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June 28 Summer Scorcher At PotomacAs the Washington Nationals suffer a three game losing streak, the latest being a 13-0 thrashing by our division rival Atlanta Braves - I packed my gear Tuesday and drove the couple of miles from my home to watch the Potomac Nationals on a rare weekday afternoon game at Pfitzner Stadium. It was a scorcher. The heat index was up over 100 degrees and the stadium was full of kids due to it being "Day Camp" day. Most left about halfway through the game due to the extreme heat.
 Potomac Starter Shairon Martis Engaged In A Pitcher's Duel Under the Summer Sun Jun 26th
But daytime games make for great photography due to the abundant sunlight, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to take great photographs of the Potomac squad which has recently added some great new developing players. Probably the biggest name circulating among the writers and scouts is Chris Marrero who just joined the club June 11th along with teammates Mike Daniel and Justin Maxwell. Maxwell's been on the DL during the past week and wasn't in the lineup, but both Mike Daniel and Chris Marrero were and both had a productive afternoon in a 4-2 come-from-behind victory yesterday.
 Mike Daniel Steals Second Base
Mike Daniel had two hits and a stolen base against Keys starter David Hernandez. Potomac starter Shairon Martis was sharp as he struck out six and allowed one run in six innings. But the P-Nats found themselves behind in the seventh when the Keys managed to get a 2-1 lead off of Nationals reliever Josh Parrault. However that lead was short-lived when Ofilio Castro and Matt Rogelstad got on base to set up a P-NAT rally for Chris Marrero in the bottom of the eighth.
 Chris Marrero Connects For An Two-Run RBI Double In A Tuesday Afternoon Day Game
Chris Marrero then hit a double that scored the baserunners and put the Nationals on top. Hot prospect Marrero is currently holding a .282 batting average there and has yet to hit a home run for his new club in Woodbridge. Right-handed pitcher Adam Carr allowed two baserunners in the 9th with a couple of walks but shut the door with two strikeouts notching his third save of the season.
 Matt Rogelstad Rounds Third To Score The Game Winning Run
Unfortunately, the P-Nats joined their parent club's fortune last night by suffering a defeat by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans with a final score of 4-1. Good news for Ofilio Castro - he's been promoted to AA Harrisburg as the Senators released third baseman Brandon Larson. Good luck Ofilio. Note to my readers: I've been swamped with work lately - so my apologies on getting this in the blog a day late...unfortunately there is crap like a real job that always seems to get in my way. Thanks again for your continued readership. June 21 Crests & TroughsI think Tums and Rolaids must get alot of business from Washington Nationals fans. Take for example our first season with the new club in 2005. We tore through the NL East going from top of the food chain at the All-Star break, to record setting loser and celler dweller by the end of the season. I wistfully remember back then the way Nat fans made the movable stands along the 3rd baseline literally bounce up and down. The look of shock and disbelief by players and visitors that weren't around when Redskin fans used to do that every Sunday was priceless.
 I WANT TO SEE SCENES LIKE THIS WITH MORE REGULARITY
Now look at the story of the walking wounded that's befallen this team in a constant line of misery. Losing Alphonso Soriano to the big dollar sign, even though Washington is one of the richest metropolitan areas in the country. Losing Nick Johnson in dramatic fashion last year brought back shuddering memories of another Washington sports hero that ended his career to the sound "snap". Then there is the Chief. The drama king of closers - it's almost as dependable as air. When Chad Cordero takes the mound in a save situation, there's always going to be some kind of reason to reach for the anti-acids.
But this last series against the Tigers wasn't stressfull in excitement, rather it was stressfull because of how completely lost they looked out there. As Acta was quoted after last night's game, "They are a great club, We were outplayed. What can I say? They have everything you want. We did the best we could. We battled in the first game, and today we battled again. They even beat up on our strength, which is our bullpen. They are a good team. We just got outplayed." No Manny, we didn't battle - we sucked and lost most spectacularly. And I'd like to add that if our bullpen is our strength, we better start hiting the weight room. The bullpen was taken to task in this series and made these games most depressing to sit through. The mighty Tiger lineup made a pitcher's park look like a bandbox and everytime you looked at the scoreboard, you looked for the beerman in the same motion. I didn't have any Pepsid, so during times of stress such as this, I've learned that it's always best to self-medicate by numbing your senses.
 FRUSTRATION HAS BEEN THE ORDER OF THE DAY LATELY
Jim Bowden had finally had enough it seems, and made some interesting moves today. Luis Ayala was activated two days early which means he will be returning to the bullpen Friday. He DFA'd Winston Abreu (17 earned runs in 24 innings) and Levale Speigner (11.79 ERA in six starts). He sent Jerome Williams to AA Harrisburg (whoops!) and recalled Chris Schroder who's had an impressive season so far at AAA Columbus; 2-2 with a 1.64 ERA in 26 games.
Also in the mix now is Mr. Double-Zero Brandon Watson, who was called up yesterday (0-3 last night) to replace the grieving Robert Fick who lost his mom Tuesday. It's anticipated that he will continue his presence in the starting lineup for the time being and he's been absolutely scorching hot in the minors with a 43-game hitting streak. However, I remember he was hot at New Orleans last year too - then he ran smack into the brick wall that is major league pitching. I hope he can finally show his worth this year, he says his lack of production last year was because he was nervous. Well, what minor league callup isn't Brandon? Suck it up man!
