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Winning Uggla

The Washington Nationals won a 13 inning, rain delayed game against the Braves Monday night, walking off with a 5-4 win. They didn’t get the ball out of the infield in the final inning:

Ian Desmond led off the 13th with an infield single off Cristhian Martinez (5-3) before Espinosa tried to bunt and hit into a forceout. Kurt Suzuki then hit a slow roller for an infield hit, allowing Espinosa to take third.

With the infield in, Tracy hit a ball to Braves second baseman Dan Uggla, who appeared confused and instead of either trying to get Espinosa at the plate or attempting to turn a double play, he fumbled it, and Espinosa scored the game-winner.

Uggla was initially given an error before it was changed to a single for Tracy.

Espinosa going first to third on an infield single (I assume he was running on the pitch) turned out to be the biggest play in the inning.

The Nationals now lead the NL East by six games, and the league by 2 1/2 games as Cincinnati lost to Philadelphia 12-5. Finishing with the best record in the league would give Washington home field throughout the playoffs, and would mean they play the wild card team in the first round. With the extra wild card game, that should be a big first-round advantage.

Quick Hits: Red Sox, Cardinals, Giolito

Four teams have at least a 98% chance of reaching the postseason this year, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Playoff Odds Report. The Yankees, Rangers, Nationals and Reds look like playoff teams now, but they all saw what happened to the Braves and Red Sox last year, so I doubt any contending teams intend on coasting from this point on. Here are today’s links…

The Red Sox “weren’t trying very hard” to trade Josh Beckett before the non-waiver trade deadline, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The Rangers and Braves are believed to be among the teams that spoke to Boston’s executives about Beckett, Heyman writes. One unnamed GM said “Boston’s first priority has to be to trade Josh Beckett” this August. Another executive suggested the Rangers could make sense for Beckett, who would have to be placed on waivers to be traded this month.
The Cardinals signed 16-year-old right-hander Ronald Medrano, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. Medrano has touched 90-91 mph with his fastball and has shown good feel for his secondary pitches. He had been considered one of the top Nicaraguan prospects available, according to Badler.
Nationals first rounder Lucas Giolito re-injured his pitching elbow and will be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum, ESPN.com’s Keith Law reports. Giolito, who was at one point a candidate to be selected first overall, signed for $2.925MM after the Nationals drafted him 16th overall in June.

Matt Moore isn’t Mike Trout, but he’s a damn good rookie

Coming into the season Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Matt Moore ranked 1-2-3 in some order on every prospect list, with each of them holding the top spot for at least one prominent ranking. Harper got all the early hype, Trout has emerged as the best player in the American League … and Moore has…

Cesar Izturis Elects Free Agency

Cesar Izturis has elected free agency instead of accepting an assignment to the minor leagues, according to CBSSports.com. The Nationals designated Izturis for assignment three days ago after claiming him off of waivers from Milwaukee.

Izturis posted a .241/.254/.343 batting line in 173 plate appearances for the Brewers and Nationals this year. The 32-year-old played all four infield positions with Milwaukee and appeared at second base, third base and shortstop with Washington. Nationals manager Davey Johnson recently expressed interest in adding Izturis to the team when rosters expand next month.

I went to Nationals Park and it was good

I went to D.C. on Friday. The impetus for the trip: my friend, who does business development in the commercial real estate world, was gifted with the use of a luxury suite for the Nats-Mets game. She filled it up with clients and business contacts but, by golly, wouldn’t you know it, she had a…

And That Happened: Sunday’s scores and highlights

Pirates 6, Cardinals 3: For the second straight year the Pirates play a nineteen inning game. This time, unlike the game against the Braves in which they were royally screwed, the Pirates won. Thank you Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen who drove in runs in the 19th, Alvarez with a homer. They had to burn…

National League Notes: Braves, Jackson, Cabrera

A pivotal battle between two division rivals in the midst of a playoff race took 19 innings to complete as the Pirates beat the Cardinals by the score of 6-3. Pedro Alvarez gave Pittsburgh the lead in the top of 19th when he hit a solo shot against Barret Browning. The Pirates took the three-game series with the win and would be headed to the playoffs if the season ended today as the second Wild Card.

Here’s the latest news and headlines from around the National League…

With the Braves set to play one more series against the Nationals after this week’s showdown, Atlanta realizes the importance of making up ground in D.C. starting on Monday, writes Andrew Simon of MLB.com. The Braves have a comfortable hold on the top Wild Card spot but have played well enough to make a run at the division only to be matched win-for-win by Washington. ”We have the opportunity to take advantage because it seems like every time we win, they win and they don’t lose very often,” said Freddie Freeman. “So this is our time to try to take control of things and get a little closer.”
Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson, a free agent after the season, would like to remain in D.C. on a deal longer than the one-year contract he signed in February, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. “Anything more than one year,” Jackson said. “It would be nice to settle down for more than one year, for sure. I would like to [stay]. I could see myself being a part of [the Nationals], but at the end of the day, it’s up to ownership.”
The battle against performance-enhancing drugs remains an uphill struggle for Major League Baseball, opines Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Rosenthal suggests Melky Cabrera‘s actions reflect a desperate person willing to resort to desperate actions as he may have viewed PEDs as the lone way to salvage his career. While there may be less users in baseball as compared to a decade ago, players are still abusing the system and reaping the benefits that Cabrera enjoyed for almost a full season, if not longer.

