Bryce Harper Wears Derek Jeter Wrist Band

Bryce Harper, who even when he was playing in the league for the Nationals was still a Yankees fan at heart, was wearing a giant Derek Jeter wrist sweatband during Tuesday night's game vs the New York Mets. Is it cool he is repping a class act major leaguer or annoying because it is the Yankees? You make the call!

VIDEO: A Quick Look At Rafael Soriano, New Washington National

We take just one minute to look at what the deal is with Rafael Soriano, who was acquired by the Nationals from the New York Yankees on Tuesday afternoon.  Check it out!

Nationals Sign Rafael Soriano And His Untucked Shirt

According to everyone on the recently exploded Twitter, and the Washington Post, the Nationals have picked up Yankees closer Rafael Soriano.  The online reaction seems to be "WTF" and over the next couple days you will hear everyones opinion.

Storen?...Clippard?...left handers?...cash money?...lots of questions...

The deal is done, and if you want more info on that check out the link above.  But for now, lets take a look at our favorite part of sports, the weird stuff that has nothing to do with the game.

Whenever Soriano gets the final out and the save, he untucks his shirt.  Oooh.  Ahhhh.  Check it out:

I'm down with the shirt untucking.  I'm very anti-tuck.

Saturday Sound Off: Salary Cap

Saturday Sound Off

Our Chance to Complain About Things We Think We Know About

Salary Caps.  They are nothing new to professional sports.  In fact, almost every major sport in America other than Baseball has one.  

The discussion about a lack of a cap in baseball is nothing new and the things I'm about to say are not revolutionary, but I feel that they can't be said enough...

So You Lost To The Yankees...

Two weekends ago the Washington Nationals went up to Fenway Park and swept the Red Sox.  Based on the Red Sox previous winning tradition along with the hype the team gets from ESPN, the win looked a lot more impressive than it actually was.

In reality the Red Sox are a team that is playing .500 baseball.  Sox fans will tell you it is because of injury, but who cares what the reason is.  If you look at their wins & losses, they are not the Red Sox of old.  Sweeping any team on the road is a great feat, but the fact that it was the Red Sox shouldn't really add any extra "oohs" and "ahhs"

The next series was another road sweep for the Nats.  It was another big 3 games, but again the team they were playing was nothing special, a Blue Jays team floating around .500.  In fact, in 2 of the games, the Blue Jays starting pitchers left with injuries and they had to scramble just to finish games.

That is why the Yankees series was shaping up to be so exciting.  After steamrolling teams that they were supposed to beat, the Nats would be challenging one of the top teams in baseball.  Beating the Jays is nice and all, but playing a playoff contender like the Yankees could really give the team an idea of how they might fare in the postseason.

And when it was all said and done, the Yankees escaped Washington with a sweep...

From a fan's perspective it was a baseball weekend from Hell.  The hated Yankees came to town, they beat the Nationals, and their fans were LOUD about taking over the ballpark.  But is getting swept by the Yanks the beginning of the end for the Nattys?

If you think about it, if not for a bad call by an umpire, the Nats could have taken 1 game from the Yankees.  The Bronx Bombers proved that they are a better team than the Nationals at this point in the season, and the Nationals failed to rise to the challenge, but it was a good learning experience that happened in June and not October, and they didn't get flat out embarrassed.

So don't give up on the Nationals yet.  One series against a good team doesn't really give you any solid determinations.  But with the Rays & the Orioles up next, teams that are a combined 20 games over .500, DC Sports fans may have a better idea of where the Nationals sit in terms of playoff potential at the end of the weekend.

Yanks Sweep Adam Cool & El Borracho

Yankees 4, Nationals 1

The Nationals offense was nowhere to be found as Ivan Nova pitched the Yanks to a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon to give them the sweep at Nats Park.  Nova went 7 2/3 innings giving up 7 Nats hits but only one run.  Meanwhile Edwin Jackson kept up the Nats recent tradition of throwing way too many pitches on route to his 5th loss of the season.


Jackson threw 110 pitches and only made it 6 innings, causing the bullpen to work another long day.  The Yanks had several scoring chances against E-Jax but he got out of several jams, only giving up 2 runs.

The Yanks struck first on a sac fly in the first inning, but the Nats came right back in the 2nd with an Adam LaRoche homerun.  FP Santangelo said a security guard calls LaRoche "Adam Cool" and so a new nickname has been born (at least in FP's mind).

The Yanks got solo shots by Granderson & Cano, and scored on a "passed ball" that actually was a Hit By Pitch that the umpire missed.  Tim Timmons wasn't behind the plate but it didn't stop him from making a terrible non-strike call after an appeal to 3rd on a clear Yankee swing as well.

FP, who is obsessed with nicknames, also dubbed Michael Rodriguez, El Borracho due to his wild pitching.

Much needed day off tomorrow ... Rays come to town Tuesday...

Did I Do That? Yeah You Did Lidge

Yankees 5, Nationals 3

Four and a half hours of baseball, and the Nationals had no other choice than to put Brad Lidge into the ballgame.  And that is why, when it was all said and done, the Yankees defeated the Nationals in 14 innings on Saturday afternoon.

Lidge ruined the Nationals bullpen's 7 hitless innings streak, giving up a single to the first batter he faced.  Then before you knew it Texiera was standing at 3rd base after a triple, and the scoreboard read 5-3 in favor of the Yanks.

Brad Lidge made two appearances in the series, giving up 5 runs while only getting 3 total outs.  His ERA is now over 9.  Davy Johnson may have to make a tough decision coming up.

But the game should never have even gotten to that point...

