Elijah Dukes crashes into scoreboard in RF after catching David Wright's line drive to end the game.

Photo © 2009 C. Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

 

THE RESULT:  The Washington Nationals turned two errors by the New York Mets middle infield into a run in the bottom of the eighth, pulling out a 4-3 victory before 19,614 at Nationals Park.

With the score tied at three, Mike Morse drew a walk against Sean Green (L, 1-4, 4.72), and interim manager Jim Riggleman sent Justin Maxwell to run for him.  Pinch-hitting for Tyler Clippard (W, 3-2, 2.91), Cristian Guzman grounded to shortstop Anderson Hernandez. 

The former Nat tried to feed second baseman Luis Castillo to turn a double play, but led Castillo too far across the bag, and all hands were safe.

Ian Desmond, who hit a two-run home run earlier, then grounded to short himself.  Hernandez made an excellent diving play, going headlong to his left to snare the sharply hit grounder, and this time made a perfect flip to Castillo.  But the second baseman should have just put the ball in his pocket at that point.

Instead, he tried -- vainly -- to complete a double play, but ended up throwing the ball into the Nationals' dugout.  Maxwell cruised home with the tiebreaking -- and eventual winning -- run.

Starter J.D. Martin had trouble early, giving up three runs in the first two innings.  BU the settled down nicely from there, completing six innings, allowing just those three runs on seven hits and two walks.  He did not strike out a batter.

Clippard pitched two scoreless innings, and Mike MacDougal struck out two in his inning of work for his 18th save of the season.

THE TAKEAWAY:  It's good to see that some players are still really trying to make a difference.  Desmond, Maxwell and Morse are all young guys trying to prove themselves to the Nats and are working hard as the games dwindle away.

THE GOOD:  Elijah Dukes.  He went 2-for-4 in the two-hole, but more importantly, he made an excellent catch, crashing into the fenced scoreboard in right field, for the final out of the game.  Hustle and sacrifice like that is always good to see, but especially good from a team trying to avoid loss 104.

THE BAD:  Adam Dunn.  He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, reducing the number of games he has to hit his 39th and 40th home runs of the season.

THE UGLY:  The Mets middle infield in the eighth.  Nats fans certainly can empathize with their Mets counterparts after watching the debacle unfold in front of them.

NEXT GAME:  The final home game of the season.  Wednesday at 4:35, for the finale with the Mets.  John Lannan (9-23, 3.93) faces golfing buddy Tim Redding (3-6, 5.29).

"I'm not stupid; you can play a lot of close games and be a bad ballclub. But the difference between us and the other clubs is not that wide a gap. ... We just made some mistakes."  -- interim manager Jim Riggleman after Sunday's loss, Sept. 27, 2009.

THE RESULTS:  The Atlanta Braves rode into the Nation's Capital and rolled out with three more wins, sweeping the homestanding Washington Nationals, by scores of 4-1, 11-5, and 6-3.

The Nats are now 52-103 and 6-17 in September.

Sunday saw a tied game in the ninth inning turn ugly in the tenth, as the Braves scored three times off closer Mike MacDougal. 

With one out in the 10th, MacDougal (L, 1-1, 4.59) walked Nate McLouth and hit Martin Prado with a 96-mph fastball. Chipper Jones and Brian McCann then hit the back-to-back choppers. Jones beat his out to load the bases, and McCann's turned into an RBI groundout.

Omar Infante followed with a two-run single to center to score Prado and Jones, giving the Braves their 10th straight road win. Mike Gonzalez (5-4) picked up the win, and Rafael Soriano pitched the 10th for his 27th save.

All this happened hours after the Nats took a  2-0 lead on solo home runs by Ryan Zimmerman (32) and Josh Willingham (24) off starter Derek Lowe in the first inning.  Mike Morse added a solo shot in the fourth.

Saturday, the Nats made three errors and gave up a combined 18 hits and walks, but were only trailing 6-4 entering the ninth inning.  But the Braves got five runs off MacDougal, Ron Villone and Logan Kensing to blow the game up.

Rookie Tommy Hanson (W, 11-4, 2.98) struck out seven in seven innings for the win.  Garrett Mock (L, 3-10, 5.91) was hammered again (six runs in five innings) for the loss.

The Nats made things close for a while on Mike Morse's pinch-hit three run home run.

Friday night, Javier Vazquez threw a complete game three-hitter, and the Nats fell 4-1.  Vazquez retired 11 in a row at one point, struck out seven and only walked one batter all night.  The lone Nats run came on a Josh Bard solo home run.

John Lannan (L, 9-13, 3.93) was the hard-luck loser.  He went seven innings, and gave up two runs (none earned) on six hits and three walks, striking out six.  Washington made two errors in the infield, one each by Ian Desmond and Pete Orr, that led to two first inning runs.

THE TAKEAWAY:  The only scoring the Nats did in the three-game sweep was via the home run, a good/bad sign.  It's good that they are still hitting home runs; it's bad that they can't score when they don't, and there usually isn't anyone on base when they hit them.

THE GOOD:  Lannan.  He continues to go out there and keep his team in the game, regardless if the guys behind him can't pick the ball up.

THE BAD:  The defense and bullpen.  The Nats proved over the weekend why they are last in both categories in the major leagues.

THE UGLY:  Jim Riggleman.  The only thing Nats fans have left to cheer for is Adam Dunn's 40th home run of the season, yet Riggleman left Dunn out of the starting lineup Sunday, and failed to use him as a pinch-hitter in any of the late inning opportunities presented.  Unless Dunn is hurt, and the team did not issue any statement to the effect, then Riggleman really dropped the ball.

NEXT GAME:  Mercifully, the last week of the season is upon us.  The Nats host the New York Mets for a three-game series starting tonight at 7:05 pm.  Ross Detwiler (0-6, 5.71) has another chance to get his first big league win against Nelson Figueroa (2-7, 4.88), who took offense last season to the Nats cheering from the dugout, calling them "little girls".  Should be fun.

The Nationals have several players celebrating birthdays this week so wanted to send out a big Happy Birthday greeting to Jamie Burke (9/24), Wil Nieves, (9/25), Jason Bergmann (9/25), Victor Garate (9/25), John Lannan (9/27) and Ryan Zimmerman (9/28). 

These six players all share the astrological sign of the Libra so for fun, I looked up the traits.

Librans are first and foremost focused on others and how they relate to them. 
Librans are good when paired up, too, since they epitomize balance, harmony and a sense of fair play. They are true team players at work. The Libra-born are keen strategists, organizing groups with poise and getting the job done.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIL, JASON, VICTOR, JOHN, RYAN AND JAMIE! 

Pictures posted soon of Jason and Jamie.

Photos © 2009 C. Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

"Where do you go? Where do you look? You look at yourself first. Tonight it was me. Other nights everybody has had a chance to pull through or do the right things, and unfortunately for us it hasn't been that way too much. Talent is one thing, and not getting it done is another." --Ron Villone, Sept. 24, 2009.

THE RESULT:  Despite three different comebacks, the Washington Nationals eventually fell to the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6, before 22,432 at Nationals Park.  The game tool 3:41 to play, featuring nine pitching changes.

Washington's record falls to 52-100, the first team to 100 losses this season.

The Nationals, 59-102 last season, are the first NL franchise to drop 100 games in back-to-back years since the San Diego Padres, who lost 102 in both 1973 and 1974. In five seasons in Washington, the Nationals already have matched the number of 100-loss seasons the franchise had during its 36 seasons as the Montreal Expos -- including the inaugural 110-loss season as an expansion team in 1969.

The Nats are the first NL franchise since the 1970s to post triple digits losses in consecutive seasons.

