by Tyler Radecki, Staff Writer

ORIOLES WIN THE RUBBER MATCH ON SUNDAY 2-1

Leading off the game, Nationals center fielder Roger Bernadina laid down a perfect bunt right in between first base and the pitcher’s mound and reached first base with ease. But as he ran past the bag, home plate umpire Todd Tichneor ruled that Bernadina stepped on home plate to bunt and was out.

Roger Bernadina was called out for stepping on the plate in first inning.

(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Close up of Bernadina's foot in 1st inning (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman argued the call with Tichneor for a couple of minutes before getting ejected from the game. Bench Coach John McLaren took over Manager duties for the day.

Manager Jim Riggleman was tossed after first batter.

(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

From there, you could sense that it was going to be a frustrating day for the Nats and their offense. Despite getting eight hits and three walks, they couldn’t scratch more than one run across home plate, wasting a great start from Jordan Zimmermann to lose, 2-1.

Jordan Zimmermann (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

The team’s best chance to blow the game wide open was in the fourth inning. Jayson Werth led off with a double, Wilson Ramos walked, and two batters later Danny Espinosa was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. The next batter, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, flied out in foul territory in right field, bringing Alex Cora to the plate with two outs.

Jayson Werth doubled in fourth. (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Cora slapped a sharp ground ball up the middle, but it hit pitcher Chris Tillman and bounced to third, bringing in one run. Had the ball bounced past Tillman, it likely would have scored two runs. Bernadina then stepped in and drove a pitch to right field, but it came up just a few inches short of a grand slam – another close play that just didn’t go Bernadina’s way on Sunday.

Chris Tillman reacting to bad bounce. (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

Meanwhile, Jordan Zimmermann was pitching a gem on the mound, so the one run may have seemed like enough after six innings. Zimmermann had retired 13 in a row heading into the seventh inning and was locating all of his pitches and had given up just one hit.

Jordan Zimmermann (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

But in the seventh, Zimmermann gave up a leadoff single to Nick Markakis. Vladimir Guerrero stepped in and ahead in the count 0-2, Zimmermann tried to throw a slider past Guerrero, but it hung in the strike zone, and Guerrero knocked it into the left field seats for his fifth homer of the season. 2-1 Baltimore.

Zimmermann gave up one more hit before being pulled, but his start was still fantastic: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. With 10 days rest, he looked as sharp as he had been in a long time.

Jordan Zimmermann (C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

In the ninth inning, Matt Stairs drew a one-out walk and was pinch ran for by Brian Bixler. With Roger Bernadina batting, Bixler tried to steal second base on a full count, but Bernadina watched a slider land in the zone for strike three and Orioles catcher Matt Wieters gunned down Bixler for Baltimore’s second strikeout-throw out double play of the day. It was a fitting way to end a frustrating day for the Nats, who had a few bad breaks in another poor offensive performance.

Brian Bixler gets gunned down at 2B for last out of game.

(C.Nichols/Nats News Network)

THE GOOD: Zimmermann was fantastic, throwing six innings of one-hit ball before giving up two runs on the home run in the seventh. His ERA is now 3.98 on the year, and he’s looking as good as he’s ever looked in his major league career.

THE BAD: The offense had nine LOB on Sunday afternoon and could never get the big hit needed to break the game open like they had on Friday night.

THE UGLY: The Nats were part of two separate strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out plays, one in the second inning and one to end the game – both were on strikes looking.

GAME NOTES: Michael Morse started at first base on Sunday. Ben Goessling tweeted, "Adam LaRoche will have his shoulder examined in New York tomorrow. He'll join the Nationals in Milwaukee after that."

THE STATS: 1 run, 8 hits, 0 errors, 9 LOB, 1-8 w/ RISP, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks.

NEXT GAME: Monday at 8:10 p.m. ET against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Tom Gorzelanny (2-3, 3.56 ERA) faces Yovani Gallardo (5-2, 4.70 ERA).

Game 44 proves that you never know what you are going to see at a Nationals baseball game.  The Washington Nationals came from behind to pull out a 7-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of the "Battle of the Beltway."

