MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
KLMNO BASEBALL
Nats’ Dunn expects to be back
First baseman cites progress
in contract talks BY ADAM KILGORE
philadelphia — Adam Dunn will arrive at Nationals Park on Monday for the final homestand of the Washington Nationals’ season, what could be 10 of Dunn’s final 13 games wearing a Nationals uniform. Dunn still does not want it to be goodbye, nor does he believe itwill be. In a conversation Sunday,
Dunn, a pending free agent, reaf- firmed his desire to remain with Washington and expressed con- fidence,basedonrecentprogress between his representatives and the team, that he will sign a new contract with the Nationals. Speaking before the team’s 7-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Dunn was clear: He thinks he will be a National next season.
Storen comes undone in the ninth
All four Phillies he faces score asNats’ three-run lead turns into 7-6 loss
BY ADAM KILGORE
philadelphia — As the Phila- delphia Phillies hopped out of their dugout and the crowd erupted, Drew Storen lingered on the grass between themound andhomeplate foramoment.He staredout tocenter field,glanced at JaysonWerth circling the bas- esandslowlyambledoff thefield. Storenblewathree-runleadin
the ninth inning of theWashing- ton Nationals’ 7-6 loss before 44,936atCitizensBankBallpark. Storen faced four batters. All of them scored. The final two runs crossed after Werth smashed a walk-offhome runtocenter field. There are surely better days
ahead for Storen, who in the intensity of an opponent’s pen- nant race and rabid stadium ex- periencedthemost crushingsen- sation a closer can feel:His team handed himthe game.He lost it. The Nationals built their lead
—and a chance to avoid a sweep and leave their imprint on the National League playoff picture — with three home runs and another sterling performance from their bullpen. It unraveled in the end, with a ballpark ex-
“Ido,”Dunnsaid. “More thanI
did a month ago. Talks have picked back up. We’ll see what happens. We’re obviously talk- ing. We’re going to work some- thing out, I think.” The Nationals will have until
15 days after the World Series ends to exclusively negotiate with Dunn. He did not rule out reaching an agreement before that time. However, few players eligible for free agency reachthis point without exercising the op- tion. “Now, there’s no advantage” to
signing immediately, Dunn said. “I guess there’d be a disadvan- tage, really. I’min no hurry now.” Dunn is not certain he’ll end
the year without a contract ex- tension — a deal “could happen today,” he said. But he sees the most likely scenario as him fin- ishing the season without a con- tract, eventually entering free agency and then re-signing with theNationals. “Going to free agency doesn’t
mean I’m leaving here. I’m sure whenever the season is over, I’ll
have, whatever it is, a month. If things haven’t worked out here, yeah, it’s going to go to free agen- cy. But that doesn’tmean I’mnot coming here.” Dunn’s defense, for bothsides,
is a key factor. Dunn wants to continue playing first base, which he played full time this year for the first time, and ruled out signing with an American League teamas a designated hit- ter. “I’mstillprettyfinewithplay- ing the field every day,” he said. Saturday, Dunn had “his best
defensive game of the season,” Manager JimRigglemansaid.He has shownprogress this year,but most advanced defensive statis- tics place himnear the bottomof the league among first basemen. He feels as if he hasmade strides and, at 30, will continue to im- prove. “The more you play, the more
comfortable you feel over there,” Dunn said. “I’monly going to get better over there themore that I play. There’s still balls off the bat thatarehitandIdon’tevenmake a move on. That’s going to come
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
“We’re going to work something out, I think,” Adam Dunn said of contract talks.
with repetition and seeing it off the bat.” Dunn ranks second in the Na-
tional Leaguewith 35 home runs and has a .359 on-base percent- age and a .541 slugging percent- age, which ranks fifth in the NL. The Nationals’ biggest challenge if they lost Dunn would be re- placing his production. Dunn hopes — and believes — they won’t have to.
kilgorea@washpost.com
EZ SU
D3
PHILLIES7, NATIONALS6
WASHINGTON AB R H BI BB SO AVG Espinosa 2b ..............5 1 1
Desmond ss..............5 1 2 Zimmerman 3b.........5 0 0 A.Dunn 1b.................3 1 1 Maxwell cf................0 0 0 Bernadina cf-lf .........4 1 1 Morse rf-1b ..............3 1 2 W.Harris lf-rf ...........4 1 2 I.Rodriguez c.............4 0 2 Maya p......................2 0 0 Slaten p ....................0 0 0 Jo.Peralta p ..............0 0 0 Alb.Gonzalez ph .......1 0 0 S.Burnett p...............0 0 0 Clippard p..................0 0 0 Mench ph..................1 0 0 Storen p....................0 0 0
TOTALS PHILA.
