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Nationals Journal
6washingtonpost.com/
nationalsjournal Riggleman to return
as manager in ’11 The Washington Nationals will
retain Manager Jim Riggleman for next season, General Manager Mike Rizzo told the Nationals’ official Web site on Friday, providing stability in the team’s brain trust and giving Riggleman a significant measure of relief. When the Nationals named
Riggleman their interim manager during last season and promoted him to manager this past offseason, they promised little in terms of longevity. Riggleman signed a two-year contract with a team option for 2012, but this spring sources told The Post that essentially only this season was guaranteed. Riggleman, 57, is earning $600,000 this year, the sources said, and the team has the option to buy him out for $100,000. If the Nationals chose, they could have paid Riggleman $700,000 for one season — less than what a typical major league manager makes — and then parted ways. Rizzo’s comments Friday night
eliminated the chance for that to happen. The possibility of not being retained had worn on Riggleman, who is 75-97 overall as Nationals manager. “Absolutely,” said Burton Rocks, Riggleman’s agent. “Whenever somebody’s future is a little uncertain, there’s pressure to win.” The team has not changed
Riggleman’s contract — as of game time Friday night, no one from the Nationals had informed Riggleman of the decision to bring him back. At the end of the season, Rocks said he hopes to “start a dialogue” with Nationals management regarding Riggleman’s status. The talks won’t necessarily include any negotiation, he said. Rocks simply wants to convey “the sincerity there is that Jim wants to be a part of their long-range plans.” As Riggleman waited for the
Nationals to name a permanent replacement for Manny Acta this offseason, he told Rocks he would either manage the Nationals or sit out. Riggleman, who grew up in Rockville rooting for the Senators, still has the same desire. “Jim wants to be the Nationals’
manager,” Rocks said. “He doesn’t want to be a manager. There’s a difference.”
Detwiler to start Sunday Ross Detwiler will make his
2010 major league debut Sunday for the Nationals, replacing the injured Luis Atilano in the starting rotation and returning to Washington just three days after throwing seven innings at Class AA Harrisburg. At first, the Nationals will limit
Detwiler because of his short rest —“If we got five innings of out him, we’ll probably be really happy with it,” Riggleman said. The Nationals plan to keep Detwiler, the No. 6 overall pick of the 2007 draft, in their rotation so long as he remains healthy and effective. Detwiler arrived in Milwaukee
Friday afternoon, just as the Nationals were preparing for their series opener against the Brewers. “Gotta go,” Detwiler said, rolling a black suitcase through the bowels of Miller Park. “I’m late.” In the spring, the Nationals assumed Detwiler, 23, might be a regular part of their rotation by now. Days before spring training, though, Detwiler revealed a hip ailment. Doctors ordered an MRI exam. It showed a small tear. He flew to Vail, Colo., and had surgery the same day. He made seven starts for
Harrisburg, compiling a 2.48 ERA with 31 strikeouts and seven walks. Convinced he had built his arm strength, the Nationals chose him over John Lannan and Matt Chico. “He’s the guy who is throwing
as good as anybody down there,” Riggleman said. “We feel like we’ll be able to handle it fine.” —Adam Kilgore
S
KLMNO BASEBALL
SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010
BREWERS 7, NATIONALS 5 Washington
Morgan cf Jo.Peralta p C.Guzman 2b
Willingham lf Morse rf
S.Burnett p W.Harris rf
I.Rodriguez c Desmond ss Stammen p Clippard p
Milwaukee Weeks 2b Hart rf
Fielder 1b
McGehee 3b Lucroy c
C.Gomez cf A.Escobar ss Narveson p Inglett ph Loe p
Counsell ph Axford p Totals
Washington Milwaukee
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 4000 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4110 0 0
Zimmerman 3b 4011 0 0 A.Dunn 1b
3110 0 0 4110 0 2
.256 .291
.295 .279 .271
3 2 2 4 0 0 .338 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 1000 0 0
4 0 1 0 0 1 .275 4000 0 3 2000 0 1
Bernadina rf-cf 1000 0 0 Totals
Edmonds ph-rf 3123 0 1 Braun lf
3001 0 1
.195 .251
.258
0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 .277
34 5 7 5 0 8 — AB R H BI BB SO AVG 2100 2 1
.275
1 1 1 0 0 0 .292 .280 .282
4 0 1 0 0 1 .263 3100 1 0 4000 0 1 4111 0 0 4131 0 0 1111 0 0 1000 0 1 0000 0 0 1000 0 0
031 100 000 — 5 7 0 100 022 20x — 7 9 0
LOB: Washington 3, Milwaukee 5. 2B: C.Guzman (11), A.Dunn (27), Fielder (16), A.Escobar (9). 3B: Hart (3), C.Gomez (3). HR: Morse 2 (6), off Narve- son 2; Edmonds (6), off S.Burnett. RBI:Zimmerman (52), Morse 4 (16), Edmonds 3 (18), Braun (60), C.Gomez (22), A.Escobar (27), Narveson (3). SB: Weeks (7). S: Narveson. SF: Braun.
