WASHINGTON 11 Los Angeles 4 (ESPN Boxscore)
First things first — Yhency Brazoban, a Dodgers reliever, probably has the best name in baseball and I demand he be signed by the Nationals as soon as he is available.
I was not aware that L.A. starter Mark Hendrickson had been an NBA player. After his performance last night, he might be wishing he stayed there. He gave up 5 runs in 4 1/3 before yielding to Brazoban. The first two runs came on 3B Ryan Zimmerman‘s seventh homer of the season knocked in two of his 4 RBI, putting him on a 21 HR/78 RBI pace. Also having a good night was SS Cristian Guzman, who went 3 for 4 with a walk and 3 runs. His average is at .289 which second best on the team (but he probably doesn’t have enough at bats to qualify). The only better average belongs 1B Dimitri Young who batted about .380 in May and went 4 for 4 last night. LF Ryan Church went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI, while CF Austin Kearns went 1 for 4 with two runs. C Brian Schneider also contributed 2 RBI.
Micah Bowie had a decent outing, giving up three runs over 5 1/3 innings for his second win of the year.
Nats Get Bats Going In Rout – The Post
Swinging back into high gear – The Wash. Times
Levale Speigner will keep a spot (The Post) in the rotation (The Wash. Times) while the rotation heals. I’ll read this as “we think more of Joel Hanrahan than you and we can’t risk his psyche, so we’ll risk yours.”
Zimmerman talks about how much he likes living in Clarendon and the area in general in this week’s Wash. Examiner column. He is getting recognized more and thinks that here “could be one of the best places to play.”
It was an odd choice if not a gamble (The Free Lance-Star) for Mike Bacsik to sign with Washington this past offseason. Last year the Nats cut him, but he resurfaced in the Diamondbacks organization and went 11-0 for AAA Tucson. He started in Columbus this year before being called up due to injuries in the rotation. He has been solid, going 1-2 with a 2.29 ERA.
Good news, Shawn Hill’s right elbow is fine according to Dr. Mark Schickendantz who almost certainly has the best name at the Cleveland Clinic. I think Hill knew it was okay, but figured he could get a free trip to Cleveland.
There is a Charlie Slowes Q&A on nationals.com today. He talks about curly W’s and BANG ZOOM (which should really be ZOOM BANG, no?)
In minor league news, old 00, Brandon Watson has a 28 game hitting streak (The Free Lance-Star) for AAA Columbus. That is great, but I don’t think he’s an everyday major leaguer. Chris Marrero gets another profile today, this time in The Wash. Times. He hit 11 home runs for low-A Hagerstown this month. The Florida native was the Nats #1 pick last year. More: DOWN ON THE FARM (The Free Lance-Star)
Tonight, the Nats welcome the San Diego Padres to town for a three game series. Matt Chico will face Jake Peavy (gulp).
