ESPN.com first reported the swap Thursday.

A person with knowledge of the deal said Oakland will receive four players, including three top prospects: right-handers A.J. Cole and Brad Peacock, lefty Tom Milone and catcher Derek Norris. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the trade hadn’t been finalized, also said the Nationals would receive minor league right-hander Rob Gilliam from the A’s.

Gonzalez has been the subject of trade talk all offseason. Earlier this month, the A’s traded fellow top-tier starter Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 26-year-old Gonzalez, drafted 38th overall by the Chicago White Sox in 2004, confirmed the trade to The Associated Press on Thursday. He went 16-12 last season — a career high for wins after he earned 15 victories in 2010 — with a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts and was selected to his first All-Star game. The left-hander has reached 200 innings the past two seasons.

“I love Oakland and appreciate them because they gave me a chance,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez would give the Nationals the reliable starter they’ve been seeking for two years to go along with young arms Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann. General manager Mike Rizzo made it a top priority last offseason to land another talented pitcher, and came through this time.

“I think we’re an outfield bat away and a starting pitcher away from really being a contender in the division,” he said late in the 2011 season.

Gonzalez was a big reason Oakland led the AL in ERA (3.56) and shutouts (17) in 2010 while holding opponents to a .245 batting average.

The Nationals went 80-81 this year to improve to third in the NL East after three straight last-place finishes in the five-team division.

A’s general manager Billy Beane is in rebuilding mode, stockpiling talent in the farm system with the hopes of the franchise getting the go ahead to build a new ballpark some 40 miles south in San Jose despite the San Francisco Giants owning the territorial rights to technology-rich Santa Clara County. Beane and owner Lew Wolff have said they expect to hear soon from Commissioner Bud Selig — and Beane said the unsettled stadium situation would affect him being able to sign free agents this winter.

The A’s (74-88) haven’t posted a winning record or earned a playoff berth since being swept in the 2006 AL championship series by Detroit.

Beane also sent reliever Craig Breslow to the defending NL West champion Diamondbacks this month. That came after reliever Brad Ziegler was traded to Arizona in July. The A’s appear to still be open to trading All-Star closer Andrew Bailey.

Peacock made his major league debut in September, pitching in three games with two starts — winning them both — to go 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA.

Milone also was a September call-up who made his debut in the big leagues. He went 1-0 with a 3.81 ERA in five starts. Milone was promoted after striking out 155 batters with just 16 walks this year at Triple-A Syracuse.

Norris has good power for a catcher. He hit 20 home runs for Double-A Harrisburg.

The 19-year-old Cole went 4-7 with a 4.04 ERA last season at Class-A Hagerstown.

Gilliam, the A’s eighth-round pick in 2009, went 12-7 with a 5.04 ERA and 156 strikeouts for Class-A Vancouver this year.

____

AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Matt Purke felt relief the minute he became a member of the Washington Nationals.

Finally he would begin throwing to batters again. Finally he’d be in live games again. Finally, after three months spent doing nothing but staring at a catcher’s target, building up his arm strength with a throwing program, he could put a spring battle with bursitis behind him and return to playing baseball.

So it was with a little bit of irony that Purke sat in a dugout in Arizona last month the day before he’d make his first professional start — more than 63 days after he signed on the dotted line — and talked about the challenges he’d faced since that August day when he forewent more schooling and opted to become a National.

His strength wasn’t fully back. His sharpness wasn’t nearly where he wanted it to be. The inactivity — watching as the Nationals’ New York- Penn League affiliate Auburn Doubledays made a push for the playoffs, throwing four times in Instructional League games — drove him crazy, even though he understood the reasoning behind it.

“I could tell that I hadn’t pitched to a batter in like five or six months,” Purke said. “It just wasn’t as sharp as where I was before. Throwing and all of that is one thing but continuing to pitch to batters is another.”

Purke is possibly the gem of the Nationals’ 2011 draft, a 2009 first-round pick of the Texas Rangers whose deal fell through on a veto by Major League Baseball because of the team’s financial troubles at the time. When he’s at his best, he’s a power lefty who has a devastating curveball and an already-developed slider/cutter/changeup mix. That pitcher is a steal in the third round of the draft — even with his major league deal and signing bonus that total nearly $4 million.

“He’s a really special young man,” said Nationals director of player development Doug Harris. “Really mature, very focused but with a calmness about him. He’s very humble. He’s impressive. Very impressive.”

He’s also intellectual by nature — cerebral, as one Nationals executive put it — so it was difficult to digest that precision was not a part of his game as he began his long-awaited professional career.

“I’m a really hard critic on myself,” he said. “More than anyone else. When someone tells me, ‘Well, you did OK, you’re just working’ — me, I want to make sure that it’s good every time I go out there.”

It was with that in mind that Purke came out for his first start in the Arizona Fall League and was, quite simply, awful. Purke faced eight batters and retired one. He couldn’t escape the first inning, the lone out coming on a rocket down the right-field line that Philadelphia Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies chased down. Purke fell behind almost every hitter and threw just 22 pitches: 12 strikes, 10 balls. Any hopes he had of showing off the skills that at one time catapulted him to the top of draft boards were resoundingly dashed.

What came out was a lefty with little control whose fastball reached just 92 mph — not the pitcher the Nationals were hoping could complement a rotation headed by Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann.

But there was caution breathed with each sigh scouts and evaluators let out as they watched Purke’s much-anticipated, albeit abbreviated, performance.

