(ed. note - "Partially reprinted from Thursday, 8/4, when Jo-Jo Reyes had originally been scheduled to start...")

DC righty Collin Balester may have turned in the best performance of his rookie campaign the last time out, against the same Atlanta Braves he faces today, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, 1 HR and 3 walks with 6 K's in 7 IP last Sunday in Washington's 8-4 sweep-completing win over Atlanta. The longest outing of Balester's first year saw him hit hard the second time through the Braves' lineup, as he gave up the Nationals' 2-1 lead to Yunel Escobar, who hit a 3-run HR after Balester had walked the leadoff batter Martin Prado and surrendered a single to Omar Infante before Escobar's blast made it 4-2 ATL in a hurry. Balester returned for the fifth and retired the Braves in order, then pitched two more scoreless before handing the ball to Garrett Mock and Jesus "Everyday" Colome who finished off Atlanta and the Nationals' three-game sweep.   

Balester matched up with Atlanta right-hander Jair Jurrjens last time around, but today he's pitching against the Braves' second-year lefty Jo-Jo Reyes (3-10, 5.49) who has appeared in 9-straight Braves' losses, (starting 8 of them), stretching back to June 23rd of this season...

 ...Jo-Jo Reyes didn't fare too well against Washington last Saturday in DC's Nationals Park, where the Nationals knocked the Braves' 23-year old lefty out after just 4.0 innings pitched in which Reyes allowed 8 hits, 4 runs and 2 walks...In the top of the fifth, with the Braves leading 6-2, Ryan Zimmerman and Lastings Milledge singled in succession to end Reyes' outing, bringing out Braves' Manager Bobby Cox and bringing on reliever Buddy Carlyle, who promplty surrenders an RBI two-bagger to Ronnie Belliard, a walk to Elijah Dukes, and a bases-clearing double to Jesus Flores, which puts DC up 7-6 in a game they eventually win 9-8 in extra innings in the first of the three-game weekend sweep of the Braves... 

In 2007, Reyes was (8-1) with a 3.53 ERA in Double-A with the Braves' affiliate in Mississippi, and (4-0) with a 1.00 ERA in 6 starts and 36.0 innings for Triple-A Richmond, debuting with Atlanta on July 7th, 2007, and staying with the Braves through the end of the season. Over his first two years in Atlanta, after being selected with the 43rd pick in the 2nd Round of the 2003 MLB Amateur Draft, Reyes is (5-8) in 28 starts and 30 appearances overall, with a 5.74 ERA in 149.0 IP...Balester was Montreal's 4th Round pick, 114th overall in 2004, and before being called up to DC this season, he made 15 starts with the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, where he was (9-3) with a 4.00 ERA in 78.2 innings pitched, over which he'd struck out 64 and walked 23. 

Jo-Jo Reyes' only other start against DC was earlier this season, back on July 20th in Atlanta, with Reyes knocked out only 2.1 innings in after surrendering 6 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in a 15-6 Nationals' romp...Against the Braves, Balester's got only the one start last weekend on his resume...

Nationals' #'s Against Jo-Jo Reyes...

Ronnie Belliard - 1 for 3, .333 AVG. 

Elijah Dukes - 1 for 2, .500 AVG, 1 SB.

Willie Harris - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG, 2 RBI's. 

Anderson Hernandez - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 2 RBI's. 

Ryan Zimmerman - 3 for 3, 1.000 AVG. 

Braves vs Balester...

Yunel Escobar - 2 for 3, .667 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI's. 

Jeff Francouer - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 2B.

Omar Infante - 2 for 3, .667 AVG. 

Martin Prado - 1 for 2, .500 AVG, 1 2B. 

Baseball America Has The Final Word On Crow...

In the most recent newsstand edition of Baseball America's magazine, writer Jim Callis compiles a report entitled, "Deadline deals add up to big bucks once again", in which Mr. Callis lists, under a sub-heading of "Five Who Got Away", the Nationals' 1st Round Pick, Aaron Crow, the 9th overall pick by DC, who failed to sign before the deadline for teams to ink their '08 picks. In Mr. Callis' opinion:

"Getting the second-best pitcher in the draft with the ninth choice should have been a coup. But both the Nationals and Crow's agents (the Hendricks brothers), drew lines in the sand and didn't start to compromise until hours before the deadline."

Of course the Nationals never did reach a deal with Crow, who now goes off to play independent ball until the '09 Draft comes around. In the list accompanying Mr. Callis' article, examining the "First-Round Signings", the ninth spot in the draft is conspicuous as the only one of the first 19 names listed to read, "Did Not Sign", with the Mariners Josh Fields (20th overall) still not signed but unaffected by the deadline, and otherwise only the NY Yankees at #28 overall, unable to reach a deal with pitcher Gerrit Cole as the three of 30 1st Round picks who did not sign.The negotiations with the #1 or #2 overall pick in '09 should be interesting...

HE'S COMING...

Dmitri Young Interrupts Interview (via squidpants)

I Don't Want To Say "Miracle" But...

According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Flores could be back at backstop soon", the injury that Nationals' catcher Jesus Flores suffered in a home plate collision with the Phils' Chase Utley are not as severe as they originally appeared, and Mr. Ladson quotes DC Manager Manny Acta in the article, who sounds cautiously, stating:

"'He is walking around better,' said Acta. 'I don't want to put a timetable on it, but I'm sure he is not going to be out for the season.'"

They're still just saying "soon" though whenever that may be...

For A Final Word On The '08 Series With Atlanta Check Out the SBN's Braves' blog:

Talking Chop

The finale of the season series between the Braves and Nationals gets underway at 1:35 pm EST. Don't worry about the #'s in the season series, the Nationals have it won. Worry about Ryan Zimmerman and his hit streak, and worry about what Dukes does to poor hanging sliders...Who's Watching The Nationals?