37 6 11
Victorino cf...............4 0 0 Baez p.......................0 0 0 J.Romero p ...............0 0 0 Contreras p...............0 0 0 Gload ph....................1 0 0 Worley p...................0 0 0 Polanco 3b ................4 2 2 Utley 2b ....................5 1 3 Howard 1b ................4 1 1 Werth rf-cf ...............5 2 3 Ibanez lf....................3 1 2 Schneider c ...............4 0 3 W.Valdez ss..............4 0 0 Blanton p..................2 0 0 Dobbs ph...................1 0 0 B.Francisco rf ...........1 0 0
TOTALS 38 7 14 No outs when winning run scored.
E: Zimmerman (17). LOB: Washington 6, Philadel- phia 10. 2B: Bernadina (17), Utley (19), Schneider (4). HR: W.Harris (9), off Blanton; Morse (11), off Blanton; Espinosa (4), off Baez; Werth (24), off Storen. RBI: Espinosa (11), Morse 3 (34), W.Harris 2 (31), Howard 2 (104), Werth 3 (76), Schneider 2 (15). SB: Desmond (16), Polanco (5), Werth (11), Ibanez (4). CS: A.Dunn (1).
DP: Philadelphia 1 (Schneider, Schneider, W.Val- dez).
WASHINGTON IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Maya.....................4.2 6 3 3 2 2 90 6.32 Slaten...................0.1 1 0 0 0 1 8 3.11 Jo.Peralta ................1 0 0 0 0 1 14 2.06 S.Burnett.................1 2 0 0 0 2 22 2.41 Clippard ...................1 1 0 0 0 1 11 2.90 Storen......................0 4 4 4 0 0 16 3.83
PHILA. IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Blanton....................6 7 4 4 1 8 112 5.04 Baez.........................1 1 1 1 0 0 17 5.11 J.Romero ..............0.2 2 1 1 1 1 21 3.74 Contreras..............0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.35 Worley.....................1 1 0 0 0 1 15 2.57
WP: Worley (1-1); LP: Storen (3-4). Storen pitched to 4 batters in the 9th.
Inherited runners-scored: Slaten 1-0, Contreras 2-0. IBB: off Maya (Howard), off J.Romero (Morse). HBP: by Maya (Polanco). Balk: Maya.
T: 3:15. A: 44,936 (43,651).
HOWTHEY SCORED NATIONALS THIRD
W.Harris homered. I.Rodriguez singled. Maya struck out. Espinosa struck out. Desmond ground- ed out. Nationals, 1-0
PHILLIES FOURTH
Werth singled. Ibanez singled, Werth to third. Schneider doubled, Werth scored, Ibanez scored. W.Valdez fouled out. Blanton flied out. Victorino popped out. Phillies, 2-1
PHILLIES FIFTH
Polanco was hit by a pitch. Utley flied out. Howard struck out. Polanco stole second. Werth singled, Polanco scored. Ibanez singled, Werth to second. Werth stole third. Ibanez stole second. Schneider struck out. Phillies, 3-1
NATIONALS SIXTH MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS
ploding and Storen standing alone in the middle of the dia- mond before walking away, dis- appearing fromview. “You have those feelings that
are so good you can’t explain,” Storen said. “This is one of those that’s so bad you can’t explain. That’s a longwalk to the dugout.” The nightmare inningmay al-
readyhavebeenreplaying inSto- ren’s head. Placido Polanco sin- gled to center. Chase Utley dou- bled to left. Ryan Howard drove them both in with a single to center to bring Werth to the plate. WerthandStorenbattleduntil
the count ranfull.Onthe seventh pitch of the at-bat, he fouled off a 3-2 slider, “a good pitch,” Storen said. On the next pitch, Storen wanted to challenge Werth with his best pitch.He fired a fastball, 94mph.Werth smoked it to cen- ter.He and Storen both knew.
