April 9, 2009 [LINK / comment]
Day One of the 2009 season was pretty awful for my two favorite teams, as both the Yankees and the Nationals were trounced by lopsided two-to-one margins, losing to, respectively, the Orioles (10-5) and to the Marlins (12-6). In Miami, Nats "ace" pitcher John Lannan lasted only three innings, giving up six runs. (Why is he considered the team "ace"? Because none of their other starting pitchers were with Washington last year!) Bright spot: Adam Dunn homered in his first game in a Washington uniform. The Marlins went on to sweep the Nats, but at least the margins of defeat in the games on Tuesday and Wednesday night weren't so big: [8-3] and 6-4.
Last year, in contrast, the Nats won their first three games and then lost their next nine, which turned out to set the pattern for the rest of that horrible, horrible inaugural season in Nationals Park.
C.C. Sabathia's first outing in pinstripes didn't go very well, and the Orioles beat the Yankees in the second game as well, but the Bronx Bombers lived up to their fearsome reputation on Thursday, thrashing the O's, 11-2. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher hit their first home runs since joining the Yankees.
The Los Angeles Angels are mourning the death of their up-and-coming pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed by a drunk driver in Fullerton, CA last night. The team postponed today's game. It happened just a few hours after Adenhart threw six shutout innings for the Angels, an auspicious start to what would have been his first full season in the majors. He grew up in suburban Maryland, and the Washington-area TV stations had full coverage of the very sad turn of events. See MLB.com, which has a list of active player deaths since 1990.
The Washington Nationals front office could not come to terms with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, so the two sides have agreed to suspend negotiations over a contract renewal until the after the season is over. See MLB.com. Zimmerman has only two hits so far this season, in 14 at bats.