On the Hill...
"Opening Night" Odalis Perez (2-4, 4.14 ERA) tries to win his second straight start while stopping the Washington Nationals' two-game slide. The DC lefty faces St. Louis' righty Kyle Lohse, whose Cardinals come to Nationals Park tonight to start a three-game set at 7:10 pm EST.
Odalis Perez has faced St. Louis 12 times in his career, with 5 starts, a (3-5) record and an 8.87 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched. Perez has allowed 70 hits, 47 ER's, 13 HR's, and 23 walks with 23 K's on the mound against the Cards. Earlier this season, on April 4th, Perez pitched on the road in Busch Stadium in a losing effort against St. Louis. The lefty lasted just 4.0 innings, and gave up 8 hits, 5 ER's, 1 HR, and 4 walks, and the Nationals lost 5-4, but in Perez's last 4 starts, Washington is (3-1), and the pitcher himself (2-1), though he's given up 33 hits, 14 runs, 4 HR's and 8 walks in his last 32.2 IP.
Cards' right Kyle Lohse (5-2, 4.02 ERA) is (1-1) in 5 starts and 7 appearances against the Nationals, posting a 5.76 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched against the franchise. Lohse threw 7.0 scoreless, allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk in his last start against DC, a 3-0 St. Louis win at home in the aforementioned April series.
So that's two games the Nationals dropped in that first road series of the season in St. Louis...and yes, they did drop all three games that weekend in April, with Braden Looper, Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse all earning wins. This time it's going to be O.Perez/Lohse...Lannan/Wellemeyer and Redding/Parisi, but more on those remaining matchups in the coming days...
Nationals' #'s Against Kyle Lohse...
Aaron Boone - 3 for 9, .333 AVG, 2 2B, 3 RBI's.
Cristian Guzman - 1 for 6, .167 AVG, 1 3B.
Felipe Lopez - 5 for 14, .357 AVG, 1 2B.
DY - 9 for 34, .265 AVG, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI's.
Lastings Milledge - 3 for 7, .429 AVG, 1 2B, 4 RBI's.
The "If They Were Playing List"...
Ronnie Belliard - 8 for 29, .276 AVG, 3 2B, 5 RBI's.
Nick Johnson - 3 for 14, .214 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.
Ryan Zimmerman - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.
"Zimmerman Watch" - Federal Baseball's 24-Hour, 22 Hou...12 Hour... Intermittent Coverage of the BREAKING NEWS! And ACTION!!......
The big Ryan Zimmerman news yesterday (ed. note - "And no, I don't mean the discovery of Zimmerman's blog) was that an MRI on his injured left shoulder revealed a "slight/small labral/labrum tear", and though no mention was made (at the time) of the time-frame for Zimmerman's return, the Nationals' Official Press Release did mention the name that I've warned that you never want to hear associated with one of your favorite players...Dr. James Andrews...(ed. note - "I mean he has his own wikipedia page he's worked on so many players.")
And now, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Nationals place Zimmerman on DL" the Nationals will be without Zimmerman's services for at least the next 15 days, with Kory Casto called up from Columbus to replace Zim on the roster.
The Homestand...
Tonight's game with St. Louis starts a six-game homestand for the Nationals in DC, with three against the Cardinals, tonight through Thursday, and three against the San Francisco Giants this weekend. The Nationals took just 3 of the last 7 games at home May 19-25 vs the Phillies and Brewers, and on the season, Washington is (13-15) at home in their new ballpark.
Check the NatCast if you're heading to Nationals Park...
7:05 pm EST. The Nationals welcome the Cardinals. If you want to check out the St. Louis' persective on the series with the Cards, I recommend you check out Viva El Birdos, the SBN's great Cardinals' blog, where lboros and a couple hundred Cards' fans make their opinions known...