Rafael Furcal's eighth inning home run -- his ninth of the season -- off reliever Ron Villone (L, 4-6, 4.36) was the difference-maker in this contest.  Furcal finished 4-for-5 with two runs.  Matt Kemp went 3-for-5 with two runs, three RBI, a homer and a triple, which Josh Willingham thought went for a home run after leaping at the wall, but the ball fell to his feet and fans had to tell him the ball was still in play.

The Dodgers got to starter J.D. Martin quickly.  Furcal, Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez all singled consecutively at the start off the game, producing a 1-0 lead in the first. Pitching coach Steve McCatty visited the mound to no avail, as Kemp hit Martin's next pitch over the wall in left-center for a three-run homer, giving him 100 RBI on the year.

L.A. added another in the frame to go up 4-0.  But the Nats had fight in this one.  They answered in the second off Vicente Padilla, getting three runs from an Elijah Dukes double, Alberto Gonzalez single and sacrifice fly from newcomer Jamie Burke, making his first home start on his birthday.

But Martin could not hold the Dodgers down, as they responded with a run of their own in the third.  Martin would not return for a fourth inning.  He gave up five earned runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four.

The Nats tied the game up in the sixth, with RBI singles from pinch-hitter Cristian Guzman and Willie Harris, but Furcal hit his home run in the eighth.  The Nationals had a chance to tie in the bottom half, but Harris was thrown out at home by Andre Ethier on Adam Dunn's two-out single to right.

Nats went quietly against Jonathan Broxton (36th save) in the ninth.

THE TAKEAWAY:  What can one say about loss No. 100?  Joe Torre, manager of the Dodgers, summed it up best:  "This game," Torre said, "was a very frustrating game."   And he won.  The pace was excruciating.  Padilla needed 103 pitches to get through five innings, and Martin threw 68 in just three frames.

But loss 100 was a microcosm of the season.  Lousy starting pitching, shaky defense, runners thrown out on the bases, questionable managerial decisions, and the bullpen blew it.  What more could anyone want!

THE GOOD:  Alberto Gonzalez.  He went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

THE BAD:  J.D. Martin.  At least he didn't take the loss, so he still remains the Nats only home for a starter to finish the season with a winning record.

THE UGLY:  Three hours and forty-one minutes.  Ugh.

NEXT GAME:  Tonight, the Nats welcome in the Atlanta Braves.  John Lannan (9-12, 4.07) takes on Javier Vazquez (14-9, 2.91).

"I thought it was a good time to go. I figured [McDonald] wasn't really worried about me after us moving the runner on the bunt." -- Jason Maxwell, on stealing third in the ninth with one out, Sept. 23, 2009.

Pete Orr, with a walk-off sac fly, beams as he's surrounded by his teammates after 5-4 win over L.A.

Photo © 2009 C. Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

THE RESULT:  The Washington Nationals scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings, taking a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, before 18,635 at Nationals Park.

The win staves off loss No. 100 for at least one more night, and prohibited L.A. from clinching a playoff spot, again, for at least one more game.  The Nats are 52-99 for the season.

Justin Maxwell started the ninth inning rally with a single down the left-field line off reliever James McDonald.  Alberto Gonzalez sacrificed Maxwell up to second, and the lanky center fielder easily stole third on a curveball from McDonald (L, 5-5, 3.99), who was not paying much attention to the base runner.

Jorge Padilla, inserted for defense in the top of the inning, drew a five-pitch walk, setting up a potential double play.  But pinch-hitter Pete Orr lofted a ball deep enough to right field for the game-winning sacrifice fly, triggering the fireworks from the roof of Nationals Park.

For most of the game, it didn't look like the Nats had much of a chance.  L.A. starter Chad Billingsley, despite being rocked his last six outings, was unhittable into the sixth inning.  But with two outs and Cristian Guzman aboard on a fielder's choice, Adam Dunn drew a walk, bringing  Ryan Zimmerman to the plate.

The Nats' lone all-star blasted Billingsley's up-and-in, first-pitch curveball into the Dodgers bullpen in left-center for his 31st home run and 100th RBI of the season.

Washington starter Ross Detwiler, looking for his first major league win, pitched well, but did not factor in the decision.  He went five and two-thirds innings, and allowed three earned runs on six hits and three walks.  He did not strike out a batter. 

 

Saul Rivera (1-3, 6.21) got the win in relief, escaping a ninth inning jam.  Cristian Guzman made two throwing errors in the top of the ninth, leading to a Dodgers run.  But Sean Burnett struck out Andre Ethier and Rivera retired Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp to end the threat.

 

THE TAKEAWAY:  The Nats got just five hits and made two errors, but escaped with the win.  Orr said it best after the game.  "It was bizarre, but at the same time, you've got to win those games," the utility player said. "Those are the games that if that slips away from us and we don't win right there, it's a pretty big downer."

 

Added Zimmerman:  "Are we at 99?  We just try and win every game. I think we made some strides in the second half. The young guys that have come up in September have looked pretty good and I think that's more important than anything. All of us are obviously disappointed in this season, but we're excited about what we have coming in the future."

 

At least they are still trying.

 

THE GOOD:  Zimmerman.  Hitting in the cleanup spot, he did what interim manager Jim Riggleman put him there to do: to make teams pay for walking Dunn. 

THE BAD:  Willie Harris.  0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the leadoff spot.  He's hitting .222.

THE UGLY:  After making a couple of nice plays Tuesday night, "Bad-D Guz" showed up last night.  Two throwing errors in the ninth almost gave that ball game away.  Thought to be fair, on the throw to the plate that seemed to draw Josh Bard off and allowed the run to score, it seemed the umpire might have blown the split-second call.

NEXT GAME:  Tonight at 7:05 pm.  J.D. Martin (5-4, 4.21) faces Vicente Padilla (11-6, .52). 

THE RESULT:  The playoff-bound Los Angeles Dodgers used the cellar-dwelling Washington Nationals as a punching bag Tuesday night, pounding out 14 runs on 15 hits, five walks and three Nats' errors (though it should have been four) in a 14-2 victory.

The loss drops the Nationals to 51-99 on the season.

Washington was done in by two really bad innings, a seven-run fourth and six-run seventh.  Starter Livan Hernandez (L, 8-12, 5.53) was hammered for eight earned runs on eight hits and four walks in just three and two-thirds innings.  Later, reliever Saul Rivera was beaten up for five runs -- four earned -- on just three hits and second baseman Ian Desmond's fielding error.

The nail in Rivera's coffin was Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda's (W, 8-6, 3.65) soft single to right field, loading the bases.  Victor Garate took it from there, and immediately surrendered a single to Rafael Furcal, opening the flood gates again.

The only redeeming quality this game had for Nats fans was Adam Dunn's two-run home run, his 38th of the season.  The shot draws him within two of the magic number 40, and should he reach the mark, he'll join Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa with six straight 40-homer seasons, trailing only Babe Ruth's seven consecutive 40-homer seasons, the major league mark.

THE TAKEAWAY:  Nothing, other than Dunn's homer.  Seriously, this one was ugly and depressing.  Sorry.

THE GOOD:  Dunn.  1-for-1, two-run home run and two walks before being replaced.  He didn't see a strike after the dinger.

THE BAD:  Josh Willingham.  0-for-3 with two Ks and three left on base.

THE UGLY:  Livan.  It's a great story, the veteran hurler returning to the team of some of his best moments, but he's winless in his return, and had nothing in this one.  And it could have been worse, as he pitched to Manny Ramirez twice with runners on base.

Hernandez is 1-7 in his last 10 starts.

NEXT GAME:  Wednesday at 7:05 pm against Los Angeles.  Ross Detwiler (0-6, 5.80) tries for his first major league victory against Chad Billingsley (12-1., 4.05).

John Lannan pitches at Nationals Park in July.  Photo © 2009 C. Nichols.  All Rights Reserved.

