THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
KLMNO BASEBALL
Nationals Journal
Excerpts from voices.
washingtonpost.com /nationalsjournal
Morganmay get suspension reduced Since theWashington
Nationals have Thursday off, Wednesday’s game against the New YorkMets figured to be the last time the they would play with NyjerMorgan for an indefinite period. Morgan’s hearing to appeal
his suspensions — seven games for “inappropriate actions” in Philadelphia and eight games for three other separate incidents, including his role in lastWednesday’s brawl with the FloridaMarlins — will come Fridaymorning. The Nationals are expecting
the number of games will be reduced, especially for his incident in Philadelphia. One club source said he is confident the first suspension will be eliminated totally. The Nationals knowMorgan will receive some games off, and they’ll have to find a leadoff hitter and center fielder in the meantime. When Rigglemanmoved
Morgan out of the first spot in the lineup, AdamKennedy hit leadoff for five games. As a leadoff hitter this year, Kennedy is 4 for 26 with two doubles and two walks. Riggleman said Kennedy is a
main candidate to hit leadoff in Morgan’s stead, but he has also explored placing rookie Danny Espinosa in the leadoff spot. Though Espinosa has only hit at the bottomof the order in his nascent career, he hit leadoff and second themajority of his minor league games this season. “I hate to put that on
Espinosa somuch,” Riggleman said. Roger Bernadina will likely
take over in center field, which opens up left field forWillie Harris, KevinMench or Justin Maxwell. IfMaxwell plays, he could
take center, keeping Bernadina in left. In a bit of a twist,Morgan
will begin his suspension against theMarlins. The controversy started Aug.
31, whenMorgan bowled over catcher Brett Hayes, a legal play that separated Hayes’s shoulder and ended his season. The next night, Chris Volstad
drilledMorgan with a pitch, which led toMorgan stealing two bases. TheMarlins took exception and Volstad threw behindMorgan, which led to his charging themound. Riggleman is convinced any
batters hit by Friday’s starters — Josh Johnson and John Lannan — would be coincidence and that any lingering bad blood will not flare up over the weekend. “Yeah, definitely,” Riggleman
said. “I think so.” — AdamKilgore
EZ SU
D5
METS3,NATIONALS2 NEWYORK
Pagan rf.........................5 1 1 Lu.Hernandez 2b...........4 0 2 Beltran cf ......................2 0 1 I.Davis 1b ......................4 0 0 D.Wright 3b ..................4 0 0 Carter lf.........................3 0 0 J.Feliciano lf..................1 0 0 Thole c...........................3 1 1 R.Tejada ss....................3 0 0 Dickey p.........................2 1 2 Duda ph.........................0 0 0 N.Evans ph....................1 0 1 Dessens p......................0 0 0 Parnell p........................0 0 0 P.Feliciano p..................0 0 0 J.Arias ph......................1 0 0 Takahashi p...................0 0 0
TOTALS WASHINGTON 33 3 8
Morgan cf......................4 0 1 Desmond ss...................4 0 1 Zimmerman 3b .............3 0 0 A.Dunn 1b .....................4 0 1 Bernadina lf ..................3 0 0 Alb.Gonzalez ph............1 0 0 Morse rf ........................4 1 1 Espinosa 2b...................4 0 0 W.Ramos c....................3 1 2 Li.Hernandez p..............2 0 0 S.Burnett p ...................0 0 0 W.Harris ph...................1 0 0 Jo.Peralta p...................0 0 0 Storen p ........................0 0 0
TOTALS 33 2 6
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 0 0 .292
1 0 0 .313 1 1 1 .235 0 0 2 .256 0 0 2 .290 0 0 0 .259 0 0 0 .264 0 1 0 .292 0 0 2 .188 0 0 0 .233 0 0 0 .045 1 0 0 .222 0 0 0
0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
0 0 0 .182 0 0 0 .063
3 2 7 —
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 0 1 .256
0 0 0 .286 0 0 0 .298 0 0 0 .268 0 0 0 .262 0 0 0 .284 0 0 1 .297 0 0 1 .409 2 0 0 .231 0 0 0 .115 0 0 0
0 0 0 .192 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .500
NEWYORK............... 002 000 100 — 3 8 WASHINGTON ......... 000 020 000 — 2 6
2 0 3 — 0
1
E:Zimmerman(15). LOB:NewYork 7, Washington 5. 2B: Lu.Hernandez (1), Beltran (10), N.Evans (1), W.Ramos (1). HR:W.Ramos(1), off Dickey. RBI: Lu.Hernandez (5), Beltran (18), N.Evans (1), W.Ramos 2 (2). S: R.Tejada. SF: Beltran.
