RHP Shairon Martis threw seven shutout innings as Syracuse defeated Louisville 8-5 (box/gamer). Martis held the Bats to five hits and one walk while striking out three to move to 3-1 for the Chiefs. LHP Dave Williams made things more interesting, surrendering four runs on three hits and one hit batter over 2/3 of an inning of relief. CF Justin Maxwell was 2/4 with one RBI, two runs & two stolen bases; 1B Mike Morse was 1/3 with a double & two RBI; LF Corey Patterson was 1/4 with two RBI; SS Ian Desmond was 2/4 with a double & two RBI; and CA Gustavo Molina was 1/4 with a solo homer.
Today: Charlotte LHP Wes Whisler (6-8, 3.58) at Syracuse RHP Marco Estrada (5-4, 4.53) 7PM
Harrisburg got seven strong innings from RHP Luis Atilano and the Senators pounded out fourteen hits in a 9-1 thumping of Trenton (box/gamer). Atilano allowed one unearned run on six hits and two walks to earn his fifth victory of the season. LHP Justin Jones struck out three over two perfect innings of relief. RF Mike Daniel was 3/4 with a two-run homer & three total RBI; LF Leonard Davis was 1/5 with a double & run scored; 3B Matt Whitney was 2/4 with two RBI; CF Edgardo Baez was 2/4 with a run scored; CA Sean Rooney was 2/4 with two runs scored; and SS Freddie Bynum was 2/3 with two runs & two RBI.
Today: LHP Cory VanAllen (2-5, 5.42) at Trenton RHP Jason Stephens (1-0, 3.09) 12:05PM
Potomac jumped out to a 14-1 lead and held off a Myrtle Beach rally in a 14-9 win (box/gamer). LHP Tom Milone earned the win allowing a run on six hits and a walk over 7IP with two strikeouts. RHP Cole Kimball gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits in one inning of relief; OF Aaron Seuss allowed five runs on four hits and a walk over 1/3 of an inning as he tried to help out a heavily used P-Nats bullpen; and RHP Martin Beno held off the rally getting the final two outs. RF Michael Burgess was 2/4 with one RBI & three runs scored; 1B Chris Marrero was 3/4 with two doubles & four RBI; SS Danny Espinosa was 2/6 with a double, two runs & two RBI; DH Jesus Valdez was 3/5 with a run & two RBI; and 2B Michael Martinez was 3/6 with one RBI & two runs scored. Notes: RHP Terrence Engles was placed on the DL and reports are will be replaced by RHP Brad Peacock from Hagerstown.
Today: Myrtle Beach LHP Cole Rohrbough (4-6, 5.73) at Potomac RHP Hassan Pena (0-0, 0.00) 7:05PM
Hagerstown blew a game in the ninth for the second straight day, losing 6-5 at Lexington (box/gamer). RHP Juan Jaime made his first start for the Suns, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks over 4IP with two strikeouts. RHP Justin Phillabaum was solid in his four innings of relief, allowing a run on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. CA Derek Norris was 1/1 with a two-run homer before leaving the game after being hit by a pitch (no word on his status); RF Michale Guerrero was 2/4 with a solo homer, his third in his last two games; SS Steve Souza was 2/4 with one RBI; and 2B Stephen Lombardozzi was 1/3 with two walks & two runs scored. Notes: No word yet on Peacock’s replacement in Hagerstown.
Today: Hagerstown at Lexington (pitchers TBA) 7:05PM
Vermont fell 5-4 in Oneonta (box/gamer). LF J.P. Ramirez was 4/5 with two doubles, one triple, a run & two RBI; RF Destin Hood was 2/4 with a sacrifice fly & one RBI in his Monsters debut; 1B Adam Amar was 1/3 with a sol homer; and CF Jay Sferra was 2/5 with a run scored. LHP Graham Hicks took the loss, surrendering five runs on nine hits and a walk over 5 2/3IP.
Today: Vermont LHP Chad Jenkins (0-0, 0.00) at Oneonta 7PM
The GCL Nationals game at the GCL Marlins was postponed by rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on 8/1.
Today: No game scheduled
The DSL Nationals defeated the DSL Twins 9-1 (box). RHP Antonio Guzman allowed just one hit and three walks over 6IP with four strikeouts to move to 7-1 on the season. LHP Raudy Almonte picked up a three-inning save, giving up a run on two hits and one walk. 2B Estarlin Martinez was 3/6 with a triple, run, stolen base & four RBI; RF Aridio Rodriguez was 2/5 with a stolen base, run & RBI; DH Bill Pena was 2/5 with two stolen bases, one RBI & two runs; and CF Jesus Morales was 1/3 with a run & two RBI.
