Center Field Gate

On Monday night in Phoenix, Livan Hernandez showed once again why he remains the acknowledged ace of the Washington Nationals staff. In  7.1 innings of solid in-and-out and up-and-down pitching, Hernandez surrendered just five hits to his former teammates in Arizona and the Nationals notched a much-needed road win 3-1. “[Hernandez] was outstanding,” Nats skipper Jim Riggleman said after the win. “I hated that last walk he had, because I was going to let him finish that inning and maybe finish the ballgame. When he’s throwing like that, hitting spots and keeping hitters off balance, it is one of those nights where he can go nine [innings].” Livan’s performance was matched by Nats’ catcher Ivan Rodriguez, whose second inning dinger was his 300th as a catcher. Sean Burnett closed the game, striking out two of the D-Backs last five hitters.

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: Sunday’s loss to the Phillies, a contest in which the Nats might have notched a sweep against their I-95 competitors, was emotionally churning, in large part because of the flood of Phillies fans — in town to cheer on their favorites. The tide of Pony partisans left Nats’ fans as embittered on Sunday as they had been at the end of Opening Day. “These people ought to stay the f — home,” a Curly W supporter muttered in the 6th inning. “This is sickening, not necessary,” another said. “Are we required to sell these people tickets?” But unlike Opening Day, the Nats apparently had it all figured out: MASN broadcaster Bob Carpenter kept talking about the “growing rivalry” between the clubs, as if to protect that Nats front office from the decision to fill the seats — no matter what.”It’ll be a rivalry when we put 20,000 fans in PNC Park,” a Nats fan growled, “and not until.” Cooler heads did not prevail: “It’ll turn around,” a Nats fan opined, and was answered by a glum rooter in one of the forward rows. “Yeah, it’ll turn around,” he said, “when the Nats get into the post-season.” There were also mutterings when a fan arrived late, proudly sporting a new Donovan McNabb jersey: “Wrong jersey, wrong ballpark, wrong team, wrong sport . . .”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The exchange on the health of “the kid” between CFG and one of our readers has become a torrent. Here’s the latest: “Dear editor: Thanks for your prompt and thoughtful response. Since that give-and-take worked so well, one further suggestion if I might: as the days pass with Saint Stephen on the sideline (now hopefully on the mend), could CFG please regularly update his physical and mental condition as warranted – including any medical info/predictions and gossip picked up from the various sources/websites perused constantly by CFG’s staff.  Many of your readers don’t always have the time to collect this valuable information — and rely on you to provide it. Please don’t lose track of the essential truth of this situation:  the fate of his sore arm is the big story of this franchise . . . Sincerely, An appreciative reader . . .”

Well, well, well. This is right in our wheelhouse. And yet the head of our research staff (here he is, with a group of CFG interns) is feeling the pressure. “Yes, big boss, I jumps in it,” he said. “I leave no stone on ground.” Several hours later we had our answer: “I think Mister Stephen in Arizona, mmmmm … chance maybe not so good,” he said. “Maybe boy in L.A. pitch good. Maybe, maybe not. I dunno.” And then he puckered his lips and kissed his miniature giraffe . . .

The pride of the N.L. Central, the Phillies of the Midwest, the North Side Drama Queens are “sinking like a stone,” have “bought the baseball farm,” have “reached the bottom of the barrel.” There is no cliche perfect enough to describe the extinction level event that has become your Chicago Cubs. Think it can’t get worse? It can, because it has. The Wrigley’s have now lost six in a row, and it hasn’t been pretty. The North Siders dropped what might have passed for a softball exhibition game to the Brew Crew last night by a score of 18-1. Repeat after me: 18-1. You can expect some of those kinds of games (where nothing in the world goes right), but the Cubs play them regularly, with aplomb and with no apparent loss of sleep. Over the last six games, the Cubs have been outscored 63-17.

