Roger Bernadina Slip & Slide

The Nats got stomped by the terrible Marlins tonight.  There was basically nothing to be happy about.  So I found the one play that was amazing, and put my boredom to good use.  I give you the GIF of Roger Bernadina, The Shark, and his Slip & Slide catch:

Shark Attack On Twitter, Welcome Roger Bernadina

As reported by the crazy dudes at Sharkadina, Roger Bernadina is on Twitter and just sitting around waiting for that blue checkmark to appear.

As you can see, Roger has spent a lot of time customizing his page and using Capital letters for proper nouns.  FOLLOW HIM!!!  Also follow Sharkadina too!

28,000 Sharks At Nats Park Chomping Away

In the bottom of the 10th inning of Friday night's tough extra inning loss to the Marlins, Roger Bernadina "the shark" stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in a 9-7 game.  The crowd who remained (reporters said only 25% left) stood on their feet and all did the shark chomp.

The growth of the shark chomp, the A-Ha, and the "Let's Go Gio" ballpark staples have grown as the season goes on.  This comes most likely from more people following the team.  More people paying attention to more games.  And people watching games on TV.

Anyways here is what it looked like when 28,000 Nats fans stood on their feet and chomp chomped: After the jump

Shark Mania At Nats Park: Shark Attacks Teddy Roosevelt

Shark Mania is going out of control at Nats Park.  The Sharkadina People are going crazy right now.

During the President's race during the second game of the doubleheader at Nats Park against the Miami Marlins, a shark came out of right field to tackle Teddy Roosevelt.

Check Let Teddy Win tomorrow, they usually have the video.

Gio Rebounds, Nats End Dickey's Streak

Nationals 5, Mets 2

Gio Gonzalez and the Washington Nationals stopped R.A. Dickey and his 11 game winning streak in New York on Tuesday night as the Nats defeated the Mets 5-2.  Gio rebounded after his worst game of the season with his 13th win, going 7 innings, 2-hitting the Mets, and giving up just one run in only 87 pitches.


Dickey struggled late in the game, giving up 4 runs in the 6th inning after giving up just 1 earned run (2 runs) in the first 5 innings.  The knuckleballer finished with 7 strikeouts but gave up 8 hits and 4 earned runs.

Maybe This Is What Miguel Batista Meant!

Adam LaRoche homered for the Nats and finished 2-3 with a walk.  Three other Nats who have been on fire kept smoking.  Ryan Zimmerman, Roger Bernadina, and Danny Espinosa finished a combined 7 for 13.  Morse also picked up another hit in the victory.


Another interesting night from the bullpen with Craig Mattheus only facing one batter, the same way Storen did on the previous night.  However, unlike Drew, Mattheus gave up a homer.  If this trend of facing one batter keeps up, how will it make the bullpen feel?  Will Davey figure it out soon?


Day game tomorrow in NY as the Nats go for the sweep...

PTI Files: Roger Bernadina's Slide

Today on PTI:  Last night's cleating of the Mets Ruben Tejada by the Washington Nationals Roger Bernadina on a a play at 2nd was up for a grading in one of PTI's mini-games.

Tony Kornheiser said


"I watched this! Cuz I watch the Nats all the time at this point"

He then gave the slide a B, blaming Tejada for making a terrible play at 2nd.

Then Mike Wilbon's sub Kevin Blackistone (big Nats fan) gave Roger's slide an A because it broke up the double play.

"I give him an A, an A+ because this is effort.  This is what you are supposed to do"

Sharkadina (not affiliated with PTI) doesn't think it is a cleating, they think it was more of a ... Shark Attack:

"Ruben Tejada was paralyzed with fear when he saw Shark's dorsal fin coming right at him and he ended up right in the path of his razor shark teeth (spikes)."

Nats Offense On Fire, Detwiler Delivers

Nationals 9, Braves 2

Ross Detwiler  had a good day, but the Washington Nationals offense and 18 hits led the team to a 9-2 victory and a series split with the Braves on Sunday afternoon at Nats Park.  The Nats are now up 3.5 games on the Braves.

Less than 24 hours after John Lannan walked into the dugout after a 7th inning to a standing ovation, Ross Detwiler received the same treatment, pitching 7 innings of 7 hit baseball, giving up only 2 runs, 1 earned.  That is now 3 games in a row where the starter went 7 full innings.

To give you an idea of how well things were going for the Nats, in the 5th inning, Roger Bernadina was intentionally walked (does that ever happen?) to get to minor-league catcher Sandy Leon who proceeded to belt in his first 2 career RBIs on a bases loaded double.

