• For A Florida Marlins Fan's Perspective, Check Out The SB Nation's Marlins Site: Fish Stripes.

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24-year-old outfielder Erik Komatsu, who was acquired by Washington in a July 30, 2011 trade with Milwaukee for utility man Jerry Hairston, Jr. and selected by St. Louis Cardinals in this past winter's Rule 5 Draft, didn't stick with the Cardinals or the Minnesota Twins who claimed Komatsu when the Cards designated him for assignment back on May 1st. Therefore, the Washington Nationals accepted the outfielder back this afternoon as per the rules of the Rule 5 Draft. Komatsu was left unprotected by the Nats after putting up a .234/.298/.297 line in 31 games and 142 plate appearances at Double-A Harrisburg after the trade last year. He had a .211/.286/.211 line in 15 games and 21 plate appearances with the Cardinals and a .219/.297/.219 line in 15 games and 37 plate appearances with the Twins. According to the Tweet by the Nationals this afternoon, the left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder will report to Triple-A Syracuse now that he's back in the Nats' organization:

BREAKING: #Nats accept contract of OF Erik Komatsu, assigned outright per Rule 6 guidelines to @SyracuseChiefs, from @Twins

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 29, 2012

• The Nationals also noted in a press release on the move that Komatus is not on the 40-Man Roster.

The Washington Nationals placed 32-year-old bench bat Chad Tracy on the DL yesterday as they announced that they'd called Triple-A outfielder Corey Brown up to the majors. Tracy injured his groin on Friday night while running the bases following an RBI double to left-center that drove in Ian Desmond for what was eventually the winning run in the Washington's win over Atlanta. Davey Johnson told reporters he hoped it was just scar tissue from a previous surgery popping, but Tracy told reporters this weekend he feared it was a separate injury. After seeing doctors today, it was confirmed to be worse than originally expected as Nats' manager Davey Johnson told reporters tonight before the second of three with Miami:

Nats bad luck continues: Chad Tracy needs surgery, will miss at least two months, perhaps all year, Davey said.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 29, 2012

Davey: Chad Tracy had surgery today for a torn groin muscle. Could be out for season.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 29, 2012

As a pinch hitter this season, Tracy has a .333/.435/.556 line with a double, home run and nine RBI's in 23 games. A Nationals' spokesmen clarified after Johnson spoke to reporters that Tracy's scheduled recovery time is six-to-eight weeks. It's yet another blow to a Nationals team that has seen Drew Storen, Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse, Brad Lidge, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos and more go down already this season while still managing to stay not only competitive, but at the top of the NL East for most of this year. Can they continue to overcome these injuries?

Tracy will have surgery on Thursday. Out 6-8 weeks the #nats say.

— Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 29, 2012

As expected, the Washington Nationals officially called 26-year-old catcher Jhonatan Solano up this afternoon while Jesus Flores recovers from a hamstring issues that left the Nats a backstop short yesterday in the first game of three with the Marlins in Miami. Solano's not in the lineup tonight, however, but Corey Brown is. The 26-year-old outfielder, who made the final out of Monday's game, will get a start in left field tonight. Steve Lombardozzi's starting at second, with Danny Espinosa on the bench as the Nationals get set to face right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Espinosa's .180/.267/.278 line in 152 PA's from the left side might have made this an easy decision for Nats' manager Davey Johnson. Both infielders are switch hitters, but the 23-year-old Lombardozzi has a .372/.430/.449 line from the left side in 87 plate appearances so far in 2012. Left-handed hitting Corey Brown hits everyone. At least he did a Triple-A, where the former Oakland A's prospect, acquired along with Henry Rodriguez in the deal that sent Josh Willingham out west, had a .268/.412/.537 line with a triple and three home runs in 41 at bats against lefties and a .306/.395/.597 line with nien doubles, three triples and nine home runs against right-handers. Brown will be making his first major league start tonight. Here's the Nats' lineup for game two of three with the Fish which features Edwin Jackson on the mound vs the virtually unbeatable Anibal Sanchez (via the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore):

Nats lineup, day off for Espinosa: Lombardozzi 4, Harper 9, Zim 5, LaRoche, Desmond, Ankiel 8, Brown 7, Maldonado 2, Jackson

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 29, 2012

• The debut of the C. Brown, Ank, B-Harp outfield begins at 7:10 pm EDT tonight from Marlins Park.