The cataclysm has Cubs’ fans in an uproar. And the promised makeover might be years, not months, away — the Baby Bears are stuck with huge contracts to a number of perennial head cases (Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano) and, as of July 31, were only able to rid themselves of their two best players. Way to go Jim, nice job. When in doubt, get rid of those keeping you afloat. This just in: after thinking about it for less than a milisecond, Ryan Theriot told a reporter (stop the presses) that he likes being in L.A. Really? No kidding. Worse yet: this team went nova entirely on its own; this has nothing to do with fan interference in foul ground. It’s their own damn fault, as even the most diehard Wrigleyville partisans will now admit. It’s a sad and sorry story, but (like a car wreck) you can’t avert your eyes. In a strange (and sick) kind of way, it’s almost fun to watch. Unless you’re Lou.

The Washington Nationals rallied for their second game in a row, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3, behind Adam Kennedy’s eighth inning single. Kennedy’s hit went just under the outstretched glove of Brewer Prince Fielder, chasing across two runs and sealing the game. Matt Capps came on in the ninth for his fifth save in five attempts. The Nats are now an unlikely 5-5 on the season. “It’s coming together a little bit, slowly,” Riggleman said. “Piece by piece, it’s coming together. But I really feel that certainly we’re not playing at the top of our games by any means. I’m just really glad the way they’re scrapping and getting after it.”

Kennedy’s clutch at-bat came in a game where the Nats were missing two of their key pieces: Adam Dunn was ejected in the first inning for throwing his helmut on a called third strike by the third base ump, and Ryan Zimmerman remained sidelined by a sore hamstring. But the Nats, using their new-found team speed and their hitting-for-singles approach, were able to squeeze out the victory.”When you can win games and you haven’t played great, it’s a really good sign,” Kennedy said. “It should be a fun year.” Kennedy, who’s been struggling at the plate in the early going, raised his average to .214, providing needed defense at third and first. When Dunn was ejected, Riggleman shuffled his defense, putting the Nats’ newest super utilityman Alberto Gonzalez at third.

While starter John Lannan did not register the win, he was effective for the first time in three season outings. Lannan pitched a full seven innings, scattering seven hits while striking out five. The lefty was able to work through the middle of the Brewers’ order, feasting off the light-hitting lumber at the bottom of Milwaukee’s line-up. Milwaukee’s sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth hitters went a combined 0-12 against the lefty. “It shows we have a lot of depth,” Lannan said. “We’ve been able to win games. I don’t think we’ve hit our stride. We’re just building off each win.” Washington’s victim was Brewers’ reliever LeTroy Hawkins, who appeared in his second consecutive poor outing. Hawkins signed a two-year $7.5 million deal in the off-season, but has been a disappointment.

The Worst Free Agent Contract In The Majors? There are rumors that the Chicago Cubs are actually considering unloading the atmospheric contract of left fielder Alfonso Soriano — by releasing him. The rumors apparently began when baseball beat reporter David Brown circulated an update on the Cubs’ frustrations over Soriano’s lack of defense — and detailed the options the Cubs might have in dealing with their flighty star. Rob Neyer repeated and expanded on these concerns, highlighting Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella’s growing anger at Soriano’s inability to play an even average left field: Soriano dropped a fly ball against the Reds last Sunday and misplayed two others against the Brewers. Soriano’s free agent contract is among the most bloated in baseball: he’s due to get paid $18 million a season until 2014.

Reporter David Horowitz is one of Soriano’s most outspoken critics, channeling (in Bleacher Report), what has to be considered an authoritative inside-the-clubhouse judgment: “What does this guy do? If he can’t hit, he’s worthless. And he’s not hitting. Even when he does hit, at least in the past, he would get in streaks where you couldn’t get him out and he could carry a team. That’s why he got that contract,” Horowitz wrote last week. “But when he wasn’t hot, you would be better off with that little leaguer at the plate, because he’s a sure out. He has no plate discipline and he tries to pull everything. He has no plan when he steps up to the plate other than praying that the pitcher will throw him a fastball in his zone.” The Arlington Heights Daily Herald, a sometime-source on the North Side Drama Queens, headlined the Soriano reports — “Break out or you sit out!”

