Garrett Mock had a middling start as the Clippers dropped a 7-4 decision to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (box/gamer). Though he struck out six, Mock allowed four runs on five hits and two walks and per the radio play-by-play sounded uncomfortable on the mound from the first inning. Zech Zinicola took the loss surrendering two runs on two hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings of work. Tommy Murphy was 1/4 with a home run & two RBI; Jorge Padilla was 2/4 with two runs scored; and Ed Rogers was 2/4.
Record: Columbus 43-36, tied for 2nd place IL West (3GB)
Tonight: RHP Shairon Martis (0-0, 7.20) versus Indianapolis RHP Jason Davis (4-7, 4.57) at 7:25PM
Mike Hinckley picked up his fourth win of the season with a huge assist to his defense who turned five double plays, as the Senators took their series in Reading with a 6-2 victory (box/feature/gamer). Hinckley allowed only one run on seven hits and three walks over 5 2/3IP. Marcos Yepez had the big blow with a bases clearing double in the second. Yepez finished 2/4 with four RBI. Devin Ivany was 1/3 with a solo home run and two runs scored. Garrett Guzman & Ofilio Castro were each 2/5 with two runs scored.
Record: Harrisburg 44-33, 2nd place EL South (2.5GB)
Tonight: RHP Craig Stammen (0-0, 2.84) at Erie LHP Luke French (4-7, 4.79) 7:05PM
Potomac got their second half off with a win as Justin Jones and two relievers pitched the P-Nats to a 5-2 win in Myrtle Beach (box/gamer). Jones moved to 2-1 on the season allowing only one run on five hits and three walks over six innings, striking out three. Luis Atilano & Josh Wilkie threw the final three innings of relief, giving up only an unearned run on two hits and a walk with Wilkie tallying his second save. Michael Martinez was 2/5 with two runs scored; Matt Rogelstad was 2/4 with one run; and Leonard Davis (1/3), Dee Brown (0/3), & Francisco Plasencia (1/4) each had an RBI for the P-Nats.
Record: Potomac 6-1, 1st place Carolina North (3 games ahead)
Tonight: RHP Jhonny Nunez (1-6, 5.23) at Myrtle Beach RHP Ryne Reynoso (6-5, ) at 7:05PM
Hagerstown struggled mightily in front of a large contingent of Nationals management as the Suns fell 11-5 to Delmarva (box/gamer). Josh Smoker was knocked around for seven runs (six earned) on seven hits (including two home runs) and a walk over four innings of work. Austin Kearns made his first rehab appearance as the Suns DH, finishing 0/2 with a walk and a run scored. Aaron Seuss was 3/4 with a double and run scored; Sean Rooney was 3/5 with one RBI; and, Jake Rogers hit a pinch two-run home run.
Record: Hagerstown 5-3, tied for 1st place Sally North (1 game ahead)
Tonight: RHP Brad Meyers (3-2, 5.74) versus Delmarva RHP Luis Noel (7-2, 2.68) at 7:05PM
Steve Souza led the way on offense as the Monsters defeated Lowell 6-1 (box/gamer). Souza was 3/3 with a double, two homers, & five RBI. Jose Lozada was 3/4 with a double, stolen base, & one run; Nick Arata was 2/4 with two runs; and Jesus Valdez was 2/4 with a double. PJ Dean picked up his first win of the season with six shutout innings, striking out two, and allowing four hits without walking a batter.
Record: Vermont 4-6, 4th place NYP Stedler (2GB)
Tonight: LHP Ricardo Pecina (0-0, 0.00) versus Lowell at 7:05PM
The Thursday GCL Nationals/GCL Dodgers box score has not been updated online as of 7:30AM.
Record: GCL Nationals 2-2, 4th place GCL East (1GB)
Today: GCL Nationals versus GCL Mets 12:00PM
The DSL Nationals 1 defeated the DSL Tigers 4-1 (box). Roberto Herrera allowed one run on one hit and two walks over three innings with two strikeouts. Jose Taveras picked up the win with four shutout innings of one-hit relief, striking out two. Ruben De La Rosa picked up the save with 1 1/3IP, striking out two. Eduardo Urbina was 1/3 with a triple, run, RBI and two stolen bases. Adrian Sanchez 1/4 with a double and RBI. Eury Perez was 1/3 with a walk and a run scored.
Luis Jimenez struck out eleven over six innings as the DSL Nationals 2 defeated the DSL Padres 8-1 (box). Jimenez allowed one run on three hits and only one walk. Francisco Mojica picked up a save with three innings of shutout relief, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out five. Hendry Jimenez was 1/2 with one RBI and two runs scored; Braulio Garcia was 2/4 with a run; and Joseph Cabreja was 1/3 with a double and two runs scored.
