SUNDAY, AUGUST8, 2010
KLMNO BASEBALL
Nationals Journal Excerpts from
washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal
Will teams keep pitching to Dunn? Adam Dunn continued his
home-run rampage in the win over the Dodgers on Friday night, launching two more to give him 30 for the season and 13 in the past 26 games. Dunn circling the bases has become a familiar sight, but the Nationals will have to hope another scene does not happen with the same frequency— Dunn at the plate with the catcher standing up behind him, his mitt extended to signal an intentional walk. While Dunn has been
scorching, Josh Willingham has been slumping behind him and providing little incentive to pitch to Dunn. Friday night, after Dunn had blasted two home runs in his first three at- bats, the Dodgers intentionally walked him with first base open in his last two at-bats. Willingham seemed to be
coming out of his post-break funk when he went 4 for 7 with a double and a walk in the first two games in Arizona. Willingham also had two walks since theNationals came west. But his power has oddly dried up.He has not hit a home run in his last 93 at-bats, and since the break his only four extra- base hits in 68 at-bats have been doubles. Willingham’s ability to get
on base and hit for power made him a crucial factor in the Nationals’—and Dunn’s— offensive success in the first half. Dunn is as hot as can be, and Willingham has fallen into his first rough patch of the season. Though Willingham remains a threat, his current slump may persuade opposing managers to pass on pitching to Dunn.
NATIONALSONDECK
AT DODGERS Sunday, 4:10 (WDCW Channel 50, MASN2)
VS. MARLINS Tuesday, 7:05 (MASN2) Wednesday, 7:05 (MASN2) Thursday, 7:05 (MASN2)
VS. DIAMONDBACKS Friday, 7:05 (MASN2) Aug. 14, 7:05 (MASN) Aug. 15, 1:35 (WDCW Channel 50, MASN)
Radio: WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
Burnett chips in The attention fell on Drew
Storen Friday as he earned his first career save, but he would not have had the chance at the milestone without the continued strong performance of Sean Burnett, the most effective and important reliever sinceMatt Capps was sent to theMinnesota Twins. Burnett retired all five batters he faced in just 22 pitches. Since theNationals
weakened their bullpen by trading Capps, Burnett has allowed one earned run in 4 2/3 innings on no hits and a walk. That one run scored after Burnett had left the game with a runner on base. Burnett has retired the past 12 batters he’s faced, and his ERA for the season is down to 2.68. . . . Stephen Strasburg threwa
routine bullpen session Saturday and threw“really good,”Manager Jim Riggleman said.
Strasburg threwa typical
allotment of pitches, back on his normal routine in preparation for Tuesday night, his first start since he went on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.
—Adam Kilgore
Nats’ first baseman has career-high 6 RBI in 6-3 win over Dodgers
BY ADAM KILGORE los angeles—TheWashing-
ton Nationals have many factors, both subtle and obvious, to con- sider in determining Adam Dunn’s future with the franchise. Friday night at Dodgers Stadium, Dunn laid out the most obvious, the one fact that trumps all the others. Simply, he can bash home runs into orbit like fewmenalive. The Adam Dunn Show rolled
on as the Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3, before 39,153. Dunn launched two gar- gantuan, three-run home runs in the first three innings off Clayton Kershaw, who not allowed any team multiple home runs in a game in 23 starts. Dunn’s two bombs and career-
high six RBI further validated him as perhaps the hottest slug- ger in baseball. While John Lan- nanearnedhis firstwinsinceMay 28 and Drew Storen earned his first career save, Dunn became the firstNational League hitter to reach 30 home runs, a plateau he hit for the seventh straight year that puts him two clear of second place. The final two months of the
season will offer scantmeaningin the standings, but Dunn will at least provide a chase of his own. No Nationals player has led the league in one of the three Triple Crown categories since baseball returned toD.C.Dunn’s pursuit of the NL home-run crown will pro- vide Washington fans something worthy to follow, not to mention a reason to become intimately fa- miliar with the box scores of Al- bert Pujols and JoeyVotto. “What he did out there today,
that’s really some big stuff,”Man- ager Jim Riggleman said. “You’re not going to see that too often againstKershaw.Adam,he’s justa special guy. It’s a special,God-giv- en talent.” Dunn’s performance Friday
night – which had Dodgers fans booing the intentional walk re- lieverKenley Jansen issuedDunn in the seventh inning – extended his second-half home run binge. On Wednesday, he smoked two home runs and drove in four runs in Arizona. He has eight home runs in the Nationals’ 21 games since the all-star break. His recent tearandthegrindof
the season has made it easy to forget Dunn did not hit a home run in his first 25 at-bats this season. He has blasted one per every 12.2 at-bats since. As a ca- reer rate, would rank behind only Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth. Since July 7, Dunn has hit a home run once every 7.15 at-bats. “That’s kind ofhowhomeruns
come for me,” Dunn said. “They come in bunches. I’ll go three weeks and not hit one. That’s just the story ofmy life.” It will also help his case that he
ROSS D. FRANKLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sean Burnett gets a deserved hug from Iván Rodríguez after Burnett retired the five batters he faced Friday on 22 pitches.
