Greetings from gorgeous PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the best ballpark in the majors (in my humble estimation). I'll get back to that in a moment, but first some breaking lineup-change news from the Nats clubhouse. Check out tonight's starting nine against the Pirates...

CF Langerhans
2B Belliard***
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
SS Lopez***
C Schneider
P Chico

*** Yes, Felipe Lopez (batting average: .238, on-base percentage: .287) has been bumped all the way down to the 7-hole for the first time all season. Lopez, who has hit leadoff 57 times and hit second 13 times, is mired in a lengthy slump and has shown few signs of breaking out of it. Ronnie Belliard, meanwhile, is hitting .299 (second on the club only to Dmitri Young) and has consistently produced when called upon. Is this a one-time deal or a permanent move? Is a result of Lopez's struggles or Belliard's success? Obviously, there are plenty of questions to ask Manny Acta and Lopez later this afternoon...

But back to the original subject: PNC Park. For my money, it's tops in the big leagues.

Now, I feel obligated to provide this disclaimer before going any farther: I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up a Pirates fan. The first game I ever went to was at now-demolished Three Rivers Stadium (Aug. 1984, Expos vs. Pirates, Lee Lacy homered to lead the Bucs to victory, Pete Rose(!) started at first base for Montreal). So, yes, my opinion may be a bit biased. That said, I'm hardly the first one out there to pick PNC as the best ballpark in America. And even those who don't have it No. 1 usually have it in the top three (behind maybe Camden Yards and AT&T Park in San Francisco).

They may have a wretched team here in the Steel City, but they sure have a great stadium. Why? Let me count the ways...

1. The view. No other park can match PNC's stunning vista beyond the outfield fence. You've got the Allegheny River running right behind right field. The yellow Roberto Clemente Bridge connecting downtown to the stadium. And the downtown skyline right on the other side.

2. The cozy feel. PNC is the smallest of the new parks. It seats only 38,496 (smaller than any major-league park but Fenway) and was the first ballpark built with only two decks since Milwaukee's old County Stadium in the 1950s. So even from the top of the upper deck (where, incidentally, the press box sits) you never feel like you're terribly far from the field.

3. The little touches. The seats here are a very understated shade of navy blue that looks right at home against the green field and the limestone exterior. The 21-foot-high right-field fence (in honor of Clemente, who wore No. 21) features the first out-of-town scoreboard that includes the number of outs and location of baserunners, something other parks have since duplicated. There aren't a ton of gigantic ads splattered all over the plate, either, distracting your attention from the field.

Yes, they did things right here in the 'Burgh. As I said, it's a real shame the team that calls this palace home isn't worthy of it. But perhaps one day, these guys will figure it out and host a postseason game and the rest of the baseball world will come to realize what some of us have known for the last six years: PNC Park is the gold standard.

So, as I kind of raised in this morning's game story, last night's 4-1 loss to the Braves could actually have been considered a positive development. Not because the Nats lost, but because Jason Bergmann returned from a six-week stint on the DL and pitched very well (one run allowed over four innings). If not for his 27-pitch fourth and the strict limit he was on, Bergmann easily would have gone six or more innings, and that could have altered the outcome of the game.

It's not often that the end result of a ballgame is less important than the events that transpired before or during it, but this might have been one of those cases. As well as the makeshift Nats rotation performed with Bergmann, John Patterson and Shawn Hill on the DL, this club desperately needed at least one of them to come back. Bergmann's elbow looks perfectly healthy, and he seemed to pick up right where he left off last night. Maybe the most encouraging development for this team in several weeks. It's still going to be a while until Patterson or Hill returns, though Hill did receive good news yesterday when Dr. James Andrews determined he has no structural damage in his elbow and doesn't need surgery. Hill will re-start his throwing program in the next week and shoot for an early-August return to the rotation. Patterson? That one's tougher to answer. He's scheduled to visit the second doctor in his cross-country medical tour today, perhaps hoping one of these guys will be able to tell him what's wrong with his right arm.

Regardless, these are important times for the Nats' starting rotation. With Bergmann back, Matt Chico looking solid, Micah Bowie looking more and more legitimate every fifth day and Jason Simontacchi actually leading the club with five wins, Washington has the makings of a decent rotation at last. The only guy struggling these days in Mike Bacsik, tonight's starter who could be on a short leash if he doesn't turn things around. Why? Because there are potentially three viable replacements at Class AAA Columbus right now in Joel Hanrahan (2-2, 2.89 ERA), Emiliano Fruto (3-3, 3.48) and John Lannan (six shutout innings in his first start following his promotion from Class AA Harrisburg, where he was 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA). Clearly, the rotation of the future is beginning to take shape.

Gotta run to the clubhouse for pregame interviews, but here's tonight's lineups...

NATIONALS
CF Langerhans
SS Lopez
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
2B Belliard
C Schneider
P Bacsik

BRAVES
2B Escobar
SS Renteria
3B C. Jones
CF A. Jones
RF Francoeur
C McCann
LF Diaz
1B Saltalamacchia
P Carlyle

Discouraging news here from Atlanta: Shortstop Cristian Guzman had surgery today in Washington to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb and will miss the rest of the season.

The Nationals' worst fears were confirmed when Dr. Richard Barth, a hand specialist at Sibley Memorial Hospital, operated on Guzman's thumb today. There was brief hope the 29-year-old might be able to make it back onto the field before the end of the season, but club officials now say there's no chance of that happening.

Guzman's injury occured on a freak play as he tagged Cleveland's Josh Barfield on the helmet during the fifth inning of Sunday's 3-1 win at RFK Stadium. Amazingly, even though his thumb was bent out of shape and bleeding, Guzman insisted on staying in and wound up playing the rest of the game. Talk about gutsy. Ultimately, though, this injury was far too severe to keep playing. Guzman was told he could wear a cast and then perhaps return this season, but there would have been a very good chance the injury would get worse, still require surgery and then perhaps affect his 2008 season. At least this way, he should be fine to come back next year and hopefully once and for all overcome all the adversity that has befallen him since signing a four-year, $16.8 million contract with the Nats before the 2005 season.