Today: DSL White Sox at DSL Nationals LHP Gregory Baez (1-0, 2.12) 10:30AM
#1 by Chris - July 28th, 2009 at 07:56
Hope Derek is okay – it would be a shame for him to miss any time with a fluke sort of injury.
And Graham Hicks is starting to concern me. I realize he’s young for the Penn League, but he’s been hit hard all year long.
#2 by mcgalinmd - July 28th, 2009 at 09:00
I listened to the game last night, and wanted to go slap that pitcher that hit Derek. He got hit right on the knee. I know, I know, it’s part of the game – but hey! That’s our best player! :o)
#3 by JayB - July 28th, 2009 at 09:13
Brian,
Is it just the shine of the MLB club winning some more games and playing much better OR is the farm system starting to make significant progress. I see real prospects making moves up the system. Day after day I am reading the same names getting it done.
Question for you is this, have you every seem as good a month for Nats system? If is truly the progress it seems?
#4 by Scott W - July 28th, 2009 at 09:20
I thought this quote from an AL scout about the arms in the system was worth sharing.
“Look at the talent this guy has drafted for Washington,” the AL scout said. “And the trade with Pittsburgh was outstanding.” Certainly Nyjer Morgan has made an impact on this team, but this guy came back to the draft. “Washington has so many good arms throughout their system,” he said, “they’re not going to be doormats for long.”
#5 by homegrown - July 28th, 2009 at 09:26
JayB, I agree. What is also impressing is the players that are not considered high prospects ex.. CA Sean Rooney he has made progress every year started slow in Potomac then caught fire, promoted to Harrisburg where the CA were awful to say the least at the plate. He is started to assert himself in the line-up. He could be like Josh Bard and just gets the job done while Norris gets all the attention.
Scott W – I agree with the scout, I love watching Morgan run in the outfield and on the bases. He puts so much pressure on the pitcher and the defense.
Hopefully good times are coming!!!!
#6 by Kirkie - July 28th, 2009 at 09:51
Scott W – was thta quote from this article?
http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/prospect-pulse/2009/268605.html
(behind subscriber wall)
If it wasn’t; can anyone give the gist of the article? Subject is supposed to be the promising nature of the Nats (and O’s) minor league arms…
#7 by Dick - July 28th, 2009 at 09:52
Heck of a deal the Indians made with the Giants getting Scott Barnes for Ryan Garko. I wonder if Rizzo could have gotten Barnes for Nick; if so, he let one slip away. Not sure he could have, though, Nick really doesn’t have much value for two months.
#8 by Scott W - July 28th, 2009 at 10:04
Kirkie – I should have included the link. Phil Wood’s recent blog on the status of Rizzo contained some quotes from AL scouts.
http://masnsports.com/2009/07/whats-up-with-rizzo.html
#9 by Scott W - July 28th, 2009 at 10:07
Dick – you have to think the Giants had their choice and Nick just is not producing as of late.
#10 by John - July 28th, 2009 at 10:10
Dick: The Giants really wanted a RH bat for some reason.
My thinking is that if I can’t get what I want for Nick and Beimel, I’ll just keep them and offer arbitration(both are B FAs at last check). They would both likely decline and to be honest, with the way Rizzo has drafted top 50 picks, that may be better than what they could get now anyway. If they accept, then you have player(s) that are worth way more than they’ll get in arby and on only a one year deal.
Brian: Any word on Marcus Jones or Colten Willems? I’m doing a mental big board for 2010 and would really like to see Ramirez-Perez-Hood in the Hagerstown OF. Jones would have to be in Potomac.
#11 by Greg - July 28th, 2009 at 10:14
Interesting quote from that AL scout. Would be nice if the Nats situation could develop similar to the O’s arms with Bergesen, Tillman, Arrieta, and Matusz
#12 by Ryan - July 28th, 2009 at 11:02
Brian and everyone-
I have not seen Desmond play in a year or so now, and while I was as disappointed in him as anyone in our system for a long time, he really seems to have turned the corner: my question, is how good of a prospect is he? What does he project as, starting SS, backup, etc.?
Thanks for any feedback everyone-
#13 by Rocket Surgeon - July 28th, 2009 at 12:43
This just posted on the BA site.
Nats Need More Housecleaning
Nationals president Stan Kasten can’t waste any more time.
