First the Good News: Nats Defeat Mets 3-1 to Take Series

Posted by Mike Henderson on Jul. 23, 2009 at 6:15 AM
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Craig Stammen

Nationals starting pitcher Craig Stammen began his night with four perfect frames, and ended by earning a 3-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday evening at Nationals Park, scattering just four hits and two walks while striking out five over his fine 7 1/3-inning effort.

Josh Willingham helped to seal the victory with his sixth-inning two-run homer to the left-field bullpen off Mets starter Mike Pelfrey, who took the loss.  Mike MacDougal pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch his sixth Nats save of the year.

Here's coverage from the Post, Times, MLB.com and AP.

Jordan ZimmermannNow the bad news:  Right-handed starter Jordan Zimmermann, who has been enjoying a good rookie season under the curly W and was scheduled to start Thursday's makeup game against St. Louis, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with discomfort in the elbow of his throwing arm.

Collin BalesterCollin Balester will start Thursday at Nats Park in place of Zimmermann.  It'll be the first MLB start of 2009 for Balester, who logged a 3-7 record on a 5.51 ERA in 15 major-league starts for the Nats in 2008.  Over 19 starts for triple-A Syracuse this year, he's accrued a 7-9 record and 4.35 ERA in 103 1/3 innings of work, allowing 122 hits, striking out 66 and walking 35.

Provided Zimmermann's injury isn't season-threatening, it could work out to be a blessing in disguise.  He was doubtless under an innings limit for the 2009 season, so a few starts missed in late July and early August will potentially translate into innings he can provide come September, when several young Nationals pitchers, also under innings limits, will likely be shut down.  In fact, the current vision of Nats interim GM Mike Rizzo is that a rehabbed and healthy Zimmermann will pitch clear to the end of the season.

By the way, for those of you scoring at home, that's three new entries to the rotation in four days:  Garrett Mock for demoted Ross Detwiler, JD Martin for injured Scott Olsen and now Balester for Zimmermann.  There's always something new at Nats Town.

Finally, the mixed news:  The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports that Dmitri Young's rehabilitation assignment with the double-A Senators has come to an end.

Where will he will go from there?  According to the report, it isn't clear; readers, what say you?

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Tags: pitching, Scott Olsen, Dmitri Young, injuries, Collin Balester, Jordan Zimmermann, Craig Stammen, Josh Willingham, Mike Pelfrey, Mike MacDougal, coverage, Garrett Mock, Ross Detwiler, J. D. Martin, Mike Rizzo



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Bring Hondo Home!

Mike Henderson is a medical informatics consultant based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, rooting for the great Pirates teams of the 1970s that he's really never got over. (And he still misses Pirates announcer Bob Prince.)

Upon moving to the DC area in 1984, he duly began rooting for the Orioles but found it was never quite the same. Especially after the 1994 strike and the Angelos teardown.

Mike's inner fanboy came back to life the minute the Nats hit RFK in 2005. He shares his random observations with the discerning readers of Nationals Pride and eagerly awaits the day when he'll be complaining about having to pay entirely too much for playoff tickets at Nats Park.


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