Record: DSL Nats1 20-3, 1st place DSL S.D. West (6 games ahead); DSL Nats2 7-16, 3rd place DSL S.D. West (13GB)
Today: DSL Nats1 @ DSL Padres; DSL Nats2 @ DSL Tigers; both at 10:30AM
estuartj | 27-Jun-08 at 8:41 am | Permalink
Another tough outing for Josh Smoker, I think they need to drop him to VT and give him a chance to get his stuff together.
Chris | 27-Jun-08 at 8:49 am | Permalink
Great start by PJ Dean, 1 ER in 12 innings
Derrick Norris with 10 BB in 9 games
Re Smoker: Who from management was at the game? If they dont send him down it may be an indication that hes pitching better than the box score indicates
Brian Oliver | 27-Jun-08 at 8:51 am | Permalink
Chris - From the gamer … “Seventeen members of the Washington Nationals front office, including owner Mark Lerner and team president Stan Kasten, were on hand to watch Kearns”
e | 27-Jun-08 at 10:02 am | Permalink
Wow, Justin Jones seems to have recovered quickly from his off-season surgery. Do you know if the plans are to keep him in Potomac for the rest of the season, or could he move up to AA or AAA if keeps pitching this well?
Also, what’s up with Mike Hinckley? He seems to be pitching a little better since they’ve moved him into a starters role. Do you think they’ll keep in there or move him back to the pen?
Andrew F | 27-Jun-08 at 10:34 am | Permalink
Yeah, I’d like to know what’s behind keeping Smoker in Hagerstown at this point.
Adding PJ Dean to my list of players to obsess over.
estuartj | 27-Jun-08 at 10:41 am | Permalink
I guess we know why Kearns is rehabing in Hagerstown, shortest drive on the off day.
Speakiing of walkiing wounded though, any word on Cory VanAllen and Justin Maxwell?
Brian Oliver | 27-Jun-08 at 10:43 am | Permalink
I believe Maxwell is close to starting a rehab appearance in the GCL. I have heard nothing on VanAllen
Suns Fan | 27-Jun-08 at 11:14 am | Permalink
Kearns is a class act. Good guy. His timing was off a little bit in his first at-bat (too be expected), but by the third at-bat, his timing was back. He fouled off four or five pitches in a row in his third at-bat. The pitcher was smart enough not to give him anything to hit. He drew a walk.
Smoker has great stuff. But he is nineteen and erratic. He pitched well in the first (other than the lead off homer) and in the third and fourth innings. The 6 run fifth with the grand slam was not good. But in the lead up to the grand slam, he was pitching pretty good in a jam. He had two strikes on Nowicki, but Nowicki fouled off a bunch of pitches and finally got a pitch to hit.
I am not sure why Smoker is here. He has great stuff and he’ll be a major leaguer in a couple years, but I think this could damage his confidence. I personally think he should be in Vermont.
And a great crowd period there. 3,800 showed up to see Kearns. Many of them were down in the beer garden, where there were $1.25 beers, so the further away from left field you got, the less people in the stands. Wasn’t the best game in the world, but it had a great atmosphere. Coles kept his team playing hard. They had a two-run homerun and another rally in the bottom of the ninth, but 8 runs was too much to overcome. I believe Kearns stayed in the dugout for the duration of the game after he left the lineup in the bottom of the sixth, which is really setting a good example. Sometimes the major leaguers who come down to low A take their at-bats and head straight to the parking lot.
expo_ram | 27-Jun-08 at 11:23 am | Permalink
Unfortunately there weren’t contingents from other teams scouting Kearns in order to possibly trade for him!
Mark | 27-Jun-08 at 12:56 pm | Permalink
After some impressive showings at Potomac and then Harrisburg, it looks like Zinicola has leveld off and is where he ought to be for the moment in Columbus. He’ll probably need some serious innings to catch up with the more experienced AAA hitters before he’s to promoted, if at all.
Tofu Dog | 27-Jun-08 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
Why would everyone be out in Hagerstown for only Kearns? Or even for Kearns and Smoker? Seventeen management staff for that. Hopefully they are interested in doing something about the woeful facility out there that their minor league players have to put up with.
Andrew S | 27-Jun-08 at 2:43 pm | Permalink
O’s apparently have interest in Felipe Lopez. Maybe management (maybe along with scouting) was out there to take a look at a few players?
expo_ram | 27-Jun-08 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
Tofu - new strip club open up in the area?
Andrew | 27-Jun-08 at 3:18 pm | Permalink
That would be awesome if the Orioles take Felipe Lopez off of our hands. I’d take just about anything for him.
estuartj | 27-Jun-08 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
Why would we trade Kearns now? To keep WMP’s hot bat and keen defense in the line-up?
Suns Fan | 27-Jun-08 at 6:21 pm | Permalink
The political climate is right for either a major renovation of Municipal Stadium or the construction of a new stadium on the current hospital site (and yes, there is enough room for a field there.
