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Wire Taps: Washington Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann vs The Detroit Tigers Tonight Instead; Nats' Irksome Ticket Policy Irks Some

Tuesday's matchup is now Wednesday's matchup and Tuesday's tickets are good for Thursday's game. That fact has some folks in NatsTown steamed and some around baseball are decrying the team's policy. Jordan Zimmermann takes on Anibal Sanchez at 7:05 pm EST tonight, twenty-four hours after they were originally scheduled to match up...

By Patrick Reddington
Patrick McDermott

Washington Nationals' shortstop Ian "Double" Desmond placed the blame for the decision to postpone last night's game squarely on the shoulders of teammate Denard Span. Span, who can track down any fly balls or line drives hit toward him in center field in Nats Park (or anywhere else he patrols center), apparently cannot accurately predict the weather:

Of course, when the game was postponed and the scheduled 7:05 pm EST start time rolled around and not a drop of rain was to be found falling on the unoccupied park, the Nats' 27-year-old shortstop knew whose fault it was:

Apparently Span isn't nearly as successful in his side gig as a weather man as he is in his role in the Nats' outfield and lineup. This exchange was ripe for photoshopping and as usual the folks at The Nationals Archive, and @ambp77 on Twitter in particular, did not disappoint. [ed. note - "Span even retweeted this one."]:

On a more serious note, however, there was some anger amongst Nationals fans who had tickets for Tuesday night's game and it centered around this paragraph in the press release on last night's postponement:

"All Red Carpet Rewards tickets, Group tickets, Mini Plan tickets, Flex Plan tickets or single game tickets to tonight's postponed contest will be valid for the May 9 game at 4:05 p.m. No exchanges or refunds will be issued."

As the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore explained in an article last night, this is a change in policy:

"In the past, the Nationals have allowed fans with individual tickets to rained-out games to exchange them for any future ticket, subject to availability, of equal or lesser price."

The WaPost reporter added that the team, "... explained it as a consequence of higher attendance," and when the Post reached out for a comment, they received, "... a statement from [a] spokesperson reading, 'Due to higher demand and less capacity, we’ve had to modify our ticket policy.'"

So Tuesday's Jordan Zimmermann vs Anibal Sanchez matchup is now tonight's matchup and Dan Haren and Doug Fister will face off on Thursday at 4:05 pm EST with tickets for yesterday's game honored then. Got that? At least one national baseball writer wrote this morning that he thinks the Nats should rethink the new policy:

• LINK: "Fans holding tickets to Tuesday night’s postponed Nationals game against the Tigers can use them only for Thursday’s makeup, a change in policy that rankled many Nationals fans as the team explained it as a consequence of higher attendance." - "On the Nationals’ new rainout ticket policy" - Adam Kilgore, Washington Post

[ed. note - "Uh, management says we should probably note that the postponement wasn't really Denard Span's decision."]

Thoughts? More links? And lots of them, starting RIGHT NOW!!:

• THE BIG STORY!!!:

• "'The Grim Reaper,' outfielder Jayson Werth said. 'He doesn’t come in to get you out. He comes in to steal your soul.'" - Werth on Rafael Soriano - "Reliever Rafael Soriano fits in well in his new home with the Nationals" - Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post

• NATS BEAT:

• "Bryce Harper and the Nationals were informed that the outfielder will not be fined or suspended for being ejected from Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates." - "Bryce Harper will not be fined or suspended for Sunday's ejection" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "'That's another thousand dollars in my pocket, so that's good,' [Bryce] Harper said with a smile, when asked about the lack of a fine.'" - "Nationals Pastime: Harper discusses lack of fine, plus some post-postponement quotes" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "While the rest of the baseball world spent Monday rehashing and debating the incident, [Bryce] Harper stayed completely out of the fray." - "No fine or suspension for Harper" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "[John] Hirschbeck told MLB.com after the game that he felt [Bryce] Harper was showing him up and gave him three warnings to stop." - "Davey: Harper won't be disciplined for ump dispute" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "Tuesday's scheduled starters, right-handers Anibal Sanchez (3-2, 1.82 ERA) for Detroit and Jordan Zimmermann (5-1, 1.64), will now open the series Wednesday night." - "Tigers-Nationals postponed by rain" - Harvey Valentine, AP/WTOP.com

• "Strasburg's New Focus":


• "The one concern is [Jordan] Zimmermann's tendency to struggle in starts when he has more than four days rest." - "Nats vs. Tigers postponed" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com

• "It helped that he had a one-hour conversation with former Braves teammate Chipper Jones and Nationals hitting coach Rick Eckstein early last week." - "LaRoche feels he's on right track of late" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "Over the last four games, [Adam] LaRoche has gone 5-for-10 with two runs and six walks. [Davey] Johnson can see the difference." - "Johnson can see LaRoche and Zimmerman starting to get on roll again" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "Both teams will keep their pitching on schedule, despite the postponement, with Jordan Zimmermann facing Anibal Sanchez on Wednesday and Dan Haren pitching against Doug Fister on Thursday afternoon." - "Improving Jayson Werth gets an extra day of rest as rain delays Nats-Tigers series" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times

• "If the weather hadn’t been poor on Tuesday, [Davey] Johnson said [Jayson] Werth would have been in that day’s lineup, even though he is 5 for 30 career against Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez." - "Jayson Werth expected to return Wednesday from hamstring tightness" - James Wagner, Washington Post