An recent anonymous comment to another blog went something like this: "The Nats need to go out and find a #1 and #2 type starter so John Lannan can be a No. 3 and win 15 games next year."

That got me to thinking about several things.

1) If the typical fan of the Washington Nationals thinks a #3 starter should win 15 games a year, no wonder only 15,000 show up to see the Nats play even the good teams.

2) Why does that same fan automatically use wins to measure...eh, forget it. One battle at a time.

2) Just how many 15 game winners are there in the major leagues?

3) Where does John Lannan fit into that equation?

So I spent a little time on a baseball statistic website that will remain nameless. Currently, in the N.L. there are exactly five pitchers with 15 or more wins: Adam Wainwright, STL (18-8), Chris Carpenter, STL (16-4), Jason Marquis, COL (15-11), Josh Johnson, FLA (15-4), Jorge de la Rosa, COL (15-9). There are six at 14 and six at 13. With two starts for most pitchers remaining, you have to figure no more than half of those with 13 or more will hit 15.

So we're looking at 11 pitchers -- tops -- to win 15 or more games this season in the National League. This is consistant with wins totals the last several seasons.

What does this mean? Well, to start with, the anonymous commenter was a dope.

A 15-game winner IS a #1 starter in the N.L.. If there is less than one 15-game winner per team in the league, then that's our "magic number" to look for when describing a #1 starter. The days of pitchers winning 20 games is, for the most part, a thing of the past. It happens on occasion (like seeing Haley's comet), but it's not what pitchers should be judged against.

As stated before, I'm not going to get all wonky on the numbers and provide evidence that wins are a lousy way to measure a pitcher's effectiveness. Lots of others have done it more eloquently that I would. Go google it -- when you finish reading Federal Baseball, anyway -- if you're still interested and don't want to take my word for it.

The really interesting thing I discovered though, while looking these numbers up, is that of the 17 pitchers with 13 or more wins this season in the N.L., 12 of them come from just five teams: STL (3), COL (3), ATL (2), SF (2), MIL (2).

So in our equation, we've determined that 15 games won in a season makes you and "Ace", only about half the teams in the league have one (or more).

It's no shock, of course, to find St. Louis and Colorado in the list of teams with big winners. They are, after all, two of the four N.L. playoff teams. And Atlanta and San Fran both have winning records, due largely to the success of their starting pitching. Again, chicken-and-egg stuff.

So let's bring this back to Lannan. I'm prefacing all of the rest of this commentary based on the fact that I love John Lannan as a pitcher. He has a great idea of what he wants to do, stays within himself, and gives everything he's got every time he's on the mound. At 24, he pitches like he's 34. In a good way.

The guy is 9-12 in 192.1 IP in 31 starts with a 4.07 ERA. HIs K rate (3.7 per nine) is the lowest of 82 pitchers in the major leagues with nine or more wins. It's actually down from last season's 5.8, which is bad but tolerable.

Lannan's BABIP this season is at .280, which is a little low compared to league average (.299 this season), but right at what he's established as his norm (.277, .272, .280 in his three seasons). This shows us a pitcher that teams have a tough time "squaring up" on, for the most part.

So the anonymous poster that thinks Lannan is a 15-win pitcher is probably dreaming. But Lannan's career 108 ERA+ shows he should be a .500 pitcher, capable of sitting at the back of a staff, eat innings, win 10-12 games a year and give your team a chance to win when he's on the mound. Essentially, he has learned to be Jamie Moyer, 10 years before Moyer himself figured it out in his career.

And it the Nats come through on promises of shoring up their middle infield defense and a full season of Nyjer Morgan patrolling center field? Maybe, just maybe, Lannan can dream of a winning records, with a couple of breakthrough years like Moyer enjoyed. But Lannan's got to get his K-rate back up in the 5.5 range like in 2008.

Cause as soft as Moyer was, even he struck out five and a half per nine.

But let's not make Lannan into something he's not, simply because he's the best that the Nats have right now. Let's just let him be who he is and enjoy watching a guy pitch -- as opposed to throw -- every time he takes the hill.

"[The Nats] were up there swinging, not many foul balls today." -- John Maine, Mets starter on the Nats' effort, Sept. 20, 2009.

THE RESULTS: The Washington Nationals lost a pair of games to the New York Mets over the weekend, following Friday night's victory. The Nats now own a record of 51-98, and are seven games behind Pittsburgh in the loss column for the worst record in the major leagues.

D.C. only scored four runs in the two weekend games.

Saturday they went down 3-2 to old teammate Tim Redding. Washington managed just five hits off Redding and three relievers. The Mets' starter went seven innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, striking out four. Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez combined for two more scoreless innings.

John Lannan put up a good fight, giving up three earned in seven innings, on five hits and one walk. He struck out three. But it wasn't enough, as the Nats seemed disinterested in even making Redding work for his outs. Redding tossed just 98 pitches in his seven frames.

Interim manager Jim Riggleman started Ian Desmond, normally a shortstop, in right field, and he paid for it. Desmond misplayed a line drive right at him that flew over his head for a David Wright double to start a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh. Jeff Francoeur followed with a double, scoring Wright. Francoeur scored later on an error at first by Adam Dunn.

"If I had it to do over, I might not send him out there in that inning," Washington manager Jim Riggleman said. "It was a risk. It backfired."

It was more of the same on Sunday.

Five more Mets starters gave up just five hits in a 6-2 win for John Maine, injured most of the season, allowing him to register his first win since May. It was his second start since being activated from the D.L.

Maine (W, 6-5, 4.13) threw 70 pitches in his five innings of shutout ball and Daniel Murphy had two RBI in loss No. 98 for the Nats this season.

"It was just a lackluster performance," Riggleman said. "We can't have that. That's not acceptable. You just can't play with a lack of intensity at this point because it'll show up."

Nationals starter Garrett Mock (L, 3-9, 5.83) allowed four runs and nine hits in seven innings, dropping to 0-4 with a 7.00 ERA in five starts since his last win on Aug. 25 at Wrigley Field.

No D.C. hitter had more than one hit or reached base more than once.

THE TAKEAWAY: Riggleman, and rightfully so, was grilled by the blogs for starting Desmond in right field Saturday, stating a desire to get Pete Orr more at bats. It's bad enough that when Riggleman manages to put Desmond in the lineup, it's usually at second base, keeping veteran Cristian Guzman at shortstop.

But it's indefensible that the field manager is making a legitimate prospect (at least what passes for one with the Nationals) bounce around from position-to-position in deference to a completely replaceable fill-in part who spent most of his season in the minor leagues.

Here's what Riggleman said about Sunday's game:

"We just were flat, and that's not acceptable. We got down a run, and it was almost as if, 'Well, let's see what we can do here to get through it.' You know, I just wasn't pleased with the overall intensity of the game. The thing is, the other guy was throwing a pretty good ballgame; good pitching will make you look flat. But we can't allow that to happen. We've got a lot of guys on this ballclub that are fighting to make an impression for the future, and so I just reminded them that these last couple weeks count. You can't play with a lack of energy. If you do, it's gonna show up in somebody's mind who's gonna be making a decision about your future."

Riggleman is the type to over-praise the opponent when his team fails, a defense mechanism to say to fans, "Look, we're trying but our opponent just beat us." He even does it in the above quote, even when he is publicly calling his players out. It's the field manager's responsibility to make sure his players are playing hard.

All the folks who publicly called for Manny Acta's head earlier this season always cited that he never 'lost the team' and that the team played hard for him regardless of the outcome. That same can't be said about the interim manager, apparently.

THE GOOD: Lannan's start Saturday was good. There was nothing notably good on Sunday.

