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I have some updates on the pitching staff at Double-A Harrisburg, with a focus on the bullpen. The Senators swept a doubleheader from Altoona on Wednesday, once again thanks to the pitchers keeping the score down, 5-3 and 3-2. A lot of talk has surrounded the emergence of former Yankees prospect right-hander Christian Garcia, who has fought back from a pair of Tommy John surgeries. ... read more
You must have felt a measure of added joy for Jordan Zimmermann in the third inning. He finally got a chance to look up at the scoreboard and see four runs on the board for his team. 4-1. Alright, now we are talking. Zimmermann came in averaging just 2.4 runs of support per game when he is in the contest. So four runs had to ... read more
With another extremely uncomfortable ninth-inning save opportunity almost thrown away, the Nationals and manager Davey Johnson need to make a decision. Johnson told the media he would sleep on what happened to reliever Henry Rodriguez on Monday in Philadelphia. Without the literal save by Sean Burnett, Rodriguez was on the rocky road to his fourth blown save of the season. It is obvious Rodriguez has ... read more
Everyone loves to see the strikeouts. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez had plenty of them Monday in a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at a wet Citizens Bank Park. Finishing with nine strikeouts, Gonzalez yo-yoed back over Stephen Strasburg (64), for the team lead, and is now holding onto the major league top spot with 69 punchouts in nine starts. More importantly, Gonzalez tallied another team ... read more
On Saturday, Danny Espinosa was out of the lineup after laboring through a 3-for-18 home stand. Then in the late innings, with the game on the line, Espinosa was summoned for a key pinch-hitting appearance. He lined the ball hard, but right at outfielder Xavier Avery for the out. Then Sunday, Espinosa was back in the lineup - and where else but leading off for ... read more
Left-hander Matt Purke will remain at the Nationals' training facility this week, continuing to build up innings as he makes his way back to being ready for his minor league debut. As I reported here last week, Purke pitched five innings Thursday in Viera, Fla. The schedule this week calls for Purke to go five innings again on Thursday, according to Nationals director of player ... read more
Look out to left and center field in the top of the first inning and the two players on defense for the Nationals had a combined 32 major league games at their defensive positions. Even looking at their minor league careers, Bryce Harper (129) and Tyler Moore (3) combined for just 132 total games in the outfield. Then, in the top of the second, Orioles ... read more
3-2 count. Fastball low, walk. Tough to allow a baserunner in any situation, but having it be the Orioles' leadoff hitter, Xavier Avery, on the first at-bat of the game proved more costly in a tight contest. Avery was able to come around to score the first run of the game, thanks to a double by Nick Markakis and a single from Adam Jones. But ... read more