Here are a few photographs to illustrate Adam Jones' inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning......

 The Orioles' Center fielder Adam Jones hit a fly ball to deep center that had Morgan waiting for the ball in the warning track.

Morgan jumped up to catch the ball.

The photos show that the ball may have entered, or at least tipped his glove.

However, the ball bounced out of glove and backward toward the wall as Morgan crashed into the wall.

The ball appears to be falling to the ground behind Morgan as he crashed into the wall.

The ball looks like it fell to the field with his hat, but by Morgan's gestures here, it looks like Nyjer thought that the ball went over the fence and was a home run.

Morgan's reactions surprised the 30,290 in the crowd.  He raised his mitt and then slammed it on the field in disgust. It might have been the loudest boos ever heard at Nats Park.  Almost equivalent to a Red Sox homer at Yankee Stadium. Nats fans are patient and loyal, however, don't quit on them.  That is the appearance Morgan gave the fans.

"My first instinct was to take him out of the ballgame," Riggleman said during the post-game press conference. "And then I realized, you know what, he thinks the ball went over the fence. He thought that he knocked it over the fence and it was a home run, so he was showing frustration."

Josh Willingham ran to the ball from left field, picked it up and threw it to home, but not before Jones had crossed the plate. Jones' inside-the-park home run is the second one at Nats Park in the short homestand.

"He made a terrible mistake but it wasn't malicious," Riggleman said of Morgan. "It wasn't directed at anything other than that he was mad he didn't catch the ball and he thought he knocked it over the fence."

Riggleman defended the decision to not bench Morgan after the incident, saying he didn't think it's something Morgan would have done if he knew the ball was still in play.

"It was an isolated incident," he said. "If there were incidences where he had done some things that had irritated me but then he did that, I still would say 'I think he thought the ball went over the fence.' And that's what he said when he came in. I didn't ask him 'did you think it went over the fence,' he said 'I thought the ball went over the fence."

Looks like Nyjer watched the reply on the jumboscreen.

The decision to keep Morgan in the game came down to who was already on the bench. Catcher Ivan ("Pudge") Rodriguez had just left the game with a lower back strain. "For the ball club, I need every player I've got," he said. "I felt I could make a show for myself and take him out but because it wasn't an issue of hustle and we didn't have many players on the roster, I just felt that I'm going to leave him in there and deal with it another way."

                                                                                                                       

All Photos 2010 © Cheryl Nichols Photography/Nationals News Network.

All Rights Reserved

____________________________________________________

Bizzare Day Ends With a Win By the Nats

by Anthony Amobi, Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Sometimes in life, you can get caught in the heat of the moment in a situation and it gets the best of you.

Well, on Saturday, fans saw that come true on a baseball field in a major league game.

The Washington Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6, in the second of a three-game in the annual Battle of the Beltways on the banks of the Anacostia; however, the game will be remembered for a bizarre moment in the fourth inning.

With a runner on base and the score tied at two, Baltimores Adam Jones hit a deep flyball to center. It seemed Washington center-fielder Nyjer Morgan was going to make an impressive leaping catch to rob him of a hit; however, all would go terribly wrong.

Morgan did not catch the ball and thinking it might have snuck over the wall, out of frustration or unaware of the circumstances, he inexplicably slammed his glove on the grass and paced in anger.

Unfortunately, the ball remained in the park and was still in Morgan's vicinity, unbeknownst to the Nationals' cetner fielder. Josh Willingham, who was in left filed, quickly snared the ball and threw it in, but by the time it reached home plate, Jones had an inside-the-park homer and his second long ball of the series.

Baltimore took a 4-2 lead off the errant play and once the frame ended, Morgan was booed lustfully by those in attendance and during his subsequent plate appearances.

In a day that saw Ivan Rodriguez leave due to injury and their first base coach Dan Radison ejected due to arguing over an alleged balk by Baltimore's Brad Bergesen early in the game, fans wondered what else could go wrong.

Well, for those fans who remained until the end, they got deluged with rain.