NEWYORK
Dickey ..........................6 5 2 2 0 1 88 2.91 Dessens .......................1 0 0 0 0 1
Parnell ......................0.2 1 0 0 0 0 10 2.43 P.Feliciano ................0.1 0 0 0 0 0
7 2.96
Takahashi ....................1 0 0 0 0 1 10 3.85 WASHINGTON
Li.Hernandez ............6.1 6 3 3 2 4 95 3.82 S.Burnett..................0.2 1 0 0 0 0 17 2.63 Jo.Peralta ....................1 0 0 0 0 2 19 2.23 Storen..........................1 1 0 0 0 1 10 3.28
WP:Dickey (10-6); LP: Li.Hernandez (9-11); S: Takahashi (5).
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Wilson Ramos connects in the fifth inning offR.A. Dickey, who still picked up a win after theMets scored a run to go ahead in the seventh. Ramos homers, but Nats fall short
Catcher who’s expected to be a centerpiece delivers first blast
BY ADAM KILGORE Wilson Ramos was not sup-
posed to play Wednesday after- noon. A few minutes before the first pitch, he sat at his locker inside the Washington Nation- als clubhouse, unaware that Ivan Rodriguez could not shake a nagging illness. Hitting coach Rick Eckstein approached Ra- mos and stunned him when he said, “You’re in the game.” Ramos’s late entry into the
lineup created amemory for the rookie catcher and provided the Nationals with a way to take their minds off how hopelessly far they are from contention. Two crucial sequences present- ed theNewYorkMetswith a 3-2 victory over the Nationals be- fore 16,002 at Nationals Park, giving New York the series, handing the Nationals their 80th loss and robbing Livan Hernandez of his team-leading 10th win of the year. Ramos, the catcher the Na-
tionals tradedMatt Capps for to make hima part of their future, launched his first career home run, a two-run blast in the fifth inning. But the Nationals could muster no more offense against knuckleballing Mets starter R.A. Dickey. The Nationals real- ly lost the game in the seventh inning, when Sean Burnett made a good pitch to an over-
matched rookie. The ball rolled past Adam Dunn in a place no one guessed it would roll. So it goes for the Nationals. “It’s a game of inches,” Man-
ager Jim Riggleman said. “When you’re winning games, those things go your way.When you’re not winning games, they don’t seemto go your way.” The final run scored after a
Riggleman plan led to what he wanted, and then that led to a bad break. Hernandez was cruising alongwhen the seventh inning began. The Mets’ lone runs had come in the third on three straight hits and a sacri- fice fly, and Hernandez had retired 11 of 14 since. Josh Thole led offwith awalk,
and Ruben Tejada bunted him to second on Hernandez’s 95th pitch.MetsManager JerryMan- uel inserted Lucas Duda, a left- handed call-upwhowas 1 for 22. Switch hitter Angel Pagan stood on deck, and Riggleman did not want Pagan batting left-handed against Hernandez. So Hernan- dez, no matter what, would be done in one batter. Riggleman knew Manuel
would replace Duda with a right-handed pinch-hitter if he summoned the left-handed Bur- nett. That’s exactly what Riggle- man wanted — right-handed batters were hitting .183 against Burnett this season. When Riggleman took the
ball from Hernandez, Manuel pulled back Duda and sent to the plate Nick Evans, another call-up, but a right-handed one. And Burnett overpowered him. Evans sliced three outside fast-
THOMAS BOSWELL Nationals want to be more defensive, so goodbye Adam Dunn boswell from D1
the future, they see golden gloves or spectacular defensive range or powerful arms everywhere they look—and Dunndoesn’t fit thatmodel. TheNats’ 3-2 lossWednesday
was a fine example of the case againstDunn.TheMets’ winning runscored ona smash pastDunnthat good first basemensnag and poor ones knock down.Dunnnever touched it.But theNatsmight have led, 3-2, if they had had better base running inthe previous inning ona base hit— byDunn. TheNats are secondworst in
themajors inerrors and onpace to allow25more unearned runs thanthe league average. If the Natsmaximized their defense, could they save 25 to 40 runs a season? To illustrate,would Pena, age