Remodeling Municipal Stadium, and doing it right, may be more attractive to the politicians though. The abandoned power plant across the street screams Super Fund site. If knocking that down gets designated a brownfield/Super Fund site, then knock that down, build a new parking lot there, expand the structure of the stadium into the parking lot.
What the politicians will go for is likely the cheapest option (the hospital or the current stadium). Because it’s a biohazard, the hospital could be deemed a Super Fund site as well. Who knows…
Suns Fan | 27-Jun-08 at 6:22 pm | Permalink
Another thing the hospital has going for it is that it’s in downtown, where there are a ton of vacant store fronts. The politicians need to attract businesses downtown, to attract businesses they have to attract people…building a ballpark there is one way to do it.
Tofu Dog | 27-Jun-08 at 8:55 pm | Permalink
That makes more sense to me. Why would Lerner be there unless they are considering investing money in the the ballclub there. If the team wants to see Kearns or Smoker they send baseball personnel. This sounds different. I think they are considering how to align their minor league system without Columbus–seeing where Hagerstown figures in the mix. For Suns Fan, I hope they do something there. You are not the guy that does the magic act are you??
Suns Fan | 28-Jun-08 at 7:54 am | Permalink
No, I’m not anything other than a citizen of the city. I do know many of the City Councilors from being active in politics. But that’s not the reason I say the climate is right for an extensive remodeling/new ballpark. The city has spent a lot of money on downtown concerts in a parking lot as a means of attracting businesses to downtown. The city has lost around one hundred thousand dollars on these concerts, and downtown is worse than ever. The entire Council and the Mayor are up for re-election in 2009. I suspect the political climate will favor a private, established business (baseball) over the concerts. Several of the Councilors have already seen the writing on the wall–it’s why the money for the infield renovations passed (in previous years, they city would’ve said no)…
Andrew F | 28-Jun-08 at 11:48 am | Permalink
Look out again for the Rhinehart Mafia.
Cole | 28-Jun-08 at 12:13 pm | Permalink
McGeary pitched last night. 5 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, and 6 K’s.
Andrew S | 28-Jun-08 at 3:07 pm | Permalink
Quite a bounceback from his debut. I am still unsure how he will ever get past Vermont these next two years with college.
Rocket Scientist | 28-Jun-08 at 4:05 pm | Permalink
Caught the CAR League All-Star game on Tuesday in Myrtle Beach and then stayed on to watch Gm #1 of the P-Nats and Pelicans series. The All-Star game was made even better by Baez winning it with a blast to right center.
Observations on Rhinehart- Defensive liability at 1b as he looks uncomfortable around the bag and projected no-confidence body language. While not charged with an error, he missed a scoop and unnecessarily came off the bag to void 2 DP’s. He’s also a short, squatty target who needs to improve his footwork. He K’ed 2X in 3 AB’s but has hit well otherwise. IMHO, to be considered a genuine prospect he’ll need to continue to rake at the plate with DH being his best position.
Andrew S | 28-Jun-08 at 7:24 pm | Permalink
Balester up. The era begins.
www.nationals.com
hartmanbirge | 28-Jun-08 at 11:05 pm | Permalink
And no sooner is Kearns ready and it looks like Milledge is hurt - he could be out awhile with a groin injury. Unbelievable. All in all, this season is starting to answer the lingering questions about who we have at the ML level. 1. Nick Johnson is always hurt and can’t be trusted to last a season; 2. Shawn Hill is always hurt and can’t be trusted to last; 3. The Wily Mo Pena experiment has failed; 4. Our new “core” is emerging (Zim, Milledge, Flores, Dukes, Lannan, Balestar); 5. We have a lot of journeyman fill-in types that need to be replaced if we’re ever going to win (Lopez, Young, Pena, Perez, etc.); 6. Willie Harris is a great find; 7. Casto may have found his role and his place
hartmanbirge | 28-Jun-08 at 11:13 pm | Permalink
Brian…. can you remind me, with Detwiler on the 40 man roster, what is the rule about how soon it is he has to reach DC? With him struggling mightely the haste to put him on there is starting to look dicey..
Andrew S | 28-Jun-08 at 11:52 pm | Permalink
Bernadina up to replace Milledge. Hopefully he can stay up longer…. Hartman, I am not Brian but I think I can answer your question. Detwiler does not have a major league deal, so with him on the 40-man roster I believe he can be on there as long as they want. He will never “expire.”
Andrew F | 29-Jun-08 at 1:00 am | Permalink
Interested to see what Bernadina can do.
This Detwiler season just continues to get worse.
Hoagie | 29-Jun-08 at 2:07 am | Permalink
Brian, out of curiosity, what would you like to see the Nats fetch for Fail-ipe Lopez? I was thinking someone along the lines of Brandon Snyder or Scott Moore.