But they also saw a comeback by a resilient Nationals team.

Despite Morgan's gaffe, Washington--who trailed 6-3--rallied back in the bottom of the sixth inning for the victory as they plated four runs. Roger Bernadina tripled in a run, Alberto Gonzlez (pinch-hitter) had an RBI-single and Adam Dunn's two-run single decided the game.

In the end, Tyler Walker (1-0) earned his first win on the season for Washington and Matt Capps notched his 16th save of the season out of 16 chances.

The Nats now find themselves back at .500 at 22-22.

Meanwhile, Mark Hendrickson (1-2) took the loss for Baltimore in relief and pitched the final three innings of the game.

Craig Stammen, who started the game for the Nationals, was shaky in his outing as he went 5 1/3 innings and allowed six runs four earned on nine hits. He found himself in trouble during the opening inning as Ty Wigginton gave Baltimore a quick 2-0 lead with a two-run single.

The Nationals tied the game in the third inning as Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer, his 7th of the year.

Wigginton added a two-run homer (his 13th) in the sixth inning to give the Orioles a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning. He would have four RBIs on the afternoon.

Brad Bergesen for the Orioles went five innings on the mound and allowed six runs on eleven hits.

Scott Olsen was not happy the way his day ended.  (Ian Koski/Nats Daily News)

If this is what interleague play is going to look like for the Washington Nationals, they probably should just take a pass.

The Nats bats were once again lethargic and the Baltimore Orioles, who entered the game with the majors worst record, walked away with a 5-3 victory before a bi-partisan crowd of 27,378 at Nationals Park.

It's the Nationals seventh loss in their last eight games, dropping them below .500 (21-22) for the first time since April 15 when they were 4-5.

This game was a tale of the two starting pitchers.

Nats starter Scott Olsen came in on string of effective performances; O's starter David Hernandez missed his last start with shoulder soreness.

So of course, Olsen struggled and left the game due to tightness in his pitching shoulder and Hernandez--though he walked five--allowed just one hit in five and one-third innings to earn his first win of the season and first in his last 11 starts.

It was obvious early that Olsen was not as sharp as he had been his previous few starts.

He gave up a two-run home run to Adam Jones (who left due to leg cramps later) in the second inning.  In the third he gave up two more runs and walked three in the inning.  After snaring the final out on a line drive back through the box, Olsen flipped the ball over his shoulder with his glove back toward the mound in plain disgust.

It would be the last batter he faced.

The Nats' medical staff later explained he left the game with "left shoulder tightness" and is day-to-day.

"He was not feeling good from the bullpen on," manager Jim Riggleman said after the game.  "He was trying to battle through and gave us everything he had. It was a gutty performance but we decided to get him out of there."

It's a tenuous diagnosis at best.  Olsen had surgery in the off-season on the shoulder, so the brain trust will be nervous until the swelling goes down and they can re-evaluate the problem, which they will take a couple days to do.

Hernandez, on the other hand, pitched better than he has all season.

The only hit he gave up was to Miguel Batista, the reliever that came in for Olsen.  He walked five, but was effectively wild enough to keep the struggling Nats offence off-balance all night.

The Nationals had their chances against the right-hander, but couldn't dent him.

In the fourth, Hernandez walked Cristian Guzman--no mean feat--and Adam Dunn with one out.  But Josh Willingham popped out to third and Ivan Rodriguez (1-for-4) flew out to right field.

In the sixth, Ryan Zimmerman and Dunn walked back-to-back, ending Hernandez' evening.  And though reliever Matt Albers immediately walked Willingham, all the Nats could manage was one run on Rodriguez' fielder's choice.

"[Hernandez] made the necessary pitches," Riggleman said.  "He got himself in trouble with some walks but he made some pitches to get out of trouble."

Ivan Rodriguez picked off the Orioles' Corey Patterson off

third base in the fourth inning. (Ian Koski/Nats Daily News)

Washington did push two across in the seventh.  Nyjer Morgan pinch-hit for Batista and sliced a double into the left field corner, and Willie Harris followed with a two-run shot off the facing of the second porch in right field.