THE BAD: Zach Segovia. He's fairly proving that being successful at Triple-A isn't necessarily a recipe for being successful in the bigs. Sunday he gave up two earned in two-thirds on an inning. He has given up six earned runs in three innings of work, an ERA of 18.00.

THE UGLY: The hitters were 10-for 63 (.159) with just four walks in the two games.

NEXT GAME: Nats are thankfully off today. They face the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday at 7:05 for the start of the last homestand of the season, with nine games against the Dodgers, Braves and Mets, before finishing on the road versus Atlanta.

"I think if you're going to be a No. 3 hitter, a middle-of-the-lineup hitter, then that's what you're supposed to do." --Ryan Zimmerman, on hitting his 30th home run, Sept. 18, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT:  Ryan Zimmerman hit his 30th home run of the season, and Mike MacDougal held on -- barely -- to secure a 6-5 win for the Washington Nationals over the New York Mets, before 38,063.

The Nats broke a three-game losing streak and are 51-96 for the year.

Rookie J. D. Martin went five and one-third innings, giving up just two earned runs on seven hits and two walks to get the win.  He is the Nats only starting pitcher with a winning record, at 5-4.

Josh Bard drove in three runs from his eighth spot in the lineup.

THE TAKEAWAY:  Even the Nats beat the Mets these days.  That's six losses in a row and 10 out of 11.  How can Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya keep their jobs?

THE GOOD:  Zimmerman.  It's nice to hit a milestone, and it's a big one for Zim.  If he can learn to be a little more consistant, he'll be a perennial all-star.

THE BAD:  Adam Dunn.  He went 0-for-4 and is slumping badly.  He needs just three home runs for his milestone number of 40.

THE UGLY:  MacDougal.  He eventually got the job done, but he gave up three runs (two earned) on two hits and two walks in a inning and a third.

NEXT GAME:  Saturday at 1:10 pm.  John Lannan (9-11, 4.08) faces old golfing buddy Tim Redding (2-6, 5.52) on what is supposed to be a gloriously sunny, cool fall afternoon in Queens.

"All their pitchers did very well against us this year." -- Jim Riggleman, Sept. 18, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: Washington Nationals starter Ross Detwiler had his best start of the season, but got no support from his struggling offense, as Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies handed the Nats their 96th loss of the season, 4-2, before 45,210 rabid Philly fans.

Washington was swept in the three-game series and was outscored 15-3. They finished the season 3-15 against Philadelphia and are 4-10 in September.

To make maters worse, catcher Wil Nieves strained a hamstring and had to leave the game. The Nationals picked up catcher Jamie Burke from Seattle for cash, and placed him on the 40-man roster. They transferred Jesus Flores to the 60-day D.L. to make the move.

There was not much to this game except the mastery of Hamels (W, 10-9, 4.07). He retired the first 15 hitters, but then struck out the side. He threw 73 strikes in 109 pitchers and walked only one in eight innings, striking out 10 Nationals hitters.

The Nats finally got to Hamels in the seventh, as three straight singles by Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham and Elijah Dukes resulted in a run. Ian Desmond then walked to give D.C. loaded bases with one out. Hamels coaxed a fly ball out of Mike Morse and struck out Josh Bard to end the threat.

Dukes scored on a Desmond grounder in the ninth, after Dukes had tripled against Brad Lidge, but that's as close as the Nats would get.

Detwiler (L, 0-6, 5.80) went five innings. He gave up one earned run on four hits and one walk, striking out six, in what has to be considered his strongest performance as a National.

THE TAKEAWAY: Where did the bats go? This vaunted offense, which has been lauded all season long, has completely disappeared this month, especially the last three nights in Citizen's Bank Park, a supposed haven for hitters.

THE GOOD: Detwiler. Good to see him have some success heading into the off-season. Hopefully he gets another start and can get his first big league win this season.

THE BAD: Tyler Clippard. Peaches had trouble with the strike zone Thursday night. He walked three and gave up a hit for two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. Good team can come back from a spot of trouble from a reliever.

THE UGLY: Bad teams can't. The Nats are 4-10 in September, getting outscored 82-51. The .286 winning percentage is above only April (.238) this season.

NEXT GAME: The road trip continues, at Citifield against the New York Mets. This was the site of early abomination, as umpires and the atrocious early bullpen conspired to produced some memorably bad baseball. J.D. Martin (4-4, 4.29) takes on Mike Pelfrey (10-10, 5.09) at 7:10 pm.

Catcher Wil Nieves was injured in third inning of tonight's game in Philly and is being evaluated.  Josh Bard replaced Nieves in the game.  After the game, the Nationals announced that they acquired journeyman catcher Jamie Burke from the Mariners and placed Jesus Flores on the 60-Day DL.

**Updated 11;25pm: "With Wil a little gimpy -- we don't know how long it will be; probably a couple days -- and with Bardo a little gimpy, we needed another guy," Rizzo explained. "Jamie Burke is a guy that Jim [Riggleman] knows well. He's a complementary back-up guy."

Photo 2009 © Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

Press Release:

NATIONALS ACQUIRE CATCHER JAMIE BURKE FROM MARINERS

The Washington Nationals today acquired catcher Jamie Burke from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations and placed catcher Jesus Flores on the 60-Day Disabled List (right labrum). Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Burke is a solid defensive catcher, who has played parts of seven seasons in the Major Leagues during his 17-year career. The 37-year-old has batted .282 (107-for-380) with 20 doubles, three home runs and 38 RBI in 184 career big-league contests. He has posted a .280 (1183-for-4227) batting average with 54 home runs and 535 RBI in 1209 career minor-league contests.

In a backup role this season, Burke appeared 13 games with Seattle and batted .284 (23-for-81) with 11 RBI in 22 games with Tacoma of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY SEAN BURNETT!

Photo 2009 © Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

"We made too many mistakes. A lot of bad things happened that we can't continue to allow. We've got to do a better job of handling the details of the running game." -- Jim Riggleman, Sept. 16, 2009.

THE RESULT: Poor baserunning, yet another botched squeeze and a meatball from a reliever for a grand slam resulted in the Washington Nationals 95th loss of the season. They haven't all come at the hands of the Philadelphia Philles, but it seems like half of them have.

In reality, it's the 14th loss against just three wins to the N.L. East's leader.

Once again, the Nats had runners thrown out on the base paths. In the second inning, Livan Hernandez bunted -- apparently on his own, again -- trying to bring Ian Desmond in from third, who had doubled and took third on Wil Nieves' infield hit.

The bunt went straight back to Phillies starter Joe Blanton (W, 10-7), who threw to third to nab Desmond.

In the sixth inning, Justin Maxwell drew a walk with one out after Desmond reached on a single. Nieves hit a soft liner to right that Jayson Werth grabbed and caught Maxwell confused and off base for a double play.

Philly's first run came courtesy of a double steal, with Nieves throwing through to second base to try to catch Ryan Howard. Chase Utley practically walked home.

The big blow came in the seventh inning. Tyler Clippard hit Utley with two outs. Sean Burnett came in to pitch to Howard, but Utley stole second, so they put Howard on first with the base open. After a nine pitch at bat, Burnett walked Raul Ibanez, and just like that, without a hit, the bases were juiced.

Of course, Jason Bergmann came in to face Werth, and the right fielder took the fifth offering -- a letter high breaking ball that did not break -- to the bleachers in left center for the grand slam. Ball game.

The victim in all this was Livan Hernandez. He was strong again, going six innings and allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and two walks. The effort lowered his season record to 8-11.

Washington left ten men on base.

THE TAKEAWAY: It's hard to imagine the amount of outs the Nats give away on the bases. It seems like every night that baserunning errors result in shortened innings. Wednesday night, it was Desmond and Maxwell -- two rookies -- to get thrown out in bad plays.

