GameThread: St. Louis Cardinals At Washington Nationals- Game 24 of 162.

"Cool Hand" Hot And Cold...

Not once last season, knocked around as he sometimes got, did John "Cool Hand" Lannan ever give up three HR's in one game as he did in his last start Monday night in Philadelphia, and I'd like to blame it on the Phillies' Miniature ballpark, but the home runs hit that night were out of any park in the majors and Lannan, well he gave up three beauts...including two to Chase Utley.

When Lannan served up Chase Utley's second moonshot Monday, it was on a 3-1 pitch as MLB.com's Bill Ladson pointed out in a post game report entitled, "Home runs haunt Lannan, Nationals", which quoted the Nationals' 24-year-old left-hander explaining what had gone wrong:

"'When you get behind these guys and you make bad pitches, they are going to make you pay for it,' Lannan said.'They are swinging hot bats and you can't be making that many mistakes.'"

Prior to the Philly debacle, Lannan had allowed just 1 run and 8 hits in 13.1 IP in his two previous outings against Atlanta and Florida, but he received no decision in either (read eye-ther) start, both of them one-run losses in which DC's offense failed to produce. The good news is that at (0-3) in 5 starts, Lannan's due for a win, and at home this season, he's put up a 0.68 ERA in 2 starts and 13.1 IP in which he's allowed just 1 run on 8 hits with 3 walks, 12 K's, and a 0.83 WHIP, all while holding opponents to a .170 BAA. The bad news? Albert Pujols will probably be back in the lineup, though he's 0-2 against Lannan in the pitcher's short time in the majors.

Lannan's winless at (0-2) in two starts against St. Louis, both of which came last year, but he allowed just two runs in each game, over 6.2 IP in Busch Stadium, and 6.0 innings on the mound in Nationals Park.

Lannan vs The Cardinals...

Rick Ankiel - 2 for 4, .500 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.

Ryan Ludwick - 2 for 6, .333 AVG.

Yadier Molina - 2 for 6, .333 AVG, 1 2B.

Albert Pujols - 0 for 2, .000.

(3-0) in 5 starts, Kyle Lohse has allowed just 7 runs in his first 32.0 innings on the mound in '09, and 4 of those runs came in one start on April 18 in Wrigley Field. Lohse has collected 19 K's, issued 8 walks, and only allowed 1 HR out this season, while he's posted a 1.97 ERA and held opponents to a .216 AVG. In 6 starts and 2 relief appearances against Washington in his 9-year major league career, Lohse is (1-2) against the Expos/Nationals.

The Nationals vs The Lohse...

Ronnie Belliard - 8 for 29, .276 AVG, 3 2B, 5 RBI's.

Alex "This Is My Chance" Cintron - 4 for 6, .667 AVG, 2 2B, 3 RBI's.

Adam Dunn - 0 for 4, .000 AVG, 2 BB, 2 K.

Cristian Guzman - 2 for 8, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 1 3B.

Willie Harris - 5 for 22, .238 AVG.

Nick Johnson - 3 for 14, .214 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.

Austin Kearns - 3 for 12, .250 AVG.

Ryan Zimmerman - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

(ed. note - "Kyle Lohse replaced by the other "Kyle" Kyle McClellan according to the Nationals Journal.)

DC Starting Lineup...(courtesy of Washington Post writer Chico Harlan's Nationals Journal post entitled, "The Lineups -- If Applicable", where Mr. Harlan mentions that there's a tarp on the field and the forecast is ugly...")

1. The Guzzzzzz - SS
2. Elijah "Two-Spot" Dukes - CF
3. THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!!! - 3B
4. The Big Donkey - 1B
5. AK - RF
6. THE HAMMER - LF
7. WWJD? - C
8. Anderson "Elvis" Hernandez - 2B
9. "Cool Hand" Lannan abides... - SP

STRASBURG FILES...

No new "news' on SDSU starter Stephen Strasburg but a lot of talk...These two article were getting linked all around the Natosphere yesterday:

ESPN.com's Buster Olney's blog post entitled, "Mauer quickly makes his presence felt for the Twins". (which talks Strasburg after Mauer)

Kirk Kenney's College Baseblog post entitled, "Could Strasburg go straight to the majors". (which Federal Baseball.com regular Mezza linked to Saturday, thanks.)

But the most interesting thing I read yesterday in terms of Strasburg/'09 Draft news was Washington Post writer Chico Harlan's Nationals Journal post entitled, "A Little Draft Talk", where the Nationals' "Acting" GM Mike Rizzo tells Mr. Harlan something that kind of shook me from my own myopic approach to the impending draft, as he reminds everyone that it's not just the first pick, or the second pick, 10th overall, in the first round of the draft that he and his staff are concentrating on, because, in Mr. Rizzo's words:

"'...not only do you have the first two, the high picks in the first round, but also the first pick in every round,' acting general manager Mike Rizzo said. 'We're starting to finalize our targets for one and 10 and beyond, and that's kind of the mode we're in right now -- putting the final touches to our list.'"

But the real stunner came next, when what I thought was a joke that I'd been perpetuating since last August is actually seriously addressed by Mr. Rizzo in Mr. Harlan's article, where he writes, (now brace yourself):

"Rizzo did not rule out the possibility that the Nationals would draft (Last year's 1st Round pick Aaron) Crow..."

SUNDAY MORNING READING...

If you're into the hockey, and particularly the Caps/Pens series, Dave from Nats News Network (you might know him as NNN), is also Dave from the Capitals News Network, also...check out the SBN's Caps blog, Japers' Rink,...back to baseball...over at MASNsports.com, Nationals' Manager Manny Acta would like to forget April, as he writes in a post entitled, "May, May come our way", where he passes on advice from a mentor in his Astros' past...Brian Oliver at the Nationals Farm Authority took a look at the "PGCC's Top 10 Draft Prospects" for the '09 Draft in a recent post...and finally, Mike Henderson (aka Hendo) at Nationals Pride.com has a question to ask about yesterday's Shairon Martis' win in a post entitled, "Was Shairon Martis Lucky?"

For A Look Inside The Mind Of A Cardinals' Fan...Check out the SBN's Cardinals blog:

Viva El Birdos

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

Who's Watching The Nationals?