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 29-Jun-08 at 8:05 am | Permalink
NOW, will the Nats demote Detwiler? How much more does he have to prove that he’s not succeeding at this level?
Do the Lerners have the guts to admit they may have made a mistake on him?
Brian Oliver | 29-Jun-08 at 9:03 am | Permalink
The deal with Detwiler is this. He did not receive a major league contract, but is on the 40-man roster. He’ll have four option years (assuming pretty easily that he stays down all of 2008). So the Nationals can keep him in the minors for three more seasons without getting his permission to send him down. That means the 2012 season is the first season the Nats would have to expose him to waivers to demote him.
His service clock is stuck at the 0.027 (27 days) and he won’t move any closer to free agency (6 years) until he is recalled.
I do not believe the Nats are going to demote Detwiler. He’ll be in Potomac for the rest of the year
Scott | 29-Jun-08 at 9:37 am | Permalink
Brian -
To what do you attribute Detwiler’s poor performance? Is he trying to adjust to changes in his mechanics? I have seen him pitch a few times and he doesn’t seem to have control of his off-speed stuff.
j | 29-Jun-08 at 10:53 am | Permalink
Brian,
can you give us a preview of what kind of pitcher we will see in Balester and OF in Bernadina? You are the man.
Regarding Detwiler…I look at this season as a learning year. If he had some mechanical issues, better to let him work them out in Potomac than in AA or the majors, and before they lead to an injury. My understanding is that he has good stuff, and can command his fastball. If as Scott says he has issues with his secondary pitches, then hopefully he can correct that this year. At worst, he’s a power left-handed arm out of the bullpen down the line.
Andrew S | 29-Jun-08 at 10:58 am | Permalink
Hoagie- No way they give up Snyder…Maybe Moore but that isn’t much to get excited about. I am not even positive the O’s have interest, but if they really do it’s only because they won’t have to part ways with anything/anyone terrific.
hartmanbirge | 29-Jun-08 at 12:38 pm | Permalink
Thanks…. Three more years is enough time for him to develop so that’s a relief. He’s a college guy so that’s enough to prove or disprove himself - he would be 25 at that stage and either a great talent as projected or a bust. The time crunch in no way changes the outcome - we’ll know soon enough - call it mid season 2010 and we should know what the deal is.
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 29-Jun-08 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
J - Good stuff? At times. Command? Rarely. Therein lies Detwiler’s problem. Even when he gets ahead 0-2, he frequently “finds” a way to go 2-2 or 3-2, if not issue a walk or hit.
As I’ve posted previously, the true sign of success wll be when Detwiler can pitch into the 7th. Because not only will it represent the first time he’s done it as a professional, never mind this year, it will also mean that his control has improved.
But I seriously question the wisdom of keeping him at a level at which he is clearly struggling. If the point of the minors is to develop talent, doesn’t it make more sense to drop him down to level where he can succeed and build his confidence.
Tofu Dog | 29-Jun-08 at 1:50 pm | Permalink
Milledge’s injury may limit their ability to trade Lopez. If they trade him they have Orr and Willie Harris at second base until Zimmerman comes back. So many moving parts–Belliard and Aaron Boone–and if one of them gets hurt they are really in trouble. But if the Orioles will take him for Zach Britton or some legit prospect and change, then I would keep my fingers crossed and trade him.
Andrew S | 29-Jun-08 at 6:56 pm | Permalink
A soon to be free agent and known lacadaisical/mediocre player isn’t going to get anyone the a team’s Top 20 prospect list.
Steve | 29-Jun-08 at 7:05 pm | Permalink
Kearns is on fire since his rehab started-3run hr today so far. Question: Has his elbow been a problem all year? If so, this would explain his terrible start.
Suns Fan | 29-Jun-08 at 9:07 pm | Permalink
Maybe, I don’t know. Kearns did look pretty good, albeit a bit rusty, in Hagerstown. His timing was off for the first couple at bats, but by the third at-bat, it was back. I hope he does well for the rest of the year. He’s a class act, and he impressed many of us here in Hagerstown.
randomfan | 29-Jun-08 at 9:40 pm | Permalink
Word on the street is Seuss and Lyons moved up from Hagerstown to Potomac
Suns Fan | 29-Jun-08 at 11:31 pm | Permalink
Well deserved promotions for both of those players.
j | 29-Jun-08 at 11:38 pm | Permalink
Wooden…thanks, i was just going off what I have read. Seems like you have seen him up close. Hopefully he can get it together and move forward. Thanks again, Go Nats!
Hoagie | 30-Jun-08 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
I wouldn’t classify Snyder as anything special. He isn’t a C anymore (looks like 1B/LF/maybe some 3B) and doesn’t have the bat for those corners.