32,with 26 homers, 78RBI, but a horrid .203 average for theRays, help shortstop IanDesmond and third basemanRyan Zimmerman(46 errors combined) cut their combined throwing errors by 15 to 20 ina season? ThencouldDesmond play out
his career as a rangy shortstop instead of a second basemanby default?Would such improved defense calmthenerves of future pitching staffs? The answer:Nobody knows.
Hitting and pitching have been parsed for 30 years.Analyzing
defense is still largely alchemy. But,with four rookies arriving at once inDesmond,Danny Espinosa,WilsonRamos and RogerBernadina, plus promising draft pickBryce Harper’s arminright field, the Nats are tempted by the rare visionof good to excellent gloves at every position. Fewteams ever have the personnel evento try it. Letme concede there’s a long
shot chance I’mwrong.TheNats andDunnare still ondecent terms, and they should be. In free agency, younever know whomyoumight be dancing withwhenthemusic stops. “Let himmake his decision”
aboutDunn, said principal ownerMarkLerner onTuesday night,nodding towardGeneral ManagerMikeRizzo’s office. Rizzo, his battalionof scouts, other execs, plus statnerds, are making the calls these days. That’s howit should be ona
sane team.Debate, argue. For example, President StanKasten is oftena pro-Dunnvoice internally.But, ultimately, a teamneeds to let its “baseball people”make the key decisions —not the owners, fans ormedia —eventhough those expertswill inevitably bewrong sometimes. My two cents:They’rewrong
this time.Dunn, only 30, is the 40-homer 100-RBImachine that provides a cleanup-hitting bridge to theHarperEra, if there is one.And ifHarper disappoints, orThe Plan crumbles, keepingDunnis akin
to credibility salvationfor a team with a thinfragile fanbase. Dunncould get old fast.But
more likely, because he has 350 homersnow, he’ll retire as one of the top 10 honest home run hitters of all time. The past two years,
Zimmermanhas blossomedwith Dunnhitting behind him.And such a potent 3-4 combomakes theNo. 2 hole intheNats’ order the proverbial “rocking chair,” where a potential future star of your choice,whether it’s Desmond,Espinosa or Bernadina, canget tons of pitches to hit. Besides, one lousy fielder
doesn’t dooma team.Ted Williams practiced his batting stance inleft field, but he played on14winning teams, five .600 teams andwent toGame 7 of a World Series. BecauseDunnis a tape-
measure sluggerwhomightwin theNationalLeague homer crownthis year, and because he is liked by teammates and seen as a latter-day FrankHoward by fans, there’s a tendency to demonize the debate around him. However, it’s a harder and
more interesting problemthan that.Dunn’s value, or lack of it, fascinates thewhole sport because somany threads in current analysis come together inhis case.Much aswe’d like a simple right answer, there probably isn’t one.With hindsight, theNatswill probably
look very right or verywrong. The biggest risk, of course, is
that, inthe free agent game of musical chairs, they don’t end up with a replacement forDunn that they’d relish and end up looking inhousenext spring at JoshWillinghamorMichael Morse.That doesn’t upgrade defense significantly at first base while subtractingDunn’s offense entirely. EvenDunnhimself is almost
as fascinated by the discussion as he is frustrated. “What do I have to do [to stay
here] that I haven’t done?”Dunn saidTuesday. “I get it—the defense, the stat guys.” Then, he added later: “I’msick
of two-year contracts. It’s the same every year [withmid- seasontrade rumors]. I think I’ve proved I deservemore than that.” Inthe case of theNats and
Dunn, the questionisnot about who deserveswhat. It’s about analyzing howtomeasure baseball value. If theNats end up next seasonwith a 30-homer, 90- RBI first basemanwith a special glove thatmakes thewhole infield look better, theywill probably be proved right, evenif Dunnhas another of his 40-100 seasons. But if they don’t,watch out.