FRIDAY’SLATEGAME Jones helps Orioles get another win, improve to 4-0 under Showalter BY JEFF ZREBIEC After spending the better part
of three months finding ways to lose, the Orioles and their new manager suddenly can’t seem to lose.
AdamJones’s two-out single to
left off Tony Pena in the 10th inning gave the Orioles a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox before an announced 19,687 at Camden Yards on Friday night. It was the Orioles’ fourth
straight victory under Manager Buck Showalter and the second night in a row where they won in their final at-bat. “It’s always fun when you are
winning,” said right fielder Nick Markakis, who had a season-high four hits. “Whenyou’re losing, it’s not fun at all. It was a good game on both sides and we pulled it out. That’s the way we like to end it.”
When Markakis scored easily
from third base on Jones’s hit, the Orioles (36-73) poured out of the dugout to celebrate another dra- matic victory. Brad Bergesen had his second
straight strong start, allowing just one run on Gordon Beck- ham’s third-inning homer and five hits over seven innings. In his
ROB CARR/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Orioles’ Adam Jones, center, celebrates his game-winning single in the 10th inning Friday night. His outing last night gave the
last two starts, Bergesen has sur- rendered just three earned runs in 14 innings and gave the Orioles their fourth straight quality start.
Orioles their fourth straight qual- ity start, the first time all season the rotation has accomplished
Showalter said: “That’s always a challenge.We played a team that is trying to get back into it in the West and we’re playing a team that is winning the Central to- night.” White Sox Manager Ozzie
Guillen was hardly surprised that the Orioles got off to a good starter under Showalter. “Those guys are going to play
better for him for some reason. Buck is the type of guy who demands players, day in and day out, to play good baseball,” Guil- len said. The Orioles’ first three batters
hit singles off White Sox starter John Danks. Brian Roberts got it started with an infield single and thenMarkakis lined a base hit to right field. Ty Wigginton scored Roberts with a single to left field. That left the Orioles with run-
that feat. Asked about the Orioles main-
taining the energy level that they showed in the Angels’ series,
ners on first and second with no outs against Danks, who had won four of his last five starts. Danks, however, pitched out of it, strik- ing out Luke Scott and then retiring Jones and Julio Lugo on flyouts. While the offense was being contained by Danks, Bergesen was doing his part and building off his previous outing in which he held the Kansas City Royals to twoearned runs and five hits over
seven innings. Bergesen allowed base run-
ners in each of the first innings, but he was only hurt by one pitch, a 2-1 sinker that No.9 hitter Gor- don Beckham belted in the left field seats. Mark Kotsay doubled off Bergesen in the fourth before the Orioles’ right hander retired Alexei Ramirez to end the inning and keep the score tied at 1, and it stayed that way through the top of the fifth.