 BRANDON WATSON IS BACK AGAIN
Poor, poor Alex Escobar. I swear, the man is perennially cursed. He must have slept with the daughter of some witch doctor in his home country of Venezuela or something. Yes my friends, he's on the DL again. Jim Bowden moved him from the 15-day DL to the 60-day one because he sprained his right ankle in a recent minor league stint with the Harrisburg Senators. Somebody needs to make an offering to Jobu and release the curse of this unfortunate kid.
 "OH YEAH... I RECOGNIZE THAT SOUND"
Next on the Nats plate are the Cleveland Indians who are just as hot as the Detroit Tigers - in fact they are neck in neck at the top of their AL Central division. Weather permitting, I'll be at a rare day game with the P-Nats this Tuesday so stay tuned in for some upcoming photos and recap. June 15 Senators Come To Bowie, MDWhile the Nationals were sweeping up the bird droppings at RFK, I was following the OTHER Nationals / Oriole series which was taking place at Prince George's stadium in Bowie, Maryland. Unfortunately last night, the AA version had the opposite results as the Bowie Baysox swept the Harrisburg Senators with a lopsided final score of 7-1. The Senators are now 0-6 vs. the Baysox this season.
 Roger Bernadina Scored The Only Senators Run Last Night With A 3rd Inning Homer
Senators pitcher TJ Nall had a pretty rough go of it despite getting the early lead when Roger Bernadina homered in the third inning. Hall's struggles began in the 4th when the Baysox scored four with a rash of good hard line drives into the gaps, but Harrisburg's fate was truly sealed in the sixth when he gave up a home run to Ruddy Yan with two runners on, his second in two nights.
 TJ Nall Needs A New Ball - The Old One Just Went Outside The Ballpark
Both Bernadina and Harrisburg's star first baseman Josh Whitesell just came off the disabled list. Whitesell appeared for one at bat and struck out. The Senators rallied in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases but the threat was quickly put-down by Baysox reliever David Haehnel.
The Baysox starter Fredy Deza just completely mystified the Senators. Batter after batter were sent to the dugout throwing bats, helmets and muttering to themselves. Deza amassed a season high 10 strikeouts, allowing only one run on two hits for his first win since back in third week in April. His 10 strikeouts were more than he had in his last seven starts combined.
 Holy KKKKKKKKKrap!
Also at the game, because it was "army night" - wrestling fans young and old were treated to a guest appearance by pro wrestling legend Sergeant Slaughter! I used to watch this guy when I was growing up when he used to take on the likes of Randy The Macho Man Savage, The Iron Sheik, The Ultimate Warrior. He told me that he is 58 years old and still wrestling! Yep, I'll admit it...I got me a signed autograph photo next to "The Sarge".
 At Ease Soldier, He's Only A Pro Wrestler June 04 Exceeding ExpectationsHello fellow Nationals fans, I had a wonderful trip in Vegas and Arizona this past week. Thankfully, I was able to keep tabs on the Nats through the miracle of satellite technology. Yes, I am indeed an XM subscriber and like most new technology today, once you get it, you can’t live without it. I was relaxing in my timeshare Sunday evening when I heard Ryan Langerhans hit his first career grand slam off of Randy Flores in the bottom of the 8th. I smiled to myself and listened blissfully to the booing of St. Louis fans in the background.
 For those of you who haven’t been to Sin City, Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas has this massive sports board that looks like the trading board at Wall Street. It has the lines on every single sporting event taking place every single day. While strolling through the casino, I took it upon myself to check their “expert opinion” about the upcoming game that night and they had the Nats losing with a payout of $118 per every $100 if they got it wrong. Darn it! I should have dropped some cash on the Nats! They could have made me rich! Seriously though, for those of you who may be slightly naïve or vulnerable, Las Vegas is an amazing place – but stay away if you can't handle vices or temptation, the strip is indeed a highly addictive place.Next, I’d like to bring up this gem of a video that happened while I was gone:
It looks like our manager has finally started to lose his cool about all the negativity coming out of the press despite our recent success. Certain writers apparently are disappointed with the fact that the Nationals are not playing to script by being historically awful. So here comes Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times on May 30 writing about how the “Nats know a dirty little secret, that their success only comes from lesser competition”. I’m glad to see Manny Acta show some emotion for once, and since Mr. Zuckerman has made himself part of the news instead of reporting on it, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind him that I’m still waiting to be added to his blogroll.
Finally, let’s review the two series we just completed with the Dodgers and Padres. I think we certainly know
 that Levale Speigner needs some work before he can be considered a real and dependable starter, but I would like to offer that his most recent defeat was more due to poor defensive support than the quality of his appearance. In these recent stands we can see that Dmitri Young, Ronnie Belliard and Cristian Guzman are absolutely on fire, while Ryan Church and Austin Kearns are currently suffering painful slumps. Guzman is really surprising me this year so far and he's starting to make me a believer of the story about his poor vision being a large reason for his failures in 2005.Tommorow, we take on the Bucs at home for a three game set. This should be a great series, I’m going to be at RFK on the fifth. I’ve personally claimed Pittsburgh as my second home away from home. It’s where my paternal ancestors started in America and I still have relatives up there that I visit during the summer to this day. Even so, I hope we can sweep them so we might head into Minneapolis with some solid momentum. I think we'll need it when we go up against the 'Senators Part I' next weekend. |
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