THE BELTWAY BOYS: The Bleeding Stops As Livan Comes Through Again

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The Bleeding Stops As Livan Comes Through Again

[July 31st] - Well, at least the Nationals ended the month of July on a high note.

Livan Hernandez threw 145 pitches before yielding in the 9th inning to the Chief, as the Nats won for the first time in 7 games, 4-2.

One game doesn't mean anything, but my, it was nice to win again. Nick Johnson hit his 9th home run and Cristian Guzman is beginning to show some signs of life at the plate [finally].

August will be the pivotal month in the Nationals first season in Washington. A good showing will erase their poor performance in July, when the team went from 5.5 games up to 4 games behind in the matter of 3 weeks. We can't expect the Nats to play like they did earlier in the season, as key players are either hobbled [Vinny Castilla] or playing poorly [Cristian Guzman] or in the minor leagues [Marlon Byrd]. If the Nats can play August and September 5 games over .500 each, the team will end the season with a record of 90-72, perhaps in contention for the wild card spot, perhaps not. Either way, a 90 win season following last year's 67 wins would be quite an accomplishment.

Let's see if they can do it.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 8:40 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?