HOCKEY
Capitals’ defense jobs are difficult to come by
BY KATIE CARRERA The Washington Capitals in-
tend to carry only seven defense- men on their roster this season, a change thatwill increase the com- petition for the final spots on the blue line andleadtomore ice time for thosewhodo earna spot. TheCapitals’ roster typicallyin-
cludedeightdefensemenlastyear, meaning that if there weren’t any injuries, six players would suit up and two healthy players would be scratched. “I like having somemore depth
there, but there were complaints from the defensemen and our coaches that carrying eight is too hard to work with,” GeneralMan- agerGeorgeMcPhee said. “Sitting two guys out every night isn’t much fun, so we’re going to go withseventhis yearandhope they stayhealthy.” Several defensemen who were
inthemix last seasonhavedepart- ed—includingBrianPothier,Sha- oneMorrisonn,MilanJurcinaand Joe Corvo — and there are fewer NHL-ready defensemen in the or- ganization, given the presumed ascension of John Carlson and Karl Alzner from the American HockeyLeague toWashingtonfull time. ButwithCapitals’defensivepo-
sitions spokenforbyveteransTom Poti,Mike Green and Jeff Schultz andlikelyalsoCarlsonandAlzner, there are tentatively only two spots left of the seven. That leaves JohnErskine andTyler Sloan, and perhaps Hershey Bears regular
Sean Collins and newcomer Brian Fahey, vying for those final open- ings knowing full well someone stillwillbe sittingoutmostnights. “I went through [being a
healthy scratch] last year and ex- pressed it in my meeting that I would like to play a little more, obviously,” said Sloan, 29, who spent the bulk of last season with the Capitals but only dressed for 40 games. “I’m going to have to prove it. I’mgoing to have to show Ireallywant it,andthere’sgoingto bealittlemorepressureonmethis year todo that.” Sloan, who has two years re-
maining on his contract ($700,000 per season), sawhis ice time diminish last season. So he added 10 pounds to his 6-foot-4 frame this summer in an attempt tobecomemoreof aphysicalpres- ence in front of the net and in the corners. But while adding a dimension
canhelp, one of the toughestparts of being the extra defenseman, Sloan said, is fighting off any doubts abouthisplay. “Not playing all year can mess
with your confidence [and] your mind a little bit,” Sloan said. “I have to get that back, go through training campandprove tomyself I belong in the top six come the start of the season.” Erskine, 30, already possesses
the physical presence that Sloan hopes to exhibit this year, but the 6-4,218-poundKingston,Ontario, native spent the offseason trying to add strength in his hips and quadriceps, transfer that tothe ice andbecome a stronger skater.
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Tyler Sloan seeks more playing time with the Capitals, who plan to start with seven defensemen.
After appearing in 50 games
with the Capitals last season, Er- skine did not suit up for a single playoff game. “Lastyearwhentheydidn’tplay
me in the playoffs it was kind of a huge wakeup call,” said Erskine, who will earn $1.25 million this season in the final year of a two- year contract. “Iwas pretty disap- pointed and I really didn’t under- stand why, but I worked hard on everythingthissummerandIreal- ly wanted tomake a statement at campthis year.” When asked howmany defen-
semenhewouldliketohaveonthe roster,CoachBruceBoudreausaid sevenis “the bestway to go.” “It’s a luxury to practice with
eight, but there’s no defenseman alive that likes it,” Boudreau said. “Because the eighth defensemen doesn’t play. In a perfect world, your eighthdefensemanis the guy that’s playing every night in Her- shey and getting called up when needed.” Capitals note: Goaltender
Brandon Anderson was sent back to his junior team, the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hur- ricanes.
