DC: Game 4: Nats def. Rockies

I dare Baseball Tonight to air 15 seconds of highlights from a Nats-Rockies game in a one-hour broadcast. We didn't get any last night, but I suppose there were more important things to talk about. Like Barry Bonds, for half an hour.

It was a well-pitched game in DC Sunday afternoon, in any event.

Final Score: Nationals 3, Rockies 0
WP: Rauch (5-2, 3.76 ERA)
LP: Julio (0-3, 6.09 ERA)

Jorge Julio blows a game for an opposing team against the Nationals. Shocker.

Tim Redding has apparently forgotten that he was supposed to be terrible since being called up this season. Another strong performance here, going 6.2 innings with five hits and no earned runs. His ERA is now sub-3.00 this season. He was relieved by Chris Booker, who I didn't even know had been called up to the major leagues. Oops.

No harm done on my end. Sunday was the first game Booker has appeared in all season. Booker appears to have been recalled from Columbus on July 21st, in exchange for Jason Simontacchi, who was placed on the 15-day DL July 20th.

Rauch pitched a scoreless 8th inning, allowing one hit and one walk. With the score still knotted at 0-0, Austin Kearns hit the deciding blow in the bottom of the 8th inning against Julio. A three-run blast just past the foul pole in left field. Cordero came in to pitch a scoreless a scoreless 9th inning and pick up his 19th save of the season.

The Nationals are off on Monday but will return Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park for a series with NL East division rivals the Philadelphia Phillies.

RHP Jason Bergmann (2-5, 4.46 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Kendrick (4-1, 4.40 ERA)

Bergmann has struggled since returning to the Nats' rotation. His last outing was another iffy one, though his four earned runs (including two homers) were good enough to earn him his first win since his DL stint.

Not that wins are an important stat when talking about Jason Bergmann. He didn't even win games when he had a sub-3.00 ERA.

One positive to take out of Bergmann's outing against Houston is that it was his longest since the DL: six innings. He'll hope to build on that Tuesday up in Pennsylvania.

Phillies' rookie Kyle Kendrick suffered the first loss of his major league career against the Dodgers on July 18th. In 5.1 innings, he allowed five earned runs on seven hits, including two homers. It is the first time since joining the major league club that Kendrick has given up five or more earned runs and lasted less than six innings. Tuesday will be Kendrick's first career start against the Nationals.

Trade news: Nothing concrete yet for the Nationals, though many teams continue to be interested according to Barry Svrluga's Nationals Journal blog. He names the usual Cordero, Rauch, Belliard, and Young as drawing trade interest, as well as OF Ryan Church.

Out of those, I'd say Belliard is the most likely to get moved. Bowden has a habit of asking for too much for Cordero. There are health concerns now with Young's foot, and he's not a great fielder, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him shipped as well. Rauch, as I've said before, would be a great pick-up for a team. But his number of innings logged this season might scare off potential buyers. Ryan Church is a good player, but I'm not sure he'd make a big difference for a contending ballclub unless they've had an injury and need an emergency outfielder with major league experience. Belliard, on the other hand, can field and can hit. He can play everyday, or he can come off the bench. And he got key hits in post-season play just last year.

Svrluga also reports that the Nationals may be interested in acquiring Adam Dunn from the Reds. Strange. I wonder how much Bowden would have to give up to get that deal done. And if it happened, I'd imagine Bowden would want to be sure that he could sign Dunn to a long-term deal in the off-season. The one thing Bowden has going for him is that former Reds Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns are with the team so Dunn would make a good fit personality-wise. And I give Bowden credit: he managed a near-steal of a trade last year with Cincy. Maybe lightning strikes twice here. We'll see. No doubt, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez have been great pick-ups for the Nats.