The Nats finally scored some runs for starting pitcher John Lannan, and he got a much deserved victory last night.  The Nats shutout the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0.  The Nats hadn’t shutout an opponent since May 19th. More importantly, last night’s win put an end the team’s six game losing streak.

With the team’s struggles this year, I think we have all learned to appreciate the little things.  I was impressed with the Nationals defense last night.  Lannan allowed runners on base, with a few walks and some hits, but the guys behind him were solid, turning three double plays. Lannan once again, pitched a nice game going six no run innings. He threw 85 pitches, 42 for strikes. The outfielders looked solid also; I liked seeing Willie Harris in center field.  It was refreshing to watch a game with no errors. 

Arizona pitcher Owings was all over the place with the ball last night.  He couldn’t seem to find the plate to throw a strike.  He actually hit three Washington batters in the game.  Paul Lo Duca got nailed on the inside of his knee pretty hard, he didn’t look to happy about it, and even less so when he almost got hit again a couple innings later.  The Nationals scored their first run in the second inning thanks to Owings erratic throws.  After giving up a single to Young, Owings hit Belliard and Lo Duca with pitches to load the bases. Dmitri crossed the plate on a force after Kory Casto earned a walk.

The Nats held their one run lead until they added some insurance runs in the sixth inning.  Kory Casto, who was recently called back from Columbus to take Dukes’ place, had a great the game.  Kory played solidly in left field, and made a really nice backhand catch.  In the sixth inning Casto hit an RBI double to score Young again.  Kory also stole his first major league base last night.  Hopefully this kid is finding his groove in the bigs this time up.  Jesus Flores, who has been struggling offensively for the last couple of weeks, pinch hit for Lannan in the sixth.  On a 1-2 count Flores, found a good pitch and launched the ball about 380 feet into the visitor’s bullpen.  His three run shot put the Nats up by five.  A pinch hit homer has to be good for Flores’ confidence.  Flores is actually 3-6 in the pinch hit position this season, but I like seeing him behind the plate much better.

The bullpen of Hanrahan, Ayala, and Rauch held the D-Backs to a shutout, but it was the young guys, Lannan, Casto, and Flores that ensured the Nats victory. 

Tim McGraw might sport the occasional curly W baseball cap, but Miami Heat forward Mike Beasley sports a permanent curly W with a tattoo on his right forearm. Is he really a Nats fan too?

Thanks for the tip Linds! (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images).

Game three in Cincinnati didn’t bring much offense for the Nats yet again. The Nats didn’t score until Tim Redding - of all people - hit a single in the second to plate Kearns. The game would stay at 1-0 until the fifth thanks to solid pitching from Redding. The Reds eventually tied the game after singles by Hariston and Griffey and a sac fly by Phillips.

The injury curse hit the Nats yet again in the 7th inning when Elijah Dukes hit the left field wall while tracking a fly ball. He made the catch, but it looked like he planted his legs weird and in the process hurt his knee. Dukes crumpled to the ground and really looked to be in pain. Manny and the trainers immediately ran onto the field and called for the cart to take Dukes off. Things looked pretty grim. MASN showed JimBo and he looked pretty upset with the injury…maybe because his experiment was falling apart right before his eyes? News on Dukes came a bit later in the game, and it wasn’t good, he strained his patella. This is certainly another crippling blow to an already defeated team. Dukes was having a great run and was one of the only guys generating any sort of offense.

After getting just one run in the first eight innings, the Nats were able to mount a bit of a rally in the 9th when Dmitri Young took a lead off walk thanks to Reds closer Cordero. Kearns followed with a base hit to center, and Jesus Flores had a great at bat and hit a deep fly ball to center to earn a sac fly and tie the game.

Hanrahan came back out to pitch the bottom of the 9th and immediately gave up a base hit, Hariston then stole second, Flores didn’t have a chance to make the throw. They intentionally walked Griffey to put runners on first and second with one out. Luis Ayala came in to face Phillips, who hit a walk off single. The Reds won 3-2.

The Nats look to avoid the sweep tomorrow when the rookie Colin Balester faces Edinson Volquez at 1:35.

