According to multiple sources, Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan has been suspended eight games for his role in "three separate incidents" in the past week:  initiating contact with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson, inappropriate comments made to Florida Marlins fans on Tuesday night after he bowled into catcher Brett Hayes, and Wednesday night's brawl and aftermath.

Morgan has a hearing scheduled for next Friday.

Additionally, manager Jim Riggleman was suspended two games, third base coach Pat Listach suspended three games and pitcher Doug Slaten got three games, as hit Gaby Sanchez with a pitch after play had resumed.

Florida staff suspended:  pitcher Chris Volstad (six games), pitcher Alex Sanabia (five games), Sanchez (three games) and manager Edwin Rodriguez (one game).

 

I've watched the replays of the brawl about a dozen times, and all I can see of Alex Sanabia is him getting tossed like a rag doll by Adam Dunn out of the pile. For that he gets just three games less than Morgan?

It will be interesting to read the final report from this one.

For MLB to actually cite all three incidents and Morgan to get off with "only" eight games is very surprising, considering he already has an appeal scheduled for throwing a ball into the stands after an on-going confrontation with fans in Philadelphia, which injured a fan not related to the goings-on.

If both suspensions are withheld, Morgan will miss 15 of the Nats final 28 games.

THE RESULT:  The less said about this one the better.

The Atlanta Braves beat up on four Washington Nationals pitchers en route to a 10-2 victory over their division "rival" and the Nats could not muster an attack against a rookie pitcher and a trio of relievers. Just 16,911 saw the fiasco in Atlanta's Turner Field.

The game started out ok enough for the Nats, as starter Scott Olsen (L, 3-5, 5.14) cruised through the first five innings scoreless.  But in the sixth, things unraveled quickly.  Hitting for starting pitcher Mike Minor (W, 1-0, 3.75), rookie Diory Hernandez got his first major league hit, a solo home run to left field.  All-Star utilityman Omar Infante then ripped a triple to right and All-Star rookie OF Jason Heyward walked on five pitches.

And that was it for Olsen.

Manager Jim Riggleman wanted right-hander Joel Peralta to face righty Martin Prado (3-for-5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs), and the move backfired.  Prado slammed a double off Peralta, and the competitve portion of the game was over.

Olsen appeared agitated when he was lifted.  He casually flipped the ball to Riggleman stomping off the mound and screamed so loudly into his glove as he walked to the dugout was audible on the broadcast.  Olsen's five-plus inning start earned him a $250,000 bonus, and each start he makes the rest of the season is another $100,000 per the incentive clause in his contract.

Olsen left the clubhouse before reporters arrived and reportedly declined comment through the team after the game.

After two bad starts, maybe the episode and the bonus money is enough incentive for the Nats to remove him from the rotation, as RHP Jordan Zimmermann is scheduled for just one more Triple-A start before being reactivated to the Major League roster.

A trio of relievers could not stop the bleeding, as Peralta, Doug Slaten and Craig Stammen all gave up runs of their own.

The Nats added to their own misfortune, committing two more errors to add to their legue-leading total.  Both Alberto Gonzalez and Adam Dunn had throwing errors, leading to more unearned runs.

THE GOOD:  Wil Nieves.  Inserted for Ivan Rodriguez, ejected for arguing a strange foul tip strikeout call after batting in the first inning, Nieves went 3-for-3 with an RBI double.

THE BAD:  Doug Slaten.  The little-used lefty was terrible, allowing four of the five batters he faced to score.  Also, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn both struck out three times in the game.

THE UGLY:  The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore reported yesterday that OF Josh Willingham "likely" will have season-ending knee surgery as soon as next week.  Willingham reportedly has tearing in his meniscus, the sponge-like cartilage in the knee.  He's had problem with the knee since sliding awkwardly into second base in a game in late July.

The Hammer is hitting .268/.389/.459 with 16 homers and 546 RBIs, but has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, going .225/.314/.26 over his last 102 plate appearances. 

THE STATS:  9 Ks, 2 BBs, 2-for-9 with RISP, 7 LOB

NEXT GAME:  Tonight at 7:10 pm against the Braves.  Livan Hernandez (8-7) takes on Tim Hudson (14-5).

ed. (12:01 pm) -- MLB.coms Bill Ladson reports via his twitter account:

So we are clear: #Nats LHP Doug Slaten was not designated for assignment, said a prominent person in the organization.

Strange that a national, respected, credentialed organization like CBSSports.com can have information like this wrong. 

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According to this article at rotoinfo.com. the Washington Nationals have designated left-handed reliever Doug Slaten for assignment.

CBSSports.com has it too.

We will try to confirm these reports as quickly as possible.

In 19.1 IP, Slaten is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA with 13 Ks and 7 BBs.

Photo 2010 © Cheryl Nichols Photography/

Nationals News Network. All Rights Reserved

The newest member of the Washington Nationals is left-handed reliever Doug Slaten.  He'll be used primarily as a lefty-on-lefty and late inning specialist, freeing Brain Bruney and Sean Burnett for a wider array of usage.

The Nats purchased Slaten's contract from Triple-A Syracuse and designated Matt Chico, yesterday's starter, for assignment.  The Nats expect to retain Chico's services.

Slaten had thrown 17.0 scoreless innings for Syracuse so far this season.  He's given up just 11 hits and one walk, striking out 17 in the process.

ed. (11:37 am)--Just got out of manager Jim Riggleman's pre-game press conference.  He indicated that Slaten has done a real good job against lefties during his stint in Syracuse, and he'd use him in a match-up situations, but that he could also use Slaten for a couple innings if the need called for it. 

"He can fill a couple holes for us," Riggleman said.  "He can give us some length in the bullpen and he's got some experience, so I wouldn't hesitate to put him in there against a good left-handed hitter."

Riggleman also said Slaten's arrival shouldn't impact the general composisiton of the bullpen, but give him another option, and that he hopes that they can get Brian Bruney--who has struggled some this season--into situtaions where he can be successful.