SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
KLMNO BASEBALL
Nationals Journal
voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal Riggleman likely
to remainmanager The Nationals have yet to
make a public declaration aboutManager Jim Riggleman’s status for 2011, but there are strong indications emerging fromthe organization that Riggleman, 95-127 since taking over midway through last season, will return for his second full season asWashington’s manager. “We haven’t announced a final call, but we’vemade a definite decision,” GeneralManager Mike Rizzo said Saturday night. “We haven’tmade an
announcement to himor to the public.” Rizzo was asked if the fact
that Riggleman remained the manager at this point could be read into. “Yeah,” Rizzo said. “That’s something you could read into.” Riggleman signed a two-
year deal this past offseason in a strict legal sense, but in reality his contract ismore tenuous. Rigglemanmade $600,000
this season. The Nationals can buy himout of that contract at the end of the season for $100,000, and even $700,000 — the total of Riggleman’s 2010 salary and a potential buyout — is less than a typical major leaguemanagermakes in a season. The Nationals would need
to informRiggleman they are buying himout of his contract by the day after the finish of theWorld Series, according to
a source with knowledge of Riggleman’s agreement. But it appears almost certain the Nationals will not exercise the option and instead keep Riggleman. “I think he’s done a good
job,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “I think we’ve all had a
good time playing for him. It’s not one of those things that’s up to us.Whatever happens, happens. I think Jim’s done a really good job with what he’s been asked to do with what he’s got here. I’ve got nothing bad to say about him. “All the good teams usually
have one guy that’s there for a long time. Having consistency in that position definitely helps.” Riggleman hasmanaged
through a tumultuous season, especially for his pitching staff. The Nationals have used 14 starting pitchers,most in themajor leagues. Stephen Strasburg, a
temporary staff savior,made only 12 starts because of injuries. Even before Strasburg pitched, Riggleman impressed the Nationals with how he handled everything surrounding the pitcher’s immensely hyped arrival in themajors. “The whole circus of
Strasburg leading up throughout the season, that wasmanagement,” Rizzo said. “There was a lot of management that he had to do to get through that. I think he kept everybody at their best while that was going on.” — AdamKilgore
Sabathia wins 20th at Orioles’ expense
fifth straight season BY JEFF ZREBIEC
baltimore — When the Ori- oles beat CC Sabathia 11 days earlier, they talked about the importance of not only snap- ping his 21-start home unbeat- en streak, but not being the team to give him his 20th win. They were powerless to avoid
that indignity again as Sabathia threw seven strong innings to become the majors first 20- game winner and the Yankees knocked around Jeremy Guth- rie to secure an 11-3 victory in front of an announced 48,775 at Camden Yards. Losers of back-to-back games for the first time since they lost
Baltimore reaches 90-loss mark for
three straight from Sept. 1-3, the Orioles reached the 90-loss mark for the fifth straight sea- son. They will try to avoid the series sweep this afternoon with rookie Chris Tillman on the mound. The second largest crowd
this season and the first sellout since Opening Day didn’t have to wait — or fret in the case of the outnumbered Oriole fans — over any late-game heroics as they did Friday when Alex Ro- driguez’s three-run homer off Koji Uehara pushed the Yan- kees to the come-from-behind win. The Yankees jumped on
Guthrie for two runs in the first inning and just kept tacking on runs with the final blow being delivered byCurtisGranderson, who connected for a three-run homer off Rick VandenHurk in the top of the ninth. —Baltimore Sun
EZ SU
D3
Phillies blast three home runs to beat Zimmermann, Nationals
BY ADAM KILGORE
philadelphia — In his latest chance to fully establish himself back in the major leagues, Jordan Zimmermann spent a significant portion of his short night turning around and looking up. He walked on the mound Saturday night at Citizens Bank Ballpark hoping he could recapture some of his brilliance. He walked off after offering another reminder it is not easy to pick up where you left off a year ago. Zimmermannfeels the same as
he did before Tommy John sur- gery, and he has already shown himself capable of the same dom- inance he flashed last year. But, in the Washington Nationals’ 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies before 45,222, Zimmermann en- countered a small ballpark, a tor- rid lineup and upsetting— if not understandable— results. Zimmermannlasted only three
