On The Hill...

Washington's left-handed starter "Opening Night" Odalis Perez and Colorado righty Aaron Cook square of at 1:35 pm EST in Washington, DC's Nationals Park, home of the namesake Nationals, in the finale of the Rockies' three-game visit to the nation's capital. 

Odalis Perez pitched 6.0 innings, allowing 8 hits and 3 ER in his first start of the homestand this past Tuesday in a 4-3 loss to the Mets in which Perez received no decision. Before that, it was a road start in Colorado back on August 7th, with Perez earning his 5th win of the season with 6.0 innings of 6-hit, 2 ER work in a 6-3 DC win over the Rockies. 22 starts into his '08 campaign, Odalis Perez is now (5-8) with a 4.12 ERA and 80 K's in 118.0 innings pitched. 

In his 10-year MLB career, Perez is  (7-7) in 18 starts and one relief appearance against the Rockies with a 3.82 ERA in 115.1 innings pitched...Colorado righty Aaron Cook has 7-years of service on his arm as a Rockies' pitcher, and 7 appearances against the Expos/Nationals, four as a starter, with a (1-1) record and a 3.64 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched against the franchise. 

Last Monday, in the first game of four for Washington in Colorado, Aaron Cook matched up against and lost to DC righty Tim Redding, giving up 11 hits, 7 runs, 5 earned, 1 HR and 1 walk in a 9-4 Rockies' loss to the Nationals. The loss snapped a three game winning streak by Cook, who enters today's start, having lost two straight, with a (14-8) record and a 3.87 ERA in 172.0 innings on the mound in '08.

Nationals' #'s Against Aaron Cook...

Emilio Bonifacio - 3 for 4, .750 AVG, 1 3B, 1 RBI.

Aaron Boone - 2 for 2, 1.000 AVG, 1 RBI.

Kory Casto - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 2B. 

Jesus Flores - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's. 

Cristian Guzman - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 2 RBI's. 

Austin Kearns - 3 for 7, .429 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI. 

"Opening Night" Against The Rockies...

Garrett Atkins - 5 for 10, .500 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.

Clint Barmes - 10 for 15, .667 AVG, 4 2B's, 1 RBI. 

Willy Taveras - 3 for 8, .375 AVG, 1 2B, 2 RBI's. 

Matt Holliday - 3 for 12, .250 AVG, 1 2B. 

Alright, I Think I Now Understand Why Aaron Crow Never Signed With DC...

Early Saturday morning, in a post at the Nationals Journal entitled, "Two hours after deadline", Chico Harlan first quotes DC GM Jim Bowden's assessment of the end of negotiations with '08 1st Round pick Aaron Crow:

"At the end of the day," Bowden said, "we stepped up and went to $3.5 million in an attempt to sign him, and unfortunately we couldn't get it done."

After which Mr. Harlan writes:

"The team also included a major league contract as part of its final offer."

...and now tonight, in Chico Harlan's Nationals Journal post entitled, "More than 3,700 words from Jim Bowden on Aaron Crow", Mr. Harlan begins by asking the DC GM:

"Q: Randy Hendricks(Crow's rep) says the final offer was not a major league contract?"

DC GM Jim Bowden's response: (edited for brevity's sake) 

"That is correct. This is what we did. We had a major league contract on the table the entire time. We had Ben Shaffer on call. (ed. note - " Shaffer was on call for an MRI DC had wanted to do since the draft, which never took place.")...And when we did move and offer a major-league contract, when we finally did that, that was on the table up until the time we could no longer do an MRI...When it got to the point where we could not do an MRI, we explained to them that no longer we could do a major-league contract. The same reason why Hosmer didn't get one, the same reason why Pedro Alvarez didn't get one. You just can't do it at the end. So at the end, there was not a major-league contract on the table for us. And in fact, their final offer to us was not a major-league contract, either."

So the Major League contract was on the table the entire time, but it was not on the table at the end, of the entire time, after the time it could no longer be on the table because it was too late for the MRI. So the final contract offer didn't have a Major League contract included...Alright. Just wanted to get it straight....

So have you heard about Stephen Strasburg?

Stephen Strasburg of the San Diego St. Aztecs (via farmsystem)

The Colorado Fans' Perspective: the SBN's Rockies' blog...Purple Row

And Don't Forget To...

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

1:35 pm EST. Nationals vs Rockies. Odalis vs Cook. Can DC avoid the homestand sweep? Avoid Losing Their 10th Straight? Avoid Their 81st Loss? Who's Watching The Nationals?