In the meantime, Felipe Lopez will move back to shortstop and remain there for the foreseeable future, with Ronnie Belliard taking over at second. Brandon Watson is taking Guzman's leadoff spot tonight, but that could change over time.

On a brighter note, Shawn Hill received good news from orthopedist James Andrews in Birmingham today: there's no structural damage to his right elbow, only tendinitis. Hill was told he can begin throwing again in 10 days, and though he's still not out of the woods on this one, he and the Nats can certainly breathe a sigh of relief after learning he won't need more surgery.

Plenty more in tomorrow's paper, of course. Until then, here are tonight's starting lineups...

NATIONALS
CF Watson
SS Lopez
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
2B Belliard
C Schneider
P Bergmann

BRAVES
LF Harris
SS Renteria
3B C. Jones
CF A. Jones
C McCann
RF Francoeur
2B Johnson
1B Thorman
P Hudson

Let's see, the last time I wrote about the Nats, they were coming off a solid win over the Indians in Friday night's series opener at RFK Stadium. Cristian Guzman was playing well, Shawn Hill and John Patterson were progressing in their rehabilitations, Levale Speigner was in limbo, Chad Cordero hadn't blown a save in a while, Jesus Colome had no problems with any of his "lower extremeties" and Nook Logan hadn't committed the baserunning blunder of the year.

So, anything interesting happen since then?

Yikes, what a weekend to take off! Clearly, there's plenty going on with this team as it prepares to open a six-game road trip to Atlanta and Pittsburgh. We should have updates on all of the injured players later this afternoon/evening, but until then, here's a few things to consider:

-- Guzman's injury (a sprained ligament in his left thumb) sounds kind of serious, and that's a shame. The guy was playing extremely well and appeared to have at long last gotten over all the negative things that had befallen him since coming to town. Now, he must overcome another injury (not to mention the emotional toll it must be taking on him).

-- On the field, the Nats are back to a middle-infield combo of Felipe Lopez at shortstop and Ronnie Belliard at second. Who's going to lead off? Well, at least for tonight, it's Brandon Watson.

-- Hill is in Birmingham, Ala., today getting his right elbow checked out by Dr. James Andrews. All you need to know is this: When Andrews looks at you, he's usually carrying a surgical knife and an anesthetic. You've got to hope this won't be the case for Shawn's sake, but everyone should be prepared for the worst.

-- Patterson? Who knows anymore. He's visiting the first of, I believe, four doctors today. My guess is none of them will be able to figure out what's wrong with him, and we'll continue on this same pattern of wait-and-see ad nauseum.

-- Colome? He's now on the DL with, I kid you not, "a soft tissue infection in a lower right extremity." What is that? An abcess on his right buttock that has been plaguing him since spring training. That's as much as I'm going to say. The rest of you, feel free to have fun with it.

-- Meanwhile, Speigner was traded for himself and is now pitching for Class AAA Columbus. D'Angelo Jimenez has been called up from Columbus to be the utility infielder. Chris Schroder was sent down three days after he was called up, then recalled 45 minutes later once the Colome injury was discovered. Robert Fick could be back tomorrow from bereavement leave.

-- And yet, despite all that, there's actually some good news. (And no, I didn't just save a bunch of money by switching to Geico.) Jason Bergmann is back on the mound tonight for the Nats after a five-week stint on the DL, and he's facing the same Braves club he beat twice before getting hurt. What's more, the Braves are in their own tailspin right now. They've scored -- and I still can't believe this -- ONE RUN OVER THEIR LAST FIVE GAMES! One run! They've been shut out four times! Andruw Jones is hitting .198, in a contract year, nonetheless. And now, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz can't stand each other and have gotten into a clubhouse feud via the media that has this town all abuzz.

So I guess the moral of the story is this: As bad as things may look for the Nats, it could be worse...

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder buying Dick Clark Productions should have sent a shiver through baseball writers -- because of what might have been.

The Baseball Writers Association of America, which has created and is in charge of all the major awards in the game (MVP, Cy Young, Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year), entertained an offer not long ago from Dick Clark Productions to buy the rights to produce a television show for those awards. The BBWAA would not have profited. Instead, the money would have gone to charities and scholarships.

The membership rejected the proposal.

Had they approved it, that would have been meant Dan Snyder would have owned the right to produce an awards show for sportswriters. That's a Rod Serling script.

It took a while before the managerial carousel took a spin this year, but the first skipper ejected from the ride was really no surprise. Since the opening weeks of the season, an impotent offense, an increasingly tattered and torn bullpen and the requisite fire the manager Web site have been easy to see in Baltimore. On Monday, the axe finally fell on Sam Perlozzo, sending the Orioles scurrying to find the latest sucker to give it a go as the franchise careens toward its 10th straight losing season.

The early buzz centered about Joe Girardi, who wisely passed on taking a job with the organization (a paradoxical term when describing how the Orioles are run) and should have an excellent shot at pretty much anything that opens up this offseason. Other names have been bandied about, including Davey Johnson, domestic abuse comedian Rick Dempsey and Dusty "I Love Proven Veterans and Higher Than Average Pitch Counts" Baker.

Here's an idea for Baltimore: Just stick with interim manager Dave Trembley through the rest of this increasingly lost season, do three months worth of homework, try to show during that time there is a coherent plan in place for eventually winning 85 to 90 games and then make a managerial decision in early October. If recent history shows anything, it's that midseason hires rarely accomplish much. Since the beginning of the wild-card era (1994), only four of 35 managers picked up midseason (not counting guys who served the final week of a season for pre-emptive firings or resignations, like 1997 Mel Queen and 2004 Gary Varsho) even made the playoffs.

That's startling, and a shift from the late '80s and early '90s when many skippers transitioned nicely from midyear hire to the postseason. Minnesota's Tom Kelly, Toronto's Cito Gaston and Oakland's Tony La Russa, Atlanta's Bobby Cox and Philadelphia's Jim Fregosi all had their teams in the playoffs within two years, and all but Fregosi wound up with at least one World Series title.

