Davey knows what he's doing (Ramos delivers a big knock in his return)

Davey Johnson was asked why he flipped Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth in the batting order today. "I don't know. Because I'm supposed to do something," Johnson joked. The man knows what he's doing. Desmond and Werth are a combined 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in their new spots in the lineup, and Werth's run-scoring single in the first gave the Nats a lead that has only grown since. The Nats have a 3-1 lead after three innings, with Adam LaRoche, Werth and Ryan Zimmerman each notching one RBI. Desmond got things going in the first with a one-out single to center, and he then stole second to work his way into scoring position. Bryce Harper walked, and two batters later, LaRoche ripped a single to right-center to get the Nats on the board. Werth followed with an RBI single of his own a batter later. In the third, Desmond again got the Nats started, dropping down a bunt single and then jogging over to second on third baseman Juan Francisco's throwing error. Harper again walked, and then he and Desmond took off on a double steal. The Brewers had Harper caught between first and second, but they tried to throw behind Desmond at third, and both Nats baserunners ended up safe on the play. Zimmerman capitalized on the Brewers' blunder by scoring Desmond on a sac fly. Taylor Jordan has worked through three solid innings, allowing one run on three hits and one hit-by-pitch. The fastball command has been better for Jordan today than his last time out, and he's shown a nice biting slider. The young right-hander is still leaving pitches up in the zone and out over the plate, but to this point, he's largely gotten away with it. He's thrown 52 pitches, 36 for strikes. Update: Jordan is done for the day, and after getting stuck with the loss in his major league debut, the rookie is in line for his first big league win today. The right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Jordan threw 85 pitches, 60 for strikes. A strong effort all around. The Nats lead 3-2 mid-way through the sixth. Update II: Wilson Ramos is making a heck of a return from the disabled list. After missing 44 games with a strained left hamstring, Ramos came off the DL today and has gone 2-for-3 through the first six innings of this afternoon's ballgame. He singled to right in the fourth, and then delivered a big two-run single in the sixth, giving the Nats a couple of huge insurance runs and boosting their lead to 5-2. Ramos has dealt with plenty of negative stuff over the last two years. Today must feel pretty good for him, and for the Nats, as well, who have the lead going to the late innings.



Storen gives up the lead (Ramos leads Nats to 8-5 ...
Rachel Levitin: Continuing my Fourth of July tradi...
 

By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/