Find MASN on your cable or satellite provider.

---

---

Pete McElroy's Nats GameBlog

---

Post Game

In his last three starts, 2-0, John Lannan has given up one earned run in 20 innings. After today's win he spoke about the last 3 games.

Lannan on his last 3 outings
"Just keeping the ball down. If you leave the ball up, you're going to get hurt. Me and Wil (Nieves) have been on the same page and the defense made some great plays, like they have in the past, so all that's coming together."

---

Wil Nieves, who has caught the last two Lannan has pitched, spoke about the young lefty.

Nieves on Lannan
"He's been doing a great job. I feel like I've been catching him for a long time. Today he impressed me because he got in trouble twice and he was calm and he kept making his pitches and got out of trouble. He's confident and that's huge for a young pitcher."

Listen to Wil Nieves' Postgame Comments

---

With the win, the Nats won a series for the first time since taking 2 of 3 from the Phillies March 31-April 3. Ryan Zimmerman talked about it after today's game.

Zimmerman on the series win
"It's nice, especially against a team of that calibur. It just shows what kind of baseball we're playing. Today was a pitchers duel and we got some big hits with two outs. It's a sign of things to come. If we keep playing the kind of baseball we've been playing for the last week, we'll be good. "

Listen to Ryan Zimmerman's Postgame Comments

---

Final Numbers
R H E LOB
Cubs 0 4 0 8
Nats 2 4 0 5
WP-Lannan (2-2)
LP-Lilly (1-4)
S-Rauch (4)

---

Game update
John Lannan pitched a gem today. He gave up just 4 hits through 7 innings and has kept the Cubs off the scoreboard by getting out of two jams. An inning ending double play with the bases loaded in the 5th and with runners on second and third with 1-out in the 6th, he got two ground outs to end the threat. Lannan has now tossed 19 consecutive scoreless innings.

Ther Nats offense has only gotten 4 hits, but three came in the second when they scored twice.

---

Pitchers Line
John Lannan: 7 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K. 107 pitches, 65 strikes

Ted Lilly: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. 108 pitches, 71 strikes

---

Through 5 innings
John Lannan gave up back-to-back singles, the first off him today, to start the 5th. After Ted Lilly struckout, Reed Johnson reach base on Nick Johnson's error to load the bases with one out. Lannan got out of the inning unscathed, when Ryan Theriot grounded into an inning ending double play.

Ted Lilly has retired 6 straight and 10 of the last 11 National hitters since giving up two runs in the second.

---

Wily NO Pena
Wily Mo Pena badly misjudged a fly ball off the bat of Kosuke Fukudome, but John Lannan bailed him out. With Aramis Ramirez on first and 1-out, Fukudome hit a fly to left that froze Pena for a split second. The ball kept carrying and Pena had no shot at catching it. It went over Pena's head for a double and put runners on second and third. Lannan got Mark DeRosa to ground back to him for the second out and Ronny Cedeno grounded out to second to end the inning. Lannan still has his shutout through 6, but has now thrown 95 pitches.

---

Nats lead 2-0
Wily Mo Pena and Wil Nieves delivered rbi singles in the second inning to give the Nats the 2-0 lead. Nick Johnson led off the inning with a single and Lastings Milledge, bunting for a base hit, moved Johnson to second on the sacrifice.. Two batters later, Pena singled to left to plate Johnson. Pena advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Nieves singled to center to score Pena.

---

Lannan's Line
John Lannan hasn't given up a hit through three innings, but he has walked three batters, one in each inning. All three have come after he's gotten the first out. Maybe he can't focus on the second batter of each inning. Let's see if the trend continues.

---

Keep an Eye on....
Felipe Lopez. He is 2-8(.250) lifetime against Ted Lilly, but both hits are home runs. In his last 10 games, all starts, he is 14-40(.350) with 2 2B, HR, 7 RBI, SB.

Cristian Guzman. He has a 4-game hit streak, has a hit in 8 of his last 9 and is batting .342 in that span.

---

LoDuca Update
Catcher Paul LoDuca, who hasn't played since April 13 because of a contusion on his right hand, took batting practice yesterday and didn't experience any problems. He will begin a rehab assignment with Potomac on Monday. LoDuca could play up to 4 games before returning to the the team.

---

Dukes Update
Last night Elijah Dukes made a rehab start for the Single-A Potomac Nationals. As the DH, he went 0-2, was hit by a pitch and walked. He was placed on the DL, right hamstring, on March 30. There still no timetable for his return.

---

Are you ready for some Football
Prior to the game, most, if not all, the TV's in the clubhouse, were tuned to the NFL Draft. One Nat who was watching closely was reliever Joel Hanrahan. As a Dallas Cowboy fan, he was keeping a close eye on who they were drafting. He feels the 'Boys will have a good season, if QB Tony Romo plays as well as he did in the regular season and not the playoffs. He, like myself, is still blown away by all the publicity that Romo has gotten from dating pop star Jessica Simpson. Many so called experts think she was a distraction for him during the season.

Personally, I hope the Cowboys finish in last place, along with the Giants and Redskins. Yes, I said Redskins. Being a Philadelphia native, I am a huge Eagles fan. When you are born in Philly, you don't have a choice but to bleed Eagles green

---

Game Preview: Cubs (16-8) vs. Nationals (8-17)
With a win today, the Nationals will take 2 of 3 against the best team in the National League. Manny Acta sends John Lannan to face the Cubs, who shutout the Nats last night 7-0. The Nats, who won 5-3 on Wil Nieves walk-off HR Friday night, looked like a completely different team on Saturday night. The managed just 6 hits off three Cub pitchers and left 10 men on base.

The weather forecast calls for overcast skies and temperatures in the 50's. Not exactly baseball weather. As ugly as it is, the Nationals have optional batting practice and I suggest they use it. They are still last in the majors with a .231 team average.

---

Pitching Match-Up

John Lannan (1-2, 3.42) picked up his first win of the season in his last outing, Tuesday, when he tossed 7 scoreless innings of 5-hit ball against the Braves in the 6-0 win. Lannan outpitched John Smoltz, who joing the 3000 K club that night. This is only the second home start for Lannan this season. In his only other start here at Nationals Park, he lasted just 4 innings and gave up 6 earned runs on 9 hits and 4 walks.

This is the first time Lannan faces the Cubs in his short career. If he continues to pitch like he did in his last two outings, 13 IP, 8 H, ER, 15 K combined, he will be in Manny Acta's rotation for a long time.

Ted Lilly (1-3, 2.67) goes for the Cubs today. Lilly, winless in his first four starts this season, won his last game 8-1. He pitched 4-hit, one run ball over 6 innings to notch the win. In his previous four outings, he gave up at least 4 earned runs in each game. Last season against the Nationals, one game, Lilly gave up one run in 7 innings and beat the Nats 7-2 at RFK Stadium.

In his career, 6 starts, vs the Nationals, he is 3-2, 2.06 ERA, giving up just 8 earned runs in 35 innings. This is the 200th career starts for the lefty, who has 31 wins since the beginning of the 2006 season, the 4th most among lefties.

---

Starting Line-Up's

Cubs
CF Reed Johnson
SS Ryan Theriot
1B Derrek Lee
3B Aramis Ramirez
RF Kosuke Fukudome
LF Mark DeRosa
2B Ronnie Cedeno
C Henry Blanco
P Ted Lilly

Nationals
2B Felipe Lopez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Nick Johnson
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Austin Kearns
LF Wily Mo Pena
C Wil Nieves
P John Lannan

---