Even more amazing is that those guys managed their way to the postseason with only four berths available, as opposed to eight. It's true that managerial jobs open in the middle of the year are vacant for competitive reasons, but an utter dearth of success is a bit befuddling.

Here's a look at the four managers who have made it to the playoffs after a midyear hire in the wild card era. Three had previous managerial experience, and three actually made it to the playoffs in their partial season. None actually collected a division title during their tenures.

Bill Russell, L.A. Dodgers: Russell stepped in for retiring Tommy Lasorda when the Dodgers were 41-35. He led them to a slightly better 49-37 and a wild card berth. Los Angeles was swept out of the first round by Atlanta, then declined 88-74 the next year and 36-38 by June 1998 before Russell was replaced by Glenn Hoffman. It was Russell’s only managerial job.

Bobby Valentine, N.Y. Mets: Bobby V assumed control from Dallas Green for the final month of 1996, then rattled off a pair of 88-74 seasons. The Mets earned the 1999 wild card in a one-game playoff with Cincinnati before losing in the LCS, then won the National League the following year. New York quickly declined thereafter, and Valentine was out of work and off to Japan after the 2002 season.

Jack McKeon, Florida: In addition to making a fashion statement about septuagenarians wearing baseball uniforms, the cigar-chomping McKeon was hired early in the 2003 season to invigorate the 12-26 Marlins. It worked, with more than a little help from a rapidly blossoming rotation featuring Carl Pavano, Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, and the Marlins won the World Series. McKeon's feisty approach didn’t wear as well in back-to-back 83-79 seasons in the mediocre NL East, and he was replaced by Girardi.

Phil Garner, Houston: On the one hand, Scrap Iron failed in Milwaukee and Detroit. On the other, those weren’t the best franchises to find success with from 1992 to 2002. The Astros rolled the dice on Garner just after the All-Star break in 2004 to replace Jimy Williams, who cobbled together a 44-44 record and probably survived a couple extra days simply because he was one of the All-Star coaches at Minute Maid Park. Houston went 48-26 under Garner to win the wild card, but the real credit goes to the front office for acquiring Carlos Beltran (90 games, 23 HR, 28 SB, .559 slugging) a few weeks before Garner's arrival. However, Garner did get the Astros to the World Series for the first time the next year, and even last year’s middling 82-80 season featured a late charge for the NL Central that fell 1.5 games short.

The D.C. Council's staunchest ballpark opponent today warned the city was at risk of blowing through its cap on expenditures for the Nationals new stadium.

Council member David Catania, at-large Independent, acknowledged the city has not violated the $611 cap yet, but said there are many big expenditures still on the horizon.

"The day of reckoning will come due," Catania said, in a dramatic tone that has become commonplace during ballpark discussions. "We must heighten our vigilance."

Catania made his comments during a first vote on final legislation to approve the cost cap. (It had already been approved on an emergency basis last year.)

The legislation calls for a budget of about $631 million, which includes a $20 million contribution from the team. Currently, the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, which is overseeing the construction, is not in violation of the cap.

But according to Catania, the city only has a contingency of $6.7 million remaining in the budget with about $90 million in remaining expenditures above and beyond the budget. He points to nearly $70 million needed for land costs above and beyond the $100 million or so budgeted for land acquisition, plus an additional $5.3 million for environmental cleanup and $1.5 million in legal fees.

It's clear the ballpark expenditures are far higher than most people expected. But Catania has a way of framing things in a way so as to startle people.

Some clarifications: It's important to remember the cap on ballpark costs only pertains to so-called "hard" and "soft" costs of construction. The true amount of "capped" costs is actually about $475 million. The cost of land acquisition and environmental cleanup, originally estimated to cost about $150 million, were not capped because the final cost of that work would be too difficult to predict.

The city took the land through eminent domain, and many owners are contesting the amount provided to them by the city while also asking for additional money to help them relocate. It may take years before we know the true cost of land acquisition. While it is true that land costs are likely to rise, any contingency money is there to address hard costs like materials and labor, and soft costs like legal and permitting fees. It is disingenuous for Catania to suggest the contingency was in place to address additional costs of land and environmental remediation.

In the end, the total cost of the stadium project will likely rise above the $630 million budget, and that should be of great concern to those who have followed the project. Catania is right to ask the hard questions and challenge his fellow city leaders about the costs of the ballpark. But the city is not at risk of violating the law, nor is it guaranteed to run out of contingency money.

I hope the Washington Nationals are not serious about acquiring Elijah Dukes, the troubled Tampa Bay outfielder. He would be a disgrace and insult to the city and its fans.

Check out the highlights from this USA Today blog item about this solid citizen, which developed from an impromptu radio interview Dukes had with Tampa radio station WDAE:

On his alleged anger issues: "No, I don't need no help. Everybody needs guidance. Do I need guidance. Yes, I need guidance. ... How many times have I ever shot someone? How many times have I ever stabbed someone? How many times have I ever went to jail for brutally beating somebody? Never!

On the alleged report that he impregnated a 17-year-old: "Me and her did something one time, and it was not even close to the time she conceived this baby. I know for a fact it's not mine."

Dukes' estranged wife had called in to the show earlier to talk about him.

This guy in a Washington National uniform would be worthy of a fan boycott. Baseball is being undergoing a rebirth here, and the owners have a responsibility to shape the representation of Washington in major league baseball for years to come. Elijah Dukes would be a misrepresentation.

Thom Loverro will be on The Sports Reporters today (Thursday) from 5 to 7 p.m., talking about the Washington Nationals and other issues.

To those of you who are/were looking for today's 2 p.m. live chat, technical difficulties have forced us to postpone until next week. If you've been trying to navigate our website today, you've probably noticed things are a little out of whack (like, you can't find any stories about last night's game, and when you click on old stories, it just takes you back to the Times' main site). Evidently, our hard-working web folks have been overhauling the site over the last 24 hours or so, and it's led to some issues today. Rest assured, once these things are resolved, you'll find a much more user-friendly and comprehensive Times site. When that will happen, though, I'm really not sure.