The New Guys

Gio Gonzalez earned his 16th victory and Bryce Harper continued to break out of his slump as the Nationals beat the Mets 5-2, taking two out of three in the series. The Mets worked Gio, chasing him after 5 2/3 innings as he gave up seven hits and two walks. The Mets, however, went 1 for 11 in game with runners in scoring position, so while they put men on base, they could not bring them around. Harper hit a triple and a home run, and is four for his last eight with three extra-base hits. I was wondering if Bryce might need to go down to AAA to get his swing back, but some rest in the last few days seems to have done the trick.

September Call-ups: Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Mets, Nationals

Major League rosters can expand to 40 players beginning September 1st. Not everybody thinks it’s such a great idea. Tigers manager Jim Leyland recently vented to reporters, including Jason Beck of MLB.com. ”I’ve been really adamant about that, really a stickler on it,” Leyland said. “When I have that meeting with the Commissioner [as part of the special committee for on-field matters], I talk about that all the time. Myself, if everybody went to 28, that wouldn’t bother me at all. I think that’s fine. That’s just my feeling, but any manager who does a pretty good job of managing all year, and then at the biggest month of the year, he loses some of his ability to maneuver.” Let’s take a look at what the plans are for other clubs looking to maneuver over the season’s final month.

The Pirates are mulling their September call-ups with the post-season in mind, as they entered play today holding the second NL Wild Card spot and with Triple-A Indianapolis likely playoff-bound. General Manager Neal Huntington told reporters, including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Where we go from there … it’s a delicate balance. I’ve been with another organization where we raided the Triple-A team as it was headed to the post-season. The guys came up and didn’t play very much, and that didn’t go over very well on many fronts.” At least one left-handed reliever and another catcher will be added when rosters expand, writes Biertempfel.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle adds another consideration when deciding upon September call-ups: cost. In Biertempfel’s piece, Hurdle pointed out, “In my rookie year, if you got a call-up, you made $5,000 or $6,000 (in September). Now you’re talking about making $75,000. So if you call up 10 guys, you’re picking up $750,000 in salary and everything that goes with it.”
Orioles manager Buck Showalter has acknowledged the team’s September call-ups will be affected by the team’s playoff chase. Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com lists possible players, both on the disabled list and at Triple-A, who could join the O’s when the rosters expand.
The Padres may not have the roster space to bring Jedd Gyorko up in September, according to John Maffei of the North County Times. The Padres already have 49 players on their 40-man roster (nine are on the 60-day disabled list) and may not want to start Gyorko’s service clock just for a September sneak peak, writes Maffei. Since Gyorko has less than three full seasons in pro ball, the Padres don’t have to add him to the 40-man roster next season.
Lucas Duda will probably have to wait until September 1st to rejoin the Mets because the team wants to take a longer look at Mike Baxter, tweets the New York Post’s Mike Puma.
The Nationals have several candidates for September call-ups including pitcher John Lannan and 2011 first-round draft pick Anthony Rendon, writes MLB.com’s Bill Ladson.

Jaime Garcia tallies career-high 10 strikeouts in return

Jaime Garcia looked about as good as the Cards could have hoped for in his return from an eight-week stint on the disabled list Sunday at Busch Stadium. The left-hander struck out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just two unearned runs and five hits over eight strong innings against the visiting Pirates. Garcia threw…

Cafardo On Ellsbury, Bourn, Ross, Cook, Millwood

In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that despite the perception that Jacoby Ellsbury would like to leave Boston down the line, a source says that he would actually like to stay if at all possible. Neither side has asked the other to consider a long-term deal, but that could certainly change in the offseason. Here’s more from Cafardo..

In last week’s column, Cafardo wrote that Braves officials thought Michael Bourn would not re-sign when he becomes a free agent due to a less-than-stellar track record with Scott Boras clients. However, Boras told Cafardo that he has had an excellent relationship with General Manager Frank Wren and the club as a whole. The agent says he is not ruling out Atlanta at all and added that Bourn enjoys playing there.
The Red Sox are very interested in pursuing a new deal with Cody Ross, who will be coming off of a one-year, $3MM pact this winter. With many teams in need of a righthanded bat, he could likely net a Josh Willingham-type three-year, $21MM deal.
The Orioles, Nationals, and Dodgers may be among teams looking at Red Sox pitcher Aaron Cook now that he is on trade waivers.
Mariners pitcher Kevin Millwood has not been placed on trade waivers yet but he could be one of the more sought-after pitchers once he is. “He’s got ice water in his veins and he knows how to get big outs,” said a veteran scout. “A guy like that isn’t going to do the Mariners any good going forward but he could solidify a rotation.”
Cubs personnel are disappointed that Alfonso Soriano won’t waive his 10-and-5 rights to go to the Giants. The outfielder doesn’t want to play in a colder climate that could adversely affect his hitting.