—The Baltimore Sun
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should be paid handsomely, and for several seasons, by any team that wants his services. Dunn will be a free agent this offseason, and both he and the Nationals have expressed their desire for the slugger to remain inWashington. As of the trade deadline, Dunn’s
DANNY MOLOSHOK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
TheNationals' Adam Dunn hits the first of his two three-run home runs against the Dodgers Friday. NATIONALS6,DODGERS3
asking price was $60 million for four years. If anything, it has only gone up. In his first at-bat, Dunn came
to the plate following Ian Des- mond’s infield single and Ryan Zimmerman’s walk. Kershaw is one of thegame’s best left-handed pitchers, but Dunn should have felt comfortable against him – Dunn entered the game 5 for 8 with two doubles and a homer against the 22-year-old. But in fact, he did not. “He’s not one ofmy top to face,
I can tell you that,” Dunn said. “I mean, look at his numbers. He’s really, really good. And then he’s —Idon’t evenknowhowoldheis. Twelve?Thirteen?He’s only going to get better.” Kershawfed him a 3-2 fastball,
and Dunn turned it on with the force of a freight train. On Wednesday, one of Dunn’s home runs flew out over the right-field foul pole, and afterward Dunn said he had never done before. This one came close. “I hit the same ball,” Dunn said. Dunn again contorted his body to push it fair. The ball hooked inside the pole and smacked off the cement of the upper deck. The ball trav- eled an estimated 460 feet, and theNationals led 3-0. Dunn’s second home run
couldn’tmatch the first’s majesty, but it did the samedamage on the scoreboard. Desmond led off the third with a walk and Zimmer- man followed with a single. Ker- shawtriedan0-1 slider,andDunn lined to right, the ball crashing into the foul pole. The Nationals led 6-0 and Dunn had hit his secondandthirdhomersthis year withtwoormorerunnersonbase. “Pure luck,” Dunn said. “It was
a great pitch. It was a terrible swing. My [butt] was out. I just put the barrel to it.” In his second start since re-
turning from Class AA Harris- burg, Lannan stumbled for one inning but otherwise asserted himselfagainasmajorleague-cal- iber starter. Lannan allowed three runs – two earned – in six innings on five hits and two walks. Lannan allowed all his runs in the fourth, the big blow a
two-run homer by Andre Ethier. Lannan was not at his best.He
induced eight groundball outs to seven flyball outs, a lower ratio than he would prefer. But he made his best pitches at the right time, getting a double play from Matt Kemp with two on and one out in the first. At one point, he retired eight Dodgers in a row. “I made some pitches when I
needed to,” Lannan said. WhileLannan pitched into the
sixth, Storen began feeling anx- ious in the bullpen. With the Na- tionals up three, he could sense a save situation, a chance for a first forming. “I started thinking a lit- tle bit,” Storen said. “Ihadto try to shut my mind off. I just started fidgeting around out there.” Sean Burnett’s 12/3
Friday’s game WASHINGTON
Maxwell cf ....................4 0 0 Desmond ss...................3 2 2 Zimmerman 3b .............4 2 1 A.Dunn 1b .....................3 2 2 Storen p ........................0 0 0 Willingham lf ................4 0 1 S.Burnett p ...................0 0 0 A.Kennedy ph-1b ..........1 0 0 Morse rf ........................4 0 1 Bernadina rf ..................0 0 0 I.Rodriguez c .................3 0 1 Alb.Gonzalez 2b............4 0 1 Lannan p........................3 0 0 Clippard p ......................0 0 0 W.Harris lf ....................1 0 0
TOTALS L.A.