Anyways, apologies to those who have been inconvenienced. If you're just dying to ask me a question about the Nats, feel free to send it to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, and I'll try to get back to you ASAP. Thanks everyone for understanding...

***Weekly programming note: Live chat today, back to our regular 2 p.m. starting time. Send your questions to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, or wait til we start up and click on the provided link.***

You know all those roster moves Jim Bowden announced before last night's game? Well, there's more, and one of those planned moves got bumped up two days. Here's what we've got...

-- Levale Speigner and Winston Abreu have been designated for assignment, which is a fancy way of saying they've been dumped. Any other club in the majors can claim either off waivers (though in Speigner's case, the new team would have to keep him on their 25-man roster all season because he's a Rule 5 pick). The Nationals also could trade or release either. If, after seven days, no one has claimed either player, they can be outrighted to the minors (which is probably what the Nats are hoping at this point). In Speigner's case, it just wasn't working. Certainly, he was worth the risk as a Rule 5 pick, but once it became obvious he's wasn't nearly close to be ready for the major leagues (and wasn't necessarily viewed as a long-term solution, either) the club made the right move in letting him go. Two years ago, the Nats made a big mistake in keeping Tony Blanco (another Rule 5 pick) all season. Blanco didn't get a hit after something like June 11 and wound up wasting a roster spot while the Nats were in the middle of a pennant race. Two years later, he's still toiling in the farm system with little hope of ever amounting to anything. I'm sorry to see Speigner go, because he was a nice guy thrown into a really tough spot. But the Nats had to make this decision, and it wasn't going to accomplish anything by delaying it any longer.

-- Replacing those two in the bullpen will be Luis Ayala (activated off the DL two days earlier than originally expected) and right-hander Chris Schroder. Ayala's surgically repaired elbow is 100 percent at last, and his addition to the bullpen should be a huge boost. He won't jump right back into his setup role, but if he's successful over time, he could work his way back. Schroder, meanwhile, was dominating at Columbus, with a 1.64 ERA and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He's got a really good fastball. His slider? Well, there's still some debate over that. We'll see how he does back in the big leagues after an up-and-down stint late last season.

-- And in the one roster move that was expected all along, Brandon Watson has been called up to replace Robert Fick, who is on bereavement leave after the death of his mother, Gloria. Watson, of course, just had his record-setting, 43-game hitting streak at Columbus snapped on Monday. He was not successful in three brief previous appearances with the Nationals (twice late in 2005 and the first two weeks of 2006) but the guy did just go 43 games without an 0-fer, so why not give him a shot? He'll get plenty of playing time in center field, with Ryan Langerhans and Nook Logan relegated to the bench for now.

You know, I was just thinking the other day that the Nationals have gone an incredibly long time without making any roster moves. Can you remember the last one? How about when they purchased the contract of left-hander Mike Bacsik from Columbus on May 19! Yes, it's been exactly a month since the 25-man roster changed.

Well, it's about to change a whole lot more after a flurry of moves was just announced by GM Jim Bowden. Here's what's happening...

-- Sad news: Gloria Fick, Robert's mother, died this afternoon after a long bout with lung cancer. This had been coming for some time and Robert had been distraught about it for a while. Perhaps now he can at least experience some comfort knowing her long, courageous battle is over. He's headed home to California right now and will be placed on bereavement leave (he's allowed to be gone anywhere from three to seven days).

-- Fick's roster spot will be taken by none other than Brandon Watson, fresh off his 43-game hitting streak at Columbus. Watson won't make it here in time for tonight's game, but he'll be available tomorrow and figures to get some playing time. As Bowden put it: "We need to find out about him."

-- Meanwhile, Luis Ayala (who tossed two scoreless innings for Columbus last night) will be activated from the 60-day DL Friday, sooner than expected. Consensus is that the right-handed reliever is ready to pitch in the majors again and even go back-to-back days. The Nats will have to make a corresponding move then, but Winston Abreu would be the logical candidate to be removed from the bullpen.

-- Jason Bergmann will make one more rehab start for Columbus tomorrow, then be activated off the DL in time to start Tuesday in Atlanta. Finally, one of the injured starters is ready to return.

-- The oft-injured Alex Escobar has done it again. While rehabbing his separated shoulder, he sprained an ankle. He'll be set back at least two weeks. Anyone who is still counting on this guy to ever make an impact needs to start thinking rationally.

Plenty more in tomorrow's paper...

Man, it is hot in this town right now. Guess summer has officially arrived and won't be going away for another two months or so. I would have said the Nationals are as hot as the temperature, but they've now lost three of their last four so that would probably be a bit of a stretch. They did, however, stage quite the dramatic rally last night against the Tigers, coming back from eight runs down in the sixth and four runs down in the ninth to put the tying run on third base ... before coming up short and suffering a 9-8 loss.

Perhaps lost amid the late heroics were some poor plays and missed opportunities early in the game. Nook Logan broke backward on a shallow fly ball to center and couldn't recover in time to make the catch. Ryan Church dropped a foul ball down the left-field line and also made an off-line throw to the plate on a sacrifice fly that turned what should have been an easy out into a bang-bang play. Carlos Guillen was called safe on the play, against Brian Schneider's protests (Schneider felt he got the tag down in time. Replays were inconclusive.)

Meanwhile, Washington's lineup stranded a runner on third in the second, left another one there in the sixth and then couldn't push one more run across in the ninth despite putting men on first and second with no one out.

What's the point of rehashing all that? Well, if the Nats make any one of those plays, the outcome of the game might very well have gone in their favor. And they realized it afterward.

