USA 3 Canada 0
Nats, Loaiza Are in Good Company – The Post
President Bush was on hand to see Esteban Loaiza get his third win of the season. Not satisfied with the run support he had been getting, Loaiza took matters into his own hands and knocked in two runners with a 2nd inning double. That would be all that he would need last night, but CF Brad Wilkerson hit another homer to add an insurance run the Nats would not need. Marlon Byrd made a great catch in left to end the game and help Chad Cordero complete an unorthodox 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 21st consecutive save and 24th overall.
More The Wash. Times: Self-help project
Boxscore – ESPN.com
Stadium break-ins plaguing Nationals – The Wash. Times & During Road Trip, Nats Players’ Cars Broken Into at RFK – The Post
A dozen players have had their cars vandalized and broken into this season, mostly during the last road trip. Marlon Byrd is furious because his Escalade didn’t just get broken into, it got stolen.
[This happening to] a major league baseball team in Washington, D.C., after September 11? It makes no sense. . . There was major league security when I was in [Philadelphia]. You had a guy sitting out there the whole time. . . Bottom line, it was a [expletive] job done here by the people who work here, a [expletive] job here. . . There’s no way that my car can be driven off the lot while we’re out of town, and I get here, and I’m walking around looking for my car. Whoever’s job it was, whoever’s supposed to be doing that job, did not do their job.
This is not only bad because the players security has been shattered at their home stadium, but because it is bad PR for the RFK experience.
Also, in The Wash. Times, the team indicates it is still not pleased with field conditions and concessions. Is the honeymoon between the Nats and RFK over? Fans are going to have to do their part to make the players feel at home.
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK – Vidro Hits Snag During Workouts – The Post
Add another few days to the rehab of Jose Vidro. His right patellar tendon, which was operated on last September, is sore. According to nationals.com , Vidro expects to resume baseball activities on Monday.
THOMAS BOSWELL – No Deal Is Good Deal – The Post
Ryan Church, who is out for the Toronto series with a bruised shoulder suffered when he hit the wall while getting the last out in Pittsburgh, is the focus of the “thank God Zach Day got hurt or he and Church would have been sent to
Florida for a Juan Encarnacion” column. Now that he is hurt, Church has a chance to prove himself to the team in how he reacts.
Natural interleague rival no more – The Globe and Mail
The Canadian ambassador was at the Nats vs. Blue Jays game last night. This is probably the last series where the Blue Jays will be a protected rival of the Nats.