Interim manager Jim Riggleman likes to be aggressive on the base paths, but that philosophy and strategy is proving questionable.

THE GOOD: Desmond and Nieves each had two hits, and Willie Harris reached three times in the leadoff spot.

THE BAD: The 2-3-4-5 hitters. 0-for-15. Not good.

THE UGLY: Cristian Guzman. 0-for-5 and left seven men on base. Special mention to Josh Willingham, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Over the last 23 games, Willingham is hitting .165/.287/.329 with three homers and nine RBI. As hot as he was during the summer is as cold as he's been the past month.

NEXT GAME: Thursday, at 7:05 for the finale of the three game series. Last chance for the Nats to eek out win No. 4 against Philly this season. Ross Detwiler (0-5, 5.10) versus Cole Hamels (9-9, 4.21).

"He should be ready for the middle of spring training, worst-case scenario." General Manager Mike Rizzo, on Jesus Flores prospects after labrum surgery, Sept. 15, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Philles threw a complete-game, five-hit 5-0 shut out against the Washington Nationals Tuesday night, then the Nats found out yet more bad news in a season chock full of it.

Jesus Flores, recovering from a stress fracture in his right shoulder, was diagnosed with a SLAP tear of his right (throwing) shoulder, will have surgery, and miss three-to-six months.

General manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement, and orthopedist James Andrews, who on Tuesday examined Flores in Birmingham, Ala., will perform the procedure on Wednesday.

"[Flores] had an MRI on August 12. And it didn't show a tear. He was examined by Andrews at that time and our doctor, Wiemi Douoghui. He was examined three different times as he was on the disabled list and had two sets of MRIs that showed no tear. With the persistence of the tendinitis in his shoulder we felt it was prudent to send him back [for more testing]."

Rizzo stated that even with Flores' new injury and the long rehab, he didn't think the team needed to go out and sign a catcher in the off-season. "We're going to look at all the options," Rizzo said. "But catcher, with the people we have on staff right now and Jesus, we feel comfortable where we're at."

As for the game, it was another in a seemingly endless string of losses, dropping the Nats to 50-94 on the season.

Lee (W, 14-11, 3.00)pitched well, but the Nats made as much trouble for themselves as Lee did. The Nats struck out in order in the first inning on just 13 pitches. In the third inning, after a leadoff double, Josh Bard was thrown out trying to advance to third on a grounder to second base by Alberto Gonzalez. Two batters later, Gonzales allowed a slow roller by Justin Maxwell to hit his foot, making the runner out.

Not to be outdone, Nats starter Garrett Mock got himself out on the bases as well. He reached on an infield single in the fifth inning, and attempted to take second on an overthrow by Chase Utley. But Mock never looked to see where the ball went, and it hit a wall and bounced right to catcher Carlos Ruiz, who threw to second to get Mock easily.

Mock (L, 3-8, 5.89) pitched better than his line, and only allowed on hit after the second inning. He gave up five earned on seven hits and two walks in six innings, striking out two. But the big blow was a ground ball double down the left field line by Pedro Feliz with the bases loaded in the second.

"He had a little bad luck," interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "They hit some balls hard, but he threw well after the second inning."

THE TAKEAWAY: This team simply makes too many outs on the basepaths, and baserunning skills have to be a point of emphasis in spring training. There's just no excuse for a veteran like Bard to make an out on that play early in the game.

Same with Gonzalez. Even if the ball hadn't hit him, he was still close enough to second base that if Rollins had fielded the ball cleanly, he probably would have thrown Gonzalez out at third anyway.

THE GOOD: Justin Maxwell. He went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot, his second multi-hit game in three days.

THE BAD: Ryan Zimmerman. 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

THE UGLY: The news about Flores. What a crusher. The injury probably doesn't have anything to do with his activation and three pinch-hit at bats, but why run him out there when he's not completely healthly and run the risk. He's apparently been experiencing this discomfort for over a month, which pre-dates his activation.

It's just more medical mis-practice for this organization, which has a long history of it at this point. Why even open yourself up to the criticism?

But it's just devastating news to hear your young catcher needs to have labrum surgery.

But you have to love Rizzo's optimism that "middle of spring training," is worst-case scenario. Has he been paying attention to some of these injuries? I can think of a lot of worser worst-case scenarios. But I'm a natural pessimist.

NEXT GAME: The middle game of a three-game set with Philly. Livan Hernandez (8-10, 5.30) takes on Joe Blanton (9-7, 4.11) at 7:05 pm from Citizen's Bank Park.

Photo 2009 © Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

Outfielder Josh Willingham will share stories from the clubhouse and answer questions. The event will be moderated by Nationals broadcaster Charlie Slowes and will include the opportunity to win tickets to upcoming games. The Q&A will be followed by an autograph signing for fans.

WHO: Washington Nationals Outfielder Josh Willingham
WHAT: Question-and-answer session; autograph signing at ESPN Zone
WHEN: Thursday, September 24, 2009, 12- 1 p.m.; Doors open at 11 a.m.
WHERE: ESPN Zone, 555 12th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

Please Note: This is the last Q&A of the 2009 season.

MLB announced master 2010 schedule today. Nats 2010 Schedule highlights below.

The Nationals host their home opener and last home regular season game against NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies.

Home opener is Monday, April 5. Last home game is Wednesday, September 29.

Good news is that the Nats play at home for all of the major holidays in 2010, except Memorial Day
-Mothers's Day - Sunday, May 9th v. Marlins
-Father's Day - Sunday, June 20th vs. Chicago White Sox
-Independence Day - Monday, July 4th v. Mets (four game series July 1-4)
-Labor Day - Monday, September 6th v. Mets

Battle of the Beltway:
-Nats host Orioles - May 21-23
-Nats travel to Baltimore - June 25-27

Interleague Play (vs. AL Central minus Twins):
-Nats travel to Cleveland Indians - June 11-13
-Nats travel to Detroit Tigers - June 15-17
-Nats host Chicago White Sox - June 18-20
-Nats host Kansas City Royals - June 21-23

Nats finish the regular season on the road at CitiField for a three game series facing New York Mets October 1-3.

Let the travel planning begin.....

"We probably don't want to make them that exciting, but we'll take it." -- Mike MacDougal, on another "exciting" win, Sept. 11, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: Adam Dunn homered, Mike Morse had another clutch hit, and J.D. Martin kept the Marlins at bey, as the Washington Nationals defeated teh Florida Marlins 5-3, before an announced crowd of 15,247 at Miami's Landshark Stadium.

I really wanted to type "Landshark Stadium".

Martin (W, 4-4, 4.29) matched Cy Young candidate Josh Johnson pitch-for-pitch. Martin gave up two earned runs on just two hits and four walks, striking out four.

Dunn hit a two-run shot, his 37th of the season, in the top of the first. Willie Harris walked and after Cristian Guzman and Ryan Zimmerman struck out swinging, Dunn took an outside fastball over the short wall down the left field line.

He's had dozens of balls that flew farther, but this one was hit in just the right place.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived. With one oout in the bottom of the inning, Nick Johnson walked, and Hanley Ramirez delivered his 23rd of the season, a no-doubt shot over the big scorebaord in left center.

Neither pitcher would give up another run.

Morse's big hit came in the sixth, a double to center that scored both Josh Willingham and Wil Nieves.

The next inning Zimmerman went deep, his 29th of the year.

Tyler Clippard and Jason Bergmann pitched unscathed, and Mike MacDougal, despite giving up a run, recorded his 15th save.

THE TAKEAWAY: Morse is playing well in what limited at bats interim manager Jim Riggleman is giving him. I guess we should take it...he left Ian Desmond out of the lineup Friday night to watch Guzman go hitless in five trips with two strikeouts.