(Ian Koski/Nats Daily News)

Unfortunately, the Orioles answered back with an isurance run in the eighth against Drew Storen.  Storen walked the leadoff hitter, backup catcher Craig Tatum (2-for-3, run, RBI), who scored on Corey Patterson's two-out RBI single.

(Ian Koski/Nats Daily News)

Batista, who came on for Olsen after the injury, was surprisingly solid.  He went four innings, allowing no runs on just two hits and two walks, striking out one.  Often maligned, he kept the Nationals in this one, but the offense couldn't keep their end of the bargain.

As the Nats await further medical news on Olsen, they find themselves solidly in the midst of a slump, and in danger of burning off much the goodwill accumulated through the first five weeks of the season.

A series loss--or sweep--to the bottomfeeding Orioles would be crushing to an organization that eight games ago thought they might have turned the corner to respectability.

If you had privately asked anyone in the Nats organization at the beginning of the season whether they would have been happy one game below .500 in the third weekend in May, I think to a man they would have taken it.

If you'd have asked them the same question two weeks ago, they'd have punched you.

Craig Stammen (1-2, 5.86) will try to turn the tide Saturday afternoon when he faces Brad Bergesen (3-3, 5.45) at 4:05 pm.

NATS NOTES:  Ian Desmond made a terrific play in the top of the ninth.  He ranged to his left on a grounder by Nick Markakis, dove and made the scoop on a tough hop, then got to his feet and fired a rocket to first to get Markakis by half a step.

Roger Bernadina went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

The Nats struck out four times, walked seven times and left eight men on base.  They were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position

"That might be the longest ball I've seen hit here." --Jim Palmer, June 28, 2009

THE RESULTS: John Lannan and Adam Dunn both did their jobs as the Washington Nationals salvaged the final game of their series with their geographic rival, the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, before 25,068, the smallest crowd of the weekend "Battle of the Beltways" series.

Lannan (W, 5-5, 3.45) was sharp in his seven and one-third innings, only running into trouble in the eighth inning, when two inherited runners scored after he left the game.

The totals were less impressive than the performance due to the two late runs: 7.1 IP, three earned runs, six hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

Joe Beimel finished the eighth, but gave up a sacrifice and RBI single to Aubrey Huff, who was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double by Elijah Dukes. Mike MacDougal pitched a perfect ninth inning for his third save of the season.

With the win, Washington's record stands at 22-51-1*.

Adam Dunn supplied the fireworks today, hitting a mammoth two-run home run out onto Eutaw Street, the 50th such shot in Camden Yards' 18-year history. The ball cleared the flag court, and hit the warehouse on one bounce.

Willie Harris continued his hot streak, going 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season, all from the leadoff spot. Josh Willingham and Anderson Hernandez also had three hits apiece.

THE TAKEAWAY: Lannan has turned into the Nationals' stopper. He got sharper as the game went on until he ran out of gas in the eighth. He benefited by a double-play in the second inning, the only real trouble he had until the end.

The left-hander went 3-0 in June with a 2.19 ERA.

THE GOOD: Willie Harris. In his last eight games, Harris is 9-for-31 (.290/.371/.613) with two home runs and five RBIs. He's giving the team good defense in center field and a spark at the top of the lineup.

THE BAD: Nick Johnson. 0-for-5 hitting out of the three-spot. He still looks pretty uncomfortable on the bad wheel.

THE UGLY: Wil Nieves. 0-for-4, four left on base. Josh Bard has been on fire lately and fairly well taken over most of the at bats at catcher, and Nieves looks like he's really struggling at the plate right now.

NEXT GAME: Thankfully, back to National League play Monday night. The Nats travel to Florida for a three-game set with the Marlins. Craig Stammen (yes, Craig Stammen. see below), takes on Ricky Nolsaco (4-6, 6.42) at 7:10 pm.

NOTES: The Nats have reactivated LHP Scott Olsen and sent RHP Shairon Martis to Triple-A Syracuse. Martis started the season off 5-0, but has lost his last three decisions, and in eight starts since May 19 has an ERA of 6.34 with 13 Ks and 22 BBS in 44 innings pitched.