The Nationals hit up Great American Ballpark this holiday weekend, or at least they try to. John Lannan took the mound tonight and probably hoped that the dimensions of Great American would help get him some run support. The game remained scoreless for the first three innings until the Nats put up two in the 4th thanks to some big hits from the heart of the lineup. With one out Guzman hit a single, Dukes followed with a double to score Guzman. Dukes then advanced to third thanks to balk on Cueto. Dmitri worked the count for a walk. Fresh from his rehab start, Austin Kearns knocked out a single to score Dukes.

Elijah Dukes added another run for the Nats with a solo shot to left center field in the top of the 6th. John Lannan pitched solidly and without issue until the 6th inning when he got into a jam. Consecutive singles from the Reds tied the game at three. Lannan earned a quality start though, pitching six innings giving up three runs and two costly walks. It should be noted that Lannan was helped out by some nifty defensive plays from Willie Harris at second base.

Things really fell apart in the 7th with Colome on the mound. With one out Corey Patterson made it safely to first after Colome fielded the bunt but threw a bullet to Dmitri at first from about 20 feet away, Dmitri of course missed the ball and was given the error. Patterson made it to second base. Then Harrison singled to center, but Bernadina’s relay throw was way off and allowed both runners to advance. The Nats chalked up another two errors on two consecutive plays tonight. Colome intentionally walked Keppinger to load the bases, and was then promptly removed for Charlie Manning to face Griffey. Manning got him to pop out to third for the second out. So much for giving the bullpen a rest tonight, Ayala entered the game after Griffey flied out, sending three pitchers the mound in one inning. Ayala promptly gave up a base hit to deep right field, and the Reds scored two. Ayala then fielded a blooper to first to end the inning. The Reds led 5-3 after the 7th, every run in the inning was unearned thanks to careless errors by the Nats.

Trying to mount a comeback, Guzman led off the 8th with a double, adding another multi hit game to his record (he leads the league with 35 multi hit games). Guzman’s effort though, was wasted once again when Dmitri hit into a double play and Kearns flied out to right to end the inning. Shell came in to pitch the 8th and was impressive striking out two. Rain started falling in the 9th and the Nats couldn’t mount a comeback and lost with a final score of 5-3.

I’m still pretty bitter that the Nats aren’t home to play a 4th of July game in their new stadium. You’d think Stan and the Lerner’s would want to get the stadium packed anyway they can…they certainly aren’t going to do it with a winning team. Anyway, the Nats face the Reds again tomorrow in Cincy at 1:15. Think I can watch the game on TV and still make it downtown for the fireworks?

After a series win against Baltimore yesterday, the Nats headed to Florida to take on the hard hitting Marlins. With Tim Redding on the mound, the Marlins got off to an early lead scoring a run in the first. The Nats seemed stumped by Marlins starter Tucker’s stuff in the first couple of innings, but they battled back after Willie Harris got hit by a pitch, and Guzman drove him in with a two out single.

The Marlins broke the tie in the 3rd, after Jeremy Hermida doubled, then Josh Willingham homered off a fastball to left field, putting the Fish up 3-1. The Nats tried to battled back in the top of the 4th with Belliard and Lo Duca knocking out singles. Willie Harris followed with a sharply hit single to score Belliard. Tim Redding then walked to load the bases, but Roger Bernadina grounded to second to end the inning the score still 3- Marlins.

The game got exciting in the 5th when the Nats took the lead thanks to solo homers from Elijah Dukes and Dmitri Young, put the Nats up 4-3. Tim Redding pitched the 5th with a little drama. He allowed walks to both Hanley Ramirez and Jeremy Hermida. Redding pitched out the inning getting an infield fly and a strike out. With his pitch count at almost 100 I thought for sure we would see a pinch hitter for Redding and a reliever start the 6th. I was wrong though, Manny let Tim start the 6th, but Tim worked himself into a jam, putting runners on third and first with no outs. Redding was relieved in favor of Jesus Colome. Colome’s first pitch was a fly ball to Bernadina, Ross barreled home and Bernadina’s throw home was awful, way off line, Colome actually caught it. All of the runners advanced on the play and the Marlins tied the game 4-4. Tim Redding earned yet another no decision.