carrerak@washpost.com
west chester, pa. — Ashlyn Harris’s remarkable goalkeeping had carried the Washington Freedom into overtime of its Women’s Professional Soccer first-roundplayoffmatchagainst the Philadelphia Independence on Sunday. Another 90 seconds or so, and the Freedom would have felt pretty good about its chances with Harris protecting the net in a penalty-kick tie- breaker. But in the 120th minute of a
scoreless affair, Amy Rodriguez solved Harris and compensated for several misses with a near- post effort that lifted the Inde- pendence to a 1-0 victory before 2,378 at Farrell Stadium on the WestChesterUniversity campus. “She really kept us in this
game,” Freedom forward Abby Wambach said, “and for that rea- son, I just had this belief thatwe were going towin.” In regular time, Harris made
threeoutstandingsavesandben- efited fromRodriguez’s poor fin- ishing. But in the finalmoments of overtime, Rodriguez collected Christina DiMartino’s through ball andstung aneight-yardshot into the left side forher 13thgoal of the year. The stirring finish sent the
third-seeded Independence (11- 10-4) into Thursday’s semifinal
JaysonWerth smacks a two-run, walk-off home run to center that capped the Phillies’ comeback. “It just got a little toomuch of
the plate and a little toomuch of his barrel,” Storen said. “In that situation, you’ve got to make a better pitch. Obviously, I missed the pitch.” As awful as Storen felt about
the outcome, he felt comfortable with his pitching. “I threw good pitches, and I got beat. . . . There’s really not a lot I would change.” The Nationals had taken con-
trol thanks to solo home runs by WillieHarris andDanny Espino- sa and a pivotal three-run blast by Michael Morse that turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead in the sixth.Harris added an insurance run later with an RBI single, putting theNationals up three. Starter YuneskyMayawas ser-
viceable andinefficient, avoiding any disastrous moments while throwing 90 pitches in 42/3 nings. He allowed three runs on
in-
Desmond singled. Zimmerman lined out. Desmond stole second. A.Dunn walked. Bernadina popped out. Morse homered, Desmond scored, A.Dunn scored. W.Harris grounded out. Nationals, 4-3
NATIONALS SEVENTH
six hits and twowalks. His early departure handed
the game over to the Nationals bullpen, which has now thrown more innings than any in base- ball and had the Phillies to two earned runs over 16 innings this series. It oppressed the Phillies until the ninth, an inning Storen will need to forget, no matter howdifficult itmay seem. “After you pack your bag and
getoutofhere, you’vegot toleave it at your locker,” Storen said. “You try to take the emotion out of it and learn from it. I’m not going to walk in tomorrow with my head down. I’mgoing towalk out of herewithmy head up. “I threw my best stuff out
there. I just got beat. The impor- tant thing for me is to want to come back tomorrow and want- ing the ball in the ninth tomor- row.And that’swhat Iwant.”
kilgorea@washpost.com
I.Rodriguez grounded out. Alb.Gonzalez grounded out. Espinosa homered. Desmond flied out. Nationals, 5-3 NATIONALS EIGHTH
Zimmerman grounded out. A.Dunn struck out. Bernadina doubled. Morse was intentionally walked. W.Harris singled, Bernadina scored, Morse to second. I.Rodriguez flied out. Nationals, 6-3
PHILLIES NINTH
Polanco singled. Utley doubled, Polanco to third. Howard singled, Polanco scored, Utley scored. Werth homered, Howard scored. Phillies, 7-6.