"Absolutely," Schneider said. "We had some other chances to score throughout the game. If anything teaches everybody a lesson, you look at that last situation in the last inning, we had a chance to win the game. That's not what the game comes down to. The game starts in the very first inning. We had chances to score. That's why not one play decides a baseball game. It's not fair to say anything about Ronnie [Belliard] not getting the clutch hit [with two outs in the ninth]. That's [garbage], because throughout the whole game, we didn't manage to score runs. Instead of a sac fly, if I get a base hit, there's a run. That just teaches you it's not one moment in the game."

The Nats will look to execute a little better tonight, hoping the little things will help result in a victory. Here's Manny Acta's starting lineup...

NATIONALS
SS Guzman
2B Lopez
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
C Schneider
CF Langerhans
P Simontacchi

You know, if Dmitri Young had driven in the winning runs on Monday in the Nationals' 9-8 near-comeback over the Tigers -- the team that cut him loose last season in the midst of his personal problems -- I seriously might have thought that this indeed was a team of some destiny.

But that didn't happen, so as it is, the Nationals may not be guided by cosmic forces. They may just be a team that simply plays hard and doesn't quit, and those are earthly characteristics to be celebrated and appreciated.

We don't know where this team will wind up this year. They could go 3-13 over a 16-game stretch, and it would not be a surprise. But I was clearly wrong about the 54 wins, so I shouldn't be handicapping this team because there are no stats or matchups to determine heart.

So far, this team has shown a ton of it. Instead of wondering if they have enough heart to compete this well over an entire season, let's just savor games like last night's, coming back from a 9-1 deficit against the defending American League champions to nearly pull out a win.

I thought Young would have been on the DL in the first month. Instead, he is one of the leading hitters in the National League and could be an All-Star. I figured entering the season there was a strong possibility that either one of the two top pitchers, John Patterson or Shawn Hill, would be on the DL by now. If you told club officials that both of them would be on the DL -- and for so long -- and that the team still would be this competitive, they wouldn't have believed it. No one saw Jason Bergman or Micah Bowie coming.

People should take notice that this team is giving fans their money's worth right now, and that RFK is a pretty good place to be. They should take advantage of it now, because no one knows how long it will last. But nearly three months into the season, the Washington Nationals are worth the price of admission. I didn't think I would be writing that line this year.

I'm on a bit of a tight schedule today, trying to cover a ballgame and still make my 7:15 p.m. flight back home -- Hey, United Airlines: You can't come up with anything later than that? -- so I'll have to keep this one quick. Nevertheless, surely there are dozens of loyal readers out there dying to know my thoughts on the stadium formerly known as Skydome. (Cue sound of crickets chirping...)

The dome, now known as Rogers Centre, was quite the modern marvel when it opened back in 1989. The good folks up here figured out a way to build a retractable roof stadium that could open and close in 12 minutes and allow baseball to be played in the great white north, even when there was white stuff on the ground outside. What's more, Skydome was the Luxor of ballparks. It wasn't enough to just have a field and stands, they needed to have three restaurants, a hotel that looks out over the outfield and the largest video screen known to man (at the time). So Skydome was quite the exercise in excess, and looked poised perhaps to usher in a new era of high-tech, luxury ballparks.

Then three years later, a place called Camden Yards opened, and you know the rest. The demand shifted from high-tech to retro, and every ballpark that's been built since has followed that trend, leaving Skydome as kind of a unique place. Personally, I still like it. I wish the field was natural grass instead of FieldTurf, but that would require the roof to be open year-round, which isn't what they like to do here. The configuration, also, could use a little pizzaz -- it's symmetry at its absolute worst: 328 feet down the lines, 375 to the gaps, 400 to center, with a 10-foot-high fence all the way around. But when the sun's out and roof's open, it's not a bad place to watch a ballgame at all. And even if that wasn't the case, it still would all be worth it just for the seventh-inning stretch.

Why? Because here in Toronto, they play the coolest song in all of baseball: "OK! Blue Jays!" There's really no way to adequately describe this, other than to instruct you to click on either this link or this one and see the magic for yourself. Enjoy!

Just in from Ottawa: Class AAA Columbus outfielder Brandon Watson doubled to left in his second at-bat this afternoon, extending his hitting streak to 42 games and tying the International League record previously held by Jack Lelivelt of the 1912 Rochester Hustlers.

So which is more remarkable: A 42-game hitting streak, or the fact that a guy can go on a 42-game hitting streak and not get called up to the majors?

Hello from north of the border. We're coming at you live from the Skydome, er, Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto, where the Nats and Blue Jays are set to open what has turned into an annual interleague series between the two. Seriously, why do these two teams still play every year? The Nats haven't called Montreal home since 2004, and the schedule has been fixed so Washington and Baltimore now play home-and-home every season. Yet this is remarkably the 11th straight year the Nats franchise will be playing in Toronto. (Not that I'm complaining. I enjoy coming to this town immensely, even if I have to strain some gray matter trying to convert 28 degrees from Celsius to Fahrenheit. I'm still not sure what the temperature is, all I know is it's warm enough to wear a short-sleeve shirt.)

But I digress. Let's talk some baseball. The Nats are red-hot, having just swept the Orioles at Camden Yards after taking two of three from the Twins at the Metrodome. Get this: They've gone 10-2 in their last 12 road games. And the fading Blue Jays are ripe for a beating, aside from tonight, with ace Roy Halladay on the mound. Then again, the Nats haven't been fazed by opposing aces one bit this season, having beaten John Smoltz twice, Jake Peavy twice, Johan Santana and Cole Hamels. So here's Manny Acta's starting nine against Halladay tonight:

NATIONALS
SS Guzman
2B Lopez
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
DH Church
C Schneider
CF Logan
LF Langerhans
P Bacsik

BLUE JAYS
RF Rios
CF Wells
3B Glaus
DH Thomas
2B Hill
1B Thigpen
C Zaun
LF Lind
SS McDonald
P Halladay

Meanwhile, there will be much going on away from Toronto tonight. Three injured starters are all making their first rehab assignments tonight: John Patterson for Potomac, Jason Bergmann for Columbus and Jerome Williams for Harrisburg. Plus, Shawn Hill is supposed to play catch here. I'll try to provide updates later...

