Elijah Dukes rehabbing with Columbus; Young reports to Florida
Nationals' outfielder Elijah Dukes, who is rehabbing his strained right calf with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, is very close to returning to the parent club.
Dukes was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 7th, retroactive to August 3rd. Dukes has one hit, a home run, two runs scored and walked twice in four games for the Clippers.
This is the third trip to the DL for Dukes this season. He left the game on opening night with a sore right hamstring and missed more than a month. On July 8th, Dukes injured his right knee and it looked like his season was over. Dukes recovered and only missed three weeks.
In 54 games with Washington, Dukes is batting .264 with six homers and 23 RBI. He was hitting .346 with two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored in his last seven games prior to landing on he DL.
In other injury news, first baseman Dmitri Young appears to finally have his diabetes under control and is at the Nationals Spring Training complex in Viera, Florida to begin baseball activities.
Young, who hasn't played since July 11th, is hoping to return to the team in September. Young, who is having a down year, was hitting .280 with four homers and 10 RBI in 50 games.
There is no time table for Young's return to the Nationals. Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden hopes he can get healthy enough to join the team in September.
Triple-A Columbus International League West Division
66-68, 3rd place, 17 games behind
The Clippers went 4-3 last week but didn't make up any ground on first place Louisville, who clinched the West Division title. After winning four straight games to start the week, the Clippers dropped three in a row.
In what was thought to be a promising season, the Clippers fell short of their playoff goal and must wait until next year to hope for a post-season berth. Columbus has seven games remaining, including two more with the first place Bats in Louisville Monday and Tuesday night. They wrap up the season with five games against Toledo, three on the road and the final two at home.
Double-A Harrisburg Senators Eastern League Southern Division
70-65, 3rd place, 10 games out of first
The Senators, who went 2-4 this past week, have Monday off before starting the final week of their season.
They begin a three-game road series with Erie before returning home for a weekend series with the Bowie Baysox to wrap-up the 2008 campaign.
Single-A Potomac Nationals Carolina League Northern Division
33-29, 1st place, 2 1/2 game lead (2nd half)
The P-Nats are clinging to the division lead with a week to play. They went 3-3 last week, losing three straight, but only lost a ½ game in the standings to second place Wilmington.
With the first half division already clinched, Potomac looks to keep the momentum going as the second half comes to a close. The P-Nats begin a four-game series with Salem Monday night at Pfitzner Stadium before going to Wilmington for a four-game weekend series to wrap up the second half.
Single-A Hagerstown Suns South Atlantic League Northern Division
24-38, 6th place, 16 1/2 games out of first (2nd Half)
The Suns went 3-3 last week, but they have won two straight games and look to finish the season on a positive none.
With only eight games remaining in the 2008 season, the Suns can play the spoiler role. Hagerstown begins a three-game series at Lake County Monday before heading to Lakewood, who is only 2 ½ games out of first place in the Northern Division.
The Suns wrap up the season at home against Lake County Saturday through Monday.
Short-Season Single-A Vermont Lake Monsters
New York-Penn League Stedler Division
25-36, T-4th place, 10 games back
The Lake Monsters are tied for last place in the division with only 14 games to play. They went 2-2 last week and lost two of three to Staten Island.
On Sunday, the Lake Monsters beat Hudson Valley, 7-6, in the first game of their three-game series. Game two is Monday night. Vermont is going to have to win out if they even hope to think about a post season berth, which is highly unlikely.
Gulf Coast League Nationals
Gulf Coast League East Division
30-21, 1st Place, ½ game ahead
The Nationals and Dodgers keep flip-flopping for the division lead. The two face each other Monday and Tuesday afternoon and the Nationals can give themselves a bit of a cushion with only four games remaining.
After the Dodgers, the Nationals face the Mets and Marlins, who are also in their division. The Mets are 4 ½ games out of first and the Marlins just 2 ½ games back. It's going to be an interesting run in the East Division.
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