Saul Rivera came in to pitch the 7th and catcher Jesus Flores was also removed and replaced by Wil Nieves. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 7th thanks to a pretty good catch from Lo Duca in left. Ronnie Belliard lead off the 8th with a walk. With Paul Lo Duca up, Ronnie Belliard got a great jump off first and Lo Duca laced a single up the middle and Belliard reached third. Lopez entered the game to pinch run for Lo Duca, and the Nats had runners on third and first with one out. Then Ronnie Belliard was able to score on a wild pitch by Pinto to put the Nats in the lead by one.

Saul pitched an outstanding scoreless 8th getting two big strike outs. The Nats couldn’t score in the top of the 9th and Jon Rauch came in to close the game. Looks like with Cordero out for the season and maybe longer, we’ll be seeing Rauch as closer from here on out. Jon Rauch got a strike out but promptly gave up a monster solo homer on a 1-2 count to Hanley Ramirez to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The Marlins won the game 6-5 when Josh Willingham hit another home run in the 10th inning off Rauch. This was a tough one to loose as the guys had battled back all game. Hopefully we see some good stuff from Collin Balester in his major league debut tomorrow night.

 The Nationals held the second annual Baseball 101 clinic on Saturday.  The event was open to just ladies and offered an inside instruction of the game.  About 50 women of all ages took the field and got some great tips from the Nationals coaching staff.  The coaches were divided into five stations, and the women were divided into groups of about 10.  The groups rotated from station to station throughout the two hour on field portion of the clinic. 

For our first station, bullpen coach Rich Aponte, and BP pitcher Pablo Reyes taught us a bit about the art  of pitching in the Nationals bullpen.  We learned how to grip a fast ball - a two seamer and four seamer - how to throw a curve ball, and how to grip a change up.  All of the ladies practiced throwing from the rubber with Aponte and Reyes catching.   Then we had some time for a question and answer session.  We found out that Odalis Perez had indeed been on a pitch count the other night because he was coming back from injury.  The coaches also told us a little about the pitchers daily routine.   Most of the guys get to the ballpark about 2pm and work out, watch tape, and get ready for the game.  Coach Aponte told us that when the pitchers get into the bullpen for the game, they are loose and ready to pitch if needed.

From the bullpen, our group headed to the dugout to spend some time with bench coach Pat Corrales.  Pat told us he is Manny’s right hand man, and keeps the manager informed about what game situations may arise. Pat then opened the floor up for a question and answer session.  Pat said he is more likely to get thrown out of a game than Manny is because he reacts to things in a more overt manner.  Corrales said Andruw Jones was his favorite player to work with.  Pat said that when Andruw was first starting out, he would smile or grin every time he struck out.  It drove Pat crazy, so he asked Andruw why he would smile all the time.  Andruw replied by asking what Corrales would prefer, him to smile or cry after striking out.  Corrales told us that Javy Lopez a catcher for the Braves was his most challenging player to work with.  Pat was candid and engaging with the ladies, he answered all of our hard hitting questions honestly.  Pat ended by saying that the Nationals have the best fans, and we agreed with him.

Our next station was base running with Tim Tolman and Julian Martinez.  Tim started with a discussion about signs.  We learned about the bunt, hit and run, and steal routine.  We learned that Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, and Felipe Lopez have the green light on the bases this season.  Tim said that Lastings is the fastest player on the team. Milledge and Dukes apparently raced each other, and Lastings won, although Dukes claimed he wasn’t ready when the race started.  Tim also said that he hasn’t seen anyone as fast as Nook Logan.  The ladies then practiced running the bases, we worked on banana turns around first base, and reading the sign on the way from second to third.

Next, our group headed into the batting cages where Lenny Harris and Jose Martinez were waiting to explain to us the art of batting.  Lenny preached the importance of plate coverage and also explained why hitting off the tee was still useful even at the major league level.  The ladies asked Lenny what changed with Dukes to make him so successful at the plate in the past couple of weeks.  Lenny said that he and Elijah work on a special drill where Lenny throws him soft toss and Dukes hits the ball right back at Lenny.  Harris said the drill helps Elijah see the ball better.  Harris also said that he has been trying to drill into Dukes’ head that pulling the ball isn’t necessary because he as so much power, enough to drive the ball up the center.  Each of us took a turn in the cage perfecting our stance and hitting off the tee.  I have to say, Lenny was honest with us and I personally learned a lot from him.