First, an important programming note: Today's live chat will start at 2:30, 30 minutes later than usual, to allow me time to make the commute up to Camden Yards without having to leave Northern Virginia at the crack of dawn. I plan on giving myself 90 minutes to make the trek, though of course I'm well aware that the drive once took me 2 1/2 hours (so if that happens, tough luck but there will be no live chat today). Let's just hope the commute is incident free...

Meanwhile, it's been a couple of days since we last spoke. Sorry about that. I spent much of Monday flying home from Minneapolis (via Chicago's O'Hare International Airport) and then writing a feature on Cristian Guzman's stunning resurgence at the plate, plus a notebook filled with newsy items about Chris Marrero's promotion to Class A Potomac, three injured starters ready to begin rehab assignments and 17 draft picks signing. I was then off yesterday, with Patrick Stevens doing a fine job covering last night's game in my stead, but I'm back on the clock today and interested to see if the Nats' offense can keep this up.

Clearly, Washington's players hit better on the road. How much? Well, in 33 home games, they're hitting a collective .243 with 16 homers and a .654 OPS. In 31 road games, they're hitting .251 with 24 homers and a .703 OPS. At home, they score an average of 3.6 runs per game. On the road, 4.2 runs per game. All that is impressive, and certainly gives you reason to hope things will improve next season when the Nats move out of spacious RFK Stadium and into the cozier Nats Park.

But what about the other side of the equation: the pitching staff? The differences at home and on the road are just as striking. At home, the Nats' ERA is 4.31 and they've allowed 26 home runs. On the road, their ERA is 4.85 and they've allowed a staggering 42 homers. So in the end, their won-loss percentage is almost identical: 14-19 at home, 13-18 on the road.

The point is this: As much as Nats position players love to complain about RFK and how much more they enjoy playing on the road, be careful what you wish for. In the long run, I'd rather have a ballpark that benefits pitching than hitting. Remember what kept the Nats competitive in 2005? Pitching. How many opposing players hit drives to the gap that were caught, then stormed off the field mumbling to themselves? You won't be seeing that next year and beyond. You will, however, have a much better chance of seeing a lot of 8-7 ballgames, if that's your kind of thing.

With that, I should probably start gassing up the Saturn and getting ready for the trip around the Beltway and up I-95. Hope to talk to you at 2:30. If you haven't heard from me by then, please send out a search party!

What a lovely day here in the Twin Cities. Blue skies, temperatures in the low 80s, a light breeze ... Too bad I'm sitting INSIDE the Metrodome right now. Yep, it's time to review the funkiest ballpark in the majors...

What can you really say about this place? It's an indoor football stadium masquerading as a baseball park. It's a gigantic, rounded rectangle with a white Teflon roof which only stays up when the air pressure is kept at a certain level. So when you walk into the building, you have to go through these revolving doors that make your ears pop. Once inside, the first thing you notice is how the field has an odd angle relative to the stands. This is because the seats are aligned to offer good views of football, not baseball. So if you're sitting down the third base line, you're looking directly into center field and have to crane your neck way to the right to see home plate.

Right field features the infamous "baggy" wall, which is basically just a plastic sheet emblazoned with an add for Dodge trucks that covers up the retractable stands that are pushed back for baseball games. The upper deck is about a mile away, and they've sectioned off a huge portion in right field knowing that no fans will ever sit up there, so that's cordoned off with giant posters of the Twins' retired numbers: 3 (Harmon Killebrew), 6 (Tony Oliva), 14 (Kent Hrbek), 29 (Rod Carew), 34 (Kirby Puckett) and 42 (Jackie Robinson).

The turf has improved in recent years. No longer the really spongy Astroturf that allowed hard grounders through the infield to turn into doubles, it's now the super-tech FieldTurf that looks and feels more like natural grass. But it's still not like the real thing. (And don't get me started on how many fly balls get lost in the roof and the lights.)

Now, I don't want to be totally negative, so I will offer a couple of positives. The fans here are very good. Last night, even when their team was down 8-0, they were still out in full force and making plenty of noise. And when this place fills up (like for a playoff game), it's by far the loudest ballpark in America. Also, the Metrodome used to boast the greatest PA announcer in the sport, the late Bob Casey. You may not know his name, but you'd probably recognize his nasally voice belting out "Kirrrrrrrrbyyyyyyyy Puckett!" Casey passed away a couple of years ago, but the new guy they've hired does a decent impersonation.

The best thing about the Metrodome, though, is the fact that it won't be used for baseball three years from now. Yes, in 2010, the Twins will open their new, baseball-only, open-air stadium. And not a moment too soon. It'll be a bit chilly there in April and September, but my hunch is that most of the hearty souls around here won't mind.

... left-hander Ross Detwiler of Missouri State.

Yes, they went with pitching in the end, a bit of a surprise, but probably a reflection of how the five picks before them came together. The Nats had six players at the top of their draft board -- three position players (Mike Moustakas, Josh Vitters and Matt Wieters) and three pitchers (David Price, Daniel Moskos and Detwiler). Those are exactly who the top six picks were, which was actually a tad surprising to the Nats' brass. They were hoping one of those guys would have been bypassed, particularly Moustakas and Vitters. But when none were, they took the best player left in their mind.

Detwiler should be a good one. He's tall (6-foot-4), lanky (175 pounds) and throws from a deceptive, three-quarter arm angle. His fastball reaches as high as 95 mph and he's got a hard curveball that assistant GM Bob Boone called a "wipeout pitch." No one would say yet where he'll start out in the minors, but GM Jim Bowden suggested that Detwiler could crack the major leagues by the end of 2008 or early 2009.

Plenty more on the draft in tomorrow's paper. For now, I've got to get back to work. Bottom of the 9th here, with the Nats trailing 3-2 after Jason Bay homered off Chad Cordero in the top of the inning.

Here's how the first round has gone so far...