• "'You have to take it in stride. Today was pretty much an off-day anyway. You get so many off-days in a season. ... At least they called it early, so we can just relax,' [Dan] Haren said." - "Tigers-Nats postponed, to be made up Thursday" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News

• "The tarp is on the field at Nationals Park and the raindrops are coming down sideways at a pretty rapid rate." - "Nationals Pastime: Zimmermann gets another test tonight (Werth still out)" - Dan Kolko, MASNSports.com

• "Between getting thrown out Sunday, a scheduled off day Monday and tonight’s rainout, [Bryce] Harper received three straight days off." - "Bryce Harper not fined after ejection, receives more rest for bruised side" - Adam Kilgore, Washington Post

• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama):

• NATIONAL(S) BEAT:

• "The Tigers wanted to get home for a Thursday day off before opening a series against the Indians at Comerica Park on Friday, but, of course, had no say in the matter." - "Tigers' Brayan Pena relishes role catching for mound aces" - Tom Gage, The Detroit News

• "The Tigers come in hot, 4-0 on their road trip after a sweep of the Astros and with nine wins in their past 10 games. The Nationals have won two straight and come home off a 4-3 road trip." - "Detroit Tigers at Washington Nationals - May 8, 2013" - Adam Berry, MLB.com Preview

• "Word first started spreading in the Tigers clubhouse at about 4:30 p.m., about 2 1/2 hours prior to the start of the game. The postponement was officially announced about 20 minutes later." - "Detroit Tigers' series opener against Washington Nationals postponed by rain" - Chris Iott, MLive.com

• NATS MINORS:

• Class-A Hagerstown: "The Hagerstown Suns (18-12) concluded a rain-shortened three game series against the Rome Braves (18-12) on Tuesday afternoon by splitting a double-header." - "Suns split double-header with Braves" - Eli Pearlstein, Hagerstown Suns News

• Class-A Potomac: "Nationals RHP Blake Schwartz (2-1), was effective through 4.0 innings but did not receive run support and was hit with the loss despite surrendering just one earned run on three hits and four walks." - "Stingy Offense Dooms Potomac in Series Opener with Wilmington" - Potomac Nationals News

• Double-A Harrisburg: "Anthony Rendon went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a walk, and two runs scored." - "Van Ostrand's Five RBI Night Leads Sens to 13-2 Win" - Marshall Kelner, Harrisburg Senators News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "Syracuse recovered from a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the seventh inning as right-hander Ryan Perry earned his first win of the season." - "Late rally leads Chiefs past Bulls" - Syracuse Chiefs News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "After Ryan Perry made a mistake in the first inning and gave up a two-run home run to Leslie Anderson, the Chiefs got a two-run shot of their own from Chris Rahl and then benefitted from a Bulls error to take the second game of the series, 3-2, on Tuesday in Durham." - "Chiefs get second against Bulls" - Ben Meyers, The Auburn Citizen

• "First Impressions" - Luke Erickson, NationalsProspects.com

• NATSTOWN:

• "The biggest disappointment has been Dan Haren who, despite a nice game against the Braves last time out, looks broken." - "Don't panic yet Washington Nationals fans ... but get ready to" - Russell Whiting, Through The Fence Baseball

• "Because no off day should go to waste, Davey Johnson spent his free Monday on Capitol Hill, where he apparently crossed party lines, because everyone loves Davey Johnson." - "Davey Johnson spoke to the House GOP Whip team" - Dan Steinberg, D.C. Sports Bog

• "Nats Game Logs on this Date" - Mark Hornbaker, D.C. Baseball History

• "No fine or suspension for Bryce Harper for not really doing anything during Sunday's ejection" - Nats Enquirer

• "The Washington Nationals (17-15) have never won a game against the Detroit Tigers (19-11), but they will try to break that losing streak during the Tigers’ first visit to Nationals Park." - "Zimmermann To Lead Nats’ Attempt At First-Ever Win Against Tigers" - Erin Flynn, The Nats Blog

• "The nostalgia around Iron City Beer is better than the flavor" - William F. Yurasko, William World News

• NL EAST UPDATES:

• Mets: "Matt Harvey flirted with a perfect game for 6.2 innings. He dominated the White Sox for nine innings, allowing only one baserunner. He got a bloody nose but didn’t get a decision." - "Matt Harvey nearly perfect in one-hitter, Mike Baxter delivers walk-off hit as Mets top White Sox" - Kristie Ackert, NY Daily News

• Phillies: "If the Phillies had information Tuesday regarding Roy Halladay's health, they were not sharing it with the world." - "Phillies say little after Halladay's visit to doctor" - Matt Gelb, Philadelphia Inquirer

• Braves: "'Giving up the home run. I’ve been relatively good about keeping it in the ballpark so far in my career until the last week or so. I’ve got to figure some things out, try to keep it in the ballpark.'" - Craig Kimbrel - "Braves quotes after Tuesday’s loss to Reds" - Carroll Rogers, www.ajc.com

• Marlins: "Tuesday, [Alex] Sanabia made it back home, starting at Petco Park for the first time. Sanabia, who grew up 15 minutes south of the ballpark, secured tickets for 31 family members and friends." - "Alex Sanabia arguable most accomplished late-round pick in club history" - Juan C. Rodriguez, South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

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