Lastly, we went to the outfield to meet Jerry Morales and Nilson Robeldo.  Jerry began by telling the ladies about his journey to the big leagues from his native Puerto Rico.  Morales then explained to us the workings of the outfield, who had priority over who and how the outfield is set up against certain batters.  We have been getting a kick out of watching Morales direct Milledge from the dugout on nearly every play so far this season.  We asked Jerry what the deal was.  Morales said that Milledge is indeed still learning and sometimes needs some help remembering where to stand, so Jerry usually directs him from the dugout.  Early in the season, Morales admited to writing the positioning on Milledge’s arm so he could look down and figure out where to stand against opposing batters.  Jerry also noted that Milledge sometimes gets distracted in the outfield, and likes to watch the replays on the giant scoreboard.  (Guess Lastings can watch the replays from the dugout now.)

After our on-field exercises all of the ladies headed to the club level for lunch and a question and answer session with Felipe and Jennifer Lopez and team massage therapist Tatiana Tchamouroff.  Nats sideline reporter Debbi Taylor acted as MC and fielded questions for the guests.  Felipe and Jenn talked about the challenges of raising two young daughters in baseball.  Despite Felipe’s busy schedule, they try very hard to do the simple things and spend quality time together.  Jenn and the kids like to accompany Felipe on road-trips to the fun cities, and even during baseball season they all try to have breakfast together every morning.  Tatiana was just as engaging.  She spoke about the challenge of breaking into the sports industry, and the success she had working with Dmitri Young.  Listening to these three talk about their lives over lunch was a great way to end the clinic. 

Once again the Nationals did a great job with this event.  I think all of the women had a fantastic time.  The coaches were energetic and honest.  The ladies that participated knew their baseball and asked a lot of great questions.  I think this event will become even more popular in the seasons to come.  In addition to the clinic each of the ladies received two tickets to that evenings game.  The seats were in section 237 - right/center-field - and offered a great view of the game.  For those that paid and participated, the event was well worth it!

Manny changed the batting order up a bit tonight, with Milledge in the three spot, he moved catcher Jesus Flores up to clean up batting fourth. With Flores continually having solid at bats, this seemed like a smart move. Acta also held a team meeting before tonight’s game, his message was more of a reminder. He told the players to remember that they are lucky to be playing in the majors and that they should continue to play hard and not get complacent with losing. It was a good message, if not a little overdue. Manny’s talk worked, the guys showed some pep tonight and finally got a win after suffering four continuous losses.

Of course on the night we decided to take off, big things happened. We watched from home tonight for only the second time this season, each needing a bit of a break to regroup and get ready for the weekend series against Baltimore. Leave it to the Nats, to hit home runs, and win in walk off fashion when we aren’t there!

Veteran Tim Redding pitched another solid game relying mostly on his fastball. Redding went six innings and gave up only two runs. Unlike Lannan or Bergmann, Tim had some runs to work with going into the first inning. Angels starter Santana issued a lead off walk to Elijah Dukes. Lastings Milledge followed and snapped a mini slump with a massive home run to center field. His blast put the Nats up by two. Wily Mo is also swinging the bat better, he followed his home run last night with two opposite field hits tonight, one helping to put the Nats up 4-2 in the seventh inning. I hope his hitting continues, we really need him to live up to his “potential,” whatever that may be.

The game got dramatic in the later innings. Luis Ayala came in to pitch the eighth, a role that’s been his all season. Ayala has struggled this season, more than usual, and tonight was no different. He gave up a run on a double to right field, and put another runner on base before Manny relieved him in favor of Jon Rauch. With one out, Rauch got the fly out, but a run still scored and the Angels tied the game 4-4 in the eighth. We really hope Ayala gets out of this pitching slump soon, with Cordero still on the DL we need capable veterans in the bullpen.

The Nats couldn’t score in the bottom of the eighth, but Aaron Boone, Dmitri’s replacement at first, hit a sharp liner to third base, and beat out the throw at first. The play meant he had recorded his 1000th career hit. With that feat, Aaron follows in his Grandfather’s, Father’s, and older brother’s footsteps. It was a nice career moment for him.

