Blundering on the basepaths

Submitted by Jeff on Sat, 07/21/2007 - 5:49am.

The Nats offense had been shut down for seven innings, unable to do much of anything against starter Aaron Cook, rallied in the eighth against reliever Jorge Julio. Three hits put one run in and the tying runs on second and third, only to have the rally extinguished when Ryan Zimmerman, thinking there were two outs instead of one, took off from second on a fly ball and was doubled off when the fly ball was caught. "It was a bad mistake," he admitted. Yep. Nats lose to the Rockies, 3-1. (Box score)
Dmitri Young was not in the starting lineup last night, nursing a bruised left heel suffered earlier this week. The team said Young was day-to-day; Young did make a pinch-hitting appearance in Friday's game.
In other injury news, Jason Simontacchi went on the 15-day DL with right elbow tendonitis. The team doesn't need a fifth starter until the end of the month, allowing the team to put Simontacchi on the DL with only minor adjustments to the DL. The Nats plan to call up reliever Chris Booker from Triple-A to fill the roster spot. Also: yes, Alex Escobar is ailing again, and will interrupt his rehab to go to Viera and let his right shoulder and ankle recover.
Better news: Shawn Hill had a pain-free throwing session Friday, throwing 40 pitches off a mount. Hill will next throw BP for high-A Potomac.
Thom Loverro believes Nats fans need to create "fan clubs in the stands" to promote their favorite player, noting the various creative groups in Philadelphia (Wolf Pack, Person's People) that support specific players. Then again, emulating anything in Philly is not necessarily a wise idea…