“The numbers are going to be inflated,” said Single-A Potomac pitching coach Paul Menhart, who served in the same capacity for the Scottsdale Scorpions. “They’re going to be inflated out here because it’s an offensive league and I’ll leave it at that. Traditionally, any pitcher who has success out here is usually not normal.”

What then, to make of Purke — who showed marked improvement with each AFL appearance and will find himself in big-league camp this spring whether he’s ready? His fastball velocity rose to 96 mph, and that sharpness he’d been searching for began to return to all of his pitches as he worked through a few mechanical tweaks. He finished the AFL season with four scoreless innings, during which he struck out four, allowed two hits and walked one.

The only pitcher in team history beside Strasburg to earn a spot on the 40-man roster before throwing a professional pitch knows he’s not Strasburg. He also knows he’s healthy and has joined the likes of Bryce Harper knowing he’s in contention for the Nationals’ 25-man roster.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Washington Nationals first baseman Michael Morse hit a two-run single in the sixth inning to lead the MLB All-Star team to a 3-2 win over the Taiwan national team Saturday.

Ryan Roberts of the Arizona Diamondbacks led off the inning with a walk and went to third on a double to the right-center field by Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees.

Starting pitcher Dillon Gee of the New York Mets allowed one run and five hits in five innings.

Saturday’s game in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung was the fourth of the five-game series. The MLB squad has won all four games.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — There’s a video on the Internet of Bryce Harper.

Well, to be accurate, there are hundreds of thousands of videos of the most hyped power-hitting prospect in a generation. Some are favorable, others less so, but all chronicle nearly every move the Washington Nationals’ prized minor leaguer makes.

When it comes to being Bryce Harper – the 19-year-old most people seemingly love to hate, but love to watch play even more – a cellphone video camera is never far away.

The attention, director of player development Doug Harris said, is “significant.” Many people call him unspeakable things and hope for him to fail – perhaps because they’ve been watching him perform superhuman acts since before he was old enough to drive.

One talent evaluator watching the Arizona Fall League, where Harper is playing his second season, opined that he might be largely misunderstood – a player vilified for playing the game hard on every play in a time when that’s no longer the norm for every player. Even in the outfield, where he played exclusively this year for the first time, he rarely gets bored because “fans keep me in it and opposing bullpens keep me in it.”

But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t revel in it.

“I can’t say I don’t like the attention. I like it,” Harper said. “It comes with the territory. If people are talking about you, you must be good. If they weren’t talking about me, I’d be pretty [ticked] off.”

Awaiting his arrival

Ideally what they’ll be talking about next year is when the Nationals will be calling Harper up to the majors, though everyone in the organization declines to estimate when – if at all – it might happen.

He played 109 minor league games this season, 72 with Single-A Hagerstown and 37 with Double-A Harrisburg – all with the eyes of a franchise watching intently.

“I don’t really care what’s going on up in the big leagues,” Harper said, admitting if he did he might have to combat some frustrations that he wasn’t already there. “[I’m] in Harrisburg. [I’m] in Hagerstown. My head can’t be in Washington. It’s got to be in Hagerstown or Harrisburg. I keep my head out of that. I don’t really care. … Seeing those guys do good up there, I think that’s huge. We’ve got a lot of young talent coming up, [and] I’m excited to see what happens in the near future.”

How near, though, is the one question everyone wants answered.

“It would not surprise me if somehow he was in the big leagues next year at some point,” said Paul Menhart, the pitching coach for Single-A Potomac this past season and the Nationals’ representative on the Scottsdale Scorpions’ coaching staff. “He’s got all the tools that are necessary. He just needs the experience and the reps right now for the powers that be to really think that he’s ready. Right now, he’s well on his way.”

Room for improvement

So what’s left to get him there?

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Read More: Derek Norris (C – WAS), Rafael Martin (P – WAS), Bryce Harper (CF – WAS), Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals season might have ended, but the Arizona Fall League is just firing up and the Scottsdale Scorpions roster has quite a few hot Nationals prospects on it to watch. The Scorpions will begin their defense of the AFL title Tuesday night against the Surprise Saguaros at 9:35 P.M. EST, but they will be doing it without the Nationals 2011 First Year Players Draft top pick, third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Rendon, once listed on the list of Nationals prospects that would be taking part in the AFL, will now stay behind in Viera, FL and continue in the instructional league while the Nationals send their 2011 third round pick left-hander Matt Purke at the conclusion of the instructional league. It is unknown at this time what the Nats plans are for the Rendon.

Rendon is said to have the best bat coming from the 2011 Draft and at one point it was said he was close to MLB ready. One has to wonder if the Nationals have just reevaluated or have seen something they don’t like and would like to season their prospect a little more.

Other Nationals prospects on the Scorpions include Bryce Harper, Derek Norris, Sammy Solis, Patrick Lehman, Zach Walters and Rafael Martin. This will be Harper’s second stint in the AFL and the first time he will journey through the League for a full season as last season he was put on the taxi squad.

By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – Wade Miley threw six scoreless innings to get his first major league victory, and Chris Young and Paul Goldschmidt homered as the Arizona Diamondbacks ended their road trip with an overdue burst of offense Thursday night in an 8-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

Miley (1-1) allowed five hits, struck out four and walked four in his second game in the majors. The 24-year-old left-hander repeatedly worked out of trouble _ allowing two men to reach base in four of the first five innings _ but he mixed his low 90s fastball with a generous dose of offspeed pitches to keep the Nationals in check.

