It has not been an easy season for Nationals outfielder Rick Ankiel. It never really is for a player who has been through the wringer that is professional sports more than most.
Two separate stints on the disabled list kept him off the field. And even when he has been healthy Ankiel has often been relegated to a supporting role off the bench. But maybe things are starting to bend his way with two months still left to play in 2011.
Ankiel carried his hot bat from July into August with two home runs on Monday night against the Atlanta Braves. Washington starting pitcher Livan Hernandez helped with his best performance in five weeks thanks to six innings of one-run ball in an eventual 5-3 victory at Nationals Park.
Make it three wins in a row for Washington (52-56), which had lost 13 of 17 games before this current run of good fortune. Ankiel led off the Nats’ half of the first inning with a solo home run to right-center field. He added another solo shot in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 3-1.
“Big night for [Ankiel]. Couldn’t be happier for him,” outfielder Jayson Werth said. “Two big homers. Sometimes they say ‘It’s not how far, it’s how many.’ But both of those were pretty far.”
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| » Stephen Strasburg will make his first minor-league rehabilitation start within the next 7-to-10 days, according to Nationals manager Davey Johnson. Strasburg had Tommy John surgery to repair a torn right elbow ligament last Sept. 3. Johnson said Strasburg would most likely make his first rehab start at low-A Hagerstown, though that wasn’t officially determined yet. The Suns are home Aug. 5, 6, 7 and 8. Strasburg has spent most of the last five months at extended spring training in Viera, Fla. and two weeks ago finally began throwing simulated games. |
Since returning from the disabled list on July 1 after missing 14 games with a strained left intercostal muscle, Ankiel is batting .339 (20-for-59) with three doubles, two homers and a .381 on-base percentage. He is also the full-time starter in center field for the time being with Roger Bernadina demoted to Triple-A Syracuse over the weekend and Jerry Hairston traded to Milwaukee.
“It’s the same plan all the time,” said Ankiel, who also missed 19 games in May while on the disabled list with a right wrist injury. “You go out there and do what you can do. If you get hurt you battle through it.”
Keep that on-base percentage anywhere near that level and maybe Washington has found a legitimate leadoff hitter – at least for the rest of the season. Keep in mind that Ankiel has a career on-base percentage of .311, which is a disaster at that spot in the big leagues. But he’s hot and there aren’t any other candidates making a case right now. It was the fifth multi-homer game of Ankiel’s career and the fifth time a Nats player has done so this season.
“I don’t mind [batting leadoff],” Ankiel said. “It’s about being in the lineup. For me, if I have the chance to play, wherever you’re at you’re at. You go up there with a plan and try to execute.”
Dan Uggla answered for Atlanta in the top of the second with a homer to virtually the same spot as Ankiel’s lead-off shot. In the bottom of the second Hernandez continued his mastery of Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (12-4, 2.63 ERA). Batting 2-for-2 with a home run off Jurrjens in their limited career meetings, Hernandez took advantage when Atlanta intentionally walked No. 8 hitter Wilson Ramos with two out to face the pitcher. Hernandez foiled the strategy by grounding a ball into the hole between first and second. That scored Werth and put the Nats back on top, 2-1.
“I get mad,” Hernandez cracked. “Sometimes I see they walk him and I see Uggla playing behind second base and leave me the hole there. I go over there and hit it the other way.”
In the sixth the Nats knocked Jurrjens from the game with an RBI single from Laynce Nix. Ian Desmond reached on the next at-bat with a fielder’s choice as Werth scored. But the potential double-play relay by Uggla, the second baseman, sailed into the stands as Nix took him out with a hard slide.
Hernandez (6-10, 4.08 ERA) earned a win for the first time since June 26 against the Chicago White Sox. He allowed one run on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Drew Storen came on to close in the ninth. For the second game in a row he allowed a home run – this time the second of the game for Uggla. On Sunday against the New York Mets that resulted in a blown save. No harm done against the Braves, though. This time Storen’s teammates had given him a bigger cushion to work with against Jurrjens, a pitcher few teams have figured out this season. But Washington has scored 11 runs off Jurrjens in the last 10 innings against him, including a start on July 17 in Atlanta.
“I think as time goes on and the more we play with each other the more runs we’re going to score,” Werth said. “I think we’ve got a good club. I was happy that not a whole lot changed over the trade deadline and I think going forward this is going to be a gritty baseball team.”