One Mistake

Johathon Niese and Edwin Jackson dueled for seven innings. Niese walked none and struck out seven in 7 1/3, while Jackson walked one and struck out 11 in seven innings. Jackson, however, followed up the walk with a home run to Ike Davis, and the Mets take the contest 2-0. Jackson allowed just two hits, but when the ball leaves the park, a bad offensive night can beat you. Both starters pitched well enough to win, but keeping the Nationals in the park gave the Mets the win.

Johnny Cueto bests Cubs for NL-leading 16th win

Johnny Cueto continued to bolster his case for the National League Cy Young award this afternoon against the Cubs, giving up two runs over eight innings as part of a 5-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Cueto is now the National League’s first 16-game winner. David Price of the Rays got there [...]

Settling the Score: Friday’s results

Last night was a rare Friday night where I was at a baseball game rather than working right here on HardballTalk. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, as I finally had the chance to meet our blogger-in-chief Craig Calcaterra and take in the Mets-Nationals game. Yes, we are allowed out of the basement…

Settling the Score: Friday’s results

Last night was a rare Friday night where I was at a baseball game rather than working right here on HardballTalk. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, as I finally had the chance to meet our blogger-in-chief Craig Calcaterra and take in the Mets-Nationals game. Yes, we are allowed out of the basement…

Quick Hits: Samardzija, Stauffer, Izturis, Reynolds

Tigers manager Jim Leyland all but confirmed that Victor Martinez will not return this season, reports James Schmehl of mLive.com. Martinez torn his ACL during an offseason workout, but there was a small possibility that he would return to the team in September. Here’s the latest from around the league…

“I’m not really too worried about that. I like to leave that front-office stuff to my agent,” said Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija to ESPN Chicago when asked if any contract extension talks were taking place. The 27-year-old is in the middle of a breakout season while earning $2.64MM.
Right-hander Tim Stauffer is dealing with shoulder and elbow issues, and Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribute says that the Padres will likely non-tender him after the season. Stauffer has only made one start this year and will earn $3.2MM.
The Nationals designated Cesar Izturis for assignment earlier today, and manager Davey Johnson told reporters (including Dan Kolko of MASNSports.com) that the club will likely bring him back in September if he isn’t claimed off waivers (Twitter link).
Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com says the Orioles have a difficult decision to make about Mark Reynolds‘ club option after the season. Baltimore holds an $11MM option ($500K buyout) for the slugger, who has turned it on of late following a slow start.
The Padres are considering internal options (crosscheckers Bob Filoti and Bill Gasparino) as well as external options (Mets coordinator Ian Levin and crosschecker Steve Barningham) for their scouting director position, reports Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).

Opposite Slam

Johan Santana retired the first nine Nationals he faced Friday night, but then the next four reached base. The final one was an opposite field grand slam by Michael Morse, and the Nationals lead the Mets 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth. In his last 32 games, Morse only failed to record a hit in two of them. He now has 43 hits in that stretch, 16 for extra bases.

Ian Desmond returns ahead of schedule from torn oblique

Out since mid-July with a torn oblique muscle, Ian Desmond is off the disabled list and back in the Nationals’ lineup well ahead of schedule. Desmond was having a breakout season before the injury, hitting .286 with 17 homers and an .825 OPS in 89 games while making his first All-Star team. In his absence…

The Boras-Nationals Alliance

Scott Boras defends the Nationals decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg at some point this season. Boras also takes some credit for helping build the team into one that’s contending for a championship:

The truth: Rizzo placing a player’s health concerns over a series-or-bust, win-now mentality won over Boras early on in their relationship, and it’s the primary reason the Nationals have the players they do now.

“The good thing about Rizzo, when I had Strasburg – and you know he was a 20-year-old draftee, a year early — I said, ‘Look, you want to draft these players? Great, but you know what, I’m not on board,” Boras said he told Rizzo. “We won’t sign and I’ll send them back to college. I want to make sure we have an organization that will put the health of these players first.”

So by the Nationals agreeing to take care of players, well before anyone got hurt, Boras will let Washington work deals with his players.

Stories circulated over the years of teams not wanting to deal with Boras clients, to not drafting them to not wanting to sign them as free agents. I’ll suggest Washington played a little Moneyball here, and exploited a market inefficiency by signing Boras clients. They’re not cheap, but so far they seem to be paying off. The whole article is well worth the read.

Nationals Designate Cesar Izturis For Assignment

The Nationals announced that they have designated infielder Cesar Izturis for assignment. The move will allow the club to reinstate shortstop Ian Desmond from the 15-day disabled list.

Izturis’ stay in Washington lasted just eleven days as he was claimed off of waivers from Milwaukee on August 6th. The 32-year-old saw time at all four infield positions while posting a .235/.248/.333 batting line for the Brewers in 2012.