The Diamondbacks relied heavily on their pitching to win the last three of a 4-6 road trip, salvaging a stretch in which their offense was mostly traveling elsewhere.

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

(Sports Network) – The Arizona Diamondbacks probably have their sights set
on getting back to the desert, but must finish business on the road tonight in
the finale of a four-game series against the Washington Nationals.

This 10-game road trip hasn’t been so fun for the Diamondbacks and their 3-6
record on the quest is more than proof. Luckily, the subpar trek still has the
club two games ahead of San Francisco in the National League West standings.

Arizona made it two straight wins after a six-game slide with Wednesday’s 4-2
win in the third installment of this series. Ian Kennedy pitched well in
Tuesday’s victory with seven shutout frames and Daniel Hudson followed last
night with a gem of his own, holding the Nationals to a pair of runs in 8 2/3
innings of work.

Laynce Nix and Jonny Gomes hit back-to-back homers off of Hudson in the ninth,
so J.J. Putz got the last out for his 32nd save. It would have been Hudson’s
first-career shutout.

“I wanted him to finish it out, but he gave up back-to-back home runs,”
Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “J.J.’s done a great job in that role. It
was a no-brainer.”

Miguel Montero drove in two runs and Lyle Overbay collected an RBI for the
D’Backs, who will return to Chase Field to host San Diego and Colorado after
this set at Nationals Park. Justin Upton went 1-for-3 with a run scored and
was back in the lineup after leaving Tuesday’s game due to a sore elbow from a
pitch by Jordan Zimmermann.

“I was a little upset about it,” Upton said on the club’s site. “My thing is,
man, control your pitches. I don’t know if you were trying to hit me or not,
but control your pitches. Obviously, I know what their plan is, they’re going
to try to come inside. So be it.”

On an interesting note, the D’Backs didn’t take batting practice for a second
straight night and they have won both times. Gibson said there won’t be any
pre-game swings either for Thursday’s series finale.

Youngster Wade Miley probably hopes the no BP rule will remain in effect when
he makes his second career start tonight. His first major league start didn’t
go so well, as the lefty gave up five runs and seven hits in four innings of
Saturday’s 8-1 loss at Atlanta. He struck out five and walked two batters.

Miley, the club’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2010, was 4-1 with a
3.64 ERA in eight starts for the Triple-A Reno Aces and is taking the rotation
spot left open by Jason Marquis, who landed on the disabled list with a
fractured right fibula.

Washington has lost two in a row and three of five games, but is a decent 5-4
on a 10-game homestand. Livan Hernandez was rattled for four runs and seven
hits over 7 1/3 innings to absorb the loss, falling to 7-12 on the season.

“I take responsibility for that one,” Nats manager Davey Johnson said on the
club’s website. “He was really pitching a great game and when he’s good, he’s
really good. I had it in my mind that if he gives me seven, I’m getting him
out of there. I balked. He got into trouble and couldn’t get out of it.”

Nix and Gomes hit the late homers and Ian Desmond collected three hits for the
Nationals, who didn’t have outfielder Jayson Werth in the lineup because of a
groin strain. Werth suffered the injury on Tuesday and is day-to-day. Third
baseman Ryan Zimmerman went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and saw his streak of
reaching base safely stop at 29 games. He batted .407 during the run that
started on July 22.

John Lannan has a strong career mark against Arizona, going 3-1 with a 1.04
earned run average in four starts, but is just 1-3 in his previous five trips
to the hill overall. In Saturday’s 5-0 loss versus Philadelphia, Lannan was
reached for five runs – three earned – in five innings. He is 8-9 in 26 starts
to go along with a 3.61 ERA.

Lannan, a lefty, is 4-5 in 13 outings at Nationals Park this season.

Arizona and Washington split a two-game series at Chase Field from June 2-5.

The Sports Network

Home runs by Laynce Nix and Jonny Gomes on back-to-back pitches with two outs in the ninth took the zero off the board Wednesday night in a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Second night in a row we didn’t really come out offensively,” shortstop Ian Desmond said. “Too little, too late.”

Hernandez (7-12) allowed four runs and seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts over 7 1-3 innings. The Nationals had just been shut out for the 13th time Tuesday in a 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks; five of those shutouts have come when Hernandez is pitching.

“I don’t think about something like that. Never,” Hernandez said. “I go out and try to do my job, try to do my best, and the reason I go to the mound is to try to give us a chance to win, that’s what I do.”

Daniel Hudson (13-9) allowed nine hits, struck out six, walked none and threw 102 pitches for the Diamondbacks before he hit the wall at 8 2-3 innings, just missing his first career shutout.

“Just two stupid pitches at the end,” he said.

J.J. Putz came and got his 32nd save, retiring Wilson Ramos on a foul out to first.

“That’s what that team is known for,” said Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who streak of 29 consecutive games reaching base came to an end. “They don’t score that many runs, they get big hits when they need them, and then their pitching staff kind of carries them. The last two games, that’s what they’ve done to us.”

The Nationals nearly scored in the eighth after Ramos’ single and Desmond’s double put runners on second and third with one out. But Rick Ankiel lined out to first, and Diamondbacks new acquisition John McDonald followed with a highlight play to preserve the shutout. The shortstop fielded Zimmerman’s chopper up the middle, did a 360 and threw a one-hopper to first baseman Lyle Overbay, who made a nice, clean snag that beat Zimmerman by a hair.