Seriouslty though, this team wins when the middle of the order hits. They hit tonight.

THE GOOD: Dunn. He is just three home runs from 40. If he reaches the number, he will match Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa for six conseutive seasons with 40, trailing only Babe Ruth, who hit 40 homers in seven consecutive.

THE BAD: Pete Orr. 0-for-4. He's coming back to earth.

THE UGLY: Cristian Guzman. 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.

NEXT GAME: Marco Estrada makes his 2009 debut against Anibal Sanchez (2-6, 4.47) at 6:10 pm.

"I've never had anything like that happen before, you know? I didn't know if they were being serious or not, so I didn't want to look like a dummy." -- Nats shortstop Ian Desmond, on his curtain call, Sept. 10, 2009.

THE RESULT: Making his major league debut, Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond homered, doubled and drove in four runs, leading the Nats to a 8-7 victory over the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, before 18,706 at Nationals Park.

The Nats won for just the second time in their last 12 games.

Desmond finished 2-for-4 with one run, but his two outs were also long drives to the warning track. He was also thrown out at home trying to score from second on a bunt by pitcher Livan Hernandez. Only a heads-up dive by Philly starter Joe Blanton prevented Desmond from scoring on the play.

Hernandez was strong for Washington. He went seven and one-third innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits and just one walk, striking out two. He improved his record to 8-10 on the season.

Washington tried to blow it in the ninth inning, giving up five Philly runs. Zach Segovia's Nationals debut did not go quite as well as Desmond's.

Segovia entered the game leading 8-2, but allowed a grand slam to pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, who had been riding an 0-for-30 streak. After Mike MacDougal gave up a couple hits, Ron Villone came in and got Ryan Howard to bounce into a double play to finally end the game.

THE TAKEAWAY: It was learned after the game that General Manager Mike Rizzo and interim manager Jim Riggleman had a private meeting with shortstop Cristian Guzman on Thursday afternoon and asked him to switch to second base for the 2010 season.

None of the parties were available to comment on the topic to offer details of the conversation.

It's interesting that this information would come to light the day after so much backlash over Riggleman's statements the last couple of days about his desire to "play to win" by continuing to play the veterans and the "obligation to contenders to put our best players out there."

Desmond clearly deserved his promotion, and clearly deserves to play the bulk of time at shortstop the rest of the way out this season. It's high time the team starts acting with the best interest of the team in mind, instead of pandering to overpriced veterans who certainly won't be playing for "the first great Nationals team".

If Guzman feels like someone's stepped on his toes, so be it. He's been playing defense the better part of two years like someone was currently standing on his toes. I said at the time, his "reward" contract was a mistake, and it's still an albatross. Only now, the Nats have a competent administrator in place to rectify the situation.

THE GOOD: Ian Desmond. 2-for-4, homer, double, four RBI. About 15 feet from hitting the glass window at the Red Porch restaurant in center field. Welcome to the show, kid.

THE BAD: Ryan Zimmerman. 0-for-5, three left on base. Rough night.

THE UGLY: Zach Segovia. One-third of an inning. Two hits, a walk and a grand slam allowed. Welcome to the show, kid.

NEXT GAME: The Nats travel to Florida to start a six-game roadie against the Marlins. J.D. Martin (3-4, 4.35) faces Josh Johnson (14-4, 3.04) for the Fish.

Photo © Cheryl Nichols 2009. All Rights Reserved.

-------------

In Remembrance...

I remember very clearly where I was eight years ago this morning. I work two blocks from the White House, and at the time lived half a block from the U.S. Capitol. Also, my then girlfriend (now wife) worked in the tallest building in Chicago. All were thought to be targets.

The events of September 11, 2001 changed the way the world looks at itself. Not a single American felt safe in their homes, a feeling that most Americans never thought could happen.

Please take time today to remember what happened that morning.

Remember those that lost their lives. Remember those who came to the rescue. Remember the images of invincible towers, an impenetrable fortress and a peaceful, open field burning and crumbling.

And remember how you felt that morning. I will never forget.

Who's insulting whom now?

Not six hours after I posted one of my more scathing diatribes, the universe aligns and interim manager Jim Riggleman pencils Ian Desmond into the starting lineup for tonight's game against Philly.

Hmm, wonder if Rizzo was listening to everything Riggles was saying and re-thought the interim manager's opinion. Unless in the pre-game presser Riggles says Guzie's bunions were acting up and they decided to get the kid in there. Or they know it's going to get rained out?

PHILADELPHIA PHILLES (79-58, 1st in NL East; six-game win streak)

Rollins - SS
Victorino - CF
Utley - 2B
Howard - 1B
Ibanez - LF
Werth - RF
Feliz - 3B
Ruiz - C
Blanton - P

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (47-92, 5th in NL East, 34 games back; two-game losing streak)

Harris - CF
Orr - 2B
Zimmerman - 3B
Dunn - 1B
Willingham - LF
Dukes - RF
Desmond - SS
Nieves - C
Livan! - P

STARTING PITCHERS

WAS: Livan Hernanez (154.0 IP, 7-10, 5.44 ERA, 92 K, 58 BB)
PHI: Joe Blanton (166.0 IP, 9-6, 3.80 ERA, 136 K, 43 BB)

WEATHER

Overcast skies and rounds of showers will make for less-than-ideal baseball weather. Bring your rain gear. Chance of rain: 65%. First pitch: 68F. Last out: 63F.

"Who do you do it against? Do you do it against the Phillies? I think we would be insulting the Marlins and the Braves, who are chasing the Phillies." -- Jim Riggleman, on playing September call-ups, Sept. 9, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: The Washington Nationals were pushed around by the neighborhood bully again last night, as the Philadelphia Phillies hit two solo home runs off Tyler "Peaches" Clippard in the eighth inning to take a 6-5 decision before 16,818 at Nationals Park.

The Nationals are 2-12 against Philly this season, and are 47-92 overall. They have lost 13 of their last 16 games.

THE TAKEAWAY: Rather than discuss yet another mind-numbing loss, in the last two days the interim manager has done -- and said -- some interesting and disturbing things that would lead anyone capable of critical thought to believe that Riggleman just doesn't get it.

The most easily scrutinized strategic backfire from last night's game came right there in the bottom of the ninth. With the Nats down by one, Justin Maxwell led off with a single. The only time bunting a runner over makes sense is when you're the home team, down by one run, in the bottom of the ninth with no outs.

To this point, Riggleman has shown he's not afraid to start his runners, largely to the detriment of his team. He's already attempted four suicide squeezes. Anyway, convention calls for the next batter, Cristian Guzman, to sacrifice himself to move Maxwell up 90 feet.

With Dunn and Zimmerman, the team's two most prolific RBI-man following, there would be no more perfect time to sacrifice, though Riggleman does it all the time regardless. He'd already commanded Guzman to sacrifice earlier in the game...IN THE THIRD INNING!

Yup, you know what happens. Guz swings away on the first pitch. Then takes a ball. No bunt order given.

Maxwell then steals second base! I'm going to overlook the fact that attempting a steal with a rookie player in the bottom of the ninth is a horrible decision in-and-of itself.

So, with no outs, man on second and a 1-1 count, surely Riggleman would put the sac play on to get Maxwell to third with less than two outs, right?

Um, wrong.

Guzman looks at strike two, fouls one off, then struck out...LOOKING!

Everyone knows what happened next, as Ryan Madson coaxed a line drive from Adam Dunn to second base, where the the aforementioned rookie was then caught off base for the game-ending double play.

Simply horrible baseball.

To compound his actions on the field, the interim manager has also decided that shortstop Ian Desmond will rot on the big league bench for his September call-up.