34 6 9 perfect in-
nings brought the Nationals to the ninth, and in came Storen, a chance for a milestone. In the morning, he had gone on Jim Rome’s radio show in studio, a long-time dream. (Storen’s father hosts a sports-talk radio show.) At night, he bettered that experi- ence. He induced a grounder to short by James Loney and a soft liner to short by Casey Blake. After he walked Jamey Carroll, Storen got Rafael Belliard to ground out to Adam Kennedy at first to end the game. Riggleman signed his name
below a note of congratulations for Storen on the lineup card. The game ball rested in Storen’s lock-
er. He planned for catcher Iván Rodríguez to sign it. “Idon’t think you could write a
better script for that,” Storen said. “Ifyouwereto toldmeIwasgoing to get, one, a save in the big leagues and, two, to have Pudge catch it, there’s no chance I would have believed you.” Before Storen’s moment, the
most eye-raising action occurred away from the field. For a couple innings, General Manager Mike Rizzo sat behind home plate, next to super-agent Scott Boras, the advisor to first overall draft pick BryceHarper.Theychatted–ami- ably, it seemed – as Boras sipped coffee with his feet on the railing. Rizzo will deal with signing Harper in the 10 days between
Podsednik lf ..................4 0 1 Theriot 2b......................3 1 2 Ethier rf.........................4 1 1 Kemp cf .........................4 0 0 Loney 1b........................3 1 0 Blake 3b ........................4 0 1 J.Carroll ss ....................2 0 0 Ausmus c ......................3 0 0 Belliard ph.....................1 0 0 Kershaw p .....................2 0 0 Jansen p........................0 0 0 G.Anderson ph ..............1 0 0 Troncoso p.....................0 0 0 Sherrill p .......................0 0 0
TOTALS 31 3 5
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 1 4 .095
0 1 0 .263 0 1 2 .300 6 2 1 .280 0 0 0 .500 0 0 1 .269 0 0 0
0 0 1 .261 0 0 1 .327 0 0 0 .277 0 0 0 .264 0 0 0 .294 0 0 3 .069 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 .182
6 5 13 —
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 0 2 .194
0 1 0 .284 2 0 0 .299 0 0 0 .262 0 1 0 .286 1 0 0 .249 0 2 0 .277 0 0 2 .188 0 0 0 .216 0 0 0 .050 0 0 0
0 0 0 .181 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
WASHINGTON ......... 303 000 000 — 6 9 L.A. ........................... 000 300 000 — 3 5
3 4 4 — 0
0
LOB: Washington 8, Los Angeles 5. HR: A.Dunn 2 (30), off Kershaw 2; Ethier (18), off Lannan. RBI: A.Dunn 6 (77), Ethier 2 (63), Blake (42). SB: Maxwell (4), Desmond (10). S: Desmond, I.Rodriguez.
DP: Washington 1 (Desmond, Alb.Gonzalez, A.Dunn). WASHINGTON
Lannan (W, 3-5) ......6 L.A.
Kershaw (L, 10-7)....6 Jansen......................1
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 5 3 2 2 2 92 5.44
Clippard........................1 0 0 0 1 1 11 3.38 S.Burnett..................1.2 0 0 0 0 1 22 2.68 Storen (S, 1)............1
7 6 6 2 9 107 3.19 0 0 0 2 1 21 0.00
Troncoso ...................1.2 2 0 0 1 2 28 4.93 Sherrill.........................1 0 0 0 0 1
9 6.58
Inherited runners-scored: S.Burnett 1-0, Sherrill 2-0. IBB: off Troncoso (A.Dunn), off Jansen (A.Dunn). WP: Troncoso. PB: I.Rodriguez.
T: 3:03. A: 39,153 (56,000).
HOWTHEY SCORED NATIONALS FIRST
Maxwell struck out. Desmond infield single to second. Zimmerman walked, Desmond to second. A.Dunn hom- ered to right on a full count, Desmond scored, Zimmer- man scored. Willingham grounded out, second baseman Theriot to first baseman Loney. Morse struck out. Nationals 3, Dodgers 0
NATIONALS THIRD
Desmond walked. Zimmerman singled to right, Des- mondto second. A.Dunn homered to right on a 0-1 count, Desmondscored,Zimmermanscored. Willingham struck out. Morse flied out to right fielder Ethier. I.Rodriguez grounded out, second baseman Theriot to first baseman Loney. Nationals 6, Dodgers 0
DODGERS FOURTH
Theriot singled to right. Ethier homered to center on a 0-0 count, Theriot scored. Kemp flied out to center fielder Maxwell. Loney walked. On I.Rodriguez’s passed ball, Loney to second. Blake singled to left, Loney scored. J.Carroll lined out to third baseman Zimmerman. Aus- mus grounded out, third baseman Zimmerman to first baseman A.Dunn. Nationals 6, Dodgers 3
nowandthe deadline.He also has other concerns, like how to en- sure he keeps one of the best home run hitters on the planet.
kilgorea@washpost.com
0 0 0 1 0 16 2.31 IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
FRIDAY’SLATEGAME Dunn’s power is the difference
EZ
SU
D3
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