The game remained tied going into the bottom of the ninth. Dukes hit a lead off single off Shields. Lastings Milledge followed with an infield grounder, but Dukes advanced to second. Jesus Flores, who was having a rough night batting in the clean up spot, going 0-4 in his previous at bats, showed patience at the plate, and laced a breaking ball into right field for a game winning RBI single. The story tonight has got to be the young guys, the efforts of Dukes, Milledge and Flores won the game. Are we finally seeing the potential of the future? Ironically Flores’ hit came with Lo Duca in the on deck circle, all Lo Duca could do was watch the future win the game.

With tonight’s win the Nats are 31-49. It’s always nice to head into an off day on the tails of a win. The Nats look to improve this weekend with the end of interleague play and a series against Baltimore.

I really thought we had them last night.  It’s been a while since I have had my hopes up for a win.  During the rain delay the fans in Nationals Park were treated to an amazing double rainbow.  It was pretty unique - I’d never seen anything quite like it.  I was hopeful that the rainbow, and the fact that the messy thunderstorms never materialized, would be a good omen for the team. 

Things went well for the first seven innings.  Jason Bergmann had another great outing.  It’s good to see him getting his confidence back.  He pitched seven one run innings and threw only 82 pitches.  The game which started about 8:30 moved very quickly until about the fifth inning.  As great as Bergmann’s performance was, he still only had one run to work with.  It’s starting to sound like a broken record I know, but our offense has got to start giving their pitchers something to work with.  I’m beginning to wonder if the point of the game is unclear to the line up.  I’m not sure they know that the pitcher that is supposed to put up zeros during the inning, not the offense. Once again the excuse for the line up not producing was the prowess of the opposing pitcher.  I’ve heard Manny say something like this about a hundred times already this season, 

“He was tough as usual. That’s why he has an ERA below 2.00,” Acta said about Lackey. “We had a chance to get a hit and pull away, but we couldn’t get that hit with the bases loaded.”

The Nationals seem to make every single opposing pitcher look like an ace. They had no clutch hits again last night, only one person, Willie Harris, hit for extra bases.  The bats aren’t coming alive, and that affects everything.

Speaking of Willie Harris, he had a great game last night.  He hit a solo home run, followed that up with a triple, made some great defensive catches (ones that Wily Mo sure wouldn’t have been able to make) and scored both of the teams runs.  Willie’s speed came in handy in the seventh inning last night, he hit a long ball to right field, and easily advanced to third base. Pinch hitter Paul Lo Duca, knocked a line drive right back at the pitcher, who tried to double up Harris at third, but was unsuccessful thanks to a poor throw.  Willie was able to advance to home to score the tie breaking run on the play, and the Nats led 2-1.

In order to win the game, the Nats needed to protect their one run lead for just two innings. Protecting a lead should be a simple task, but lately its been an impossible feat for the boys.  The defense feel apart in the eight inning with Saul Rivera on the mound.  When Chone Figgins bunted Saul tried to field the ball, but was just about pummeled by Pete Orr who was playing third base.  Pete ran right into Saul and sent him flying across the field, Figgins was safe at first.  Rivera appeared to be uninjured after the play.  Figgins then took off, stole second and advanced to third on a poor throw by Jesus Flores.  The ball bounced out of Lopez’s glove and kinda sat behind him in center field for a few seconds.  Guzman, who is usually behind Lopez to protect on such a play, was still standing at short.  Milledge charged the ball and threw to third, but Figgins was safe by a long shot.  Erick Aybar then hit a grounder right to Lopez who let the ball slide under his glove and into right field, for a two base error.  Figgins scored on the play and the Angels tied the game 2-2. Right after Aybar scored on a single by Anderson and the Angels took the lead 3-2. 

Watching that inning, was like watching a calamity of errors.  After those three plays, the guys kind of gave up.  Any hopes of a win just seemed to blow away at that point.  It’s pretty sad when the fans can tell that even in a one run game, a rally just isn’t going to happen.  Lots of Nats fans left disappointed last night after sloppy baseball ended the promise of solid pitching.

Don’t forget to chat with Jim Bowden today online at 11am.  Anyone think he is going to say anything useful?

The next feature in our Women in Baseball series profiles Andrea Larson, Corporate Communications Manager for the Minnesota Twins.

