CHATTER
Only at The Washington Times: Mark Zuckerman and Ben Goessling blog on the Washington Nationals.
Latest Blog Entries
Dukes apologizes
Elijah Dukes met with manager Manny Acta and GM Jim Bowden in the wake of Wednesday night's game at Shea Stadium and apologized for his behavior (which included making an inappropriate gesture and blowing kisses toward the crowd).
Dukes fallout
Plenty of reaction from Elijah Dukes' eventful night at Shea Stadium. Here are a few snippets:
Deciphering the Dukes incident
For those of you who didn't see the fourth inning, here's what happened with Elijah Dukes and Mike Pelfrey.
Lineups and news
A few news items before we get to lineups:
Live chat 1 p.m. Wednesday
Hello from New York -- just a reminder that I'll be online at 1 p.m. Wednesday for our weekly live chat.
Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away
The Braves lead the Nationals 3-1 in the fifth inning, but if there were a couple of clouds in the sky, this game would be tied.
Bergmann to bullpen, Martis to start
Jason Bergmann's month-long slide, capped by last night's seven-runs-in-2 1/3-innings performance has landed the right-hander in the Nats' bullpen.
Some actual positive news
The W-Nats lost another game, but the P-Nats finished off a three-game sweep to advance to the Carolina League championship series.
Check out this lineup
Wait till you take a gander at the starting nine Manny Acta has put together for tonight's game against the Braves.
Belliard may be done for season
Ronnie Belliard strained his right groin legging out an infield single tonight and is probably lost for the remainder of the season.
Pregame news
Shawn Hill is having elbow surgery tomorrow, Dmitri Young will rejoin the club next week in New York and Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes was a late scratch.
The big game tonight...
...is not Nats vs. Braves at Turner Field. But I'm still here to cover it anyway for the legions of fans out there who care more about this than that certain football game in East Rutherford tonight.
Balester scratched, Martis to start tomorrow
Late-breaking news just before gametime tonight: Collin Balester has a mild left glut strain and will not be able to make his scheduled start Friday at Atlanta.
Strange trek to majors
Luke Montz held court in the Nats' clubhouse this afternoon, looking bleary-eyed but ecstatic to be in a big-league clubhouse for the first time after a whirlwind 24 hours. "I'm the happiest guy on the planet right now, I can tell you that much," the 25-year-old catcher said.
Flores MRI: Only a sprain
Jesus Flores' MRI taken this morning has confirmed the club's original diagnosis of only a left ankle sprain. The team says the 23-year-old catcher is expected to return to play before the end of the season.