Arizona got on the board in the fourth when Gomes dropped the ball while taking it out of his glove on Chris Young’s double to the left field corner, an error that allowed Justin Upton to score from first. Overbay followed with an RBI single to right.

In the eighth, Ryan Roberts and Gerardo Parra singled back to back to chase Hernandez, and Montero drove both runners home with a single off reliever Henry Rodriguez.

NOTES: Another milestone for Nationals RHP Stephen Strasburg in his return from Tommy John surgery: He took batting practice Wednesday. Strasburg will pitch Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse in his fifth minor league rehab start, and it’ll be the first one in which he’ll have to hit. “He’s wanted to hit, but nobody’s been letting him,” manager Davey Johnson said. Strasburg likely has two starts left before making his much anticipated return to the majors sometime around Sept. 6. He threw a side session Wednesday before his BP. … Nationals OF Jayson Werth sat out after leaving Tuesday’s game early with a strained groin. “He would play if we were in a pennant race or something,” Johnson said.

___

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By Andrew Kinback

– Nationals editor

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Aug 24, 2011 – The Washington Nationals suffered their 13th shutout of the season on Tuesday night at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks and as it always seems to be, the culprit was an offense unable to drive in runs when it really needs to. The Nats were only able to scrape together six hits against Ian Kennedy and they stranded 21 runners on base. On top of that, the offense left pitcher Jordan Zimmermann hanging (around too long) after a spectacular pitching performance, one of his last of 2011.

The Nationals will look to get their heads back on straight and pump up the energy against the Snakes as Livan Hernandez (7-11, 4.34 ERA) takes the mound against Daniel Hudson (12-9, 3.83 ERA). The Nationals offense is more than capable of hitting pitchers hard, but lack consistency. Perhaps the most consistent player in the line-up right now is third baseman Ryan Zimmerman who reached base safely for the 29th consecutive game on Tuesday.

Right fielder Jayson Werth has been looking much more comfortable at the plate recently, but unfortunately the Nats will be without his heated up bat as he suffered a mild groin strain on Tuesday during play and will be out of the line-up Wednesday. Taking his place will be outfielder Laynce Nix in right field while Jonny Gomes mans left.

First pitch is at 7:05 P.M.

 

Nationals Line-Up

Ian Desmond – SS

Rick Ankiel – CF

Ryan Zimmerman – 3B

Michael Morse – 1B

Danny Espinosa – 2B

Laynce Nix – RF

Jonny Gomes – LF

Wilson Ramos – C

Livan Hernandez – SP

Read More: Jayson Werth (RF – WAS), Ryan Zimmerman (3B – WAS), Jonny Gomes (LF – WAS), Livan Hernandez (P – WAS), Rick Ankiel (CF – WAS), Ian Kennedy (P – ARI), Michael Morse (1B – WAS), Laynce Nix (LF – WAS), Ian Desmond (SS – WAS), Wilson Ramos (C – WAS), Jordan Zimmermann (P – WAS), Danny Espinosa (2B – WAS), Daniel Hudson (P – ARI), Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks

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The Arizona Diamondbacks had their routine completely upended before playing the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, and manager Kirk Gibson wasn’t complaining.

Sean Burroughs hit a two-run home run and Ian Kennedy pitched seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win that ended a six-game losing streak.

The Diamondbacks’ team bus arrived at Nationals Park 45 minutes late after being stuck in heavy traffic caused by the afternoon’s East Coast earthquake. The bus, which arrived at 5:15 p.m., was set to be later than usual even before the disruption, as Gibson had decided not to have Arizona take batting practice.

“We have a 4:15 bus again tomorrow, no BP, and I’m going to try and call another earthquake,” Gibson said after the game. “If the earthquake doesn’t show up, we’ll do the rest the same.”

Kennedy (16-4) allowed six hits, struck out eight, and had a single and a double at the plate. It was Kennedy’s eighth win in his last nine starts.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” Kennedy said. “It felt like high school all over again. You show up late, start getting ready an hour before the game.”

Although the Nationals had few real scoring chances, they did put the leadoff runner on base five times against Kennedy.

“I wasn’t making it easy on myself,” he said.

Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann (8-11) held the Diamondbacks scoreless on three hits through six innings, but gave up two runs, two hits and a walk in the seventh.

After getting a groundout by Lyle Overbay to lead off the inning, Zimmermann gave up a walk to Chris Young before Burroughs’ homer to right field. The home run was Burrough’s first since April 30, 2005.

“Was basically looking dead red fastball, get out in front,” Burroughs said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a home run. I obviously never do.”

After Burrough’s homer, Kennedy doubled to end Zimmermann’s day.

“Definitely frustrating,” Zimmermann said. “It’s happened a couple of times this year where it’s just one pitch at the end of the game. It’s a home run or a double or something and they get a couple of runs.”

The start was likely the second-to-last outing of the season for Zimmermann. The right-hander is in his first full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2009, and the Nationals have said he will be limited to about 160 innings this year. After going 6 1-3 against Arizona, Zimmermann has pitched 157 innings.

Until Burrough’s homer broke the scoreless tie, the Diamondbacks’ best scoring chance came in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Ryan Roberts hit a sharp grounder and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman made a diving stop to throw out Roberts and save a run.

“He’s probably the only guy in the big leagues that catches it,” Gibson said.