Andrea Larson, the Corporate Communications Manager for the Minnesota Twins, has always been a baseball fan. Growing up in the Twins Cities area, Andrea has been a Twins fan since birth. She calls her parents “obsessed fans.” In fact some of her favorite baseball memories come from attending World Series games in 1987 and 1991 and several Breakfast of Champions events in the community where she would meet players get autographs as a child. Her parents actually went to all seven games of the ’87 series. Though she shares her passion for the game with her father (pictured below) and brother, the Larson family women know their baseball too. Andrea’s 89-year-old grandmother is also an avid Twins fan. “My Grandma is probably the biggest Twins fan I know, besides my mom. My Grandma still talks about the Twins all the time.” In such a dedicated family, it seems natural that Andrea would be raised a true baseball fan.

Andrea’s journey into the Twins Organization started after she graduated from the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She then earned her MBA in Sports Management from the University of St. Thomas. Andrea started her career at public relations agencies like BSMG World Wide, and later Fleishman Hillard in Minneapolis. After a brief stint at United Health Group, Andrea read in the local paper that the Twins public relations manager was leaving the organization. “I thought that there might be a job opportunity and I applied. I heard there were 300 resumes or something like that, I didn’t know anyone or anything like that, but somehow I guess I had what they were looking for.” The 2008 season will be Andrea’s third season with the club.

A typical day for Andrea includes managing all media and community relations off the field, “the business side of things” as she calls it. She handles the promotions and plans events. In addition, Andrea is in charge of maintaining the Twins website. This season Andrea and her colleagues are all pretty busy with plans for their new ballpark, which opens in 2010.

Andrea feels lucky to be doing her dream job. She knew working in baseball wasn’t always glamorous, but it was a challenge she was ready for.

“This is what you sign up for when you work in baseball. It was no secret when I signed up here, and they made it very clear, that it’s long hours and a lot of work. It’s fun but you spend a lot of time at it and you are very busy. It was definitely a challenge I was ready for.”

But that’s Andrea, a young woman who quietly works hard and gets the job done without focusing too much on the challenges. “You know I don’t really focus on the fact that I’m a female in the industry. I’d like to think that there aren’t issues, and if there are, I don’t pay too much attention to it. The people here are very fair and diplomatic.” Though Andrea hasn’t experienced many challenges in the baseball world, she still looks up to women that have had success in the industry, like Dodgers president Jamie McCourt.

As a female baseball fan herself, Andrea often considers the female demographic when planning events and promotions for the Twins organization. “Women I think appreciate the finesses of the game. It’s not a violent sport, it’s a structured game, and it’s fun to watch and cheer.” The market for the female baseball fan is continually growing and the Twins are trying hard to capitalize on that growth. “We are really trying to focus on that market. Baseball is very popular with women and I think it’s a market we can capitalize on even more.”

Because the Twins are such a big part of the fabric in the twin cities area, Andrea’s favorite part of her job is sharing the team’s community focus with the media. “I mean people are obsessed with the Twins, at every level, so it’s fun to be able to share that information via the media with all of the public.”

Some of Andrea’s favorite community events geared to women include the Mother’s Day festivities and the special Wine, Women and Baseball events. Mother’s Day is special for Andrea, not just because of the pink bats. “The Mom’s and wives are very involved in the community. It’s a very active organization.” This year, more than 35 of them participated in the Susan G. Komen Walk for a Cure, including breast cancer survivor Jan Guerrier, mother of Matt Guerrier.

The Twins will also hold eight or nine Wine, Women and Baseball events this season. The events are open to women only and include a pre-game happy hour and then tickets to that night’s game. “We have a tent and women come in and they get manicures, they can drink wine, they can have food and get their makeup done. We always have a special guest, either a Twins’ wife or someone from the community, that does a little Q&A with them. They are really fun; no boys allowed. It’s been a very popular event.” These events are so popular that the 250 available tickets always sell out fast.

Andrea counts herself lucky to be able to work for the team she grew up cheering on. She was working at various jobs for eight years before joining the Twins. Her advice to others is heartfelt,

Go for it, chase your dreams, but know you have to work hard. Just be patient and you will eventually find your niche… Don’t think just because you are a female it would be difficult for you; it’s something I don’t even think about.

A special thanks to Andrea for taking the time to speak with us, despite her busy schedule.