The team considered sending Stammen to the pen and DFA'ing either Jesus Colome or Joel Hanrahan, but Martis has options and his particularly poor start Saturday probably changed the minds of some in the organization.

"To not like Michael Jackson is un-American." --Ryan Zimmerman, as told to Nationals Journal.

THE RESULT: The Baltimore Orioles busted out for an eight-run sixth inning against three different Washington Nationals relievers, and cruised to an 11-1 win before a bi-partisan crowd of 45,024, in a game that could not have been labelled a Thriller.

Starter Ross Detwiler (L, 0-4, 5.24) and relievers Joel Hanrahan and Ron Villone were the authors of the "snowman", with Hanrahan particularly ineffective. The deposed closer was Bad again, and managed one out against three hits an a walk, with all the base runners scoring.

Hanrahan now has an ERA of 7.71 for the season, and in his last three appearances has surrendered eight earned runs over two and one-third innings.

Not to be outdone, Villone turned in an atypical performance, giving up two hits and a walk, with two earned runs, in his two-thirds of an inning.

Detwiler was not sharp at all under the Friday night lights. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out three. All the base runners he put on were Dangerous, but the one thing that kept him in the game was the two double-plays turned behind him.

Asked to assess his performance, Detwiler said: "Terrible. I left the ball up all game. That's why they had nine hits and were hitting it hard all night."

But the pitching was not the only thing missing against the Nationals' geographic rivals.

Washington managed just seven hits and three walks, and the worst fielding team in the league committed two more errors, by Cristian Guzman (misplayed grounder) and Josh Willingham, who took a strange approach to a ball that banged Off the Wall in left field.

THE TAKEAWAY: Well, the battle for who remains on the roster when Scott Olsen is activated on Monday just got a little more interesting. All along, I think the team planned to send Craig Stammen back to Triple-A when Olsen returned, but Detwiler was especially erratic last night. One could say the decision now is less than Black or White.

He couldn't get on top of his sinking fastball all night, which allowed the ball to stay up in the zone, and essentially turned into batting practice. He did manage nine ground ball outs (compared to one fly ball out), but if he's not getting his true sinking action, the grounders are going to hit harder and stand a better chance of getting thought the porous Nationals infield.

And what about Hanrahan? He's out of options, so they can't just send him down to the minors. He would have to be designated for assignment and then pass through waivers, something that probably would not happen.

THE GOOD: Josh Bard. It's another multi-hit game for The Bard, as he went 2-for-3 with the Nats' lone RBI. He's hitting over .400 for June and has his season average up to .386.

THE BAD: Anderson Hernandez. 0-for-4, with four runners left on base.

THE UGLY: Hanrahan. Manager Manny Acta just can't trust him in any sort of competitive ball game right now, which is only Human Nature.

NEXT GAME: Tonight in Balmer. Oh, to be in Charm City on a Sattidee night. Shairon Martis (5-2, 5.13) faces O's "ace" Jeremy Guthrie (5-7, 5.09). The score has a chance to look like a Ravens score, something like 10-7?

NOTES: R.I.P. King of Pop.

Posted by Cheryl Nichols

ESPN Zone’s second annual Battle of the Birds!

The Orioles and Nationals begin their "Battle of the Beltways" series this weekend with a competition between the teams’ mascots to see which bird is best!

Screech will challenge the Oriole Bird in a series of contests – including arm wrestling, shooting hoops, and more – with hopes of winning bragging rights and the Golden Birdhouse trophy. Both birds will also sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans.

The Orioles Bird is the reigning champion, however, Screech has "grown up" since the last battle so it should be more of an even matchup this time around.

WHO: The mascots from the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles

WHAT: Battle of the Birds at ESPN Zone
WHEN: Friday, May 22, 2009, 4-5 p.m.

WHERE: ESPN Zone, 555 12th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004, 202-783-3776

Here are photos from the first ever Battle of Birds in Baltmore last season.

Photo courtesy of ESPNZone.