1. DEVIL RAYS -- David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt University
2. ROYALS -- Mike Moustakas, SS, Chatsworth (Calif.) HS
3. CUBS -- Josh Vitters, 3B, Cypress (Calif.) HS
4. PIRATES -- Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson University
5. ORIOLES -- Matt Wieters, C, Georgia Tech

They've started down at Disney World, and with the No. 1 pick, the Devil Rays select ... left-hander David Price of Vanderbilt. No real surprise there. The Royals are next, then the Cubs, Pirates, Orioles and your Nats. Five minutes between picks, so it'll be a little while til the Nats are on the clock.

Your local bank would like to speak to you about a great rate on a home equity loan. You'll need it in order to buy those season tickets for the Nationals next year.

I kid. I kid.

As Nationals President Stan Kasten pointed out repeatedly yesterday, there will be a good number of tickets priced at under $20. But a seat in the lower bowl will definitely cost you.

Here are a few things that I take away from yesterday's announcement from the team:

- The average non-premium ticket will rise from about $21 to $30 next year. The broaching of the $30 mark puts the Nationals in some expensive company. We don't know what other teams will charge in 2008, but it's likely the Nationals will be one of only a half-dozen teams or so with average ticket prices above $30.

(Side note: We remove the premium Presidential Seats and Diamond Seats from the equation because they only represent about 1,800 tickets and would skew the average so much to make it misleading to the typical fan. Also, the premium seats require a multi-year commitment and have escalator clauses that raise the price between 2.5 percent and 6 percent per year, depending on the length of the contract.)

- It looks as if the premium seats essentially replace the PNC Diamond Club and some of the Field MVP seats at RFK Stadium. PNC Diamond Club members would likely be looking at a price jump from $120 to $300, while Field MVP folks will see tickets go from $50 to $150 per game.

- Kasten acknowledged the premium seats, which are supposed to come with a boatload of amenities, are there as a way for the team to make as much money as possible. But, he also claimed that the high-priced premium seats will allow the team to keep prices lower throughout the rest of the ballpark. In other words, he's suggesting prices for the average fan would be even higher if premium seats weren't there. That's a startling statement, given that non-premium prices will be among the most expensive in baseball, rising 43 percent over this year at RFK.

- The seating chart for the new ballpark is one of the most confusing things I've ever seen. There are 24 different price levels! Field level, club level, gallery, mezzanine, scoreboard pavilion...it's really remarkable. Kasten said the team had to create this number of price levels (he called them "neighborhoods") in order to ease the relocation process for returning season ticket holders. More choices, he said, will make the process go smoother because there is no real apples-to-apples way to transfer someone from an existing seat at RFK to a seat in the new ballpark. (And it's true that you'd be hard-pressed to find two ballparks with more different configurations.) He indicated the team might be willing to cut down on the number of price levels in future years.

I harken to a conversation I had with Mike Humes, the Washington Capitals' sale director, who decided to adjust the seating chart for hockey at Verizon Center in 2008, making the pricing more uniform throughout large sections of the arena. He realized that having a hodgepodge of price levels created confusion and also a certain amount of resentment, because fans were realizing that the guy two rows back or two rows to their left was paying significantly less for a nearly identical seat.

- Yesterday's announcement regarding ticket prices was held on the 10th floor of 20 M St., a shiny new office building that overlooks the new ballpark and is owned by the Lerner family. I have often heard that the Lerners develop and manage nice buildings, and will admit to being quite impressed with this one. The lobby was sparkling, the parking garage was immaculate and the elevator had a soothing robot voice that told you what direction you were heading. (Kinda like the Metro lady, only less snarky.) The 10th floor is still being furnished, but the restroom there was operational and I place it squarely in my Top 10 of nicest bathrooms in Washington. It had a new kind of hand dryer that was so powerful it could probably be used as a motor for a small car. It literally blew the water off my hands and got them completely dry in about two seconds. Very impressive.

It's Draft Day! Can't you sense the excitement as thousands of fans gather at RFK Stadium to cheer Manny Acta as he lands in a helicopter in the middle of the diamond? Ready to listen to 12 consecutive hours of Mel Kiper Jr. babbling on about how Jim Hendry is a moron for drafting a high school pitcher over a college position player?

OK, so this ain't the NFL draft. But for the first time ever, the MLB draft will be televised. 2 p.m., ESPN2. Be there.

The Nats hold five of the first 70 picks, including No. 6 overall, and there is plenty of speculation over who they will take. Speculation is that they prefer a position player, most likely California high school third baseman Josh Vitters or California high school infielder Mike Moustakas. If they decide to go the pitching route, they're probably looking at Missouri State left-hander Ross Detwiler or New Jersey high school right-hander Rick Porcello. One major consideration: Porcello and Moustakas are represented by agent Scott Boras, who will demand huge signing bonuses. The Nats may be willing to play with Boras, but they may also prefer to stay away altogether. One other thing to consider: A new rule change this year requires all draft picks to be signed by Aug. 15 (not the following summer), so that will speed the process up. And if any first- or second-round pick doesn't sign, the club gets to have that same pick the following year. So if the Nats took Moustakas and didn't sign him, they'd still own pick No. 6A in 2008.

That's all for now. I'll provide some updates this afternoon as everything plays out...

Thom Loverro will be on The Sports Reporters on Wednesday on SportsTalk 980-AM from 5 to 7 p.m., talking about the Washington Nationals and other sports topics.

It's Wednesday, so that means it's time to live chat with beat writer Mark Zuckerman. Join us at 2 p.m. to talk about all things Nats -- the current homestand, last night's frustrating loss to the Pirates, tomorrow's draft and Thom Loverro's recent induction into his high school hall of fame (yes, seriously). Send your questions in advance to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, then check back in at 2 p.m. for all the fun.

One hour from first pitch against the Pirates, and there are a few items worth mentioning...