Washington Stammen Clippard
S.Burnett (L, 0-5)
Jo.Peralta Milwaukee Narveson
Loe (W, 1-1)
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 5 5 3 3 1 3 90 5.50 C 2 2 2 1 1 18 3.45 C 2 2 2 1 1 25 3.03
1C 0 0 0 0 1 15 0.61 IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 6 6 5 5 0 5 103 5.93 2 1 0 0 0 2 27 1.53
Axford (S, 14) 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 2.61
Inherited runners-scored: S.Burnett 1-0, Jo.Peralta 1-0. HBP: by Narveson (A.Dunn). T: 3:01. A: 34,822 (41,900).
HOW THEY SCORED Brewers first: Weeks struck out. MORRY GASH/ASSOCIATED PRESS Michael Morse launches a three-run home run in the second inning as the Nats got off to an auspicious start Friday night. Nats surrender four-run lead in loss nationals from D1
innings. They had to be called on early because Craig Stam- men’s start, so promising, unrav- eled with two outs in the fifth. The Nationals squandered their lead with four runs that felt like they could have been avoid- ed. Stammen was cruising in the fifth inning, two outs, no one on, up four runs. Alcides Escobar hit a sharp groundball up the mid- dle, and Ian Desmond made an impressive stop, whirled and threw a one-hop throw to Adam Dunn, the kind of wayward throw major league first base- man devour. This one, though, popped out of Dunn’s glove and kept the inning alive.
11 ⁄3 Still, the error should not have
stung. The pitcher, Chris Narve- son, was due up next. The Na- tionals have an odd proclivity for allowing hits to the opposing pitcher. And so, after Escobar took second base on defensive in- difference — why bother throw- ing with the pitcher up? — Stam- men yielded a soft line-drive sin- gle to center on a 3-2 fastball, scoring Escobar.
Stammen compounded his troubles by walking Rickie Weeks. Edmonds dumped a sin- gle into left, slicing the Nation- als’ lead to 5-3. Stammen struck out Ryan Braun swinging at an 85-mph changeup, but the extra pitches ratcheted his pitch count to 90 and ended his night. Riggleman had to turn to his bullpen, first calling on Tyler Clippard. Like Stammen is his fi- nal inning, Clippard recorded no outs with minimal damage, only a one-out walk to Casey McGe- hee. In a moment, Clippard un- raveled. Carlos Gomez roped a triple to center, and Escobar hammered a double to left-cen- ter. Like that, the Nationals no longer led. Before Stammen’s struggles,
the Nationals had taken com- plete command of the game with Morse’s power. Morse drove a three-run laser to left in the sec- ond and a solo blast in the fourth
Hart tripled. Braun hit a sacrifice fly, Hart scored. Fielder lined out. Brewers, 1-0. Nationals second: A.Dunn was hit by a pitch. Willingham singled, A.Dunn to second. Morse homered to left, A.Dunn scored, Willingham scored. I.Rodri- guez popped out. Desmond struck out. Stammen struck out. Nationals, 3-1. Nationals third: Morgan was out
bunting. Guzman doubled. Zimmer- man singled, Guzman scored. Zimmer- man to second. A.Dunn grounded out. Willingham flied out. Nationals, 4-1. Nationals fourth: Edmonds in as right fielder. Morse homered to center. I.Rodriguez singled. Desmond struck out. Stammen grounded out, I.Rodri- guez to second. Morgan flied out. Nationals, 5-1. Brewers fifth: Lucroy flied out. C.Go- mez flied out. A.Escobar infield single. On defensive indifference, A.Escobar to second. Narveson singled, A.Esco- bar scored. Weeks walked, Narveson to second. Edmonds singled, Narve- son scored, Weeks to second. Braun struck out.
Nationals, 5-3. Brewers sixth: Clippard pitching.
Fielder struck out. McGehee walked. Lucroy flied out. C.Gomez tripled, McGehee scored. A.Escobar doubled, C.Gomez scored. Bernadina in as right fielder. S.Burnett pitching. Inglett pinch-hitting for Narveson. Inglett struck out. Tied, 5-5. Brewers seventh: Weeks walked.
Weeks stole second. Edmonds hom- ered to right, Weeks scored. Braun flied out. Fielder doubled. W.Harris in as right fielder. Bernadina in as center fielder. Jo.Peralta pitching. McGehee lined out. Lucroy struck out. Final Score: Brewers, 7-5.