Sluggerswho have 350 homers at the age of 30 andwant to play for theNats don’t growontrees. Infact, there’s only one in
existence.Take a (last) good look.
boswellt@washpost.com
balls into the Nationals dugout or crowd at nearly a 90-degree angle, well late with his swing. “He was taking some funky
swings,” Burnett said. Burnett threw a fourth fast-
ball, this one inside, and Evans again swung late. Evans broke his bat and sent the ball down the line, toward first baseman Dunn, which was not a promis- ing development. “A right-handed hitter hitting
a ball against a left-handed pitcher down the first-base line, you might see that two or three times a year,” Riggleman said. “That’s about it.” Dunn stumbled one step,
lunged andwatched the ball roll past, about a foot fromhis glove. Thole cruised home, and Evans motored to second with the go-ahead double. “You don’t see too many bro-
ken-bat, fastballs in down the first-base line,” Burnett said. “I guess when you’re a lefty, any- thing can happen.” The Nationals’ bats stayed
silent for the remainder of the game. They could have broken the game open in the sixth inning, when Dunn laced a single to right field and loaded the bases with one out. But Roger Bernadina popped up to third and Michael Morse fol- lowed with a grounder to short, ending the threat. At least Ramos became the
latest September call-up to take theNationals’minds off howfar they are fromcontending, going 2 for 3 with a double and his first career homer. The Nation- als believe Ramos, 23, will be-
come part of their bedrock, their catcher for years to come, be- cause of his vast and obvious defensive skill. But they also believe his raw strength and easy swing give him the poten- tial to someday clobber home runs like few catchers can. He hit a home run only once every 37.9 at-bats in the minors, but they see him potentially hitting about 20 in a season. “When he swings the bat,”
Riggleman said, “the ball really jumps.” On Wednesday, he showed
why. In his first at-bat, he poked a single up the middle, the Nationals’ first hit off Dickey, and with hustle turned it into a double. When he came to bat a second time in the fifth, the Nationals had only two hits against Dickey, the second a single by Morse two batters earlier. Ramos had rare insight into
Dickey, the 35-year-old who might be the comeback story of the season. Ramos caught Dick- ey during spring training in 2009, when both played in the Twins organization. “Today when I faced him, I
know a little bit how he likes to pitch in different counts,” Ra- mos said. “I was ready for his knuckleball. I never try to pull that ball, because if you try to pull that pitch, it’s a groundball to shortstop, third base for sure. I always try to stay in the middle.” Sure enough, Dickey threw
him two 77-mph knuckleballs. The second stayed up in the strike zone. The ball exploded
Inherited runners-scored: P.Feliciano 1-0, S.Burnett 1-1. HBP: by Dickey (Zimmerman). WP: Dickey.
T: 2:43. A: 16,002 (41,546).
HOWTHEY SCORED METS THIRD
R.Tejada struck out. Dickey singled to center. Pagan singled to center, Dickey to second. Lu.Hernandez doubled to center, Dickey scored, Pagan to third. Beltran hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Bernadina, Pagan scored. I.Davis flied out to left fielder Bernadina.
