Center Field Gate

The Washington Nationals won their six straight game, coming from five runs down to beat Jon Garland and the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 on Friday night at Nationals Park. The Nats were keyed by Josh Willingham’s seventh inning bases-loaded single that put the Nats up 7-5. The Nats won despite another poor outing for their starter. Collin Balester started the game, but gave up five runs on eight hits to the rattlers in a little over four innings. Once again the Nationals were able to overcome the deficit because of the hot bats in the middle of their line-up; Ryan Zimmerman hit his 24th home run, Willingham went 3-4, and Elijah Dukes had three RBIs. The Nats’ bullpen had another strong outing, reversing the team’s early season trend. Returning reliever Saul Rivera — just recalled to the big club from Syracuse — pitched one-and-two-thirds solid innings and Mike “Heart Attack” MacDougal faced eight batters to get the last five outs. MacDougal, whose control seems always suspect, earned his eleventh save.

The Showboats, riding a five game winning streak, provided most of the game’s early fireworks, touching Balester for three home runs – by Mark Reynolds, Josh Whitesell and Stephen Drew. Balester admitted after the game that he was leaving the ball up in the strike zone. “The starting staff knows that it has to give the offense and the bullpen a little bit of a break,” Balester added. “The bullpen has been great and the offense has been great. John Lannan has been consistent all year, but the rest of us need to step up and go deeper in the ballgames. We know that.” Elijah Dukes had another stellar outing: with a second inning sacrifice fly to score the Nats’ first run and the doubling off the wall in the fourth inning. Dukes eventually scored on a Wil Nieves sacrifce fly.

MacDougal, who had appeared in four of the last five Nats’ games was called on early (after one out in the eighth inning) by interim manager Jim Riggleman. “I had an off day yesterday, so it was good,” MacDougal said after the game. “I was trying to get quick outs.” The hard-luck MacDougal seems to have hit his stride: the former Kansas City and Chicago White Sox reliever has thrown nearly 33 innings in 35 games for the Nats, recording eleven saves in 12 opportunities. The former Wake University star’s best year was 2003, when he registered 24 saves for the Kansas City Royals by mid-season and appeared in the all-star game. MacDougal has had to battle through some tough times in his career: he was struck by a bat and lost feeling in his right arm in 2001, lost his relief job with the Royals after battling the flu in 2004, and battled injuries while with the Pale Hose in 2006. He was released by the White Sox and signed a minor league deal with the Nationals last May.

"Heart Attack" MacDougal now has 11 saves

The Nats got their man with the first pick in the MLB Draft last night — but can they sign him? It is a “possible landmark case,” writes The Washington Post’s Dave Sheinin, “bringing together baseball’s most notorious agent, a pitcher who has been called the best prospect in history and the worst franchise in the game—all within a draft system that has been criticized as unmanageable and unfair.” The case is a “landmark” because Strasburg agent Scott Boras believes the San Diego State phenom should command the same amount of money as Daisuke Matsuzaka, who signed a $52 million deal with the Red Sox two years ago.

The Nats have until August 17 to sign Strasburg and Nats officials are making positive noises that a deal can get done. Former GM Jim Bowden recently told an XM radio interviewer that Strasburg would be signed at the last minute and that he would sign for somewhere around $15 million. Bowden may be right, but the money for Strasburg may go much higher — because Boras might be calculating that he has the Nats where he wants them. They need to sign Strasburg after failing to sign Aaron Crow last year, and the team’s poor play this season has put pressure on the Lerners to show that they are willing to spend money to build a contender.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was all smiles during the draft last night, but he’s watching the negotiations closely. Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap like other professional sports, but Selig has been trying to hold down signing bonuses, confidentially assigning each team a suggested bonus and salary level for a team’s “slot.” Selig’s suggestions are just that and many teams ignore them. Even so, Selig’s strategy is transparent: he wants to establish major league baseball’s position on compensation for first year players prior to the opening of negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement in 2011. Selig has toughened baseball’s position on the issue; the Commissioner has reportedly recommended that teams cut their cap by ten percent because of the economy. If the Nats sign Strasburg for close to what Boras wants it would drive up signing bonuses and salaries for future draft picks, which could put Selig and baseball in a tough spot in 2011. “Privately, baseball has already said the draft is a major priority in the next collective bargaining. Signing bonuses have gotten out of hand,” an MLB executive told the Toronto Star.

That may be true, but MLB executives who’s job it is to watch their team’s pocketbooks had to be pleased that the bottom fell out on Aaron Crow, who the Nats picked at #9 last year. But the Nats could not sign Crow and the former Mizzou righthander has been pitching for the Independent League Fort Worth Cats. Crow fell to the Kansas City Royals at #12 this year — and will  command a lot less money than he would have gotten from the Nats in 2008. Drafting an unsigned player from a previous draft is a Royals habit — they did that with right-hander Luke Hochevar in ‘06, after he failed to sign with the Dodgers in 2005. It’s a clever strategy; it saves money and it dampens first year bonuses: while Strasburg has leverage on the Nats, the Royals have leverage on Crow. ”What’s he going to do, go back and pitch for Ft. Worth?” a commentator on MLB Network asked.