Zimmermann hit Justin Upton with a pitch in the fourth, the fifth time Upton has been hit in six games against the Nationals this season. Upton reacted by angrily throwing his bat to the ground before walking to first base.

“I was a little upset about it,” Upton said. “I don’t know if you’re trying to hit me or not, but control your pitches.”

Kennedy hit Michael Morse with a pitch in the fourth, and home plate umpire Marvin Hudson warned both benches.

“You could tell, none of them were on purpose,” Kennedy said.

Upton left in the middle of the fifth inning with a left elbow contusion and was replaced by Collin Cowgill. Gibson said Upton was day to day.

NOTES: The game was delayed 21 minutes because of the earthquake that hit the East Coast Tuesday afternoon. … Nationals manager Davey Johnson said RHP Steven Strasburg will make his next rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse. … OF Jayson Werth left the game for a defensive replacement in the ninth inning. After the game Werth said he had a mild hip flexor, although Johnson termed it a groin strain. “We’ll see if Davey wants me to play tomorrow,” Werth said. … Washington introduced its top three draft picks – 3B Anthony Rendon, RHP Alex Meyer and OF Brian Goodwin – before the game. Rendon said he is completely recovered from a shoulder injury that hampered him at Rice this season. … Arizona traded 2B Kelly Johnson to Toronto for IFs Aaron Hill and John McDonald. The Diamondbacks placed RHP Jason Marquis (fractured right fibula) on the 60-day DL. … Nationals RHP Livan Hernandez (7-11) will start Wednesday against Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson (12-9).

WASHINGTON (AP)—The Arizona Diamondbacks had their routine completely
upended before playing the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, and manager
Kirk Gibson wasn’t complaining.

Sean Burroughs(notes) hit a two-run home run and Ian Kennedy(notes) pitched seven
scoreless innings in a 2-0 win that ended a six-game losing streak.

The Diamondbacks’ team bus arrived at Nationals Park 45 minutes late after
being stuck in heavy traffic caused by the afternoon’s East Coast earthquake.
The bus, which arrived at 5:15 p.m., was set to be later than usual even before
the disruption, as Gibson had decided not to have Arizona take batting practice.

“We have a 4:15 bus again tomorrow, no BP, and I’m going to try and call
another earthquake,” Gibson said after the game. “If the earthquake doesn’t
show up, we’ll do the rest the same.”

Kennedy (16-4) allowed six hits, struck out eight, and had a single and a
double at the plate. It was Kennedy’s eighth win in his last nine starts.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” Kennedy said. “It felt like high school all
over again. You show up late, start getting ready an hour before the game.”

Although the Nationals had few real scoring chances, they did put the
leadoff runner on base five times against Kennedy.

“I wasn’t making it easy on myself,” he said.

Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann(notes) (8-11) held the Diamondbacks scoreless
on three hits through six innings, but gave up two runs, two hits and a walk in
the seventh.

After getting a groundout by Lyle Overbay(notes) to lead off the inning, Zimmermann
gave up a walk to Chris Young before Burroughs’ homer to right field. The home
run was Burrough’s first since April 30, 2005.

“Was basically looking dead red fastball, get out in front,” Burroughs
said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a home run. I obviously never do.”

After Burrough’s homer, Kennedy doubled to end Zimmermann’s day.

“Definitely frustrating,” Zimmermann said. “It’s happened a couple of
times this year where it’s just one pitch at the end of the game. It’s a home
run or a double or something and they get a couple of runs.”

The start was likely the second-to-last outing of the season for Zimmermann.
The right-hander is in his first full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery
in August 2009, and the Nationals have said he will be limited to about 160
innings this year. After going 6 1-3 against Arizona, Zimmermann has pitched 157
innings.

Until Burrough’s homer broke the scoreless tie, the Diamondbacks’ best
scoring chance came in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and
one out, Ryan Roberts(notes) hit a sharp grounder and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman(notes) made
a diving stop to throw out Roberts and save a run.

“He’s probably the only guy in the big leagues that catches it,” Gibson
said.

Zimmermann hit Justin Upton(notes) with a pitch in the fourth, the fifth time Upton
has been hit in six games against the Nationals this season. Upton reacted by
angrily throwing his bat to the ground before walking to first base.

“I was a little upset about it,” Upton said. “I don’t know if you’re
trying to hit me or not, but control your pitches.”

Kennedy hit Michael Morse(notes) with a pitch in the fourth, and home plate umpire
Marvin Hudson warned both benches.

“You could tell, none of them were on purpose,” Kennedy said.

Upton left in the middle of the fifth inning with a left elbow contusion and
was replaced by Collin Cowgill(notes). Gibson said Upton was day to day.

NOTES: The game was delayed 21 minutes because of the earthquake that hit
the East Coast Tuesday afternoon. … Nationals manager Davey Johnson said RHP
Steven Strasburg will make his next rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse.
… OF Jayson Werth(notes) left the game for a defensive replacement in the ninth
inning. After the game Werth said he had a mild hip flexor, although Johnson
termed it a groin strain. “We’ll see if Davey wants me to play tomorrow,”
Werth said. … Washington introduced its top three draft picks—3B Anthony
Rendon, RHP Alex Meyer and OF Brian Goodwin—before the game. Rendon said he is
completely recovered from a shoulder injury that hampered him at Rice this
season. … Arizona traded 2B Kelly Johnson(notes) to Toronto for IFs Aaron Hill(notes) and
John McDonald(notes). The Diamondbacks placed RHP Jason Marquis(notes) (fractured right
fibula) on the 60-day DL. … Nationals RHP Livan Hernandez(notes) (7-11) will start
Wednesday against Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson(notes) (12-9).

