Game Thread: San Francisco Giants at Washington Nationals- 2008 Game 63 of 162.

On The Hill...

DC starter Shawn Hill is (0-2) with 6 no-decisions in 8 starts, and 51 hits, 23 earned runs, 4 HR's and 17 walks allowed in 44.1 IP. At home in Nationals Park, Hill's (0-0) in 3 starts with a 2.25 ERA in 20.0 innings. The Nationals are (2-6) with Hill starting, and they haven't won a game Hill began since April 30th, dropping five straight with the 27-year old right-hander out of Mississauga, Ontario on the mound. 

Hill has yet to face San Francisco in any of his 33 career stats, but in four injury-riddled campaigns, the product of the Bishop PF Redding Seconday School in Ontario, who was drafted by Montreal and groomed in the Expos' system, has accumulated a (6-12) record with a 4.56 ERA in 187.1 innings pitched for the Expos and Nationals. In 8 Minor League seasons, Hill's (36-29) with a combined 3.10 ERA in 97 starts and 98 appearances. 

Lefty Jonathan Sanchez, 25, was the 820th pick in the 27th Round of the 2004 Draft, and over just three seasons in the San Francisco Giants' system, the Mayaguez, Puerto Rico born pitcher worked his way through every level of the Giants' system to make his debut at just 23 years of age, on May 28, 2006. Over 19 starts and 71 appearances since then, Sanchez is (7-9) with a 4.99 ERA in 153.1 innings pitched over which he's struck out 158 batters. 

Only 10 of those K's have come against DC hitters, as Sanchez has faced Washington just 4 times in his 3 Major League seasons, with 8.2 innings on the hill opposite the Nationals, and 10 hits, 6 ER, 1 HR, and 3 walks allowed. The one start came late last season, on September 1st in RFK Stadium, with Sanchez throwing 5.1 innings, and allowing 5 hits, and 3 runs with 1 HR by Jesus Flores surrendered in a 3-1 San Francisco loss. The Giants have given Sanchez 21 runs of support in winning his last two starts, but before that, he hadn't won a start since April 25th, going (1-2) with a 5.20 ERA in 5 starts in May...

Nationals' #'s Against Jonathan Sanchez...

Jesus Flores - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.

Felipe Lopez - 1 for 3, .333 AVG. 

The "If They Were Playing" List...

Austin Kearns - 1 for 4, .250 AVG, 1 2B.

Nick Johnson - 2 for 2, 1.000 AVG, 2 RBI's.

Make Room For The Rookies...

Citing an unnamed, "baseball source", MLB.com's Bill Ladson writes in an article entitled, "Sources: Mock and Clippard to pitch", that the Nationals have:

"...decided that right-hander Garrett Mock will pitch on Sunday against the Giants and right-hander Tyler Clippard will pitch the next day..."

...to take the place of Odalis Perez in the Sunday start and save John Lannan from pitching on short rest on Monday after Thursday's rainout pushed his scheduled start to Friday. 

Garrett Mock, 25, (3-2, 3.06 ERA) in 11 starts and 61.2 innings pitched for the Columbus Clippers in Triple-AAA, was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks, who selected Mock with the 86th overall pick in the 3rd Round of the '04 Draft and traded the 6'4'' right-hander out of Houston, Texas to the Nationals, along with Matt Chico, in return for Livan Hernandez back on August 7, 2006. 

Tyler Clippard, 23, came to DC from NY when the Nationals sent righty reliever Big John Albaladejo to the Yankees back on January, 25th of '08. In Columbus, along with Mock, Clippard's (4-4) with a 3.41 ERA in 12 starts and 60.2 innings pitched. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, and drafted out of J.W. Mitchell High School in Trinity, Florida, Clippard debuted with the Yankees on May 20, 2007, at 22-years old, and was (3-1) in 6 starts in New York, where he posted a 6.33 ERA in 27.0 innings. 

We'll just have to see if Mr. Ladson's "baseball source" is legit, because it will require some roster moves that have yet to be announced as of 12:41 am EST on Saturday morning. The second of four games between the Giants and Nationals gets underway at 7:10 pm EST on Saturday night. The SBN features a great Giants' blog called, "McCovey Chronicles", so if you want some left-coast perspective on your SF/DC weekend series, take a look over there...

Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...