Washington Nationals ERA Leaders
Entering Friday’s Game
Pitchers W-L ERA G SV IP BB SO Peralta
Strasburg 5-2 Burnett 0-4 Storen Capps
2-1 3-3
Hernandez 7-6 Clippard 8-6 Walker 1-0 Olsen
0-0 0.69 11 0 13.0 2 12 2.32
9 0 54.1 15 75
2.53 44 0 32.0 11 30 2.54 26 0 28.1 13 23 2.93 44 24 43.0
9 35 2-2
3.12 20 0 132.2 38 70 3.18 47 1 56.2 26 62 3.57 24 0 35.1 3.77
8 30 8 0 43.0 14 32 Totals 42-54 4.19 96 26 845.0 305 585 NATIONALS ON DECK MORRY GASH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jim Edmonds, right, in the game because of an injury to Corey Hart, celebrates with teammate Rickie Weeks after his two-run blast in the seventh inning provided the winning margin for the Brewers.
to dead center that tattooed the black batter’s eye part of the fence some 430 feet from home plate. Morse, who was double- switched out of the game in the sixth, raised his batting average to .338, his on-base percentage to .395 and his slugging percentage to .636. Riggleman had given Morse his seventh start this month be-
cause the Brewers sent to the mound Chris Narveson, a lefty. Morse spells Roger Bernadina when left-handers start and re- ceives his opportunities against southpaws. Just because he doesn’t hit against them doesn’t mean he can’t. In 251 career at- bats against right-handed pitch- ers, Morse is batting .287 with a .352 on-base percentage with a
.418 slugging percentage. After the Nationals’ initial out- burst continued one their best of- fensive spasms of the season, the Brewers silenced their bats for the final four innings. When the Nationals had finally gotten something going, they lost it. The story of their night mirrored the story of their season.
kilgorea@washpost.com
AT BREWERS Saturday, 7:10 (MASN) Sunday, 2:10 (MASN2, WDCW Channel 50)
VS. BRAVES Tuesday, 7:05 (MASN) Wednesday, 7:05 (MASN) Thursday, 12:35 (MASN)
VS. PHILLIES Friday, 7:05 (MASN) July 31, 7:05 (MASN) Aug. 1, 1:35 (MASN, WDCW Channel 50)
RADIO: WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
Guthrie pitches Orioles to 3-2 triumph over Twins Scott blasts
two-run homer to provide support
by Jeff Zrebiec Open Sun 12-5
King Street @ I-395 1-866-BUY-LEXUS
baltimore — Leadoff man Brian Roberts made his much- anticipated return to the Balti- more Orioles’ lineup on Friday night, going 0 for 4 in his first game since April. However, it was another play-
eLindsay.com ROB CARR/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luke Scott, center, is greeted after his home run gave Baltimore and starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie the lead in the sixth inning.
er, who made his return from an injury earlier on this homestand, that made sure a quality outing from Jeremy Guthrie went re- warded. With the Orioles trail- ing by a run in the sixth inning, Luke Scott slammed a two-run homer off Anthony Slama, and Guthrie and the bullpen did the rest in a well-played 3-2 victory
over the Minnesota Twins in front of an announced 19,013 at Camden Yards. It was just the Orioles’ second
victory in eight games since the All-Star break, and Guthrie’s first win since May 25, a span of 10 starts. The right-hander, who certainly hasn’t hurt his trade value with his last two outings, allowed just a Joe Mauer two- run homer in the sixth and six to- tal hits over seven innings. Mauer’s two-run homer gave
the Twins a 2-1 lead, but Scott an- swered with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom of the frame. It was Scott’s 15th homer and since coming off the dis- abled list on July 19, the desig- nated hitter is 9 for 19 with three homers and six RBI. Baltimore (31-65) had some anxious moments in protecting the 3-2 lead. Minnesota had run- ners on the corners with two
.272 .278 .242 .252 .296 .297 .000 .238
0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 31 7 9 7 3 6 —
outs in the eighth after Will Oh- man retired Mauer but walked Jason Kubel. Interim manager Juan Samuel brought in David Hernandez, whose first pitch was driven by Michael Cuddyer to the wall in center. However, Adam Jones made the catch. Alfredo Simon then allowed a one-out single to Delmon Young in the ninth before retiring the next two to pick up his 14th save in 16 tries.
While the Orioles got a famil- iar face back in Roberts, their lineup lacked one of their main- stays as Samuel held Nick Mar- kakis out of the lineup for just the second time all season. Roberts, who had not played in the majors since April 9, was given a warm welcome before his first at-bat. He was sidelined by a strained abdominal muscle and a herniated disk in his back. — Baltimore Sun
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