GameThread: Toronto Blue Jays At Washington Nationals. Game 66 Or 67 Of 162. Federal Baseball.com Behind The Scenes At Nationals Park.

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Today's Starting Pitchers After The Jump...

Plus Notes From A Radio Interview With John Lannan...

TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS ARE GOING TO STARE AT YOU NOW...

Ross Detwiler

#48 / Pitcher / Washington Nationals

Height: 6-5

Weight: 185

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Mar 06, 1986

'09 Stats - (0-3, 5.23 ERA), 6 GS, 32.2 IP, 36 H, 20 R, 19 ER, 2 HR, 14 BB, 24 K's, 1.53 WHIP, .273 BAA.

vs TOR - N/A

Origin Story - Washington Nationals' 1st Round Pick, 6th overall in 2007.

Brett Cecil

#27 / Pitcher / Toronto Blue Jays

Height: 6-2

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Jul 02, 1986

'09 Stats - (2-1, 4.38 ERA), 4 GS, 24.2 IP, 28 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 7 HR, 6 BB, 18 K's, 1.38 WHIP, .295 BAA.

vs DC - N/A

Origin Story - Toronto Blue Jays' 1st Round pick, 38th overall in 2007.

#6 vs #38...

Dueling left-handed '07 1st Round picks on display, Detwiler out of Missouri State University, Cecil out of Dematha High in Hyatsville, MD and The University of Maryland, so he might have a nice home town contingent in Nationals Park tonight. Cecil was (10-10) with a 3.15 ERA and 217 K's in 217.1 IP over 50 starts and 51 overall appearances in the Blue Jays' system before being called up to make his MLB debut on May 5th. Detwiler got a brief look in late September of his draft year, but he made his first major league start back on May 18th. Cecil's first win was in his second start, when he pitched 6.0 shutout innings against the Oakland A's in a 5-0 Jays' win. Detwiler's still winless in the Majors, though that might have more to do with the Nationals' success than Detwiler's work on the mound.

Is Adam Dunn Almost Dunn In DC?

In case you missed it, Washington Times' writer Ben Goessling had the latest updates on the Nationals' plans heading toward the trade deadline in an article the other day entitled, "Trade Strategy for Nats", in which he threw out the names, Adam Dunn, Nick Johnson, Cristian Guzman and Austin Kearns as players that could potentially be moved at or before the deadline. Mr. Goessling mentions that the Nationals' "Acting" GM Mike Rizzo wasn't, "...willing to outline," what the Nationals would do, but Mr. Rizzo is quoted in the article stating that the Nationals are, "...always open to make good baseball deals at any time during the season."

John Lannan On The Fan...

After Long Island's finest John Lannan beat the Yankees the other day, he was a guest on the "Midday Show With Joe Benigno" at WFAN 770 AM, and I took some notes while I was driving around and listening which I haven't had a chance to decipher until now... Here's what Lannan had to say...(paraphrasing of course, since I was driving and taking notes)...

John Lannan:

-- Grew up a Yankee fan, so it was exciting to pitch in Yankee Stadium.

-- Nervous? "No, I wasn't nervous at all, only time it got to me was in the 9th when they started the, 'Let's Go Yankees.'"

-- Favorite Yankees? Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter.

-- Were you intimidated by the Yankees, who you were pitching to? "Prepared myself for start, you take the name away from the batter. Realize you're on the same stage as them."

-- Cano HR? "It was on a curve low, Cano's real hot." (Lannan thought he made a great pitch.)

-- Against Damon? Lannan says his thought process was that in the last AB, Damon hit a slider, so challenge him with a fastball but he got it up.

-- Lannan was "a little bummed" he didn't go all nine.

-- What was it like watching MacDougal close it? Were you confident in MacDougal against Cano in last AB of game? " Knew If he (MacDougal) kept challenging Cano, knew he'd get a groundout." (ed. note - "9 fastballs on the outside corner got the DP grounder.")

-- Which MLB hitters give you the most trouble? Lannan says he hasn't really been around long enough, but Chase Utley gives him most trouble, he's "right on the dish", which Lannan mentions caused some problems once. David Wright and Carlos Beltran, and Gary Sheffield game him some trouble recently."

-- As a Yankee fan growing up did you hate the Mets? No, just a fan of baseball.

-- 17 wins? How tough is it to pitch for the Nationals? "It's tough because we're not as bad as our record. Most games we make 1-2 mistakes."

-- Young pitchers? Lannan says he's glad to be a part of the organization, because of the young pitchers, players, the all have unbelievable stuff.

-- Acta? "Manny Acta's great, laid back, patient, don't want to see him go."

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