Game Thread: Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves- 2008 Game 142 of 162. "Starting Pitchers Subject To Change..."

On The Hill...

Jason Bergmann, (2-10) with a 4.83 ERA in 21 starts and 2 relief appearances in 2008, has faced Atlanta 16 times in his 4-year MLB career, with 8 starts, a (4-2) record and a 4.37 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched. In '08, he's seen the Braves 3 times, only starting once, and the Neptune...New Jersey native has no decisions with an 11.88 ERA in 8.1 innings pitched in which he's given up 14 hits, 11 ER, 4 HR and 3 walks with 2 K's, a 2.04 WHIP and a .389 BAA Atlanta. 

Jair Jurrjens is (11-9) in 2008 with a 3.59 ERA and 120 K's in 165.1 innings on the mound for Atlanta after being acquired from Detroit along with IF/OF Gorkys Hernandez in return for shortstop Edgar Renteria. (0-1) in 3 starts against the Nationals, in this, his first year in the National League, Jurrjens has posted a 4.19 ERA against DC in the 19.1 innings he's pitched, with Washington connecting for 15 hits and scoring 9 runs while taking just 4 walks and striking out 15 times. That's all for Jurrjens against the Nationals, all in '08, where he's put up a 0.98 WHIP and a .211 BAA. 

At home in Atlanta, Jurrjens is (5-4) with a 3.84 ERA and 62 K's in 77.1 IP. Bergmann's road record?...(2-7) in 11, with 1 relief appearance, and a 4.00 ERA in 69.2 IP during which he's surrendered 31 ER's and 14 HR's while walking 19 and striking out 55...In his last 10 starts, Bergmann's (1-4) with Washington 3-7 over the same stretch...Jurrjens? (3-5) in the last 10, with Atlanta winning 4 and dropping 6...

Nationals' #"s Against Jair Jurrjens...

Ronnie Belliard - 1 for 3, .333 AVG. 

Aaron Boone - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 RBI. 

Cristian Guzman - 2 for 9, .222 AVG, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI. 

Willie Harris - 4 for 7, .571 AVG, 1 3B, 1 RBI. 

Ryan Langerhans - 2 for 6, .333 AVG, 2 2B's. 

Bergmann vs The Braves...

Josh Anderson - 1 for 2, .500 AVG, 1 2B.

Jeff Francouer - 2 for 23, .087 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI's, 7 K's. 

Omar Infante - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI. 

Chipper Jones - 6 for 19, .316 AVG, 2 2B's, 2 HR's, 7 RBI's. 

Casey Kotchman - 2 for 3, .667 AVG. 

Brian McCann - 8 for 19, .421 AVG, 3 2B's, 4 HR's, 6 RBI's, 1 SB. 

Martin Prado - 2 for 5, .400 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.

Remember Dmitri Young, aka DY?

DY gets a mention in both Chico Harlan's post at the Washington Post's "Nationals Journal" blog entitled, "Belliard likely done for season" and Washington Times' writer Mark Zuckerman's post on the Times' "Chatter: A Nationals blog" entitled, "Belliard may be done for season", with both writers noting that Kory Casto and Aaron Boone will split time at first until DY finally makes it back to DC sometime next week.

The Scoop On Montz...

Baseball America's Washington Nationals' Correspondent Lacy Lusk had a feature entitled, "Nats' New Power Source", on DC catcher Luke Montz, (who debuted last night in Atlanta, catching debuting pitcher Shairon Martis), all the way back in the 6/15/08 newsstand edition of Baseball America's magazine.

Ms. Lusk starts the article by writing that, "Luke Montz was showing power like never before to start this season at Double-A Harrisburg", winning the starting job with his bat, and crediting the improvement to the work he did in the offseason, "He worked harder than ever before," as Ms. Lusk writes, "...knowing how close he (was) to the majors."

But even if Baseball America and Lacy Lusk were all over Montz, he still surprised at least one person in DC when he got the call to the Majors to replace the injured Jesus Flores, as MLB.com's Bill Ladson quotes DC Manager Manny Acta in an article entitled, "Montz's journey brings him to majors", in which Mr. Acta is quoted saying:

"'He's got some power,' Acta said. 'He made a lot of progress behind the plate. ... I don't know much about him, but I'm going to find out, for sure.'"

Acta's assessment means that Montz followed through on the work the Nationals' organization prescribed for the catcher, with DC "farm director" Bobby Wiliams telling Ms. Lusk about Luke Montz back in the June of '08 Baseball America article entitled, "Nats new power source", where Ms Lusk first wrote:

"Power isn't his (Montz's) only tool. He has a strong arm and after splitting time between catcher and first base in previous years, was getting a full-time look at catcher."

...and then quoted the "farm director" Mr. Williams, who knew what the organization was looking for from Montz all the way back in June:

"'Defensively he still has work to do,' Williams said. 'He needs to continue to improve with his receiving and blocking, (but) he has a strong arm and has thrown the ball well.'"

Guess someone should've told Braves' outfielder Josh Anderson about Montz's arm, because Anderson tested it last night in Montz's MLB debut and Anderson got nailed at second after coming on to pinch run last night with two down and Atlanta up 2-0 in the 8th. 1 runner, 1 gunned so far for Montz.

For An Atlanta-Based Perspective on the Nationals/Braves Series Check Out the SBN's Braves' blog:

Talkin' Chop

7:35 pm EST start in "The Ted" in Atlanta for the second of four between the Braves and Washington Nationals. Bergmann vs Jurrjens. Ryan Zimmerman's hit in 10 straight...Can Zim Make It 11? Who's Watching the Nationals to See??? Who's Watching the Nationals?