• After Monday's loss the Washington Nationals are 5-2 seven games into the current nine-game road trip with two more to play in Miami before the Nats head home to the nation's capital for three with Atlanta and three with New York. The Nationals are 15-11 in the month of May. The surging Marlins are 19-8 in May after an 8-14 start to the season. Following the Memorial Day win, Miami's just 2.5 games behind the #FirstPlaceNats with two more to play in Marlins Park tonight and tomorrow. Edwin Jackson takes the mound tonight for the Nats. The 28-year-old right-hander is looking for his first win since April 14th. SInce then the Nationals are 1-5 in E-Jax's starts with Jackson (0-2) over the same stretch. It won't be easy tonight. Marlins' right-hander Anibal Sanchez will be on the hill. The 28-year-old right-hander held the Nats to five hits and two runs in an April 21st start in Washington which Miami lost 3-2, but Sanchez received no-decision and is still (7-0) in 18 career starts against the Marlins' NL East rivals with a 2.10 ERA, 46 walks (3.71 BB/9) and 95 K's (7.66 K/9) in 111.2 IP. Can the Nats beat the Fish? We'll find out tonight... unless you're in North Carolina? Find out why Carolinians can't watch... RIGHT NOW!!!:

• THE BIG STORY!!! (Today in Two Parts):

• "The region, whose fans identify more with Atlanta than the District or Baltimore, is nevertheless considered by baseball officials to fall within the Washington/Baltimore market, so the Time Warner decision not to carry the stations prompted complaints of discrimination from MASN." - "Court shuts out Nationals, Orioles fans' viewing in N.C." - Dave Sherfinski, Washington Times

• "'[Steve] Lombardozzi has become the Nationals’ typical leadoff hitter, batting first in six of the Nationals’ past nine games. 'My primary lineup is Lombo leading off,' [Davey] Johnson said.'" - "Steve Lombardozzi becoming a leading man for the Nationals" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post

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They were both solo shots. Stephen Strasburg's on a 75 mph 0-2 curve from Baltimore Orioles' left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, Jordan Zimmermann's on a 74 mph 2-2 curve from the Miami Marlins' Carlos Zambrano. They were both to left field. Strasburg's HR, according to Hit Tracker Online, went a "true distance" of 398 ft into the visitor's bullpen. You can see the 377ft sign on the left field wall in Nationals Park where it soars over. Zimmermann's HR went 387 ft (acc. to Hit Tracker) into the seats in front of the Marlins Park's Clevelander Bar. According to the USA Today, the Marlins estimated Zimmermann's HR traveled 377ft. Strasburg's was his first career home run in his 42nd at bat. Zimmermann's first was in his 97th AB.

As Nats Enquirer noted this morning, Baseball Prospectus' Larry Granillo timed Strasburg's slow trot around the bases at 26.15 seconds. A quick review of Zimmermann's slow trot around the bases has him at approximately 24 seconds between the crack of the bat and the moment he stepped on home. But the trot included a pause at second base while the 26-year-old right-hander tried to figure out if it had actually gone out.

"'It’s hard to see,'" the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore quoted Zimmermann explaining, "'There’s so many bright objects out there.'"

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They call him Onion. Or at least Davey Johnson does. Davey is the only one I've heard say it, but it's listed as his nickname on Baseball-Reference.com too. The Washington Nationals announced after this afternoon's loss that they'd optioned 25-year-old outfielder Tyler Moore to Triple-A to make room (according to separate reports and manager Davey Johnson) for 26-year-old catcher Jhonatan Solano (aka Onion). Moore returns to everyday play after 12 games and 19 plate appearances with the Nationals in which he had three hits and seven K's. As Davey Johnson explained it, the move will let the outfielder who hit 31 home runs in each of the last two seasons and had seven in 88 appearances before he was called up, return to regular action.

"I really felt bad from the get-go," Johnson told reporters after the game, "Having [Moore] in a situation where he's playing out of position and he's a regular player, he's not the kind of guy that can sit and then come in and play, but I thought he handled himself well. [In] a new position he played well out there and he swung the bat okay, but that's not the role you want for a young player. A young talented prospect, sitting around and playing against a left-hander occasionally, so, he's better off going and playing. We think highly of him and he's got a great future here."

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• Welcome To Marlins Park: The Washington Nationals swept three-straight from the Atlanta Braves this weekend, leaving the Nats 5-1 six games into the current nine-game road trip. The Nationals and Marlins started a three-game set this afternoon in Miami in the Nationals' first visit to the new Marlins Park, after which Washington will return home for six more with NL East opponents, three with the Braves and three with the visiting New York Mets. But first they had to beat the Fish. 26-year-old Nats' right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, coming off a 6.0-inning outing against the Phillies last week in which he gave up seven hits, two walks and one earned run in a win in Citizens Bank Park, was making his tenth start of the year today, but his first against Washington's divisional rivals from Florida. Zimmermann took the mound with the score 0-0 in the bottom of the first after the Nats failed to score off Marlins' right-hander Carlos Zambrano. A called strike three with a 95mph 1-2 fastball to Jose Reyes and a pop to second from Omar Infante got Zimmermann the first two outs in the bottom of the inning before Hanley Ramirez singled to right, but a grounder back to the mound off Giancarlo Stanton's bat ended a quick 13-pitch, 12-strike home half of the frame.

0-0 after one...

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