District of Baseball

Right fielder Willie Harris left the Nationals' 13-3 win over the Mets in the bottom of the second inning after crashing into outfield fence. In the evening, Harris said over the phone that he was "OK." During the game, a team spokesman said Harris left the game for precautionary reasons. Manager Jim Riggleman said after the game Harris will be checked Tuesday and may have suffered a mild concussion. Harris, chasing what would be a double by Chris Carter, smashed headfirst into the fence. Harris stood, then dropped to a knee and waited for Riggleman and head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz to come check on him. "He was pretty dizzy," Manager Jim Riggleman said. "He didn't feel too good out there. That was pretty obvious in talking to him."


Jim Riggleman - Willie Harris - Coach - Washington Nationals - Right fielder

Slumped in a chair in front of his locker after his first bullpen appearance in more than five years, Scott Olsen was happy about two things. The Nationals had won, and his mother was in town and got to watch him pitch. The four no-hit innings he threw brought him little joy. He had pitched as a reliever, which is something he has positively no interest in doing. "I'd like to start," Olsen said. "I don't want to be a bullpen guy." Much of Olsen's displeasure with throwing out of the bullpen stems from how it alters his warm-up. He is accustomed to playing catch from roughly 140 feet before starts to loosen up his arm, which he can't do from the bullpen. "The biggest difference in not being able to throw 140 feet before I get on the mound," Olsen said. "That's not going to work. I've done it.


Scott Olsen - Relief pitcher - No-hitter - Washington National - Pitcher

Today's Top 5: 

5. 37-Pitch First, E: 107: It isn't just the one-out grounder that Nats' shortstop Danny Espinosa boots (E: 1, 107) that costs Jordan Zimmermann in the first, though it does make the two runs he surrenders unearned. The Nats' right-hander gives up a leadoff single to Angel Pagan, who steals second and scores on a sac fly by David Wright after the Espinosa E on Chris Carter's grounder gives the Mets runners on first and third with one down in the first. Zimmermann gives up three straight walks, the first two load the bases and the third forces one in, 2-0 Mets after the first. Zimmermann needs 37 pitches to get through the first, which means a short night for the Nats' right-hander. 

Asked in the post game interview if the error by Espinosa had unnerved Zimmermann, Nats' Skipper Jim Riggleman said he didn't think the right-hander was shook: 

Jim Riggleman: "[Zimmermann's] been out there when plays aren't made, that wasn't it, he just didn't locate his fastball for a while, for a couple of innings, first inning, second inning didn't locate his fastball, threw a lot of pitches, third and fourth inning he got it back together."

4. OPPO-BOPPO!!!: Nats' shortstop Danny Espinosa atones for his error with an opposite field HR off Mike Pelfrey in the bottom of the third, taking a 95mph 1-2 fastball all the way the other way for a solo shot down the line in left and over the wall to get the Nationals on the board. 3-1 NY on Espinosa's second HR of the season. And second opposite field HR. "It's something they always preach," Espinosa said in a pregame interview, talking about his ability to go to the opposite field, "You gotta use the whole field. I'm not necessarily sitting there trying to hit the ball [to the opposite field], but I'm not going to try to hook every single ball, I'm just trying to drive something hard up the middle and if my barrel's a little late, and I drive it to opposite field I drive it to the opposite field."

3. PUDGE TIES IT!!: Mets' right-hander Mike Pelfrey issues back-to-back one-out walks to Adam Dunn and Roger Bernadina in the Nats' fourth, and that brings the Nats' future Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez to the plate. Mets' right fielder Chris Carter's playing shallow with the slow-footed veteran up, and Pudge makes him pay with a line drive to right and over Carter's head, Dunn scores. Bernadina scores, 3-3 game. Michael Morse lines to center in the next AB to score Pudge, 4-3 Nats. And 5-3 on a two-out RBI single by Nyjer Morgan that scores Morse. Pelfrey's done. 

2. Olsen Out Of The Pen: Pitching out of the bullpen for the first time since his second major league appearance back on June 30, 2005, Nats' lefty Scott Olsen, who was bumped from the rotation after a few uninspired starts so that Yunesky Maya can make his MLB debut tomorrow in Washington, D.C., throws 4.0 scoreless in relief of Nats' righty Jordan Zimmmermann. Zimmermann lasts just 4.0 innings and gives up 3 runs, 1 ER and 4 walks. Olsen takes over in the fifth with the Nats up 6-3, and holds NY hitless and scoreless over the next four innings as the Nats pile on the runs.

