The Nats got a Lannan-esque quality start from impressive young Collin Balester.  With six innings of work, one costly 2 run mistake to Chase Utley and 5 strike outs, Balester took the lost.  Mock, Manning and Hanrahan were impressive in relief.

The Nats extended their scoreless streak to 26 1/3 innings before Harris grounded out to score Guzman.  The unearned run came thanks to Utley’s error a moment earlier.  The Nats collected just 4 hits for the night, one from their pitcher.

Zimmerman’s baserunning gaffe in the 7th certainly didn’t help.  As Ryan rounded second, he took off for third with the crowd screaming, “NO.”  He dove back into the bag but was easily tagged out.  The improbably rally was cut short.

All in all, another typical Nats game.  Flores had one of the only hits of the night and he nailed down speedy Victorino early in the game.  Yet, to be sure, Lo Duca is complaining that he’s not behind the plate.   Blaming Flores for stealing back a spot he deserved all along sure isn’t going to help him get traded any quicker, nor is it going to win points with any Nats fan.

In other good news, Dukes is making considerable strides with rehab, already appearing with the AAA Clippers. He went 2 for 3 last night with a run scored.  Post writer Zach Berman went to Richmond last night and caught up with rehabbing Ryan Wagner, who offered this frightening gem:

What exactly is, ‘I’m back?’ You know what I’m saying? As long as I’m able to get guys out, whether I’m throwing 84 or 94, who cares?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 9:41 am and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.