But could the Cubs actually release Soriano? It’s not as if they don’t have options: Xavier Nady is better defensively and is starting to hit, and the Sluggies have what some observers dub a Joe Dimaggio-in-waiting — future superstar Tyler Colvin, who’s hot Spring bat won him a place on the club and the support of the legion of Cubs’ rooters nationwide. The Cubs brain trust, meanwhile, is carefully adding wood to the bonfire — perhaps as a way of sending the tone deaf Soriano a message. Lou Piniella expressed confidence in Soriano, but he then replaced him in the outfield with Colvin on the day following Soriano’s embarrassing left field gaffe. Cubs GM Jim Hendry was not nearly so careful: he denied that the Cubs were thinking about releasing Soriano, but only after pointedly saying that playing time “will not be determined by salary.” Hendry’s got it right, of course: the Ricketts’ family might be rich — but they’re not that rich.

Josh Willingham’s two grand slam home runs powered the Washington Nationals to a 14-6 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Monday night. Willingham became the 14th player in major league history to hit two grand slams in a single game. The first Willingham blast was hit in the fifth, the second in the sixth. Ryan Zimmerman added one of his own (his 18th), in the eighth. The rap against Willingham is that while he has shown power, he usually homers with no one on base; presumably that rap will be forgotten after his impressive display in Milwaukee. The first recorded double grand slam game, according to major league baseball, took place in 1936, the last occurred in 2003 –when Bill Mueller hit two for the Red Sox.

You have to believe that the Nats’ were happy to come away from tonight’s contest with a win — Craig Stammen proved ineffective in four-and-two-thirds innings of work: he gave up nine hits and five earned runs before being relieved by Jason Bergman, who pitched to six batters and gave up two hits. Sean Burnett and Logan Kensing closed out the game without giving up a run. Burnett lowered his ERA to 2.53. Nyjer Morgan’s three-for-five night pushed him over the .300 mark; he is now hitting .303 and has become the club’s everyday centerfielder. Rightfully so: since joining the Nats, Morgan has hit .388.

Willingham was not the only player to hit a grand slam tonight. Fernando Tatis hit a grand slam in the New York Mets 7-3 win against the Rockies. It was the New Yorker’s third win in a row; and Chicago Cubs’ left fielder Alfonso Soriano hit a walk-off grand slam homer against the Astros in Wrigley Field. The Soriano homer gave the streaking Cubs a 5-1 win over division rivals Houston . . . The Cubs need all the wins they can get, now that St. Louis has solidified the middle of its line-up with the addition of Matt Holliday, who is hitting like he’s happy to be back in the National League. Holliday’s arrival, coupled with the return of Mark DeRosa from the DL and the addition of Red Sox castoff Julio Lugo gives the “new look Cardinals” one of the toughest line-ups in the NL. The Cardinals look like they can beat anyone — except the Phillies of course: this last weekend the Redbirds lost two of three to the Phuzzies, and were outscored 24-16 . . . The only thing the Cubs, Cards and suddenly mortal Trolleys need is for Philadelphia to get another pitcher. And they might — they’re still the lead team in the hunt for Blue Jay ace Roy Halladay. If the Phillies land Halladay, the Cards can start waving white flags from the top of Busch Stadium . . .

On a day of great hitting, Tim Lincecum pitched a complete game, striking out fifteen while giving up only four hits against the Ahoys. The fifteen strike outs tied a franchise record held by Gaylord Perry. Lincecum is now 11-3 with a 2.30 ERA . . . The Giants are agog over landing Cleveland Indians’ Ryan Garko, a player they say they “coveted.” Really? It’s possible to “covet” Matt Holliday or Roy Halladay . . . but . . . Not that it was a bad deal: Garko is hitting .285 with eleven home runs. The Giants needed a bat and gave up relatively little to get a good one. Still, Garko is no Matt Holliday (whom the Redbirds, rightly, “coveted”) and you have to believe the Giants will need an even bigger bat to compete for the wild card. The Giants just lost two of three to the Rockies — their competition in the NL West. They’re now nine games behind the Dodgers and one game behind those same Rockies in the wild card . . . that said, the Giants’ acquisition of Garko plugs the hole they had at first base, which means it’s unlikely they will pony up for Nick Johnson, whose price was likely much steeper than the one they paid for Garko . . .