Bryce Harper has been taken out of the first game of today's doubleheader after bunting a ball off the inside of his left ankle in the bottom of the first inning. The Nationals rookie outfielder limped around in obvious pain and dropped to a knee before getting attended to by a trainer. Harper remained in the game at the time, finishing his at-bat despite the fact he was noticeably hobbling. He struck out swinging at a Ben Sheets curveball just a pitch after the foul bunt. Harper played...

Davey Johnson says he didn't sleep too well last night. He was left thinking about the game that got away. The Nationals' skipper came in to the park this morning and ran two miles on the treadmill. He says he took two minutes off his time. "I punished myself," Johnson said. "I tried to wipe out some memory banks and create some new brain cells in my head. I hope it works." Everyone will technically be available in the Nationals' bullpen today, Johnson said, but he'd like to stay...

The Washington Nationals today recalled left-handed pitcher John Lannan from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Additionally, outfielder Xavier Nady was returned from rehab, reinstated from the 15-Day Disabled List and designated for assignment. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Lannan will start the second game of today's day-night doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves. The 27-year-old went 6-9 with...

Good thing the Nationals will play 18 innings today. Plenty of chances to get last night's stinker out of their minds. With Davey Johnson using five relievers yesterday, he'll likely have a bit of a tough time navigating his way through today's doubleheader. Surprisingly, Johnson said he could use Drew Storen again today for a third straight day, and he'll have a rested Craig Stammen, Ryan Mattheus and Henry Rodriguez. Still, he'll have to bring his managerial A-game today to try and...

It was exactly a week ago that I wrote about Jim Thome and asked fans what they thought about Thome after his first seven games with the club. He was just 5-for-25 as an Oriole at that point with 11 strikeouts and not one extra-base hit. A week later, Thome's bat is now percolating. Over the last five games he is 8-for-22 (.364) with four extra-base hits. Thome has three doubles and a homer with two RBIs in that stretch. Over 12 games, he is batting .277 with a homer and three RBIs and the...

Catcher Jesus Flores left tonight's game in the seventh inning with a stiff back. He said after the game that he should be fine for tomorrow's doubleheader. Also, Xavier Nady's rehab stint ended today with a 1-for-3 performance at Single-A Potomac. There's no official word from the Nationals yet, but it sounds like the team is planning on designating Nady for assignment. Now back to the shocking nine-run blown lead ... The game lasted 4 hours, 21 minutes. It saw the Braves come all the...

Tonight was the largest blown lead in Nationals/Expos history. And Davey Johnson is putting it squarely on his own shoulders. "It was probably, arguably the worst game I've ever managed in my life," said the Nationals' skipper, who has managed 16 seasons in the majors. "I've never lost a nine-run lead when it was my part of the game to handle the pitching. It'll be hard for me to sleep. I had a worse night than the guys did. It was a tough loss. But it was just one loss." It was just...

Something is going on with Tyler Clippard and he knows it. In last three outings, he has surrendered seven runs in three innings. His third blown save of the season came in an historic collapse for the Nationals, who were leading 9-0 only to fall to the second-place Atlanta Braves 11-10 in 11 innings. With his team leading 9-8 on Friday night, Clippard was handed the ball to get three outs in the ninth. Getting three outs had been something he had pretty much mastered since his return to...

In a brief phone conversation yesterday morning with executive vice president Dan Duquette, I asked whether the Orioles were comfortable platooning Steve Tolleson and Ryan Flaherty at second base, or whether they needed to bring in someone from outside the organization. "We'll see what comes on the market," Duquette replied. "If Tolleson and Flaherty can do it, we'll let them do it. If they can't do it, we'll have to look for some other alternatives." Later that afternoon, the Orioles...

What was a 9-0 Nationals lead entering the sixth turned into a 10-9 deficit. How the heck did this happen? The Nats were cruising over the Braves through five, smacking Atlanta pitchers around and putting up crooked numbers. Then Stephen Strasburg got ambushed in the sixth, allowing hits to four of the five hitters he faced and getting charged with four runs. In the eighth, the Braves hit up Drew Storen and Sean Burnett for four more. Storen, who manager Davey Johnson surprisingly went to...