Nats 3, Atlanta Braves 2
Scott Olsen has said all along that he feels good. Even after shoulder surgery last summer. Even after the Nationals non-tendered him in the offseason to reduce their financial obligations to him. Even after he signed a smaller, incentive-laden contract. Despite all that – the business side of baseball that can turn some players bitter – Olsen believed he would return to the organization and that he would excel.
After posting a 2-4 record with a 6.03 ERA in just 11 starts in 2009, Olsen had surgery last summer on his left shoulder to repair a small labral tear. Unwilling to go to arbitration and commit close to $3 million to a player with an uncertain future, the Nats non-tendered Olsen in early December. A day later the team re-signed him to a base salary of about $1 million. But after a slow start in spring training, the front office decided to start Olsen in Triple-A. He wasn’t happy about the move. But by April 15th he was back in the big leagues. Thursday night was his best performance as a Nat as he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He gave up two hits, one earned run and struck out eight, a huge part of Washington’s 3-2 bottom-of-the-ninth win over the Braves. Olsen’s come a long way from the question mark who began the spring with a fastball stuck in the mid-80s. As he’s logged more innings, though, that old velocity is slowly returning along with his confidence. But – even if Olsen won’t admit it – the scars still remain.
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“I talked to Olsen about this. And I said ‘Man, something’s different about you,’” said Nats outfielder Willie Harris, who produced the game-winning hit with the bases loaded in the ninth. “Sometimes when your back is up against the wall and sometimes someone may think you’re not capable of doing something. What you do is you say ‘Okay. I’ll show you.’ And that’s what happens sometimes. Your character gets tested and he’s been coming through here lately and I think he’s going to continue.”
Harris would know. He was non-tendered once by his home-state Braves. The Cairo, Ga., native thought he had played well in Atlanta in 2007. The front office thought differently and so he was gone, signing with the Nats instead.
“It’s that way for everybody. When [outfielder Elijah Dukes] got released [in March] I told him this is your test, man,” Harris said. “And what it does, it either makes you a whole lot better or you just fall by the wayside. It depends on how you take it. Take it and use it, man. If someone thinks you’re not good enough or whatever they think — they think something if they non-tender you. But take that and say ‘I’m going to show you.’ And you work. And you work extra. Show them. Take that chip and use it. And I think that’s what Olsen’s doing now.”
Nats Notes
» Olsen credited shortstop Ian Desmond for several fine plays in the infield that preserved the no-hitter into the eighth. But that first hit — a hard smash single past Desmond by David Ross? “There was nothing [Desmond] could do,” Olsen said. “He did save me a couple times before. But he wasn’t getting that. I would have been real impressed if he would have got that one.
» Olsen retired 16 Braves in a row at one point and 22 of the first 23 batters he faced.
» Washington improved to 15-13 and took its fifth series of the season after winning 2-of-3 against Atlanta. The Florida Marlins visit Nationals Park this weekend for a three-game series.
» It was the third time this season Washington has gone ahead in its final at-bat, but the first time it has won on a walk-off hit.
» Nats catcher Ivan Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season in the fifth inning. He has now homered in 34 different ballparks during a 20-year career.
» Rodriguez complimented Olsen for his good fastball on Thursday to go with a darting slider that kept Atlanta off balance. The veteran catcher also noted he once had Nolan Ryan lose a no-hitter in the exact same way when they were with the Texas Rangers in the early 1990s – a hard single by Dave Winfield in the eighth inning that whipped past the shortstop.
» OF Adam Dunn is 16-for-51 (.314 batting average) with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, nine RBI and eight walks in his last 14 games. He hit his sixth homer of the year on Thursday.
» With the loss, Atlanta fell to 12-16 overall and is in last place in the National League East.
Notable Quotable
Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the performance of pitcher Scott Olsen:
“I think he’s healthy. When he was with Florida he was 90, 93. He was a different pitcher. And then when he got hurt he was 85, 86. When you don’t have your stuff it’s hard. But he obviously battled through that and had the surgery. Now he’s back to kind of where he was before. Good for him. He worked hard. He’s back. And it’s fun to play behind him….He’s the same guy he’s always been. Inside he’s probably got a little chip on his shoulder. But I think that’s what you need. I think that’s what every great athlete has. No matter how good you are or how bad you’ve done the last time you should have that on your shoulder. There’s always someone trying to take your job. I think that’s one of the things that we have here this year. Everybody wants to win and everybody wants to do the best that they can. Scott’s a perfect example of that.”
Nats catcher Ivan Rodriguez on Olsen:
“Every start he’s been throwing better and better and better. The slider was doing great, a backdoor slider to right-handed bats. And his fastball was pretty good. He’s throwing the fastball today at 92. So that tells you that he’s getting better every single start.”