Four Guys On Fire

Ryan Zimmerman hit 2 homers on a 3 for 5, 3 RBI night.  In the month of July, Ryan Zimmerman has hit safely in 16 out of 18 games, batting .414 with 9 homeruns.

Michael Morse also had 3 hits and in his last 9 games is batting .405.

Roger Bernadina reached base 4 out of 5 times at the plate, going 3 for 4 with an intentional walk and 2 RBIs.  The Shark is on fire and has 11 hits in his last 19 at bats.

Danny Espinosa has also been on fire as of late.  He went 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBIs on Sunday continuing his 8 game hit streak.  Espy has 14 hits in those 8 games.

The Nats head to NY for a series with the Mets...No Rest

Shark Attack, Nats Bite Braves

Nationals 5, Braves 2

After being shutout in the day session of a doubleheader, the Washington Nationals rallied in 3 consecutive innings to take the night game from the Braves 5-2.  Two unlikely heroes helped the Nats go back up 2.5 games in the division, John Lannan and Roger Bernadina.  FP dubbed it "Shark Week"

Lannan came out slow in the first inning, allowing 2 runs, but settled in, receiving a standing ovation when he left after pitching 7 innings.  The lefty made a case for being the guy to replace Strasburg at the end of the season while picking up his first win of the season.

The story of the offense, and of the entire day was Roger Bernadina.  The "Shark" went 2 for 3 in the early game and then exploded with 3 more hits and the game winning RBI at night.  That is 5 for 7 on the day with an RBI a run scored and a stolen base.  Not bad for one day's work.


Trailing 2-0, after the Nationals scored on a wild pitch in the 5th, Ian Desmond plated the game tying run in the 6th on a bases loaded fielder's choice and then left the game, appearing to be having some more oblique trouble.  Desmond has been avoiding the DL and trying to contribute to the team, but it may be time to give him a longer break.

Then, after Bernadina's clutch hit tied the game in the 7th inning, Espinosa drove in an insurance run in the 8th.  Bryce Harper kept his iron man streak alive, making a pinch hit appearance after missing most of the first game after fouling off a bunt that hit him in the ankle.

Harper got a standing ovation from the crowd and then went on to steal 2nd where his "limp" magically disappeared.  Danny Espinosa came in and hit a double to score Harper who limped into the dugout.  Bryce took the field in the 9th in right.

The Nats picked up another run on a booted grounder by the Braves later in the 8th and Clippard came on in the 9th to pick up his 16th save of the season.  Clippards 8th appearance in a row where he allowed a base runner.

The Nats try to salvage a tie in the series on Sunday afternoon.  Desmond, Harper, and Flores could be game time decisions.

Nats Fall Short, Wild Pitches Kill

Rockies 4, Nationals 3

The Nationals fell short despite a exciting 9th inning rally and lost to the Rockies 4-3.  Jordan Zimmermann pitched another gem today, going 7 innings of 1 run, 3 hit baseball.  The Rockies got their only run off of J-zimm in the 2nd and the Nats would take the lead in the 4th off an Ian Desmond 2 run homer.

In the 7th, Roger "the Shark" Bernadina came in and reached first base on a 2 out bunt.  He stole second and was driven in by Lombo to get the Nats an insurance run going into the 8th.  That's when the trouble started.

For the first time all season, Burnett didn't seem to have his best stuff.  He gave up a homerun and couldn't record a single out.  He left runners on the corners for a hastly warmed up Mike Gonzalez to deal with.  Gonzo would get out of the inning, but not before a wild pitch brought in the tying run from third.

The wild pitch bug was not gone as T-clip came into the 9th inning to try and keep the game tied.  Clip threw a wild one with Giambi at bat to let the go ahead run come in from third.  The Nats went to the bottom of the inning down by one.

Desmond and Bernadina both managed to reach base, and executed a double steal with two outs to give Jesus Flores a chance to win the game with a base hit.  He did not.  That Nats lost a hot one in DC, J-zimm saw another fantastic start go to waste, and the Nats failed to get to 50 wins before the break.

Still, 49 Wins ain't to shabby though, and the Nats will get some much needed rest this week before continuing their first place campaign into the second half of the schedule.  

Rockies @ Nationals: Game Preview (7/8)

Rockies vs. Nationals

1:35 PM Nationals Park

MASN-1

Story Lines:

• Final game before the All-Star break, Nats looking to finish strong.
• Former longtime Orioles Guthrie takes the mound for the Rockies tomorrow.

