The nation’s capital 8 Some jerk town 2
Nats Still in the Last Place Anyone Expected After Win – The Post
The Nats rebounded from two consecutive loses to get back in the win column. Brad Wilkerson shook off a few bad games to go 3 for 5 with 4 RBI. Jamey Carroll, playing third in place of slumping Vinny Castilla, also went 3 for 5.
Recent call up P Travis Hughes relieved starter Sunny Kim in the fifth and pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.
More from The Wash. Times: Unlikely heroes bolster Nats
Boxscore – ESPN.com
Ailing Loaiza skips start – The Wash. Times
The same back and neck problems that hampered Esteban Loaiza in his last start kept him from pitching yesterday.
Also, Wilkerson is not concerned that his nerve problems in his right arm have hurt his home run production. He is content to be hitting so many doubles.
JIM WILLIAMS – Comcast SportsNet stands by its story – The Wash. Examiner
Budding sports columnist Williams gets the Comcast SportsNet side of the Nats TV situation.
Comcast-Orioles battle intensifies – The Wash. Times
Okay, we heard from Jim Williams, now let’s hear from a real TV sports reporter, Eric Fisher. Some choice passages:
If nothing else, the Orioles have gone to extraordinary lengths to show skeptical Nationals fans that they, too, want to see both teams’ TV games distributed as broadly as possible. To be certain, Angelos is not acting out of altruism but rather financial self interest because he needs to recoup the $20?million annual rights fee MASN has guaranteed the Nationals. But the FCC filing still shows action to back up three months of pro-Nationals talk from MASN executives. . .
But even if Angelos is right, and even if he succeeds in at last getting the Nationals carried on the region’s dominant cable provider, he’ll still almost certainly be vilified in the Washington area. Angelos has yet to apologize for or even recant his stunningly ill-considered remarks last year in which he said “there are no real baseball fans in D.C. That’s a fiction.” And each new step in the Orioles-Comcast fight and every strong turnout at RFK Stadium for the Nationals has prompted local radio hosts to replay that sound bite and resume their verbal body blows against Angelos.
Scouting Report: Washington Nationals – Post-Gazette
My (our) Nats take on Maryland Bureau Chief Sam Basile’s Pirates. Nothing like bragging rights being on the line.
More from the Tribune-Review: Notebook: McClendon credits Robinson with Nats turnaround and Pirates-Nationals scouting report
NOTEBOOK: Majewski Has Family On Mind – The Post
Texan Gary Majewski would have liked to have had his father and grandfather at the game yesterday, but the Texas natives were not able to make it. His father is in Afganistan with the State Department and his grandfather had health problems. I cannot find it now, but Majewski was the Nat pictured with his dad in MLB Father’s Day feature.
PETER SCHMUCK – Firing up combustible Guillen could end up burning Nationals – The Sun
Could this be the second Schmuck column in a row that does not offend me? Weird. He is right about Guillen. Basil Tsimpris also had a lot to say about Guillen late last week.
Former Braves President Kasten Bids on Nationals – The Post
Stan Kasten’s group finally got around to placing a bid for the Nats, well past the deadline.