Harris Leaves Game With Injury

Olsen seems smooth through three; We'll see what the 2nd time through the lineup shows.

Now we saw it....

Bottom of the 4th - Walk, SB, Double, Triple, Single; Three runs in, none out. Oh, well...

Maybe you shouldn't have said that, BinM.

Oops, that was with 2 out. My bad.

Is it improper to boo the team off the field before the ceremonial first pitch?

Dukes with a double to CF, 2 runs in - Sweet!

DUKES delivers!

Not that I would join Uncle_Teddy in booing, but if he can't take it anymore, he could get the boo out of his system and then blame Phillies fans.

C'mon Nats!

Oh this is nice hitting right here!

In other news, Maxwell slaps a 3-run homer in the top of the 4th - (AAA) SYR 3, ROC 1.

Let's get it Dunn, put us on top!

Dunn draws so many walks! :)

Hey all you Milledge should play 2b people. Quit sticking pins in all the other second baseman dolls!

Back to our game - Jurrjens is struggling a bit, having allowed the game to be tied, and still working in the fifth with bases loaded & two out.

How about a grand slam willingham? that rhymes.

Key to Washinton Nationals' offense in 2009 - Do not load the bases!

Oops, shouldn't of said that.. strikeout willingham. We need to stop leaving the bases loaded. It's going to come back to haunt us.

Wow, Jurrjens batting for himself after 84 pitches in 5 innings - is Cox that afraid of his bullpen?

Josh Bard is a stud...UGH

"Wow, Jurrjens batting for himself after 84 pitches in 5 innings - is Cox that afraid of his bullpen"

It's his second start, gotta start stretching him out.

Props to Dibble right there for calling out Bonehead Bob's call of the "will score easily" deal

Okay, two men on. Whatever you do, Ryan, DON'T WALK.

Ugh...'clutch' just isn't in their vocabulary right now.

Carpenter blaming Zimmerman's strikeout on Milledge running on the pitch. Is there no end to the Milledge hate?

First and foremost Carpenter is an idiot should not be near a broadcast booth,second: The face of the franchise is stranding runners at an alarming rate especially when it counts,now the built in excuse last year was the weak lineup,Zimmerman does not hit in critical situations makes errors on routine plays and has a horrible eye at the plate,the last two years in my opinion he has regressed.

So, I was noticing the boxscores today. Shawn Hill threw inot the 6th, and allowed 2 runs -- a better out ing than any Nats starting pitcher has had so far. He also got the win, which is one more win than the entire Nationals team.

But, the good news is the Nationals saved having to pay him five-sixths of his $700+k salary. If you are wondering how many veteran winning starting pitchers can you get for that money, the number is not very high. If he had even one healthy season behind him, he would have gotten a much higher arbitration award. Most pitchers with his kind of talent work for a lot more money.

In their ignominious 5-year history, the Nationals front office has made more than a few bone-headed decisions. Cutting Shawn Hill was the dumbest yet.

Probability is the Nats will win some games this year. However, right now -- there is no reason to believe ha probability. They have more offense than in years past, but their defense and pitching is so bad, it will no matter.

And meanwhile Cleveland's trying to ensure that the Nats will be the only winless team in the MLB by this day's end, as they are up vs. TOR 5-4 in the 7th...

@fischy:

It certainly looks like the cutting of Hill was a foolish move by the FO. I was stunned by it at the time, and stll don't quite understand it, other than looking at the litany of previous injuries as a reason.

0-6 :(

Switch to Discovery channel NOW: "Destroyed in Seconds"
3rd inning - as I said before.
And Mr. Kasten: "The franchise has a threefold problem: It's coming off a 102-loss season. Its stadium no longer has the first-year honeymoon. And its customers -- like everybody -- are dealing with an economic recession."
Sorry -NO. The problem is a crappy product resulting in no wins, and a manager who does not know what to do with what he was dealt with by the FO.

Bob Walk, Steven Shell: two names that do not bode well for a pitcher.

@BoteMan: Have you thought about Homer Bailey to add to your Pantheon?

yea, but Josh Smoker is a good one.

Ledezma in - Triple, Single; And we needed three LH's in the bullpen for what reason, exactly? Toss in the signing of Villone & even I'm beginning to wonder what the FO is thinking about.

Now that Cleveland won, the question must be asked, "Who can we get for the first draft pick in 2010?"

Now that Cleveland won, the question must be asked, "Who can we get for the first draft pick in 2010?"

Posted by: ramgut

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It's gotta be Blake Griffin, but of course it's up to the lott...oops, wrong sport. My bad.

Six down.... Ninety-four to go.

OK, I forgot about Grant Balfour (Ball Four) pitching with an 11-run lead up the road in B-more.

This team needs the same thing they needed in the off-season - someone to fill the role of "stopper" in the starting rotation. A veteran pitcher who can give the team 6+ innings & find ways to avoid big innings. I have a feeling that JZMM coming up for SYR isn't going to help much at this point.

