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After winning Round 1 of the Battle of the Beltways (or whatever it's called), followed by an absolutely puke-worthy performance Monday (just ask Jon Rauch), Nats get back on track with 4-1 win over Houston.
Pitching carries the day (and we don't mean Day): Ortiz: a tidy 7 innings (6H, 1R, 2BB, 5K); Majewski holds 'em with hitless eighth; One-two-three ninth for the Chief
Jackson, Ward, Soriano go long.
O'connor vs. Oswalt tonight.
Thought of the day-- What's wrong with Wiki?
14-27 Nats welcome the 19-22 Birds to RFK for a weekend tilt. Hopefully Anna Benson will be in the house tonight to watch Kris get lit up. She withdrew her divorce request, right?
Washington Post's Dave Sheinin says: It might take a while for this rivalry thing to develop. Enquirer says: Hey Okie, a little chin music might help hot things up, let's get this rivalry going!
(AP Photo)
Zimmerman, Soriano, Jackson, Anderson go deep in Nats' 5-3 win over Cubs. But Frank still isn't convinced. Or maybe it's just that his back is still killing him.
"I don't know if the offense got going. We got some offense today. We scored five runs, and all of them were driven in on home runs...We didn't score another way. That's not real good. I want to see what I call offense put together." (Frank Robinson, via Nationals dot com, 5/18/2006)
Ramon Ortiz finally wins one - cruises through five before the wheels started to come off in the 6th. Majewski continues to look better; Chief nails down fourth save despite another shaky 9th.
Bring on the Birds.
(Photo by Nam Y. Huh, AP)
MLB owners unanimously approve sale of the Nationals to Lerner and Kasten for $450 million bucks. Bud so giddy he took off his pants at the press conference.
Timetable: between mid-June and mid-July. Then it's bye-bye Bowden.
Up next for Kasten: "Operation Polish The Turd": "Grand Re-opening" of RFK slated for July 21. Basically it means our wait time for hot dogs and beer will be cut in half.
(Photo by Louis Lanzano, AP)
"It definitely can't get any worse." (Jose Vidro, via Washington Post, 5/18/2006)
Nats' bats go silent again (1 hit) in 5-0 loss to Cubs.
Zach Day provides no relief to bullpen: 4 inning, 4 run, 8 hit, 3 walk effort. Day blames it all on Wiki.
Another day, another injury: Guillen strains his hammy.
Fick you! Robert Fick whiffs in debut; gets thrown out of game for saying the magic words.
0-4 Ramon Ortiz takes the hill in the series finale this afternoon.
(Photo by Nam Y Huh, AP)
It's been a while. Many, many, days since we last checked in on the sorry state of the Nationals. But fear not: Back by popular demand, The Nationals Enquirer answers the latest installment of the Nationals.com mailbag! The correct answers are available on Nationals dot com; now we'll give it a shot.
While there is no doubt that the Nationals need to rebuild the farm system and essentially start from scratch, don't you agree that they need to retain at least some of the good players on the Major League roster? -- Kyle D., Washington, DC.
Kyle, I'll give you a crisp one dollar bill if you can name more than two good players on this team.
Rebuilding the farm system is good, but will the Lerner group spend money on free agents? -- David W., Richmond, Va.
Hopefully Lerner and Co. don't try to make a big splash in the off season for the sake of making a big splash (re: your current left fielder -- although I still like the Soriano-for-Wilkerson-+-spare parts deal) Let's hope that Silent Ted and his people proceed with caution. Speaking of long term deals, anyone else happy that Bowden never got to pull the trigger on signing Guillen to a ridiculous deal?
With new ownership almost in place, how safe is Frank Robinson's job if the Nationals continue to lose? After all, they have been losing regularly since the second half of last season. -- Vince I., Raleigh, North Carolina
Frank is safe for this year. Let's face it, the 2006 season is a lost cause.
With the new ownership, what are the chances of signing Alfonso Soriano to a long-term contract? -- John D., Staten Island, N.Y.
You mean the guy playing left who's been auditioning for a spot with the Yankees for the last week? Zero chance the Nats sign him to a long term deal.
You seem to give Robinson too much credit. He can do no wrong. Please defend your actions. -- Mike Z., Utica, N.Y.
Mike, I think you've got me confused with someone else.
Have you noticed that Jamey Carroll is hitting over .300 and is seeing his share of playing time with the Rockies? Meanwhile, the Nationals' utility infielders are not exactly burning up the league. -- Andrew D., Gettysburg, Pa.
Oh please, Andrew, give me a break with that crap.
Why do some Nationals players -- Jose Guillen in particular -- continue to complain about playing at RFK? Is it really that bad playing in RFK? Other teams don't seem to mind, and they are able to hit balls over the fence. -- Arden L., Cheverly, Md.
Dunno.
It seems like the media and the Nationals push the trio of Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson and Brian Schneider as the face of the franchise. Why not Jose Vidro? He has been with the organization the longest, and I feel he is usually left out of conversations relating to the "cornerstones" of the franchise. -- Jerry G., Madison, Wis.
Jerry, I've gotta be honest with you, buddy - I have no idea what you're talking about. Has there been ANY marketing push behind ANY player by either the media or the Nationals this season? You're a jerk. Plus, you're writing in from Wisconsin - you've got your own team up there in Canada to worry about, don't you?
Why is Robinson insisting on using Mike Stanton in a setup role? He should only be used as a lefty specialist at this point in his career. -- Keith, Binghamton, N.Y.
In case you haven't noticed, pitching is something of a problem for this team. Are we really talking about this? Give me a better option than Stanton: I'm all ears.
With the loss of Hideki Matsui, the Yankees need an outfielder. Would the Nats be willing to give them Guillen or Soriano? -- Rich R., Slingerlands, N.Y.
*shrug* Probably.
Livan, Nats, stink out the joint in front of Silent Ted
Frank 'embarrassed' by the effort, calls on fans to throw stuff
"I'm embarrassed for this team, because the fans are coming out here, they're being very supportive...I'm very surprised they're not throwing things at us. We deserve whatever they might do or say. I'm amazed that they're still coming out here. I wouldn't pay to see us." (Frank Robinson, via Washington Post, 5/5/2006)
Livo-suck-tion: 5 IP, 6H, 7R, 4BB, 1HR. (Livo had a better night at the plate: a 2 RBI night); Eischen bad again; Offense takes the night off in lifeless 11-3 loss to Fish.
Oh boy, Zach Day takes the hill tonight.
Lose pivotal battle in NL East cellar race 6-5 to FLA. Nats 1-8 at RFK in '06.
Vintage Tony Armas: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 HBP, 2 HR.
Silver lining: Bullpen holds down the fort after Armas' early exit.
(Photo by Lawrence Jackson/AP)
Bud's worst kept secret finally, officially, revealed. Welcome, Silent Ted & Family.
'First of all, this is a 'Wow' type of a day. We're delighted to receive the opportunity to own this franchise...It's something I've been thinking about all my life, from the time I used to pay 25 cents to sit in the bleachers at Griffith Stadium. . . We're delighted.' (Ted Lerner, via Washington Post, 5/3/2006)