Tim Timmons.  This is a name I should never know.  But a terrible call at homeplate in the 8th inning kept the game tied.  The following freeze frame shows the Nats scoring the go-ahead run at home, but the umpire called him out and the game went on...a long time.

Got any cheese?  Steve Urkle did as he threw out the first pitch, a strike.  Zimmerman took over from there throwing way too many pitches in 6 innings of work.  Zim threw 55 combined pitches in just 2 innings (3&4).  Pettitte and Zimmermann had basically the same stats.  Both gave up 5 hits, 2 earned runs, walked 3, and struckout 6.

Woah Mama!  In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Jesus Flores shattered his bat, but the ball went all the way to the wall.  That insane hit was not as good as this one, but scored 2 early runs for the Nats & Jordan Zimmermann.

Look what you did!  In a wild 4th inning the Nationals defense fell apart and the Yanks snuck in a run.  A non-hurting dropped fly ball in left (runner at 3rd was forced out) followed by a double play throw to first that couldn't be scooped by Tyler Moore, and then an Ian Desmond booted easy grounder let a run in from third.

Davy WTF:  In the 6th, instead of walking the 8th batter with 2 outs and pitching to Andy Pettite who is terrible, they pitched to Chavez who drove in the go-ahead run on a double.

No Sweat My Pet!  But in stepped Ian Desmond in the bottom of the 8th to make up for his previous error.  Dezzy jacked a no-doubter out to left field.

 Later in the 8th, on a shallow single by Adam LaRoche to right, Tyler Moore went 2nd to home and on the replay clearly touched the plate before he was tagged after the throw by the right fielder.  But with no replay in baseball the umps out call could not be overruled. It looked like the play of the game, but it happened so "early" in the contest.

6 innings of hitless work for the Nats bullpen, then Lidge came in and gave up a hit right away.  It was soon over for the Nats, losing the series to the Yanks.

Harper had a rough day.  He struck out 5 times in the contest (0-7 on the day) and got more angry each time.  By the final 2, Harper was jawing with the umpire, slamming his bat, throwing his helmet, and giving staredowns.  Fans held their breath as he had a chance with runners on 1st & 2nd in the bottom of the 14th, but he grounded out to end the game.

14 combined pitchers in the contest...Nats try to prevent the sweep tomorrow afternoon...

Don't Call Me Maybe, Yanks Win Opener

Yankees 7, Nats 2

After a huge standing ovation, Derrick Jeter hit a bases loaded grounder to Ian Desmond who proceeded to toss the ball past the firstbaseman scoring 2 runs.  The crowd at Nats park chanted "Jeter, Jeter" (Yeah I said Nats Park) as the Yankees added insurance runs to the scoreboard.  After it was all said and done the gloating Yankees fans left the ballpark with a 7-2 win over the Nationals.

Also, Bryce Harper walked up to the plate with Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" song...WTF

Gio Gonzalez pitched very well, striking out 8 hitters.  His pitch count was high and he had way too many full counts, which led to him exiting the game early, with 0 outs in the 7th.  But Phil Hughes had an even more impressive game striking out 9 batters and only allowing 1 run, which helped the Yanks win.

After the Yanks scored 2 in the 3rd inning, the Nats answered with a Morse bases loaded single to cut the Yanks lead to 2-1.  The game got boring after that, both pitchers on cruise control.  Gio went 9 straight and Hughes went 10 straight.

Then the 7th inning happened.  Gio tried to start, but he gave up a single to the lead batter and was done after 109 pitches. Lidge came in (Brad Lidge?  yes) before you knew it the bases ended up loaded and all  of a sudden the Yankees were up 6-1.  Lidge was charged with 3 runs.  Awful.

The bullpen has been great all year with 2 exceptions.  H-Rod and Lidge.  But Davey went with Brad in the clutch situation.  It was not much of a surprise to watch Lidge walk off the mound and into the dugout after a one run lead grew to 3.

After the 7th inning, Nats Park turned into Yankees Stadium South, with very loud ovations for Yankees big plays and several very audible "Let's Go Yankees!" chants.  Annoying, but you gotta play good baseball at home.

Granderson tacked on a homer in the 9th...Nats got a run in the bottom...Nats Lose 7-2

Interleague play doesn't hurt too much in the standings, but it hurts in my heart...The Nats try again tomorrow...

Series Preview: Yankees @ Nationals

After their second consecutive sweep, the Nationals come back home to face the New York Yankees.  The Yanks are atop the AL East, but they aren't as dominate as they have been in the past.  Still they should be tougher than the last two American League teams the Nat's dispatched handily.  Here's how it stacks up:

• Friday: 7:05 PM, Hughes (6-5) vs Gonzalez (8-2).
• Saturday: 1:05 PM, Pettitte (3-2) vs Zimmermann (3-5).
• Sunday: 1:35 PM, Nova (8-2) vs Jackson (3-3).

Game of the week is going to be Saturday.  Pettitte has un-retired and has been pitching well above expectations.  Zimmermann will be going for that all elusive home win that he can't seem to get.  The outcome of the series will most likely hinge on this game.


Your sound of the series comes from: AC/DC. Bryce Harper and Nat's have been thrilling crowds during this road trip, so it's about time we get to take part in it.  Shoot to Thrill...its got Robert Downey Jr. in it being Iron Man.  I chose to pretend he was Harper the whole time.

  
Prediction Time:
Putting my reputation as a "baseball guy" on the line by predicting the outcomes of each series.  Feel free to yell at me in the comments or on twitter @dru90. 

• Nationals WIN Friday
• Nationals WIN Saturday
• Nationals LOSE Sunday

Nationals WIN the series 2-1.