THE BELTWAY BOYS: Broken Bat, Bunt Negates Nats Night

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Broken Bat, Bunt Negates Nats Night

Darn!

It all hinged on a broken bat. OK, Eric Valent's line drive base hit was the real thing, a stinging shot to centerfielder Brad Wilkerson. I can live with that. It's what happened after that ....

Pinch hitter Marlon Anderson swung hard and broke his bat. Instead of a fly ball to rightfielder Jose Guillen, he instead dinked a pooch hit into no-mans land. Jose Reyes tried to move the runners along, and, after being unable to bunt successfuly the previous at bat, put down the bunt of his life, and used his afterburners to make safely to first.

It was all down hill from there.

You could see the wind fall from the sails of the Nationals' players. Brad Wilkerson threw to the wrong base after hauling down a long fly to left centerfield. Then a long fly to left, which could have been caught, instead fell behind Ryan Church as two more runs scored. The Nationals made it interesting, as Brad Wilkerson came to the plate as the tie run with two out, but grounded back to the pitcher to end the game.

It was an "OK" game. John Patterson pitched "OK," giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. The Nationals his "OK," with the exception of Christian Guzman, who continues his sprint back to respectability. His three hits tonight raised his average from .209 to .233. Considering his average was .165 at the start of the homestand, he has done a remarkable job.

I thought that ESPN, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, did an exceptionally fair job in portraying the Nats, RFK Stadium, and the city of Washington in a fair and flattering manner. No hatchet job here. Well done.

No word of Joey Eeichen's injury so far this evening. I didn't look good though. Our relief pitchers keep dropping like flies.

The Nationals head to Los Angeles tonight for tomorrow's game against the Dodger.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 9:38 PM

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Rasner Rocks For Yanks

What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.

Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.

Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.

What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.

Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.

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Big Changes, Little Names

Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash, was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.

That's all well and good, but don't look to any of these moves making a difference in the play of the team. But hey, it's something to talk about. Right?