Nats 6 Stros 5
On Road, Nats Take Power Trip – The Post
The Nats hit four homers last night: Brandon Watson (1), Brad Wilkerson (8), Brian Schneider (8), and Vinny Castilla (8). They need everyone of them, because SS Cristian Guzman nearly threw it away with a 2 run error in the sixth. Prior to the error, he hesitated on flipping the ball to second on a groundball, which cost the Nats an out.
Contrary to what The Post argued yesterday, Guzman is not the player we love to hate. I think we would much rather not hate him, but his performance makes that impossible.
P John Patterson, a Texan, had his typically difficult road outing. He gave up five runs, three of them earned, over 5 2/3 innings. The bullpen was a little skaky, but got the job done.
“We got one in a row,” Frank Robinson said. “That’s the way we have to look at it.”
More from The Wash. Times: Power display
Boxscore – ESPN.com
NATIONALS NOTEBOOK – Watson Could Add Needed Threat to Steal – The Post
Brandon Watson making his first appearance in the majors is expected to bring some speed to a team desperately needing some. That is great, but it is hard to steal bases when you hit it out of the park. He went two for five in his debut. He was also assigned “00,” which makes me think the equipment manager wants him to be a folk hero. The Wash. Times has more on him: Watson makes smashing debut
Also of note, Schneider is back, but the real test is “how he feels tomorrow…” Jose Guillen saw noted orthopedist James Andrews how suggested Guillen sit for 3 to 7 days.
Fate picks right time for Patterson – The Houston Chronicle
More on Texas natives Patterson and Gary Majewski.
Close loss illustrates peril in race – The Houston Chronicle
Isn’t nice to read an article about a close loss from the opposition’s point of view?
Using the old bean – The Wash. Times
Houston 2B Craig Biggio gets hit by a lot of pitches, more than even Don Baylor.
“Biggio tries to take away the inside corner,” said Nationals reliever Joey Eischen. “Biggio isn’t so much diving into stuff — he just won’t get out of the way. He has enough armor on his body that it doesn’t matter. You take the arm guard off him and other stuff, and he won’t stand on the plate like he does.”
Robinson put it even more acerbically: “Real men don’t wear that stuff.”
It’s nice to see Robinson question the manhood of someone on the other team for a change.