Matt Chico News

Guzie is well positioned to become the last original National. And more importantly, my jersey gains an additional 24 months of shelf life.

Guzie is well positioned to become the last original National. And more importantly, my jersey gains an additional 24 months of shelf life.

Carlos Zambrano proclaimed last week that his diet of 'bananas, bananas and more bananas' was going well, helping to prevent the cramping that has haunted him in the past.

After finishing April with a 4-1 record following Saturday night's 7-0 victory over Washington, Zambrano might want to invest in his own banana plantation.

Zambrano threw seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, as the Cubs matched their previous franchise high of 16 victories in April.

The only other time that happened was in 1969, the year of their infamous collapse. Zambrano said this year's team is different.

Washington Nationals director of Florida operations Thomas Bell has a message he wants to get out to baseball fans in Brevard County.

Thursday, June 12, 2008; Page E08 The Next Three ALL GAMES ON WWWT PERSONNEL DEPT.

Jun 9, 2008 12:00 AM by Brian McNally , The Examiner It was perfectly clear that Garrett Mock 's first stint with the Nationals would be brief.

Odalis Perez has tendinitis in his left shoulder, and will miss his next start. Manager Manny Acta has four days to determine who that start will go to, and it was something that he discussed with his coaching ...

The Washington Nationals' temporary replacement for injured starting pitcher Odalis PA©rez will come from Class AAA Columbus, Manager Manny Acta said yesterday. PA©rez, the Opening Day starter, left Tuesday's game with tendinitis in his left shoulder and will not make his scheduled start Sunday.

Acta will decide on Sunday's starter "in a day or so," he said. "We're just looking at some of the possibilities."

Acta limited those possibilities to the staff at Columbus. 'That narrows it to what, like 11 guys?' he said. But, really, it means the Nationals will likely choose from a pool of four: Tyler Clippard, Mike O'Connor, Garrett Mock and Collin Balester.

Phillies vs. Reds, 7:05, Citizens Bank Park. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WPHT ; WUBA Spanish.

Ryan Howard belts his first homer of the game, a solo shot in the fifth inning. He hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

Outfielder Austin Kearns ' sore right elbow doesn't seem to be getting any better, prompting the Washington Nationals to seek second and third opinions.

Baseball players approved a toughened drug agreement yesterday - the last possible day for ratification.

The Nationals optioned pitchers Matt Chico and Chris Schroder to Triple-A Columbus and selected the contracts of outfielder Ryan Langerhans and pitchers Charlie Manning and Brian Sanches.

Certainly science has a name for this, the kind of implosion too vast for common math to quantify.

The final score last night at Nationals Park -- Philadelphia 12, Washington 2 -- suggests a rare brand of unwatchable baseball, but it scarcely articulates how the Nationals, for 2 hours 58 minutes, failed to perform in almost any capacity. Relief pitching faltered. Hitting stuttered in the clutch. 'It snowballed,' first baseman Dmitri Young said.

Now, an off day allows them to inspect the damage they'd likely rather forget.

The Nationals' pitching and hitting never arrived at Nationals Ballpark on Wednesday night and the team paid for it -- big-time -- as the Phillies won the game, 12-2. Left-hander Matt Chico started in place of ...

With the Nationals wanting Shawn Hill to rest his ailing right elbow, left-hander Matt Chico will to take his friend's start against the Phillies on Wednesday night at Nationals Park.

“Just give it a day and hopefully get some treatment and get back.”

By Jeff Nelson Special to The Washington Post Monday, May 19, 2008; Page E09 BALTIMORE, May18 -- Nationals right-fielder Austin Kearns was a late scratch from Sunday's starting lineup against the Baltimore ... via The Washington Post

“That doesn't happen a lot. "I honestly thought it happened more than six years ago. I thought it would happen a couple of times a year, maybe. "I thought I saw Hanley [Ramirez] do it, but obviously I hadn't.”

Falling into the "Did You Know?" category is something that took place in an otherwise routine blowout on Saturday at Nationals Park. via Major League Baseball

There was one bright spot in the Nationals' 7-3 loss to the Marlins on Friday night: Left-hander Matt Chico made his first career relief appearance and pitched two scoreless innings. via Washington Nationals

“Back to back two innings each day, it's a lot tougher than it looks.”

The Washington Nationals did not announce yesterday which pitcher will start Thursday's afternoon game against the New York Mets. via The Free Lance-Star