Desmond calls on Double-A coach to refine hitting

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond went 2-4 with a home run, a single, 2 RBI and a run scored in the Nats 6-3 win over the Atlanta Braves Tuesday night at Nats Park. Desmond is batting .338 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI in last 6 games. His homer was number two on the season and came off Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami in the fifth inning. "He just threw me a slider. I was able to stay through it and get enough of it to get it out of the park. I was looking for it. He gave it to me. That's what happened." After a little bit of a slump in April, Ian said his Double-A hitting coach Troy Gingrich helped him get back to where he was hitting last season. "I feel like for maybe a stretch of like two weeks there I was getting myself out. I had a couple little flaws in my stance and in my swing. I was able to iron those out. I saw the ball a lot better today." "Me and Rick Eckstein talked and then I talked to Gingrich. He was able to shoot me some videos from earlier in the year last year. I looked at them and saw a couple of differences and was fortunate enough today to make the adjustments." "You go through stretches like that when you lose yourself. You just got to adjust and it took me a little longer than I expected." There was a lot of talk in spring training about Ian Desmond even making this team. Then there was chatter about where he would play. Could Desmond supplant Cristian Guzman at shortstop? Those questions are disappearing quickly as Desmond continues to prove himself. On Desmond's night, Manager Jim Riggleman said, "The ball jumps off his bat good. He shows a lot of leadership on the field. He is a great athlete. He is playing great shortstop for us. He is really special and we are lucky to have him."