innings and allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk. He struck out three Phillies, all of them swinging at sharp-breaking cur- veballs. His downfall was three home runs, all of them launched over the short porch in Citizens BankBallpark’s left field, a practi- cal joke on pitchers. By the time Jayson Werth,
Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez had hit home runs to left and Zimmermann had exited the game, his ERA through five starts rose to 6.75. Zimmermann has been excellent — against the FloridaMarlins,hefaced themin- imum and allowed one hit over six innings. In every other start, though, ineffectiveness and/or in- efficiency has stuffed his allot- ment of pitches into just three or four innings. The night began with such
promise for the Nationals. They were facing Kyle Kendrick, the Phillies’ right-handed starter, for the fourth time. After the first three meetings, Kendrick had a 12.71 ERA against the Nationals while allowing a 1.129 on-base percentage plus slugging per- centage.Danny Espinosa ripped a single up the middle to lead off the game, snapping a 3-for-31 slump. Ian Desmond followed with a triple to the right field corner, and the Nationals led 1-0. When Kendrick hit Ryan Zim- merman with a pitch, theNation- als had a first-and-third, no-outs rally brewing, Kendrick on the ropes again. It fizzledwhenAdam Dunn and Roger Bernadina struck out. Michael Morse then walked to load the bases with two outs. Wilson Ramos grounded to second, though, and ended the rally with minimal results. Ramos, the rookie catcher the
Nationals acquired for closer Matt Capps, atoned in the bottom of the first when he gunned down Shane Victorino trying to steal second. Victorino timed his jump perfectly, but Ramos earned the
PHILLIES5,NATIONALS2 WASHINGTON
Espinosa 2b...................5 1 1 Desmond ss...................5 0 1 Zimmerman 3b .............3 1 1 A.Dunn 1b .....................3 0 0 Bernadina lf-cf ..............3 0 0 Morse rf ........................3 0 2 W.Ramos c....................4 0 1 Maxwell cf ....................2 0 0 W.Harris ph-lf...............1 0 0 Zimmermann p .............1 0 1 Stammen p....................0 0 0 A.Kennedy ph................1 0 0 Detwiler p .....................0 0 0 Alb.Gonzalez ph............1 0 0 Clippard p ......................0 0 0 Balester p......................0 0 0 Mench ph.......................1 0 0
TOTALS PHILA.
33 2 7
Victorino cf ...................4 0 2 Polanco 3b.....................5 0 0 Utley 2b.........................3 1 1 Howard 1b.....................2 1 1 Werth rf ........................4 1 1 Ibanez lf ........................4 2 3 C.Ruiz c..........................4 0 1 W.Valdez ss ..................4 0 3 K.Kendrick p..................2 0 0 B.Francisco ph...............1 0 0 Durbin p.........................0 0 0 Madson p.......................0 0 0 Gload ph ........................1 0 0 Lidge p...........................0 0 0
TOTALS 34 5 12
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 0 1 .250
1 0 0 .278 0 0 0 .308 0 1 1 .262 0 1 1 .255 1 1 0 .295 0 0 0 .259 0 0 1 .141 0 1 1 .183 0 0 0 .167 0 0 0 .237 0 0 0 .249 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 .274 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0
0 0 0 .158 2 4 6 —
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 1 1 .268
0 0 0 .297 0 1 0 .272 2 2 1 .280 1 0 0 .289 1 0 0 .272 0 0 0 .299 1 0 0 .260 0 0 1 .085 0 0 0 .255 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .286 0 0 0
WASHINGTON ......... 100 001 000 — 2 7 PHILA........................ 023 000 00X — 5 12
5 4 3 — 0
0
LOB:Washington 9, Philadelphia 9.2B:Zimmerman (30), W.Valdez 2 (14).3B:Desmond (4).HR:Werth (23), off Zimmermann; Howard (30), off Zimmermann; Ibanez (15), off Zimmermann.RBI:Desmond (60), Morse (31), Howard 2 (102), Werth (73), Ibanez (75), W.Valdez (33).CS:Victorino (5).
GIDP:Maxwell, Polanco.
DP:Washington 1 (Desmond, Espinosa, A.Dunn); Phila- delphia 1 (Utley, Howard). WASHINGTON
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Zimmermann...............3 9 5 5 1 3 76 6.75 Stammen.....................1 0 0 0 0 0 12 5.34 Detwiler.......................2 2 0 0 1 0 30 2.37 Clippard........................1 0 0 0 1 0 15 2.94 Balester .......................1 1 0 0 1 0 15 2.57
PHILA. IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
K.Kendrick ...................6 6 2 2 1 3 93 4.78 Durbin ..........................1 0 0 0 1 2 19 3.86 Madson........................1 1 0 0 2 1 28 2.42 Lidge ............................1 0 0 0 0 0
8 3.40
WP: K.Kendrick (10-9);LP: Zimmermann (0-2);S: Lidge (23).
HBP:by K.Kendrick (Zimmerman).WP:Balester. T:2:58.A:45,222 (43,651).
MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fans reach for a home run by Philadelphia’s JaysonWerth in the second inning of the Phillies’ 5-2 victory over theNationals.
first caught-stealing of his career. Judging by the howitzer strength of his right arm, many more will follow. Soon after, the Phillies com-
menced their trouncing of Zim- mermann. Werth led off the sec- ond by smashing a flat, 3-2 slider to left field, an obvious home run from the time it left his bat. The Phillies followed with three more hard hits, capped by Wilson Val- dez’s RBI double. Zimmermannsettled with con-
secutive strikeouts, both on his curveball, and a grounder to short. He found more trouble in the third. Chase Utley walked to lead off the inning.Howard jolted a drive to left. In most parks, it might have been a double or an out. Here, it eked over the fence and into a row of planted flowers. Two batters later, Ibanez added a similar blast, giving the Phillies a 5-1 lead. A night after throwing seven
innings, the Nationals bullpen submitted another exhaustive and quality effort. Craig Stam- men, Ross Detwiler, Tyler Clip- pard and Collin Balester held the Phillies scoreless for five innings and actually allowed for a glim-
mer of a comeback. The Nationals sent the go-
ahead to the plate twice in the eighth, when Ryan Madson walkedDunnandBernadina with one out. Morse followed with an infield single to third base. The Nationals had the bases loaded and a chance to hand the Phillies a setback in their pursuit of the National League East title. Ramos, again, had a chance
with the bases loaded.He roped a line drive to left field, but Ibanez sprinted in several steps and made the catch, nowhere near far enough for Dunn to tag up from third. Willie Harris, who had en- tered the inning before as a pinch-hitter for Justin Maxwell, struck out swinging through an 84-mph changeup. Madson had escaped, and the Nationals had left the bases loaded again. Zimmermannhad long depart-
ed by that point. By next season, he might be pitching deep into games and consistently shutting down opponents. After such a long wait, Zimmermann has only discovered that will take more time.
kilgorea@washpost.com
HOWTHEY SCORED NATIONALS FIRST
Espinosa singled to center. Desmond tripled to right, Espinosa scored. Zimmerman was hit by a pitch. A.Dunn struck out. Bernadina struck out. Morse walked on a full count, Zimmerman to second. W.Ramos grounded out, second baseman Utley to first baseman Howard.
Nationals 1, Phillies 0 PHILLIES SECOND
Werth homered to left on a full count. Ibanez singled to center. C.Ruiz singled to center, Ibanez to second. W.Valdez doubled to left, Ibanez scored, C.Ruiz to third. K.Kendrick struck out. Victorino struck out. Polanco grounded out, shortstop Desmond to first baseman A.Dunn.
Phillies 2, Nationals 1 PHILLIES THIRD
Utley walked. Howard homered to left on a 1-1 count, Utley scored. Werth lined out to first baseman A.Dunn. Ibanez homered to left on a 3-1 count. C.Ruiz flied out to right fielder Morse. W.Valdez doubled to right. K.Kend- rick popped out to shortstop Desmond.
Phillies 5, Nationals 1 NATIONALS SIXTH
Zimmerman doubled to left. A.Dunn fouled out to third baseman Polanco. Bernadina lined out to second base- man Utley. Morse singled to left, Zimmerman scored. W.Ramos flied out to right fielder Werth.
Phillies 5, Nationals 2 ---
---
NATIONALSONDECK
ATPHILLIES Sunday, 1:35(WDCW-50, MASN)
VS.ASTROS Monday, 7:05(MASN2) Tuesday, 7:05(MASN2) Wednesday, 7:05(MASN2) Thursday,4:35(MASN)
VS.BRAVES Friday, 7:05(MASN) Saturday, 1:05(MASN) Sept.26, 1:35(MASN)
Radio:WFED(820AM, 1500AM)
After the season ends, Nationals’ Storen will be a student again storen from D1
to pursue an achievement un- common among major league baseball players: a degree from a four-year university. He left school after his sopho-
more season to enter last year’s draft and still has six quarters separating him from his diploma in product design. Starting in two weeks, Storen will finish one of them while cherishing the college experience not as a student-ath- lete, but just a student. “I’ve grown up a lot in the past
year,” Storen said Tuesday, sitting in the Turner Field dugout in Atlanta. “I feel like I’mgoing back to high school or something — kind of go back to that different attitude. It’ll be fun. It’s going to be great. I really enjoy the Bay Area. I really enjoy being in school. A lot of my best friends from college are there. Why not go back and chip away at my education? “Playing baseball is like play-
ing with house money, almost. If it works out and I don’t have to work a day inmy life, that’s great. If not, then I fall back on a Stanford education.” Storen has felt sure, since he
started receiving significant re- cruiting attention in high school and chose Stanford, that he would eventually graduate. Ev- eryone in his family owns a col- lege diploma; his sister is at Johns Hopkins medical school.His par- ents,Mark and Pam, ingrained in him the importance of having a plan so often that they now laugh about it. Storen’s life, his family jokes, has become centered on “The Plan.”
