The stopper

  • When a team is on a losing skid, it turns to its ace to pitch the team out of it. Except that the Nats, losers of four straight going into Thursday afternoon's game, don't have an ace. Or maybe they do. All Shawn Hill did Thursday was pitch 8+ innings of four-hit baseball, keeping the Phillies in check while the Nats collected four runs. Hill's reaction? "I'm more disappointed in the fact that I walked that guy [ninth-inning leadoff hitter Shane Victorino], if anything," a walk that ended Hill's day. However, Hill, and the Nats, got the win, 4-2. (Box score)
  • Chad Cordero came on in relief and decided to stick to his fastball, and despite some scares—a double by Ryan Howard, a long fly out by Chase Utley—he got the save, allowing only the inherited runner to score. "Today is the day to go back to the way I was last year and the year before," he said. Also: Ray King pitched 1.1 innings for Double-A Harrisburg last night and should be ready to come off the DL tomorrow.
  • Felipe Lopez got the day off Thursday, with Josh Wilson starting at short and leading off instead. Manny Acta said the move was simply to give Lopez a day off after a night game.
  • Austin Kearns has a good batting average so far this season but only have one home run and three RBIs, numbers far lower than last April, when he was still with Cincinnati. Kearns did go 2-for-3 with a double yesterday, though.
  • Ryan Zimmerman describes his pre-game routine for the Examiner, which mixes workouts, batting practice, video reviews, and eating.
  • Adam Carr really didn't want to be a pitcher, but there he is at Class-A Potomac, pitching as the team's closer. Carr, who got some at bats last season as a DH in lower levels of the minors, is pitching full time now, and has allowed only one earned run in eight innings, although he has walked seven. "It is full-time pitching now -- hanging out and when we need you, we need you and when we don't, just hang out."

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