WASHINGTON – The start of the Washington Nationals’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks has been delayed by 20 minutes because of the earthquake that rattled the East Coast.

The team said Tuesday night the first pitch would be at 4:25 p.m. Arizona time.

The Nationals had delayed opening the gates to check the stadium for damage before letting fans in. The gates were opened at 3:40 p.m., 25 minutes before the scheduled start.

Parts of the White House, Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated after the magnitude-5.8 quake, which was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va.

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R.A. Dickey had another strong start for the New York Mets. Once again, he didn’t end up with the outcome he wanted.

Dickey allowed six hits in six innings, including a three-run home run by Jayson Werth in the first, and the Washington Nationals beat the Mets 3-0 Saturday night.

It was the 17th time in 22 starts Dickey (5-9) has gone at least six innings. He has a 3.77 ERA this season but has just one win in his last six starts.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s more than that,” Dickey said. “I expect more when I look at my name and see that stat line by it. I just do. So, it’s painful to look down there and know you haven’t contributed to more wins.”

The Mets offense was shut down by Nationals starter Yunesky Maya, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game to fill in for scheduled starter Jason Marquis, who was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks before the game.

Maya (1-1) allowed five hits in 5 1-3 scoreless innings and earned his first career win in 10 starts. He entered the Nationals clubhouse in street clothes about an hour before gametime and about 45 minutes before Washington announced the trade. The late notice didn’t seem to affect him as he retired the first seven batters and didn’t allow a hit until David Wright singled with two outs in the fourth.

New York manager Terry Collins said the late switch probably didn’t change the outcome, it put the Mets at a disadvantage.

“In terms of preparation, it is,” Collins said. “There’s no question to me. We’re waiting to find out who it is, but I know (Nationals manager) Davey (Johnson) well enough to know that if he could’ve done it any other way, he would’ve.”

The Mets were shutout for the fifth time this season and ended a five-game winning streak.

Maya gave up consecutive one-out singles in the sixth to Daniel Murphy and Wright, leading Nationals manager Davey Johnson to bring in reliever Ross Detwiler, who promptly got Angel Pagan to ground into a double play.

New York had perhaps its best offensive chance in the fifth. A pair of two-out singles by Josh Thole and Dickey brought up Jose Reyes with runners on first and second. Reyes hit a ball deep to right-center but Werth caught it on the warning track to end the inning and get Maya out of the jam.

“He just moved his pitches,” said Josh Thole, who had two hits. “We hit the ball pretty good off him. We put some good swings on the ball, just right at guys.”

The Mets rallied in the ninth, but fell short against Nationals closer Drew Storen (26th save). Wright led off with a walk, and Thole and Jason Bay each singled to load the bases with two outs for pinch-hitter Willie Harris, who struck out looking on a slider to end the game.

“The strike-three pitch was a straight-up pitcher’s pitch,” Harris said. “Good pitch, all I can really say. Good pitch.

“It could’ve been arguably low, but it could’ve been arguably there,” Harris said. “So, I’m not complaining about the call the umpire made.”

Washington grabbed the lead in the first inning. Rick Ankiel led off with a single against Dickey and advanced to third on a sacrifice and wild pitch. Dickey walked Michael Morse to put runners on the corners for Werth, who drove a 3-2 pitch deep to center field for his 12th home run of the season.

“If I had three pitches back, we’d still be playing,” Dickey said.

The Nationals snapped a six-game losing streak, their longest of the season.

NOTES: The Nationals traded utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. to Milwaukee for OF Erik Komatsu, who was with Double-A Huntsville. Washington recalled OF Brian Bixler from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Hairston’s roster spot. … Wright had two singles, giving him a career-high seven consecutive multihit games. Wright has a hit in all nine games since he returned from the disabled list (lower back stress fracture) on July 22.

It was the 17th time in 22 starts Dickey (5-9) has gone at least six innings. He has a 3.77 ERA this season but has just one win in his last six starts.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s more than that,” Dickey said. “I expect more when I look at my name and see that stat line by it. I just do. So, it’s painful to look down there and know you haven’t contributed to more wins.”

The Mets offense was shut down by Nationals starter Yunesky Maya, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game to fill in for scheduled starter Jason Marquis, who was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks before the game.

Maya (1-1) allowed five hits in 5 1-3 scoreless innings and earned his first career win in 10 starts. He entered the Nationals clubhouse in street clothes about an hour before gametime and about 45 minutes before Washington announced the trade. The late notice didn’t seem to affect him as he retired the first seven batters and didn’t allow a hit until David Wright singled with two outs in the fourth.

New York manager Terry Collins said the late switch probably didn’t change the outcome, it put the Mets at a disadvantage.

“In terms of preparation, it is,” Collins said. “There’s no question to me. We’re waiting to find out who it is, but I know (Nationals manager) Davey (Johnson) well enough to know that if he could’ve done it any other way, he would’ve.”

The Mets were shutout for the fifth time this season and ended a five-game winning streak.

Maya gave up consecutive one-out singles in the sixth to Daniel Murphy and Wright, leading Nationals manager Davey Johnson to bring in reliever Ross Detwiler, who promptly got Angel Pagan to ground into a double play.

