FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010
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Nationals Journal 6Excerpts from
voices.washingtonpost.com/nationals journal
Harper’s teammate has all good words TylerHanks probably has
more insight into first overall pick BryceHarper than anyone in the Nationals organization. Hanks, a 17th-round choice currently pitching like one of the more promisingmembers of the Nationals’ 2010 draft class, played withHarper this past season, serving as the closer for the College of Southern Nevada. Hanks cherished playing with
Harper— “I love the kid to death,” he said— and he firmly believes it won’t be long before they’re teammates again. Is there any chance,Hanks
was asked this afternoon, that Harper goes back to school? “Hell, no,”Hanks said. “You
don’t take your GED and show everybody that you’re ready to play this game, ready tomove up, so you can go back to school.” Harper, who left high school a
year early to attend CSN this past season, has enrolled in classes at CSN, which is standard procedure for draft picks who are in negotiations. The Nationalsmust signHarper, 17, before the deadline at midnight onMonday, or they’ll lose out on the reigning Golden Spikes Award winner, one of the most prolific power-hitting prodigies in history. Hanks has not spoken with
Harper since about a week after the June 7 draft, and he was simply offering his opinion. Having played withHarper and come to know him,Hanks feels Harper is biding his time in order to rest after a stressful season, not to drive up the Nationals’ price. “He better be a damn
National,”Hanks said. “I don’t think it’s themoney.Hismom and dad have goodmoney. For $10million, you could live the rest of your life on that. I think he’s waiting until the end of the
Indians put a halt to Orioles’ streak
Baltimore stymied by Cleveland rookie Gomez in 4-1 defeat
BY JEFF ZREBIEC
cleveland — There was bound to be a day undermanag- er Buck Showalter where the Baltimore Orioles showed little spark and were shut down by a pitcher that they figured to han- dle.
Still, Thursday screamed of a
missed opportunity to win five straight games for the first time all season, to sweep their first three-game series in Cleveland since 1987 and to take another step toward securing their first winning road trip in 2010. Veteran starter Kevin Mill-
woodmostly did his part, allow- ing three runs over seven in- nings tocontinue the fine runby a resurgent rotation. However, the Orioles were shut down by youngster Jeanmar Gomez and two Indians’ relievers in a 4-1 lossbefore anannounced14,533 at Progressive Field. Gomez,a22-year-oldmaking
just his fourth big league start, allowedjust one runandsixhits insix-plus innings to improve to 3-0 on the season. Lefty special- ist Rafael Perez retired all six batters that he faced and Chris Perez picked up his 14th save by pitching a perfect ninth. TheOrioles scored their only
run on Ty Wigginton’s RBI sin- gle in the sixth inning. After pounding out 13 hits in each of the first two games of the series, the Orioles (40-75) put only two men in scoring position the en- tire night. It was just the Orioles’ sec-
ond loss in 10 games under Showalter, and the first one in which they never had a lead. With a victory, Showalterwould have tied Davey Johnson (1996) for the best 10-game start as manager for the Orioles. It was also the fourth time this season they failed to extend a winning
streak to five games. Millwood allowed single
runs in the first and second in- ning before settling down to get through seven innings for the first timein14starts.Heallowed ninehits,walkedabatterandhit a batter in becoming the Ameri- can League’s first 12-game loser. Millwood was coming off ar-
guably his best start in three monthswhenheheldtheChica- goWhite Sox to one run on four hits over six innings in a game that was eventually blown by theOrioles’ bullpen. One of the keys to that effort
was escaping the first inning unscathed, no small task for the veteran right-hander, who hadn’tputupa zero inthe open- ing stanza since June 30untilhe did it against theWhite Sox.He entered last night having al- lowed at least two first-inning runs in 11 of his last 13 starts. Overall, he had surrendered 34 first-inning runs during that span. The Orioles’ hope that Mill-
wood had moved beyond the first-inning struggles after his last outing died last night as he allowed singles to the first two batters. Millwood did retire Shin-SooChooandShelleyDun- can before Trevor Crowe plated the game’s first run with an in- field single. Shortstop César Iz- turis fielded the ball cleanly in the hole, but first base umpire Brian O’Nora ruled that Crowe hadbeatenthe throw,drawing a brief argument fromShowalter. Millwood allowed the one
first-inning run on three hits, thoughhis early-game struggles didn’t end there. Jason Donald led off the second with an RBI single and then Andy Marte lined a double down the left- field line, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Indians catcher LouMarson hit a slowroller that Josh Bell field- ed at third base, but he had no choice other thanto take the out at first and allowa run to score. —TheBaltimore Sun
No. 1 with opinion leaders
deadline to rest, to take time off. I know that he’s probably taking his hacks. I just think, honestly, he’s just taking his time off.How can you get your GED and do all that and not sign? I honestly think he’s just taking a rest.” The Nationals and Scott
Boras,Harper’s high-profile representative, have yet to engage in final negotiations aboutHarper, but top picks rarely sign untilminutes before the deadline. Surely, the sides have spoken. On Friday night in Los Angeles, as the Nationals played the Dodgers, Nationals GeneralManagerMike Rizzo sat next to Boras for several innings behind home plate at Dodger Stadium.
Willinghamstill sore Nationals left fielder Josh
Willingham, out of the lineup Thursday for the second straight game, acknowledged he has been limited on the field by the
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soreness in his left knee and said itmay require surgery this offseason. Willinghamsaid he wouldn’t
use his knee as an excuse for his recent slump— which includes a homerless streak dating from July 2 and a .192 batting average and .525 OPS since the all-star break— but said he has been limited by the injury, which he said is in the cartilage of his knee. Asked if it could require surgery after the season, Willinghamsaid, “Possibly.” The knee first began
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Left fielder Josh Willingham says the soreness in his left knee has limited him on the field and itmay require surgery this offseason.
botheringWillinghamin April, but the pain eventually died down, only to resurface about two weeks ago on an awkward slide into third base. “We probably should have
Did you know? TheWashington Post is printed using recycled fiber. NF407 4x.5
given hima game [off ] back then, and didn’t,”Manager Jim Riggleman said. “It got to this point where he’s shown a little wear and tear on it.” —AdamKilgore
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Indians third baseman AndyMarte’s throw to first base fails to beat Adam Jones, but the O’s win streak ended at four games.
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