THE BELTWAY BOYS: D.C. Basks In Glow Of Patterson's Performance

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D.C. Basks In Glow Of Patterson's Performance

[July 19th] - As John Patterson warmed up before Tuesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies, he was very aware that the Nationals 5.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves on July 4th has dwindled to a mere half game just two weeks later. A Nationals loss combined with a Braves win against San Francisco and Washington would find themselves out of first place for the first time since June 4th. John Patterson stepped up to make sure that wouldn't happen.

If anyone doubted that John Patterson is fast becoming an elite pitcher in the National League, Tuesday should end those doubts. Pitching into the 9th inning, the 27 year old right hander gave up only 3 hits while striking out 8. His ERA is 2.69, best among the Nationals starters. A team is lucky to have one stopper on their pitching staff. It's beginning to look like Washington has two.

Kudos to Frank Robinson for refusing to allow his starting position players to continue to embarrass both himself and the city they represent. Cristian Guzman and Vinny Castilla sat down. I don't know if Vinny's date with the bench was injury related, but he needed to sit. Finally, Brad Wilkerson hit in a power position in the lineup. Jamie Carroll did well in his lead-off roll, getting 2 hits and raising his average to .251. Preston Wilson got another hit and now is batting .265. And what's the deal with Brian Schneider? With another hit tonight, his average is now up to .283, one of the top numbers on the team.

As badly as the team played Monday night, they played that well on Tuesday. Quality pitching. Sound fundamentals. Timely hitting. Now, let's be careful, though,because they played the Rockies. More to come.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 8:19 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?