Ryan Wagner had shoulder surgery today, and the news wasn't good. Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham found a torn labrum and had to do a more invasive procedure than the originally scheduled arthroscopy. Wagner is out for the season and won't be able to start a throwing program again for four months. "I guess we have to move on," manager Manny Acta said.

Meanwhile, Acta announced that Jason Simontacchi will be bumped up a day to start Friday night at Minnesota on four days' rest, while Levale Speigner will be bumped back a day to start Saturday. Speigner gave up six runs in the first inning over the weekend, but Acta was quick to point out that he was done in by three bad defensive plays behind him and so the rookie deserves another shot. Besides, as Acta put it: "It's not like we have a line of options" waiting to take over in the rotation.

Here are your starting lineups for tonight...

NATS
2B Lopez
SS Guzman
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
C Schneider
CF Langerhans
P Bacsik

PIRATES
CF Davis
3B Bautista
2B Sanchez
LF Bay
RF Nady
1B LaRoche
C Paulino
SS Wilson
P Chacon

An alumnus of the Washington Nationals franchise -- back in the Montreal Expos era -- reportedly is going to make his debut as a professional wrestler.

A report out of Japan claims that Warren Cromartie, 53, who played nine seasons with the Expos from 1974 to 1983, is going to be a wrestler in a match on June 17 in Japan here Cromartie, after leaving the major leagues, went on to become a star for the Yomiuri Giants from 1984 to 1990.

Cromartie remains in the top 10 in franchise history in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, games and at bats.

The word is that his opponent could be either Abdullah the Butcher or Tiger Jeet Singh.

Cromartie is eccentric, to say the least, so doing this is not that big of a stretch for him. Unlike football, there isn't a long history of baseball players who have gotten into the ring. The only one that comes to mind is Randy Poffo -- Randy "The Macho Man" Savage -- who was a minor league catcher in the White Sox and Cardinals organization before turning to professional wrestling.

What is particularly bizarre, though, are his possible opponents -- they have been wrestling forever. Tiger Jeet Singh is 64 years old. Abdullah the Butcher is 70 years old.

An aside: if you are ever in Atlanta, stop by Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs, a restaurant owned by the colorful wrestler. And bring a poker chip with you. The story goes that the crevices in Abdullah's head from being cut are so deep that you can stick a poker chip in one and it will stay.

Hopefully, Warren Cromartie won't be able to make the same claim someday.

This just in from the Nats: Reliever Ryan Wagner will have arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder tomorrow after an examination today by renowned surgeon James Andrews in Birmingham.

Shouldn't come as a huge surprise, because Wagner has been on the DL since May 7 with inflammation in his rotator cuff and hadn't made any progress in his rehab over the last four weeks.

Still waiting to hear word on how significant this development will be, but it's probably going to be one of those cases where the doctors don't know until they actually get inside Wagner's shoulder. For now, they're only planning an arthroscopic procedure, which is generally not serious. But it's quite possible they'll have to do a more invasive procedure once they're in there if they find more serious damage to the rotator cuff or labrum.

Either way, it wouldn't appear Wagner will be retrurning to the mound this season.

It's pouring pretty good right now and has been for some time as the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry come sweeping through town. No word yet on whether today's game against the Padres will be called off, though I really can't see them playing today, not the way this is going. Too bad, because it looks like there might be a nice crowd on hand today, perhaps thanks to the parade of Little Leaguers that took place a short while ago.

Obviously, they'll try to do whatever they can to get this game in today, but there's an easy makeup option if they can't. Both teams are off tomorrow, and though the Padres have to fly home to open a three-game series with the Dodgers on Tuesday, they would probably be agreeable to an early-afternoon makeup at RFK tomorrow (say, perhaps, a 12:05 start).

If that happens, Nationals manager Manny Acta has already said he'll keep his rotation intact and just push everyone back a day. So Jason Simontacchi would start tomorrow, with Mike Bacsik, Micah Bowie and Matt Chico facing the Pirates. The real question is what happens next Friday in Minnesota, when Levale Speigner is next scheduled to pitch. Acta wouldn't commit to the struggling right-hander this morning and said the organization will "have to get together" to make a decision at some point this week. The problem, as always, is that there's no real strong alternative to Speigner, who gave up six runs last night but was done in by poor defense behind him. Joel Hanrahan, the logical choice to come up from Class AAA Columbus, had a rough one himself last night. In his second start back from the DL, Hanrahan's pitching line looked like this: 3.2ip, 4h, 5r, 3er, 4bb, 4k, 3hr. Not exactly screaming for a promotion.

So in other words, stay tuned. As I type this, the grounds crew is pulling the tarp off the infield and Stan Kasten just walked into the press box declaring that they're going to attempt to play today. So there you have it. Bring your poncho, it could be a long day. Here's your starting lineups...

NATS
SS Guzman
2B Belliard
3B Zimmerman
1B Young
RF Kearns
LF Church
C Flores
CF Logan
P Simontacchi

PADRES
2B M.Giles
LF Sledge
1B Gonzalez
C Bard
3B Kouzmanoff
SS Greene
RF McAnulty
CF Bocachica
P Wells

It's another miserable evening at RFK Stadium -- if you're like me and deplore heat and humidity with the white, hot passion of 1,000 suns. The thing about this stadium is that it's totally enclosed so there is very little air circulating. Think of a sauna.

Anyway, the Nationals will try and make it three straight overall and two straight over San Diego later tonight. This is my second night pinch-hitting for seamhead extraordinaire Mark Zuckerman, who will be back tomorrow while yours truly goes to see "Knocked Up" at the local AMC.

Here is Washington's lineup:

2B Lopez (leadoff man had four flyouts last night)
SS Guzman (notched career hit No. 1,000 Friday)
3B Zimmerman (part of game-winning rally Friday)
1B Young (hits in eight straight plate appearances)
RF Kearns (batting .254)
LF Church (made a couple good defensive plays last night)
C Schneider (one of a bunch of guys who struck out twice vs. SD)
CF Logan (back in the starting lineup after a one-game absence)
P Speigner (a not-so-flattering 8.39 ERA)