NATIONALSONDECK
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) Sunday, 1:35(MASN)
VS.PHILLIES Sept.27, 7:05(MASN) Sept.28, 7:05(MASN) Sept.29, 7:05(MASN)
Radio:WFED(820AM, 1500AM) SOCCER Independence edges Freedomin OT
ofWPS playoffs, 1-0 BY STEVEN GOFF
Washington falls in the first round
at Boston, with the winner ad- vancing to the title match next Sunday against top-seeded FC GoldPride (California). The result also extinguished a
late-season resurgence by the Freedom, which embarked on a 4-1-2runtoclaimthefinalplayoff berth.Despite entering the post- season with a 1-7-4 away record, Washington (8-10-7) might have been slightly favored against a Philadelphia squad that had been outscored 8-1 in four straight losses to end the league schedule. But the Independence was
vastly superior generating op- portunities, and if not for Har- ris’s work and Rodriguez’s faulty touch, the Freedomnever would have reached overtime. “It was anabsolutely spectacularperfor- mance by a goalkeeper at any level,” Washington Coach Jim Gabarra said. Harris, a rookie from North
Carolina signed by the Freedom in June after St. Louis Athletica folded, inherited the starting job the final 10 games because the Freedom’s top two keepers were out with season-ending injuries. Though no one enjoys settling a match on penalty kicks, Wash- ington would have embraced it, givenHarris’s form. Her first quality stop came in
the26thminuteonLianneSand- erson’s angled bid. The Freedom labored to test keeper Val Hen- derson, and after the break, Phil- adelphia was on the verge of a breakthrough. Rodriguez, how- ever, couldn’t finish, striking an eight-yarder atHarris and blast- ing high on a clear look from 16
yards. Later, afterWambachworked
a combinationwith LeneMykja- land and sent a sliding shot nar- rowlywide of the rightpost,Har- rismade her finest save, soaring to deny Lori Lindsey’s blast from distance that was headed for an upper corner. Rodriguez ran onto the rebound, but faltered again. The addition of Danesha Ad-
ams bolstered Philadelphia's at- tack, but she followed Rodri- guez’s lead by stabbing a shot wide andhaving abidblockedby Sonia Bompastor in the six-yard box. Rodriguez then hit the left post fromclose range inthe 88th minute and DiMartino couldn’t latchonto a last-minute cross. With exhaustion setting in,
neither side was particularly dangerous inextra time until the goal.Losinginthelatestageswas “certainly cruel,” Gabarra said, “butnotunfair.”
goffs@washpost.com
1 0 3 .246 0 0 0 .279 0 0 2 .305 0 1 1 .263 0 0 0 .141 0 0 1 .255 3 1 1 .300 2 0 1 .189 0 0 0 .269 0 0 1 .250 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .272 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 .150 0 0 0 .500
6 2 10 —
AB R H BI BB SO AVG 0 0 1 .266
0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 .283 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .298 0 0 0 .277 2 1 2 .280 3 0 1 .292 0 1 0 .274 2 0 1 .241 0 0 0 .256 0 0 1 .125 0 0 0 .192 0 0 0 .253
WASHINGTON..... 001 003 110 — 6 11 PHILA. .................. 000 210 004 — 7 14
7 2 7 — 1
0
O’s stun Rivera, Yankees for 4-3 win
Scott homers in ninth, then scores in 11th
BY DAN CONNOLLY
baltimore —Even as improba- ble as the past six weeks of this once-disastrous Orioles season have been, Sunday’s come-from- behind, 4-3, 11-inning victory over theNewYorkYankeeshas toclaim the prize for the club’s most un- likelywin of the year. First, Baltimore had to survive
Yankees left-handerAndyPettitte, who came off the disabled list just in time for one more outing against his personal pinatas. In41 previous games against Balti- more, Pettittewas 27-6with a 3.57 ERA. Only Yankees Hall of Famer Whitey Ford (30) has more wins over the Orioles. Pettitte allowed just one run on three hits in six innings. Baltimore had to scratch back
in the ninth against Mariano Ri- vera, who had allowed just one homer all season before serving up the tying solo blast to Luke Scott, who was 1 for 12 against Rivera. And the Orioles had to over-
comeadreadful, two-base error in the top of the 11th by Michael Gonzalez (1-3), who picked up his first victory as an Oriole, on a pickoff attempt that set the Yan- kees up with a runner on third and no outs. And they had to do it before an
announced crowd of 39,357 at Camden Yards, seemingly mostly comprised of Yankees fans. AndBaltimorehadto complete
the comeback against the Ameri- can League East-leading Yankees (90-59), who had beaten them 13 of 17timesenteringthefinalmeet- ing between the clubs in 2010. But these are the Buck Showal-
ter-led Orioles, the resurgent squadthat is 27-17 since theAug. 2 managerial change. Baltimore (59-90) has won its past eight extra-inning games. They won their 13thof 16this seasonSunday when Ty Wigginton’s single land- ed in right-center field, scoring Scott, who had doubled off David Robertson. “The way I was looking at it
was, I’ve got to get him to third base regardless. “He left me a breaking ball in
the zone, and Iwas able to hit it in the gap,”Wigginton said. “Today’s gamewas a lot of fun.” TheOrioles’ 12thwalkoff victo-
ry of 2010 — and sixth under Showalter—was set up by Scott’s homer on Rivera’s second pitch. Rivera had previously converted 31 of 34 save chances. —Baltimore Sun
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