Mets 2, Nationals 0 NATIONALS FIFTH
Bernadina grounded out, second baseman Lu.Hernandez to first baseman I.Davis. Morse singled to left. Espinosa flied out to center fielder Beltran. W.Ramos homered to center on a 1-0 count, Morse scored. Li.Hernandez fouled out to right fielder Pagan.
Mets 2, Nationals 2 METS SEVENTH
Thole walked on a full count. R.Tejada sacrificed to first baseman A.Dunn, Thole to second. Duda pinch-hitting for Dickey. S.Burnett pitching. N.Evans pinch-hitting for Duda. N.Evans doubled to right, Thole scored. Pagan grounded out, third baseman Zimmerman to first baseman A.Dunn. Lu.Hernandez grounded out, short- stop Desmond to first baseman A.Dunn.
Mets 3, Nationals 2 IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 8 2.21
--- ---
---
NATIONALSONDECK
VS.MARLINS Friday, 7:05(MASN2) Saturday, 1:05(MASN) Sunday, 1:35(WDCW-50, MASN)
ATBRAVES Monday, 7:10(MASN) Tuesday, 7:10(MASN) Wednesday, 12:10(MASN)
ATPHILLIES Sept. 17, 7:05(MASN2) Sept. 18, 7:05(MASN2) Sept. 19, 1:35(WDCW-50, MASN)
Radio:WFED(820AM, 1500AM)
off Ramos’s bat and over the center field fence, onto the grassy berm beyond the wall. The first home run of his career had tied the score at 2. The Nationals could savor Ramos’s first homer even as they ab- sorbed the familiar feeling of another loss. “I’m excited I hit the home
run,” Ramos said. “I’m not too excited, because we lost.”
kilgorea@washpost.com
Swisher’s homer ruins Orioles’ shot at a sweep
Baltimore’s win streak with walk-off in ninth
BY JEFF ZREBIEC
new york — The final image to what had been the most uplifting stretch of the season was Orioles closer Koji Uehara staring out to left field, his back to theNewYork Yankees gathered at home plate awaiting Nick Swisher’s arrival. The Orioles were just two outs
away from ending a series where they had outplayed the reigning world champions in every facet with a five-game winning streak and their first three-game sweep in the Bronx since June 1986. But Swisher deposited a Ue-
hara fastball into the visiting bull- pen, the two-run, game-ending shot sending New York to a 3-2 victoryWednesday in front of an announced 44,163 at Yankee Sta- dium,andavoiding ahomesweep to the team with the worst record in the American League. “Thatwastheonething Ididn’t
want to give up, a home run,” Uehara said through his inter- preter, Jiwon Bang. “I’m not feeling good about it.” Uehara was 7 for 7 in save
opportunities when Manager Buck Showalter summoned him from the bullpen and asked him to protect a 2-1 lead. Alex Rodri- guez lined Uehara’s first pitch of the inning to left field for a single.
Yankees snap
After retiring RobinsonCanoona deep flyball, Uehara fell behind 2-0 to Swisher, who sent an 88 mph fastball the opposite way and over the left-field wall. It was his 26th home run of the season and the third game-ending hom- er of his career. “Walk-offs are always rough,”
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts said. “It’s never the way that youwantto end, but as I said, you tip your hat. Alex gets a base hit and Koji is throwing strikes like he always does and Nick hits a good pitch the other way for a home run. You don’t like to lose, but if you’re going to lose, that’s good baseball.” The loss marked the sixth time
this season the Orioles (53-87) came up short in their quest to run a winning streak to five games. They also failed to win a sixth straight road game, which would have been their longest such streak since 2004. Showalter, now 21-14 at the
helm of the club, has said several times that the Orioles cannot be satisfied with just winning series, but he did applaud his players for beating the Yankees in two out of three games and taking a lead into the ninth. “Believe me, I’mnot some cur-
mudgeon that doesn’t under- stand reality,” said Showalter. “You know, I’m proud of them. They competed their butt off and were a couple outs away. This one stings a little bit when you think about what could have been.” —Baltimore Sun
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98