• Programming Notes: Six in-a-row? Can the Washington Nationals win six-straight and sweep St. Louis out of the nation's capital? John Lannan and Kyle Lohse are going to be on the mound for their respective teams tonight. How many HR's will Michael Morse hit tonight? Is the Shark, Roger Bernadina, going to seize the opportunity he's getting with Rick Ankiel sitting, and show the Nationals he's capable of playing every day? Did last night's late HR wake Jayson Werth up? How many scoreless innings do you think Livan Hernandez could throw if he had to pitch again today? 7:05 pm EDT in D.C. MASN HD, MLB.tv, 106.7 the FAN in D.C., 1500 WFED, Sirius/XM ch. 186...Who's Watching The Nationals?
• LINKS AND LINKS AND...
• NATS BEAT:
• "'I feel really good,' Hernandez said. 'A number's a number. Fifty complete games, I feel really good with that. It's not easy to have a lot of complete games now.'" - "Livan Hernandez throws 50th complete game in Nationals' win over Cardinals" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "They hope to receive a welcomed jolt to their lineup, however, when they welcome Matt Holliday back on Thursday in the finale of a three-game series against the Nationals." - "St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals: Cards look for boost from Holliday vs streaking Nats" - Jon Star, MLB.com Preview
• "'Tom [Gorzelanny] is going to be a big part of this rotation,' Riggleman said Tuesday, 'whether it’s five days from now or the next [start].'" - "Maya optioned to Class AAA Syracuse, Balester recalled, Gorzelanny to start Sunday" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "In fact, this was arguably the greatest start of Livo's career. Seriously." - "Vintage Livo? No, even better" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com
• "General manager Mike Rizzo called the loss of LaRoche, 'a void — not only his offense and his defense, but his leadership.'" - "Nats' Morse is a force at plate and first base" - Tom Schad, Washington Times
• "Is it too early to think the Nationals could make a nice run and compete for a playoff spot? Outfielder Laynce Nix and closer Drew Storen believe it can be done." - "Nationals' pitching, defense leave them well positioned if bats come alive" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com
• "'We are having some good at-bats,' Morse said. 'The offense is coming around. Especially when (Livo) is out there pitching a tremendous game...'" - "Nationals' offense finally rewards Hernandez in 10-0 win over the Cards" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com
• "All the talk on Wednesday centered on Livan Hernandez' performance on the mound. His line was everything that Nats fans could've hoped for, especially against Pujols and company." - "Notes and Quotes from Wednesday's win" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "Bryce Harper, the Nationals mega-prospect and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, jammed a thumb on his non-throwing hand..." - "Injury updates on Harper, Ankiel and Ramos" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "The rallying cry for the Nationals' offense all season has been that eventually, they would be rewarded for putting men on base." - "For Nationals, hits finally starting to fall in" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "'Now [Riggleman] has got him ninth. So whenever they turn around the lineup, that’s another table-setter who can get on base for the top of the order.'" - Tony LaRussa on Desmond hitting 9th - "SNYDER: Batting out of order? Why not?" - Deron Snyder, Washington Times
• "'He was just kind of vintage Livo,' manager Jim Riggleman said. 'He was hitting spots with his breaking ball and changing speeds.'" - "St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals: Livan twirls three-hitter as Nats rout Cards" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap
• "'That’s the Livan that we always want, and on top of that we got a lot of offense,' catcher Ivan Rodriguez said after going 3-for-4." - "Morse's homers back Hernandez in Nationals' 10-0 rout of Cardinals" - Tom Schad, Washington Times
• "Maya made four starts in Gorzelanny's absence and completed five innings only once. He had a 6.86 ERA, and his only decision was a loss." - "Gorzelanny likely to return to Nats on Sunday" - Steven Miller, nationals.com
• "It should come as not surprise, however, that the tandem has been this successful at nabbing baserunners." - "Ramos, Rodriguez: a strong-armed catching tandem" - James Wagner, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• NATS MINOR LEAGUE NOTES:
• Twitter: @NFA_Brian - "Nats have signed Skole, Dupra, Rodriguez, Ramsey, Molnar, Henke, Norfork, Cotten, Kreis, Ortega, & Mirowski from 2011 draft. All in Auburn." -
• Class-A Hagerstown: GM 1 - David Freitas, 2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI's; Sammy Solis - 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 's - Hagerstown Suns Scoreboard
• Class-A Hagerstown: GM 2 - Bryce Harper - 1 for 4, 3B, R, 2 RBI's, 2 K's; Blake Kelso - 2 for 4, 1 BB - Hagerstown Suns Scoreboard
• Class-A Hagerstown: "Bryce Harper hit a two run triple in his third at-bat of the game for Low-A Hagerstown to mark his first triple as a professional." - "Bryce Harper Hits First Career Triple" - Harpermania.com
• Class-A Potomac: Justin Bloxom - 3 for 5, 2B; Destin Hood - 2 for 4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI's; Chad Gaudin - 1.0, 0 H, 0 ER - Potomac Nationals Scoreboard
• Double-A Harrisburg: "The Senators used long balls from Josh Johnson and Bill Rhinehart to snap their four-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over Trenton." - "Senators use long ball to trip Trenton" - Terry Byrom, Harrisburg Senators News
• Double-A Harrisburg: "Obviously, I got off to a slow start. I am just keeping with my routine and have confidence it will come around.'" - "Heart-to-heart talk helped Derek Norris get his head in the game" - David Driver, Washington Times
• Double-A Harrisburg: "And even when Martis made his pitches and his defense failed behind him (like in the bottom of the fifth inning)..." - "Game 63: Senators 6, Thunder 1" - Mick Reinhard, The Sports 'Burger
• Triple-A Syracuse: Chiefs outfielder and designated hitter Michael Aubrey chats with Kevin about his early days as a pitcher." - Chiefs Inside Pitch: Getting to Know The Chiefs: Michael Aubrey [AUDIO]
• "Destin Hood’s 5th home run was the sole P-Nat hit in 11 chances with RISP, capping off a four-run fifth." - "Thursday’s News & Notes" - Sue Dinem, NationalsProspects.com
• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "Peace of mind, a calm state of mind, is rooted in affection and compassion."
• SHARKNATSTOWN: " The number of people who yelled out 'Sharkadina!', 'I love Bernadina!', and 'What's with those d•••s in the Shark hats?' before the game just goes to show you that everyone loves The Shark." - "SHARK NIGHT RECAP" - Sharkadina: Roger Bernadina's Unofficial Blog
• NATSTOWN:
• "Meanwhile...the Nationals offense appears to be breaking out just like Riggleman kept saying they would the first 9 weeks or so of the season..." - "Livan Hernandez earns win, pie in the face" - Nats Enquirer
• "Longtime presidents race conspirator That Cat made an appearance at the starting gate..." -"Video: That Cat, Rally Penguin aren’t enough to help Teddy on Lobster Day" - Presidents Race Fan - Let Teddy Win!
• "There’ll be more great performances just like this..." - Washington NationLOLs
• "Four players had multi-hit nights, but the star was Michael Morse. He went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs, upping his batting average to .312." - "GAME 68 REVIEW: Hit Parade Backs Livo's Three-Hit Shutout" - Dave Nichols, Nats News Network
• "Has the team been playing over its head? (I’m talking about the first 68 games, not just tonight’s game, where of course we were playing over our heads.)" - "Can the Nats break .500 this season?" - Nats Noodles
• "The short of it is when the Nats pitching is average the Nats tend to lose." - "Pitching Pitching Pitching" - Harper, Nationals Baseball
• "The Washington Nationals optioned starting pitcher Yunesky Maya to Triple-A Syracuse yesterday in order to add another bullpen option for Jim Riggleman until Tom Gorzelanny..." - "Is Yunesky Maya running out of chances?" - MASNSports.com Nationals Buzz: Will Yoder
• NL EAST UPDATES:
• Phillies/Marlins: "'Sometimes you get locked in where things roll well,' [Cliff] Lee said after the start. 'I hope I'm getting into that, but there's always something to work on and something to improve on.'" - "Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies: Vazquez tries to find form opposite Phillies' Lee" - Quinn Roberts, MLB.com Preview
• Marlins/Phillies: "'We got to [Roy] Halladay and we score four runs,' Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said. 'We couldn't close the game. We were one out away." - "Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies: Florida 'pen falters to spoil gem, extend skid" - Andy Jasner, MLB.com FLA Recap
• Braves/Mets: "'We couldn't do anything offensively,' Atlanta's Chipper Jones said. 'It didn't matter who they threw out there.'" - "Braves shut down by Gee, Mets in 4-0 loss" - Charles Odum, AP/MiamiHerald.com