Curly W? This one was stretched out
Submitted by Jeff on Sat, 06/10/2006 - 8:07am.
- There was the rain that delayed the start of Friday night's game by nearly two hours. Then there was the Nats onslaught on Brett Myers, who lasted only three innings and gave up six runs. Then, the Nats saw their 7-3 lead evaporate in the seventh on a three-run blast by Chase Utley and a two-run homer by Pat Burrell in the seventh. An 8-8 game dragged on into extra innings well past midnight before Robert Fick, the last position player on the bench for the Nats, got a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the 12th to score Marlon Byrd. Nats win a marathon, 9-8.
- Royce Clayton went 0-for-5 in last night's game, but in the eyes of Thom Loverro the shortstop is a jewel. It's hard to see the player, virtually unwanted by every other MLB team this offseason, as any sort of prize, but Loverro notes that "what makes him truly valuable is that he is not Cristian Guzman, who is out for the season with a torn right labrum and should never see the light of day in a Nationals uniform." Well, there is that.
- Chad Cordero, who got the win last night with two innings of scoreless relief, has his control and confidence back after early-season struggles, saying that the turning point came three weeks earlier in Chicago when Frank Robinson came to the mound and asked if Cordero "was the man for the job". Today is Chad Cordero bobblehead day at RFK, and the figurine has Cordero's seal of approval. "So, I liked it. It looked pretty good. To make a little figure of you, it's a pretty cool thing."
- Injury update: Jose Guillen went a combined 2-for-4 for Potomac last night in a doubleheader at Frederick. Guillen will report to RFK today for a final check and drills before deciding to activate him. If he is activated this weekend Mike Vento would likely be sent down to New Orleans. Vento would likely be joined there, temporarily, by John Patterson, who make a rehab start there Monday. A good start there could mean he would pitch next Saturday's game against the Yankees at RFK.
- Frank Robinson on Mike O'Connor: "On the mound, he's unflappable and doesn't let games get away from him. He may not throw hard, but he throws hard enough."
- In New Orleans, Kevin Gryboski is working to try to make it back to the majors, saying that a trade from Atlanta to Texas (for a minor league player since released) has been his motivation.
- Matt LeCroy said he received a number of fan letters supporting him after his trial by fire as catcher in the Astros game last month. At the other extreme, Damian Jackson said that a fan who heckled him after he made an error in Thursday night's game doesn't "appreciate the stresses of big league life." (He tells MLB.com that he had, among other things, "minor back stiffness".) So stop pickin' on him when he misses a catch or screws up a bunt, 'kay?
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