New York had perhaps its best offensive chance in the fifth. A pair of two-out singles by Josh Thole and Dickey brought up Jose Reyes with runners on first and second. Reyes hit a ball deep to right-center but Werth caught it on the warning track to end the inning and get Maya out of the jam.

“He just moved his pitches,” said Josh Thole, who had two hits. “We hit the ball pretty good off him. We put some good swings on the ball, just right at guys.”

The Mets rallied in the ninth, but fell short against Nationals closer Drew Storen (26th save). Wright led off with a walk, and Thole and Jason Bay each singled to load the bases with two outs for pinch-hitter Willie Harris, who struck out looking on a slider to end the game.

“The strike-three pitch was a straight-up pitcher’s pitch,” Harris said. “Good pitch, all I can really say. Good pitch.

“It could’ve been arguably low, but it could’ve been arguably there,” Harris said. “So, I’m not complaining about the call the umpire made.”

Washington grabbed the lead in the first inning. Rick Ankiel led off with a single against Dickey and advanced to third on a sacrifice and wild pitch. Dickey walked Michael Morse to put runners on the corners for Werth, who drove a 3-2 pitch deep to center field for his 12th home run of the season.

“If I had three pitches back, we’d still be playing,” Dickey said.

The Nationals snapped a six-game losing streak, their longest of the season.

NOTES: The Nationals traded utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. to Milwaukee for OF Erik Komatsu, who was with Double-A Huntsville. Washington recalled OF Brian Bixler from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Hairston’s roster spot. … Wright had two singles, giving him a career-high seven consecutive multihit games. Wright has a hit in all nine games since he returned from the disabled list (lower back stress fracture) on July 22.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By Andrew Kinback

– Nationals editor

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Jun 10, 2011 – A scary fact is the Washington Nationals have not beaten the San Diego Padres in San Digeo since the franchise was known as the Montreal Expos and that was back in 2001. With a one game already under the Padres belts in the current series, the Nationals are going to have to dig deep to break the ugly cycle, but they have to win Friday’s game in order to do it.

The Nats will have right-hander Jason Marquis (6-2, 3.84 ERA) on the mound for them to go against the Padres Mat Matos (4-6, 3.94 ERA). In terms of wins and losses, Marquis is the Nationals top veteran pitcher. He earned a five-game suspension for hitting a batter when the Nationals faced the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier in the week, but he has appealed it and will make his start Friday. Marquis last pitched June 5th in that controversial game and gave up three hits, no runs, three walks and four strikeouts before being ejected from the game for hitting Justin Upton with a pitch.

The Nationals will be with out veteran Jerry Hairston Jr. for the third consecutive game as he is getting over lower back spasms and reliever Cole Kimball was placed on the DL late Friday afternoon with shoulder inflammation.

Nationals Line-Up

1. Roger Bernadina, CF

2. Ian Desmond, SS

3. Jayson Werth, RF

4. Laynce Nix, LF

5. Michael Morse, 1B

6. Danny Espinosa, 2B

7. Wilson Ramos, C

8. Alex Cora, 3B

9. Jason Marquis P

Read More: Jerry Hairston Jr. (SS – WAS), Jayson Werth (RF – WAS), Alex Cora (2B – WAS), Jason Marquis (P – WAS), Justin Upton (RF – ARI), Michael Morse (LF – WAS), Laynce Nix (LF – WAS), Roger Bernadina (RF – WAS), Ian Desmond (SS – WAS), Wilson Ramos (C – WAS), Danny Espinosa (2B – WAS), Cole Kimball (P – WAS), San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks

Major League Baseball is taking a page from David Stern’s NBA and cracking down hard on any attempt at players policing the game themselves. As a result of the bean ball wall between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals in Sunday’s game, MLB has handed down one-game suspensions to the managers, Kirk Gibson and Jim Riggleman.

Nationals’ starting pitcher Jason Marquis and D-backs’ reliever Esmerling Vasquez were also suspended five and three games respectively. Both players are appealing their suspensions so they will not take effect until the appeals process is completed.

Justin Upton has beaned four times in the four-game series with the Nationals while D-backs’ pitcher hit Jayson Werth three times. Adding the the bad blood between the teams, catcher Wilson Ramos displayed his disrespect for the game when slowly trotted around the bases after hitting a homerum.

Clearly, this is a cultural issue endemic to the National’s organization as evidenced by prospect Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the pitcher as he takes a leisurely trip around the bases.

Here’s the full press release from the league:

Major League Baseball has issued the following discipline as a result of the intentional throwing incidents that took place after a warning had already been issued to both teams in the top of the fifth inning during Sunday’s game between the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.  Joe Garagiola, Jr., Senior Vice President of Standards and On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.

Nationals pitcher Jason Marquis has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch at Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Diamondbacks pitcher Esmerling Vasquez has received a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing at Danny Espinosa of the Nationals during the top of the eighth inning.

Marquis’ suspension was scheduled to begin tonight, when the Nationals will play the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco, but he has elected to appeal.  Vasquez’s suspension was also scheduled to begin tonight, when Arizona will play the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, but he has also elected to appeal.  Thus, both suspensions will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

 In addition, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman has received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for Marquis’ intentional actions following the warning, and Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson has received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for Vasquez’s intentional actions following the warning.  Riggleman’s suspension will be served tonight, when the Nationals will face the Giants.  Gibson’s suspension will also be served tonight, when the D-backs visit the Pirates.

