Nationals rookie pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen will not be the only 2009 Major League Baseball draft picks to make an impact this season.
Arizona State product Mike Leake – chosen eight spots behind Strasburg last June – battled Washington for seven innings on Saturday night at Nationals Park. The 22-year-old gave the Cincinnati Reds more than enough time to break open a tight game with three runs in the eighth inning en route to an 5-1 victory over Washington.
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Brandon Phillips produced an RBI single in the key frame and later drilled catcher Wil Nieves on a play at home plate. The throw from Washington shortstop Ian Desmond beat Phillips. But he delivered a hard blow that knocked Nieves to the ground and the ball from his grasp. Phillips screamed and pounded his chest as he stalked back to the dugout with his team up 4-1. Jay Bruce added an RBI single for insurance.
Phillips created havoc in the eighth. On a wild pitch by Nats reliever Sean Burnett the speedster tore around second base, taking Desmond by surprise. The shortstop tried to run out of the way, but Phillips brushed him as he raced towards third. Even though the throw from Nieves beat Phillips he was ruled safe by umpire Dan Bellino, who said Desmond interfered with the runner.
“If you’re a good baserunner you look for opportunities like that to advance to the next base. I don’t think he did anything wrong,” Desmond said. “I just couldn’t go anywhere else. If I slowed down he would have ran into me, if I went left he would have ran into me. He did it right. It was the right call. What are you going to do?”
Nats manager Jim Riggleman – who has had his share of run-ins with umpires this week – admitted he didn’t have the best angle in the home dugout. But he still wasn’t happy with the explanation given by Bellino and was ejected. Moments later Phillips scored on a fielder’s choice grounder to Desmond, who came home with the throw.
But the Nats weren’t happy with Phillips’ emphatic reaction after he knocked down Nieves. When the Reds second baseman batted again in the top of the ninth, Washington reliever Miguel Batista hit him with a fastball. Umpire Joe West promptly ejected Batista and Phillips just trotted to first base.
“That one got away,” said Batista, who steadfastly maintained his innocence, but still probably won’t escape a fine from Major League Baseball. “[Phillips] knows he did wrong. He got booed by the fans.”
Leake, chosen No. 8 overall in last year’s draft, was brilliant. The right-hander allowed just one unearned run on seven hits. He didn’t walk any batters – though he did hit Josh Willingham with a pitch. Leake struck out five Nats and improved to 5-0 on the year with a 2.22 ERA. He is just the 21st player to go straight from amateur baseball to the major leagues without pitching in the minors since the draft was instituted in 1965. The last to do so was Xavier Nady after he was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2000.
It has been 34 years since a Cincinnati starting pitcher began his career 5-0. Leake is pretty good with the bat, too. He had two singles on the night, raising his batting average to .417, and also scored a run. The Nats would be ecstatic if Strasburg could match those numbers when he makes his major-league debut on Tuesday.
“Not a lot of frustration. That kid’s good,” Desmond said of Leake. “You would never know that he didn’t play in the minor leagues or that this is his first year. He hit his spots all night. He pretty much abused us.”
