Sitting in Union Station. Waiting for 9 a.m. Acela to Philly. Still reeling. I am not a particularly pessimistic person (bite your tongue, Kasten). But when Chad Cordero wasn't healthy enough to pitch the ninth (we'll get to that), when...
By Barry Svrluga | March 31, 2008; 8:38 AM ET | Comments (105)
Pregame festivities under way
Don Sutton is announcing the Braves now. He's wearing a tux. Weird sight No. 1: Chipper Jones's jersey says simply "Jones" on the back. No Andruw anymore. Less fear for the Nationals, I supppose. And here we go with the...
By Barry Svrluga | March 30, 2008; 7:51 PM ET | Comments (164)
Opening Night Lineups and pregame schedule
Your lineups, for the first game at Nationals Park, tonight at 8:15 p.m. between the Atlanta Braves and your Washington Nationals. Last year's stats are in parentheses after the names. Atlanta: Kelly Johnson (.276, 16 HR, 68 RBI) -- 4...
By Barry Svrluga | March 30, 2008; 3:50 PM ET | Comments (23)
Official Beat Writer Prediction
But before we get to that, I'd like to thank you all for your suggestions and shared experiences regarding last night. Some things will obviously change prior to the opener, but I think the biggest difference will be between now...
By Barry Svrluga | March 30, 2008; 12:20 PM ET | Comments (18)