The two teams meet again in August for a four-game series in Washington, DC.

Read More: Aubrey Huff (1B – SFG), Aaron Rowand (CF – SFG), Todd Coffey (P – WAS), Doug Slaten (P – WAS), Tim Lincecum (P – SFG), John Lannan (P – WAS), Sean Burnett (P – WAS), Craig Stammen (P – WAS), Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants

It looked like the Washington Nationals had their game against the San Francisco Giants in the bag. The Nats chased Giants pitcher TIm Lincecum out of the game in five innings, they were scoring runs and starter John Lannan was throwing some mean ball. Alas, it was not to be. A late game implosion in the eighth-inning lead to the Nationals eventual defeat in 13-innings 5-4.

With the score 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Lannan served up a home run to Aaron Rowand which then sent Lannan out of the game for reliever Todd Coffey in the eighth. With one out, Coffey gave up a single and a double to put two Giants on the bases before manager Jim Riggleman had enough and sent out Sean Burnett.. Burnett has been having a bad season so far and on Monday night his troubles continued as he gave up a two-run, broken bat double to Aubrey Huff to make the score 4-3. Reliever Henry Rodriguez came in next and gave up an RBI single to Nat Scheirholtz to tie the game.

The game went into extra innings and was decided in the thirteenth. With no more pitching options in front of him, Riggleman sent pitcher Craig Stammen to the mound. Stammen, who was just recently called up to the Nats from Syracuse after Doug Slaten went on the DL gave up the game winner on a Freddy Sanchez RBI single.

It is the second night in a row the Nationals have had a game go into extra innings and the second night in a row they’ve allowed a team to creep back up on them. On Sunday the Arizona Diamondbacks battled back into the game and took the game into extended innings, but the Nationals were able to get the win. That luck did not follow them Monday night.

The Nationals fall to 26-34 on the season.

Phoenix, AZ —

Michael Morse capped off a five-run 11th inning
with a grand slam, as the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks,
9-4, to split a four-game series.

Joe Paterson (0-1), who came into the game with a 0.66 ERA, started on the
mound for Arizona in the 11th. Pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. singled up the
middle to start things. Pinch-hitter Jordan Zimmermann moved Hairston up a
base with a sacrifice bunt.

Roger Bernadina then hit a chopper back to Paterson, whose throw to first
seemed to beat the runner. But Bernadina was called safe. Paterson threw
around Jayson Werth to load the bases with two outs. When asked to throw
strikes against Rick Ankiel, Paterson couldn’t do it. He walked Ankiel to
force in the go-ahead run. Morse then put the game out of reach with a grand
slam to center.

Wilson Ramos hit a three-run homer for the Nationals, who had 11 hits.

Sean Burnett (1-2) tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win. Henry
Rodriguez pitched a perfect home 11th to seal the victory.

The Diamondbacks entered the bottom of the ninth down by three runs, 4-1. Drew
Storen, who recorded the final out in the eighth, stayed on to pitch the
ninth. Stephen Drew started the frame with an infield single and moved to
second on Chris Young’s base hit to center. Miguel Montero almost tied the
game with one swing of the bat, but pulled a 3-2 pitch just foul of the right-
field pole. Montero eventually walked to load the bases.

Storen then walked Juan Miranda to force in a run. Todd Coffey came in from
the bullpen and quickly gave up a sacrifice fly to Melvin Mora. Burnett was
then brought into the game to replace Coffey. It seemed like he was going to
get out of the jam, when pinch-hitter Xavier Nady hit a grounder to short.
Washington tried to turn a game-ending double play, but the throw to first was
late. Montero crossed the plate on the play to make it a 4-4 game, and Willie
Bloomquist flied out to send the contest into extras.

“Guys played hard. They played good, they didn’t give in,” said Arizona
manager Kirk Gibson.

The Nats got on the board in the third. Bernadina and Ian Desmond started the
frame with consecutive singles to put men on the corners. Werth followed with
a sacrifice fly to right to give Washington a 1-0 lead.

Jason Marquis was having a solid game on the mound for Washington, but an
ejection brought his day to an end in the sixth. With one on and one out,
Marquis hit Justin Upton in the lower back. Home plate umpire Rob Drake
immediately tossed Marquis from the game. Nationals manager Jim Riggleman was
also ejected for arguing the decision.

“I felt like I was throwing the ball real well. Unfortunately, there was a
warning issued early in the game and the umpire made a call,” Marquis said.

Tyler Clippard came in from the bullpen and retired the first two batters he
faced to keep Arizona off the board.

The Nats added to their lead in the eighth, an inning that featured more
ejections. Esmerling Vasquez gave up a double to Laynce Nix and two batters
later, Vasquez hit Danny Espinosa. Vasquez and Gibson were then both
ejected from the contest. Aaron Heilman took over on the mound and gave up a
three-run homer to Ramos, but retired the next two batters to keep it a 4-0
contest.

Kelly Johnson hit a solo homer off Clippard in the home eighth to cut the gap
to 4-1.

Game Notes

Washington won four of its seven meetings with the Diamondbacks last
season…Marquis tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up three
hits….Arizona starter Ian Kennedy allowed one run on five hits over seven
full frames…Arizona fell to 18-5 over its last 23 games…The Nationals
avoided being shut out in three straight games…Paterson suffered his first
loss in the big leagues.