My Internet writing brethren have already chimed in on the subject, some a bit more eloquently than others. Here are Riggleman's words, though:

"I'll get him some games, but as long as Guzman is healthy he'll be playing. If his foot flares up on him that will be an opportunity to get Desmond in there, but we also have Gonzalez and Orr who will be playing up the middle. I love to see young players play, but I don't ever want to take away the opportunity from the veterans who have been here all year... and disregard their efforts all year by planting them on the bench. Like I said, the at bats might be inconsistent."

-snip-

"If I send a message to the ballclub that we're gonna put our Class AAA call-ups out there on a daily basis to see what they can do, first of all, as I said, it's not a good time to evaluate talent. Who do you do it against? Do you do it against the Phillies? I think we would be insulting the Marlins and the Braves, who are chasing the Phillies. Do you do it just against the Braves but not against the Phillies?"

-snip-

"The competition throughout the league indicates that, for the fairness of who is the best team in the division, you've got to put your best people out there to play against those guys. You know, if you get a couple games where you're playing a non-contender you might experiment a little bit more and get some guys some games. But I think that until the division is won and the wild card is won, we have an obligation to contenders to put our best players out there."

I'm going to be as sensitive as possible with my next comment.

WHO GIVES A DAMN about insulting the Phillies, Marlins and Braves??? The major league manager has two jobs: Winning; and making HIS TEAM BETTER. What he cares about the opposition is immaterial. The only obligation he has is to HIS organization.

Continuing to play Alberto Gonzalez, Pete Orr, and yes, Cristian Guzman, at the expense of looking at Ian Desmond in the big leagues for three weeks is absolutely irresponsible. The ONLY reason for Desmond to be here in September is to find out if he'll be able to play in the majors in the spring.

All Desmond does sitting on the bench is eat a month of major league salary and per diem. Why on earth would you call up Desmond, or Detwiler, Estrada, Kensing or Segovia (NONE of whom have made it into a game this week) if you aren't going to play them?

From Riggleman's comments and actions, the only time we'll see any of them is in a blowout.

It's pretty transparent that Riggleman is managing for his future. At 1-10 his last 11 games, he may want to re-think his strategy.

"Five is a little ridiculous." -- Jim Riggleman, Sept. 8, 2009

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: The Philadelphia Phillies hit five solo home runs, sending the Washington Nationals to their ninth defeat in ten games. The final of 5-3 was witnessed by 153 Nats fans and 17,000 Phillies Phaithful.

Raul Ibanez once again did in the Nats. He had two of the five homers, has as many homers at Nationals Park (6) as Josh Willingham, and has hit eight of his 30 overall against the Nats.

Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz were the other homer-hitters Tuesday night.

Nats starter John Lannan (L, 8-11, 4.14) surrendered four of the five bombs. He went six and two-thirds innings, giving up just two non-home run hits and two walks, and struck out one.

Willie Harris hit his seventh home run for the home team, and Cristian Guzman and Wil Nieves knocked in runs as well.

The Nats had two opportunities to tie in the ninth inning, as the Phils' struggling closer Brad Lidge loaded the bases in front of Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn with one out. But Phillies manager Charlie Manual asked Ryan Madson to relieve Lidge, and he retired Zim on a breaking ball six inches off the plate and low, and Dunn grounded weakly to second base.

Pedro Martinez (W, 4-0, 3.64) went six and two-thirds for the win.

TEH TAKEAWAY: The Phillies have won eight straight against the Nationals and lead the season series 11-2. Ibanez finished 3-for-4 and is batting .463 with eight homers and 20 RBI this season against the Nationals. He is 7-for-10 in his career against Lannan.

Maybe the Nats just want to walk him all four trips tonight.

THE GOOD: Harris, Guzman and Nieves. All had two hits apiece.

THE BAD: 3-4-5 hitters: 1-for-13 with four strikeouts and 14 combined left on base.

THE UGLY: I stayed home from this one and watched on TV. First: Bob and Rob REALLY rode Alberto Gonzalez last night. Meet the new whipping boy! Rob thinks they should try Morse at second, a position he played all of 19 games at this season in the minors this season.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Second: Did they bring buses down from Philly last night for the mid-week series? Or are there really that many ex-South Jersey folks in the D.C. area?

NEXT GAME: Tonight at 7:05 pm. Garrett Mock (3-7, 5.63) against Cliff Lee (12-11, 3.06). Good luck with that.

The defending World Champs (and their laid-back, easy-going fans) invade Nationals Park for a three-game series, starting tonight at 7:05 pm.

In roster news, the five September call-ups are indeed in D.C. and should be added to the roster today. According to MASN.com, to make room for Logan Kensing and Zack Segovia on the 40-man roster, Scott Olsen was moved to the 60-day D.L. and Jorge Sosa was designated for assignment, essentially ending his short stint with the Nats.

Ross Detwiler, Marco Estrada and Ian Desmond were all on the 40-man to begin with.

Ah, September.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLES (77-58, 1st in NL East; four-game win streak)

Rollins - SS
Victorino - CF
Utley - 2B
Howard - 1B
Werth - RF
Ibanez - LF
Feliz - 3B
Ruiz - C
Martinez - P

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (47-90, 5th in NL East, 32 games back; one-game win streak)

Harris - CF
Guzman - SS
Zimmerman - 3B
Dunn - 1B
Willingham - LF
Dukes - RF
Orr - 2B
Nieves - C
Lannan - P

STARTING PITCHERS

WAS: John Lannan (173.2 IP, 8-10, 4.09 ERA, 72 K, 59 BB)
PHI: Pedro Martinez (23.0 IP, 3-0, 3.52 ERA, 23 K, 3 BB)

WEATHER

Cool, overcast and rainy. First pitch: 72F; last out: 68F. Chance of rain 40%.

According to MLB.com, the Washington Nationals have decided to promote pitcher Ross Detwiler, Marco Estrada, Logan Kensing and Zack Segovia, and shortstop Ian Desmond.

All five players will report to Washington with the completion of Triple-A Syracuse's schedule.

The Nationals also will bring up Syracuse manager Tim Foli to assist with all-purpose duties.

The promotion will give interim manager Jim Riggleman some flexibility in managing the pitching staff down the stretch, with several young pitchers approaching their maximum innings allotment for the season.

Detwiler started 10 games earlier in the season, going 0-5 with a 6.40 ERA. Kensing has had two stints in D.C. this season, surrendering 31 runs in 26 and two-thirds innings pitched. He was the closer for Syracuse, with a 2.97 ERA.

Estrada made his major league debut last season, appearing in 11 games as a reliever. He started the entire season for Syracuse.

Segovia, who has previous major league experience with Philadelphia, went 2-5 with a 3.28 ERA in stints at Double-A and Triple-A this year.

Desmond hit .328 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs for Harrisburg and Syracuse.

"Zim doing what Zim does. Coming through." -- Willie Harris, Sept. 6. 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: Ryan Zimmerman's 28th home run of the season, in the bottom of the ninth inning, made winners of the Washington Nationals, defeating their nemesis, the Florida Marlins, 5-4, breaking an eight-game losing streak in the process, before 22,325 Nats fans on Labor Day Sunday.

Zimmerman's no-doubt-about-it shot fell close to the spot where he defeated the Atlanta Braves on the opening night of Nationals Park last season. The blast was two batters after Willie Harris hit a bomb to right to draw the Nats within one.

The Nationals were the beneficiaries of a strong start by J.D. Martin, on of the few "kid pitchers" still standing at the end of the season. He went six and two-thirds innings, and gave up six hits and two walks for two earned runs. He also struck out four, and made two outstanding defensive plays to help his cause.

There wasn't much offense in the game until the late innings. The Marlins held a 1-0 lead until the seventh, courtesy of a Hanley Ramirez solo home run.