Pitching Match Up:

• Jeremy Guthrie
• 3-8 with a 6.28 ERA.
• Has NOT been good since joining the Rockies this season.
• First start since being taken out of the rotation earlier in the season.

• Jordan Zimmermann
• 5-6 with a 2.70 ERA.
• Has the best ERA of the rotation.
• Has gotten that "can't win at home" monkey off his back.

Who to Watch:

• Carlos Gonzalez
• Hitting .667 against J-zimm lifetime.
• Has game changing power ability and is batting well over .300 for the season (.339)
• Scored 2 runs the first game of the series before going 0-4 last game.

• Roger Bernadina
• The Shark is the only current National to have homered off of Guthrie.
• He is batting .250 with 2 RBI lifetime against the Rockies starter.
• Does not have a hit yet in the series.

Keys to the Game:

1. Start Ryan Zimmerman.  Duh. The guy has a run scored and an RBI in the first two games.
2. Knock Guthrie Out Before 7th.  His only 3 wins this season he pitched 7.0 innings.
3. Don't Change a Thing J-zimm.  Do what you do.  Its working.

Injury Update

Let's take a look at what is going on at Nats Hospital...

At The Exits

Roger Bernadina: (Day-to-Day) -Tweaked his right hamstring -Back Any Day

  
Mark DeRosa:  (15 Day DL) Oblique - Ready to begin minor league rehab - Back This Week


Ryan Mattheus:  (15 Day DL) Foot -Throwing simulated games- Back Late June


Chris Marrero:  (Rehab) - Could be back soon, where does he go? - Back Soon

In The Distance


Drew Storen:  (60 Day DL) Elbow - Throwing off the mound, still targeting the All-Star break for return - Back Late July


Jayson Werth:  (60 Day DL) Wrist - Surgery from broken wrist, now just waiting to heal -  Back Late July-Early August


Chad Tracy:  (15 Day DL) Groin - Recovering from successful surgery - Out For 2 months...or the year...


Finished

Wilson Ramos:  (Doneski) Torn ACL -Had 1st of 2 surgeries successfully -  Never Coming Back

Season Preview: Nationals Batting Order

The Nationals are starting the season two starters short.  Most of the Nats have batted all over the lineup and if they haven't they probably will this season.  This is really hard to predict, and Davy Johnson is sure to do a lot of tweaking:

1.  Ian Desmond:  The Nationals have never really had a leadoff hitter.  They think that Desmond can be the man although last season he batted 2nd a lot as well as at the bottom of the lineup.  He did lead the team with 25 steals, only 26th best in the majors.

2.  Danny Espinosa:  Espy had a surprising rookie year with 21 home runs.  Like Desmond he has moved all over the lineup, often batting in the 6th spot due to his power potential.  This year they are gonna start him in the 2nd slot, but we could see Werth there as well.

3.  Ryan Zimmerman:  This guy is the 3 man.  He is a Nationals staple.  Despite Morse leading the team in almost every batting stat including average, the Nats like Zimmerman in this spot due to his consistency.

4.  Michael Morse/Adam LaRoche:  LaRoche had a terrible offensive year last season before he was injured.  He played 42 games and hit .172.  That is worse than terrible.  With Morse returning to the lineup soon LaRoche will probably move down to 6th to make room for Matt.

5.  Jayson Werth:  While Werth followed up one of his best seasons with an egg for the Nationals he still ended up with 20 home runs.  His numbers were down just about across the board, but if he can at least get a little bit closer to his 2010 form, he will have a good rebound year.  If.

6:  Adam LaRoche/Mark DeRosa:  As discussed already LaRoche may find himself down in the lineup.  DeRosa is just a fill in the blank guy.  He will fill in on different guys off days and probably move all over the lineup.

7:  Rick Ankiel/Roger Bernadina:  Ankiel has lost quite a bit of his power over the last few years and will probably be towards the end of the lineup.  Bernadina is just filling in and he can lead off or bat just about anywhere in the lineup as well.

8:  Wilson Ramos:  WilRam showed a little bit of power in his "rookie" year.  He hit 15 home runs. He found himself up in the lineup at times last season but Davy Johnson pretty much liked him hitting back here.

9:  Pitcher Spot:  Hopefully Gio can figure out how to survive an at bat...

Bryce Harper:  We are going to wait a month to find out where the Nats are at when Bryce comes up.  It's too early right now.