Mets 8, Nationals 5
Things keep sliding downhill for the Nats. Chien-Ming Wang made his long-awaited return from a torn capsule in his right shoulder, but showed some serious rust in the first inning. Understandable after more than two years out of the big leagues. But that didn’t do Washington much good. The Nats were down 4-0 after the first inning and 6-0 after four. They lost for the sixth time in a row and have dropped 13 of 17 overall. That’s a brutal stretch with limited signs of progress. Check out our story on Wang’s return here.
Jayson Werth did reach base twice. Ryan Zimmerman had a single and a walk. Laynce Nix reached base three times and had an RBI hit in the two-run eighth inning. Wilson Ramos had an RBI single, double and a walk. But other than that Washington struggled to solve New York starter Dillon Gee (10-3, 3.69 ERA) lasted 6 2/3 innings on the mound with two earned runs allowed, three total, on four hits. He did walk four batters and struck out five. But that was plenty good enough.
Before the game, the Nats sent center fielder Roger Bernadina to Triple-A Syracuse. That move allowed them to add Wang to the 25-man roster, but you wonder if it heralds a trade in the next 48 hours. Washington now has six starting pitchers on the roster – seven, really, if you include Ross Detwiler, whose been in the bullpen for a few weeks. Rumors have swirled about trade interest in Jason Marquis, the scheduled starter on Saturday. Tom Gorzelanny pitched two innings in relief of Wang on Friday so he’s out. Bernadina is one of several players to have his name linked to possible trades, too. If not, though, he has to stay in Syracuse for 10 days before any recall.
“It’s getting old hat,” Nats manager Davey Johnson said. “We’re looking at things that we can do to help the ballclub. We’re still in that building mode. There’s some moves that we have available to us. We have a couple guys that are knocking on the door, pitchers in particular.”
He meant taking a look at minor-league pitchers Tom Milone and Brad Peacock, especially if a trade does come through for one of the team’s veteran pitchers. Milone, a 24-year-old left-hander with limited velocity, is 8-6 with a 3.62 ERA at Triple-A Syracuse. Peacock has joined him at Syracuse, where he’s made two good starts after a rough outing in his International League debut. But before that he “tore up” the Double-A Eastern League, as Johnson said it, with a 10-2 record, a 2.01 ERA and 129 strikeouts to just 23 walks. Peacock also garnered praise for his performance at Major League Baseball’s Futures Game, part of the All-Star events earlier this month in Phoenix.
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