But the Marlins scratched out a pair of singles against Martin in the seventh, and interim manager Jim Riggleman went for the lefty-lefty matchup of Ron Villone against rookie Chris Coghlan. Coghlan greeted Villone with a single to right field, plating Cameron Maybin and giving the Marlins what seemed like an insurmountable 2-0 cushion.

The Nats rally started in the eighth, as utilityman Mike Morse lined a single to center with two outs and the bases loaded. His hit scored Elijah Dukes and pinch-runner Jorge Padilla. The ball got away from the catcher, but there was confusion on the basepaths, and Morse was gunned out at second.

But old teammate Nick Johnson made things difficult for the Nats in the ninth inning. He laced a two-out, two-run single to pad the Marlins lead to 4-2 off closer Mike MacDougal (W, 1-0, 3.43).

With the lead, Florida called upon their current closer, Leo Nunez. But Harris took Nunez' first offering, a 94 MPH fastball, and sent it into the upper section above the Nats bullpen in right field, setting the stage for Zimmerman's dramatics.

THE TAKEAWAY: The Z-Man does it again. When this team gets good, it'll be handy to have an all-star with a flair for the dramatic!

THE GOOD: Elijah Dukes. He continued his current decent run by going 2-for-2 with a walk.

THE BAD: Villone. Brought in for the sole purpose of getting a rookie left-handed hitter out, he failed.

THE UGLY: Nothing really ugly in this one. Big Mac was shaky in the ninth, but it was his first rough outing in a while, as he'd only given up one earned run since the start of August.

NEXT GAME: Nats off today. Tuesday they welcome the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies at 7:05 pm. John Lannan (8-10, 4.09) hosts Pedro Martinez (3-0, 3.52).

"[Hernandez] threw a lot of pitches that were right around the plate that I think he generally would get people to swing at." -- Jim Riggleman, on the small strike zone in the first inning, Sept. 5, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: The Washington Nationals felt like they got the short end of the stick from the umpires all night long. Interim manager Jim Riggleman certainly thought first base umpire Andy Fletcher blew two calls, costing Nats base runners each time.

And starting pitcher Livan Hernandez did not receive any benefit from home plate umpire Tim McClelland, as he walked six and gave up eight base hits in his five innings. The end result was a 9-5 loss to the Florida Marlins, before 18,111 and about 100 dogs on "Pups in the Park" night.

© Cheryl Nichols 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Washington lost it's 90th game of the season against 46 wins. They've lost eight in a row, 15 of their last 18 and 18 of their last 24. It's D.C.'s longest losing streak since last August's 12-game loser. The Nats have been outscored 46-20 in the losing streak.

Riggleman came out to argue a close play at first early in the game, as Ryan Zimmerman ground into a 5-4-3 double play in the bottom of the first. Riggs gave it to Fletcher pretty good as Zimmerman calmly removed his batting gloves just past first base, to no avail.

Perhaps Riggleman was just taking his frustration out on the first base ump that should have been reserved for McClelland behind the plate.

Eight of Hernandez' first 10 pitches were called balls. Most of the pitches were just off the corner or hit catcher Wil Nieves' mitt where he called for it, only to be brushed aside by McClelland. The result was three runs in the inning on a double by Jorge Cantu and two-run single by Cody Ross.

Hernandez (L, 7-10, 5.44) left after five innings, trailing 6-1. He threw 107 pitches in his five innings. Victor Garate made his major league debut in the sixth, and was rudely greeted by pinch-hitter Brett Hayes, who hit his first major league home run.

© Cheryl Nichols 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Marlins starter Josh Johnson only went five innings as well, but his night was a little easier than Hernandez. The Cy Young candidate earned his 14th win against four losses, and lowered his ERA to 3.04. He gave up just two hits and one earned run, walking three and striking out just one.

THE TAKEAWAY: Gotta give the Nats credit: they did not quit. They scratched out three runs in the bottom of the seventh and got another one in the ninth. With players fighting for their opportunities, they kept swinging.

Wil Nieves singled up the middle with two on in the seventh, scoring Elijah Dukes, and Josh Bard pinch-hit a double that scored Pete Orr and Nieves.

In the ninth, Justin Maxwell (.139) doubled to deep left center, and his teammate in Syracuse for much of the season, Mike Morse, punched him in with a single.

THE GOOD: Adam Dunn. He went 2-for-4, the only Nat with multiple hits.

THE BAD: Ron Villone. He gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning late. In ended up inconsequential, but how can you mount a comeback if your relief pitchers keep giving up runs?

THE UGLY: Cristian Guzman. He went 0-for-4 with two men left on. He saw 11 pitches.

NEXT GAME: Sunday's matinee is the finale to the three-game set with Florida. J.D. Martin (3-4, 4.60) hosts Anibal Sanchez (2-6, 5.01) at 1:35 pm.

According to the Patriot-News, buried at the bottom of this notebook is news that the Washington Nationals fired Bobby Williams, Player Development Director, last Friday after three years on the job.

Trying to confirm the news, but so far nothing official out of the organization. NFA said the article confirms what he had heard as well.

We'll publish confirmation when we hear it.

If it's true, this is the beginning of the purge coming for at least the internal structure of the organization. There are an awful lot of contracts for internal personnel that expire this off-season, and we can expect those contracts to not be renewed, as Jim Bowden-hired folks are transisitoned out and Mike Rizzo can name his own personnel.

"We had a lot of chances. We just could not get the big hit. It was a combination of they made their pitches at the right time and the bullpen threw six innings of one-run ball." -- Nationals interim manager Jim Riggleman, Sept 4, 2009.

BOX SCORE AND RECAP

THE RESULT: The Washington Nationals managed to come back from two four-run deficits, but never could overtake the Florida Marlins, eventually falling 9-6 -- for their seventh straight defeat -- before a small, but vocal crowd of 16,364.

Garrett Mock (L, 3-7, 5.63) was ineffective in his three innings. He gave up six earned runs on seven hits and three walks, giving up two home runs -- to cleanup hitter Jorge Cantu and backup catcher John Baker.

The Nats had plenty of offense early themselves, getting three extra base hits among the seven given up by Marlins starter Sean West. Ryan Zimmerman and Alberto Gonzalez both had RBI triples, and Josh Willingham hit his 22nd home run of the season.

But Burke Badenhop (W, 6-4, 3.84) shut the Nats down and out, giving up just one hit and one walk in his three innings.

THE TAKEAWAY: This could have been a different game had Josh Bard been able to get a hit in either of the bases-loaded situations he had. He went 0-for-5 on the night with three strikeouts, and a whopping 10 men left on base.

The Nats left 11 men on as a team.

THE GOOD: Five hitters had two or more hits apiece. Just a shame they couldn't connect with the bases loaded.

THE BAD: Cristian Guzman. 0-for-5 in the two-hole.

THE UGLY: Bard. Very simply, he didn't come through tonight. You have these nights. The Nats have a lot of them.

NEXT GAME: Saturday at 7:05 pm. Livan Hernandez (7-9, 5.26) versus Cy Young candidate Josh Johnson (13-4, 3.08).

NOTES: The Nationals added LHP Victor Garate to the roster before Friday's game. Garate was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete an Aug. 30 trade for IF Ronnie Belliard.

Washington also activated C Jesus Flores from the 15-day disabled list, but he is still strengthening a right shoulder injury and will initially be limited to pinch-hitting duties.

NATS LOSE TWO STARTERS: Craig Stammen, who was scheduled to start tonight, but was scratched with elbow soreness, will undergo surgery on Sunday to remove a bone spur. Team physician Dr. Wiemi Douoguih will perform the surgery and Stammen will miss the remainder of the season.

Collin Balester has a intercostal strain of his left side. The Nationals have decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season as well.