Next Game
Arizona Diamondbacks
@ Washington Nationals
Friday, Aug 7, 2009, 7:05 PM EDT
Nationals Park
Jon Garland vs Collin Balester
Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80.
?'s For The DC Faithful...
• Of The Three Starters Who Have Struggled: Balester, Stammen and J.D. Martin, Who Goes When Zimmermann Returns.
• Six In A Row? C'mon?...
• Do You See Elijah Dukes Finally Getting It Together Too?
• Are You Happy The Hammer And Dunn Are Still Here After The Deadline?
• Are You Starting To Get Nervous About Stephen Strasburg?
DC Starting Lineup...(courtesy of Washington Post writer Tracee Hamilton)
- Nyjer Morgan - CF
- Cristian Guzman - SS
- THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! - 3B
- The Big Opposite Field - 1B
- The Hammer - LF
- Elijah SSSSSUPER DUKESSSSS - RF
- Ronnie B. - 2B
- Wil "Blocker" Nieves - C
- Bally-Star - SP
LINKS:
Complete Coverage >
Today's Starting Pitchers Are Going To Stare At You Now...
Collin Balester
#40 / Pitcher / Washington Nationals
6-5
195
R
R
Jun 06, 1986
'09 Stats - (1-1, 3.68 ERA) 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 HR, 3 BB, 8 K's, 1.09 WHIP, ERA+ = 117, BB/9 = 1.8, K/9 = 4.9, 2.67 K/BB, .245 BAA.
vs AZ - N/A
Origin Story - Montreal Expos' 4th Round pick, 114th overall in 2004.
Jon Garland
#52 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks
6-6
210
R
R
Sep 27, 1979
'09 Stats - (6-10, 4.26 ERA), 22 GS, 137.1 IP, 148 H, 73 R, 65 ER, 14 HR, 45 BB, 59 K's, 1.41 WHIP, ERA+ = 106, 2.9 BB/9, 3.9 K/9, 1.31 K/BB, .278 BAA.
vs DC - (1-1, 3.27 ERA), 3 GS, 22.0 IP, 12 H, 8 ER, 3 HR, 6 BB, 14 K's, 0.82 WHIP, .162 BAA.
Origin Story - Chicago Cubs' 1st Round pick, 10th overall in 1997. 7/29/97 - Traded To Chicago White Sox for RHP Matt Karchner. 11/19/07 - Traded To Anaheim Angels For Orlando Cabrera. 1/28/09 - Signed as a Free Agent With Arizona.
• The Nationals vs Garland...
Josh Bard - 1 for 4, .250 AVGRonnie Belliard - 6 for 24, .250 AVG, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.
Elijah Dukes - 1 for 3, .333 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.
Adam Dunn - 0 for 3, .000 AVG.
Cristian Guzman - 10 for 38, 2 2B, 3 RBI's.
Willie Harris - 1 for 3, .333 AVG.
Josh Willingham - 1 for 3, .333 AVG.
• The "If They Were Playing" List...
Dmitri "DY" Young - 9 for 35, .257 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI's.
• Tonight's Matchup On The Mound:
(2-12) in his last 14 starts, with Arizona 3-11 over the same stretch, Jon Garland's (1-0) so far in August after beating the NY Mets last Sunday, after a month of July that ended with Garland go (1-3) in six starts in spite of posting a respectable 3.00 ERA over 39.0 IP...Collin Balester was (1-3) in 4 starts for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs in July before being called up to make his '09 debut on July 23rd against St. Louis. Balester's coming off two good starts, one a win over the Brewers, in which he threw 6.0 innings, allowing 5 H and 2 ER, and the other an outing in Pittsburgh in which he allowed 2 ER's but held Washington close until they were able to rally for the win.
• STRASBURG FILES...
Buster Olney Quoting Rob Dibble:
In a list of "Moves, deals and decisions" that ESPN.com's Buster Olney includes in his most recent blog post entitled, "Smoltz and Sox face difficult decisions", Mr. Olney writes about what some of you may have heard MASN Analyst and former Major Leaguer Rob Dibble saying since the day the Nationals first selected Stephen Strasburg with the No.1 overall pick in this past June's Draft:
"4. It might mean nothing, it might mean a little something: During the Nationals' broadcast Thursday, analyst Rob Dibble talked about how he thinks the Nationals would be better served giving the money being discussed in the Stephen Strasburg situation to a veteran player who has a proven track record. You hear that and you wonder if Dibble is hearing the same thing others have been saying privately for a couple of weeks now, that there are real doubts about whether Washington can reach an agreement with the guy widely regarded as the best pitching prospect ever."
Rob Dibble's been saying the same in one venue or another for a while now, as I mentioned, so I'm more in the "It might mean nothing" camp here.
• In Case You Missed It...
After trading Anderson Hernandez back to the Mets yesterday, the Washington Nationals acquired Daryle Ward and Norris Hopper from the Chicago White Sox' Triple-A affiliate, in Charlotte, NC, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's blog post entitled, "Nationals acquire Ward, Hopper", in a move made to bolster organizational depth.
• For A D-Backs Fan's Opinion On The Upcoming Series, Check Out The SB Nation's Arizona Diamonbacks Blog:
• The D-Backs have won five straight, 5 of their last 6, and 7 of 8. The Washington Nationals are winners of five straight, after a four-game losing streak, which was preceded by a four-game winning streak, so who knows what will happen...
• Check The NatCast If You're Heading To Nationals Park.
Who's Watching The Nationals?