1. GRAND SPINNER SLAM!!!: The Nationals are already up 7-3 after Danny Espinosa's RBI single in the fifth scores Roger Bernadina from third. 7-3 Nats after five on Espinosa's second RBI of the game following his third inning blast. Mets' right-hander Ryota Igarashi gives up a leadoff double to Adam Kennedy and back-to-back one-out walks to load the bases for Pudge Rodriguez, whose sac fly to right makes it 8-3 Nats. Igarashi walks Michael Morse and the bases are loaded again when Danny Espinosa steps in. Igarashi misses with a curve and comes back in with a 1-0 fastball that Espinosa launches to right and GONE!! Off the facade of the first deck! Grand Slam!!! Espinosa's first multi-HR game and his 3rd HR since being called up to DC. 12-3 Nats. And the rookie infielder takes a curtain call, the second rookie to do so this season. 12-3 Nats on Espinosa's 4th, 5th and 6th RBI's of the game. 

Asked for his thoughts on Espinosa's afternoon, Nats' Skipper Jim Riggleman said, "It's one of those days where you really feel good about the direction the organization is going, you know, Zimmermann's out there, young athletic guys are out there, everybody's swinging the bat...It was a good day. It's a statement for the organization that, as we say, "there is light at the end of the tunnel." 

• Miss The Game? Go Watch IT NOW!! The DC Faithful Were Watching...

• Final Score: Nationals 12, Mets 3. 

• Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Dan-O-Mite."

via www.fangraphs.com

• Explosive: "Dynamite" Danny Espinosa (+11.6%) is not even the biggest player of the game, despite going 4-5 with a double, a solo homer, and a grand slam!
• Exploded: Jordan Zimmermann (-10.5%) struggles with command early, going 4 IP with 2 Ks and four walks, including a bases-loaded walk to put the Nats down by two in the first (-8.3%)
• Extinguisher: Scott Olsen (+8.9%) steadies things up out of the bullpen, pitching four scoreless innings, striking out three and walking two.
• Nothin' but clutch: Ivan Rodriguez (+22.4%) is only 1-2 with a walk, but his hit is a two-RBI double to tie the game and put himself on third as the go-ahead run with only one out (+24.7%).

Nationals now 60-78.

via www.fangraphs.com

• Explosive: "Dynamite" Danny Espinosa (+11.6%) is not even the biggest player of the game, despite going 4-5 with a double, a solo homer, and a grand slam!
• Exploded: Jordan Zimmermann (-10.5%) struggles with command early, going 4 IP with 2 Ks and four walks, including a bases-loaded walk to put the Nats down by two in the first (-8.3%)
• Extinguisher: Scott Olsen (+8.9%) steadies things up out of the bullpen, pitching four scoreless innings, striking out three and walking two.
• Nothin' but clutch: Ivan Rodriguez (+22.4%) is only 1-2 with a walk, but his hit is a two-RBI double to tie the game and put himself on third as the go-ahead run with only one out (+24.7%).

The Nationals overcame a 3-0 deficit and pounded the Mets, 13-3, behind Danny Espinosa's two home runs at Nationals Park on Monday afternoon.

Class AA Harrisburg clinched a playoff today when Bowie, their only competition, lost to Richmond. The Senators -- who have been carried by the pitching of Tom Milone (12-5, 2.85 ERA, 6.7 K/BB) and the bats of Stephen Lombardozzi (.925 OPS in 26 games) and Michael Burgess (1.025 in 20) -- will face Altoona. Harrisburg joined Class A Potomac as the Nationals affiliates to reach the postseason. They P-Nats, led by Tyler Moore's MVP season, will face Frederick.


Washington Nationals - Minor league baseball - Harrisburg - Altoona Pennsylvania - Potomac Nationals

At the risk of inflicting the kid with the Curse of Harris - I'll go ahead and say it anyway.

Oh.

My.

God.

I'm

in

Love.

Mark it down right now: Danny Espinosa, the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year. Let's just hope someone keeps track and he doesn't get that 131st at-bat this year.

Of course, at his current pace he'll have about 110 RBI this month so maybe he could win it in 2010.

So 2B for next year is solved. Figure out 1B and figure out RF (Jayson Morse?) and I'll feel good again. Until I think about what the Curse of Harris did to Jee-SUS.

Days removed from the controversial week that capped his difficult season, Nyjer Morgan has a new way to view his year. "I'm getting tested," Morgan said. "Can I handle it, or am I going to break?" Morgan veered away from controversy and returned to simply baseball this weekend in Pittsburgh, where he went 3 for 12 with two walks, one sensational diving catch and one caught stealing, which upped his league-leading total to 16. He joked with former teammates and he blended in, a refreshing change from a week in which he became one of the central figures in the sport. Morgan received widespread national attention for a well-documented, ugly spate of incidents that concluded with bench-clearing brawl and an eight-game suspension, which he is currently appealing, heaped on to an earlier seven-game suspension for interaction with fans in Philadelphia, which he is also appealing. Morgan has pleaded innocence in


Philadelphia - Baseball - Nyjer Morgan - Bench-clearing brawl - Pittsburgh

Nationals outfielder Willie Harris left Monday's game against the Mets in the top of the third inning after hitting the right field fence hard on a double by Chris Carter.