Kasten learned the baseball business in Atlanta, where strong leadership and stability earned the franchise a professional sports record 14 consecutive first-place finishes. So what’s up in Washington, where there is an interim general manager, an interim manager, and an organization with loyalties split three different ways?
Jim Bowden may have been fired as GM, but his confidants remain in key positions, with no loyalty to the Kasten faction. Bowden continues to spend time with the sons of owner Ted Lerner, pushing an agenda that has turned the Nationals into one of the most dysfunctional franchise in baseball history.
While interim GM Mike Rizzo was expected to get the job full time, word in the scouting world is that Kasten has interviewed as many as three candidates for the job. That group includes former Rays GM Chuck LaMar, who worked with Kasten in Atlanta and spent the 2008 season working in Washington, and former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker, a special assistant in Tampa Bay.
Meanwhile, on the field, Jim Riggleman was being asked to come to the managerial rescue for the second year in a row. A year ago, he replaced John McLaren in Seattle; this time it’s Manny Acta in Washington. Riggleman, who guided the Mariners to a 36-54 record last year, presided over five straight losses after taking the Nats’ helm.
Can Riggleman hit the trifecta next year? Interestingly, it has already been done, by Jim Dykes, who was a midseason replacement for the Reds in 1958, the Tigers in 1959 and the Indians in 1960.
Dykes had some success in the role. He was 24-17 with the Reds, but was not rehired. He went 74-63 with the Tigers, and after a 44-52 start in 1960, he was involved in a managerial swap. Indians GM Frank Lane sent Joe Gordon to the Tigers for Dykes, who took over the Indians and managed them to a 26-36 record. He was replaced as the Indians’ manager after going 77-83 in 1961.
#14 by Dick - July 28th, 2009 at 13:10
From the sounds of it, the housecleaning the writer thinks the Nats need is with the ’sons of Ted Lerner’. That ain’t gonna happen.
#15 by Steven J. Berke - July 28th, 2009 at 13:12
Couple of observations on the BA excerpt:
(1) Don’t know what ‘Bowden confidants’ BA is referring to, except Bob Boone (who is respected even by some who have no respect for Bowden). Rizzo certainly was no confidant, and the other key person in player management, Dana Brown, preceded Bowden (he was brought in by Omar Minaya during the last days of the Expos).
(2) Regardless of how he feels about Rizzo, Kasten is obligated to interview other candidates by baseball rules, which specify that at least one of the candidates interviewed must be nonwhite (is LaMar an African American?).
(3) Of course, while this entry was written when Riggleman was 0-5, he has gone 5-2 since!
#16 by Chris - July 28th, 2009 at 13:36
Lamar is white.
#17 by Andrew Stebbins - July 28th, 2009 at 17:29
SJB- Squire Galbreath. In fact, many think Galbreath told Bowden that Acta would be fired within days. In turn, Bowden told Rosenthal. Just a theory but I have no reason not to believe it. Bowden got his first job in baseball because he was roommate’s with Squire in college…and at the time, the Galbreath family owned the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, Squire Galbreath is a part owner of the Nationals.
#18 by JayB - July 28th, 2009 at 18:37
Andrew,
Are you telling me that Bowden hired his college roommate as Asst. GM and that this Asst. GM is the son of an owner of the Nats?
Hello….and for 2 years people denied that Lerner was protecting Jimbo from Stan and ABM maintained that this organization and its structure was NOT DYSFUNCTIONAL!
I bet the biggest reason Rizzo has not been given the job and Stan has no power is that this ownership wants to protect little Galbreath and the rest of the cronies in the Front Office.
Job 1 for Rizzo has to be to fire everyone hired by Jimbo ASAP. I am not shocked that media has not brought this to light but man this is some really messed up personnel issues that still linger and fall squarely on Mark Lerner.
#19 by Andrew Stebbins - July 28th, 2009 at 18:59
No, Squire is the son of the former Pirates owner. Now Squire himself is a part owner.
#20 by Andrew Stebbins - July 28th, 2009 at 19:01
…of the Nationals.
#21 by JayB - July 28th, 2009 at 19:09
So he is part owner and Asst GM…….That is crazy!
#22 by RD - July 28th, 2009 at 20:14
What the hell is up with Marcus Jones?
#23 by souldrummer - July 28th, 2009 at 20:18
Uh oh. No Norris in the lineup at Hagerstown tonight. Nice to see Marrero with a dinger, though. It would really be nice to see him spend some quality time at Harrisburg this year to put him in the mix for 2011.
#24 by Andrew Stebbins - July 28th, 2009 at 20:22
Knee injury. Will be ready for instrucs in late September. Had surgery a few weeks back.