“That’s what we instilled in
him,” Pam Storen said. “ ‘If you’re going to do it, let’s do it right.’He’s always been like that. I thought once he got called up, he wouldn’t be as adamant. But he was ada- mant. That’s something he wants to check off his list.He’s kind ofon a mission.” Initially, Storen was unsure if
he’d attend school this offseason or wait. During his sophomore year, Storen roomed with Jack McGeary, the Nationals’ farm- hand who reached a unique agreement with the team that allowed him to attend Stanford while playing in the minor leagues duringsummer. At spring training, McGeary asked him, “Are you going to go back to school?” Storen told McGeary he was thinking about it.Bymidsummer, he called McGeary and asked whom he needed to speak with in order to sign up for classes. McGeary was happy to have his roommate back, but not sur- prised. “I don’t think he’s the type of
guy who’s going to start some- thing and let it hang there,” McGeary said. “It should be fun as hell.” In a study conducted last year,
the Wall Street Journal found only 26 players and managers on major league rosters — 3.3 per- cent — had graduated from a four-year college. Last week, though, there was Storen in the Nationals’ clubhouse, on a laptop registering for classes. He hopes to take 20 credits toward his degree in product design, part of Stanford’s mechanical engineer- ing program.
“They describe it as a cake,”
Storen said. “The actual cake part is mechanical engineering. The icing is art. I’m a big fan of the icing.” Growing up, Storenwould play
catch outside with his father, a sports radio host, and then sit inside and drawnext to hismoth- er, a graphic designer. While his parents drove him to Little League or Babe Ruth tourna- ments,Storensketchedcars inthe back seat. In high school he took Advanced Placement art classes. The pitching staff at Stanford
nicknamed itself “The Armory,” and Storen designed a logo and printed T-shirts with that theme. Once, he showed up at practice seething, as if he had just blown a save. JeffAustin, Stanford’s pitch- ing coach at the time, asked him what was wrong. “My mousetrap machine broke,” Storen replied— his mechanical engineering as- signment was to build a mouse- trap out of random items from a cardboard box, and it was not goingwell. “He had the same passion for
the academic side of things,” Aus- tin said. Storen cited Austin as a major influence. Austin encouraged all of his players to remember what is beyond their playing careers, his own experience a life-after- baseball parable. In 1998, the Kansas City Royals
chose Austin out of Stanfordwith the fourth overall pick. He held out, signed for a large bonus, drifted in the minors for three years and made the majors as a long reliever. The Royals traded him to the Cincinnati Reds, who made Austin a starter. He felt his
that I didn’t get to do because of baseball.” For Storen, returning to school
also represents the chance to em- brace an identity apart from his profession. Stanford is unique in that Storen, a rising star in base- ball, will hardly stand out. Austin attended Stanford at the same time as TigerWoods. “It was like, okay, he’s on the golf team,” Aus- tin said. “The guydownthe hall is curing cancer.” “Nobody bothers you because
of baseball,” Storen said. “Nobody cares. I went to school with Mi- chelle Wie. She was just another student. I think I like that. I can kind of go aboutmy business, just have fun and be a normal stu- dent.”
Storen, with the department’s RICHARD A. LIPSKI FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Nationals reliever DrewStoren will resume his work toward a degree at Stanford, balancing education with baseball.
career headed where he wanted and started thinking he could throwharder.Hediduntilheblew out his shoulder. Labrumsurgery followed. Austin threw his last major league last pitch at 26. Austin kicked around indepen-
dent ball for a season before he started applying for jobs and landed at an e-mail security com- pany. When Google bought the company, he moved back to Sili- con Valley, in the shadow of Stan- ford. He worked for Google dur- ing the day and served as Stan- ford’s pitching coach at night.
After last season, he walked away from the pitching coach job to focus on his job atGoogle. Storen hopes he can tag along
with Austin one day and see the inside of Google’s headquarters. WhenStoren previously attended Stanford, a designer from Apple spoke at one of his classes and described how he had designed the mouse for aMac. The presen- tation enthralled Storen. He wants to “just be involved
and be a regular student out there,” Storen said. “There’s so many extracurricular activities
blessing, will start classes two weeks late. He’ll live in a campus apartment with McGeary, whom he met early at Stanford and considers one of his best friends. McGeary, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, once relied on Storen to take up the slack at school while he played. Now, Sto- ren said, their roles are reversed. “Idon’tknowif I couldhave really pulled it off without him,” Storen said. This year, on occasion, Storen
has randomly encountered Stan- ford graduates and felt wistful about his college days. “You real- izehowmuchyoumissit,”hesaid. Whenthe season ends Storen will headback, reliving his recent past and moving toward his future. “My guess is,” Austin said,
“when baseball is over, you’re not going to hear the last of Drew Storen.”
kilgorea@washpost.com
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