Hey! Maybe the 2009 Nats are trying to break the record of the Orioles' 0-21 start back in 1988? Sort of a local competition of sorts. Ya know, like a race to the bottom.

Lessee...o for 6 on the road to open the season and Daniel Cabrera pitching the home opener tomorrow. Lucky are we Nationals fans.

Nice timing, Bote, Balfour's living up to his name in full

I was not enchanted with Bard's defense today. Would have liked to see Nieves in there. Oh well.

Manny Acta doesn't do it. Time to get a real manager and a WHOLE new coaching staff.

Why are we so conservative. Why does Listache hold EVERY runner? Why do we NEVER try to steal a base? Why is Josh Bard a National?

Where's Davey Johnson? Inquiring minds want to know.

Bard = Johnny Estrada

Playing time earned by wasted hope of increased trade value.....Jimbo may be gone but his imprint is till here....Rizzo will be looking for a new job in Oct.

These guys make it so hard to be a fan.

Can we cut Kearns or trade him for anything, like a fungo or some urinal cakes for the clubhouse? The guys stinks on ice. I'm tired of all the excuse making for him.

He just ain't got it.

Bard = Estrada

Jimbo = Rizzo

Playing time = False Trade Hopes

Kearns is so bad.

Hey it is just Manny being Manny

losing ball games noting to get upset about, it is still early in the 2000's lots of baseball yet to be played or played sort of, maybe, ok , well hinted at We have not yet reach our full potential in mistakes and miscues

Kearns gets me a little bit rick. Silly right fielder he is... not at all. This team is so finished. We'd be better off with money metal John Auville starting next game. Bitter.

Auville's molllney

It's okay guys, we're following Tampa Bay's blueprint -- finish dead last enough times until our entire roster is full of #1 overall picks. We're right on track!

On a matter of greater scale, just heard the good news that Captain Phillips has been rescued from the pirates.

People - the season is only six games in. The end is not near. This team is not expected to and will not go to playoffs, but they are better than last year.

No doubt when the Nats do put together a six game winning streak, this board will over react in the other direction.

Count Demoney;

In what way is this team better than last year's 102-loss crew?

Pitching? Not by a stretch.

Fielding? Same old errors and inconsistencies.

Hitting? Try more than 60 team strike outs and just like last year, stranding more men than Gilligan's Island.

So where are they better? I would LOVE to know...

Natsfan1a1, caught that earlier, it was indeed great to see.

Bard = Estrada

Jimbo = Rizzo

Playing time = False Trade Hopes

Posted by: JayBeee | April 12, 2009 4:39 PM | Report abuse

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Criticizing Rizzo at this point is amazing. He hasn't had nearly enough time to shape this team into his own.

Offering up all players he doesn't want in a fire sale is a good was to get fleeced. And then he'll just get a bunch of idiot comments about how bad he is at negotiating trades. There will be trades and all the networks are talking about us shopping guys so chill out. You knew we weren't going to be good this year (don't make me quote you) and most because of the roster he inherited.

But I can really understand the need to vent though Jaybee, because watching this team in no damn fun at all.

JayBeee:
Glad to see you didn't waste time finding new targets with Milledge out of the lineup. You missed taking a shot at Kearns, btw; Sheesh.

All True....Except I thought this was the year we would play our best players (as bad as they are).....Bard is an embarrassment and is Rizzo's problem. He is playing now because they think they will be able to trade him.....meanwhile we lose at no small fault of Bard's defense

Nah, I'm blaming this one on Kearns. Why you ask? Because I'm fed up with him still being here.

I think we need to stike a balance between playing our best players and our best players for the future. I believe in playing Dukes in RF simply because I think we should generate the stability of giving him a home for the next five years. It's the same argument I have playing Milledge in left (go on, take your shots). If we need to put Maxwell in center then so be it. He's either good enough or it reminds us we need to improve in that position.

I certainly agree that playing a guy to increase his trade value is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure the GM's of the world already have a scouting report on Johnson/Willigham/Kearns. Just a hunch.

At this point in time, the 25-man roster "is what it is". Having Hernandez back might improve 2B, but will probably cost the team Nieves (odd-man out at this point).
Adding JZMM on the 19th will now most likely force the team to drop Gonzalez. The team will also need to add another reliever to go along with JZMM (& his limited innings), so that's another field player sent down or cut - Milledge down for Bergmann, anyone?

It's not pretty, but "it is what it is".

BinM,

You may be right, but I'd like to see Gonzalez get a good look at 2B before Hernandez comes back. If AG looks good in his trial, and Hernandez doesn't perform well upon his return, AG could be next in line for the job. And of course he's our best defensive SS, at least at the AAA-MLB level.

Think Manny would ever bring AG in as a late-inning defensive replacement for Guzzie?