So much for the little winning streak
Submitted by Jeff on Wed, 05/16/2007 - 6:26am.
- Perhaps Alex Escobar has put a hex on Nationals pitchers. That might be the best explanation about why Nats starters have become so injury prone. Last night Jerome Williams, fresh off the DL, lasted only into the third inning before he felt a "pull" in his right shoulder that was later diagnosed as a rotator cuff strain and was taken out of the game. By that point the Nats were already down 3-0, too much even then for the offense to rebound from. Nats end their four-game winning streak with a 6-2 loss to the Braves. (Box score)
- Williams' injury is likely severe enough to put him back on the DL, manager Manny Acta said after the game. Williams said he had not felt any problems with his shoulder before. Team officials didn't give any indication of who would take Williams' spot in the rotation, although one possibility is Triple-A pitcher Tim Redding.
- Levale Speigner is set to make his first major league start tonight, filling Shawn Hill's spot in the rotation. Speigner called it "nerve-racking", although he didn't feel anything special about pitching against the team he grew up rooting for in south Georgia, the Braves. Acta hopes to get 70-75 pitches, or about four to five innings, out of Speigner.
- Given all the injuries suffered by Nats pitchers, the headline "Notes: Nats pitchers finding their groove" might not seem that appropriate. The team has a 3.82 ERA in the last 29 games entering last night. "It was just a matter of keeping them mentally and physically on the field. I think we'll be OK with them," said pitching coach Randy St. Claire. Well, so much for the physically part.
- Mike Wise (!!) writes a rare baseball column, about the Nats efforts to find some talent without having them be weighed down by a long, losing season. Case in point is Jason Bergmann (who, Wise notes, is an off-season substitute teacher in New Jersey), who teetered on the edge of demotion early this season and is now, thanks to injury, the anchor of the rotation. "The trick for a young pitcher is not so much to put up Cy Young numbers as merely to stay away from Columbus."
- Despit some close calls, including Bergmann's start Monday, it appears unlikely RFK Stadium will host a no-hitter before the Nats move out after this season, writes Phil Wood.