Jordan Zimmermann (8-2) has been the ace of the Washington Nationals staff all season.  So after a relatively brutal west coast swing, the Nats were glad to come home with Zimmermann on the mound.  He delivered on the mound and became Major League Baseball's first eight game winner.

Zimmermann tossed 7 strong innings scattering 6 hits and allowing 2 runs to earn his 8th win of the season and help the Nats kick off a five game home stretch in a winning fashion.  Zimmermann faced 26 batters in total, throwing 92 pitches, 66 for strikes, before giving away to the bullpen.  Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless 8th inning to secure his 9th hold, while Rafael Soriano punched out his 14th save with a scoreless ninth inning. 

At the plate, Steve Lombardozzi went 3 for 4 and smacked a two run double in the 5th inning to break the game open to a 5-2 lead, which is where it ended.  The Nats will be getting use to Lombo in the lineup.  He was filling in for an injured Danny Espinosa.  Espinosa was found to have suffered a broken bone in his wrist.  Lombardozzi will get solid playing time in his absence.  Lombardozzi's two run double capped off a four run fifth inning by the Nats.  Adam LaRoche started the fifth inning spark with a triple that scored Ryan Zimmerman.  LaRoche's triple was blown in by the win, just missing a round tripper.  Kurt Suzuki followed with a clutch RBI single that scored LaRoche to give the Nats a 3-2 lead.  That would be followed by Lombo's two run double.  

The Nationals improved to 25-23 and moved 2.5 games over the third place Phillies. 

Roster Move:  With the Danny Espinosa injury, the Nats will place Espinosa on the DL and designate for assignment P Yunesky Maya to create a roster sport on the 40 man roster.  To replace Espinosa, the Nationals will recall Jeff Kobernus from Syracuse (AAA).  Kobernus nearly made the Detroit Tigers roster after being declared in the Rule V Draft.  After returning to Washington, he has batted .333 in AAA and leads the system in runs scored and stolen bases. 

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan has high praise for his quarterback.  In fact, Shanahan is so excited about the level of play by Robert Griffin III, RG3,  in 2012, that he believes if he maintains that level of play, he could be one of the greatest to play the game. 

"If Robert plays like he did (in 2012) the rest of his career," Shanahan said Thursday, a couple of hours after an organized team activity concluded, "he'll go down as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game."

That's why you give up two 1s and a No. 2 for him. You give those things up because you see something very, very special," he said. "You see what type of athlete he is and what type of ability he has. He can make every throw on the field, he's extremely bright, he's got great work ethic, and he's got passion for the game. Those are the things you look for. Now, the rest is taking it to the field."

High praise for RG3. 

As we mentioned yesterday, RG3 is progressing quite well and is running at the OTAs.  He is expected to perform heavy sprints and cutting in a few weeks. 

It is only end of May and the Washington Redskins have successfully signed all their 2013 draft selections. 

Today, the Redskins agreed to terms with third round draft pick TE Jordan Reed.  Reed was a surprise pick for the Redskins, in terms of position needs and in terms of prior player interest.  After the Redskins drafted Reed, Reed admitted that he never even had any discussion with the Redskins about a potential draft selection.  With TE Fred Davis returning under a one year deal, Reed gives the offense flexibility in two tight end sets and use within the wild cat system.  Reed also provides insurance should Davis have an injury set back.  Davis missed most of last season with a torn Achilles. 

Reed has good size at 6'2" with excellent natural ability and above average speed.   At Florida, Reed was utilized in a variety of formations, including, inline tight end, detached tight end, receiver, H-back, and running back.   Last season, Reed caught 45 passes for 559 yards and 3 TDs.  In his career as a Gator, Reed caught 79 passes for over 1200 yards with 11 touchdowns.

Reed joins Davis, Logan Paulsen, Niles Paul, DeAngelo Petersen, and Emmanuel Ogbuehi as tight ends on the Redskins roster.  The drafting of Reed puts tremendous roster pressure on Niles Paul.

Here is a look at the Washington Nationals minor league system stat leaders. 

BATTING LEADERS:

Batting Average:  Eury Perez (AAA) .336, Jeff Kobernus (AAA) .333, Anthony Rendon (AA) .330, Jimmy Van Ostand (AA) .321

Slugging:  Anthony Rendon (AA) .625, Brandon Miller (A) .509, Chris Marrero (AAA) .500, Wander Ramos (A) .598

On Base Percentage:  Anthony Rendon (AA) .473, Billy Burns (A) .422, Wander Ramos (A) .409, Shawn Pleffner (A) .398

Doubles:  Brandon Miller (A) 14, Tony Renda (A) 13, Michael Taylor (A) 11

Triples:  Brian Goodwin (AA) 5

Homers:  Zack Walters (AAA) and Brandon Miller (A) 9, Chris Marrero (AAA) 8, Jason Martinson (A) 7

Runs:  Jeff Kobernus (AAA) and Brian Goodwin (AA) 33, Caleb Ramsey (A) and Anthony Rendon (AA) 30

Stolen Bases:  Jeff Kobernus (AAA) and Billy Burns (A) 21, Michael Taylor (A) 12

RBI:  Chris Marrero (AAA) 32, Brandon Miller (A) 28, Michael Taylor (A), Justin Bloxom (AA), and Jason Martinson (A) 27

PITCHING LEADERS:

Wins:  Blake Schwartz (A) 5

Innings:  Ryan Ohlendorf (AAA) 54.1, Blake Treinen (AA) 50.2

Strikeouts:  Robbie Ray (A) 64, Nathan Karns (AA) 55, AJ Cole (A) 49, Paul Demny (AA) 48, Blake Schwartz (A) 43

ERA:  Blake Schwartz (A) 1.06, Taylor Jordan (A) 1.14, Dixon Anderson (A) 2.12, Taylor Hill (A) 2.31

Saves:  Robert Benincasa (A) 8, Aaron Barrett (AA) 7, Erik Davis (AAA) 6

Games:  Erik Davis (AAA) and Aaron Barrett (AA) 19

BP Strikeouts:  Tyler Herron (AA) 43, David Fischer (A) 30, Erik Davis (AAA), 26

Holds:  Michael Crotta (AAA) and Tyler Herron (AA) 4

BP ERA:  Ian Krol (AA) 0.79, Fernando Abad (AAA) 1.06, Travis Henke (A) 1.45, Erik Davis (AAA) 1.59

Point guard Antonio Barton is looking for a new school and plans on announcing his intentions on Sunday.

The former Memphis guard has already graduated, so he may transfer for his final season of eligibility without having to sit out a year.

Barton will choose among four finalists; Maryland, Kansas State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

The Terrapins are in need of a guard with the unexpected transfer of senior Pe'Shon Howard. The Terps are believed to be the favorite, as Barton's mother and four-year-old daughter both live in Baltimore.

Four-star point guard Roddy Peters enrolls this Fall, but Terps coach Mark Turgeon would rather not rely solely on a true freshman to run the offense. The 6'4" Peters is a local product from District Heights and is a consensus top-ten point guard nationally.

Barton's older brother Will plays guard for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III is progressing quite well from off-season ACL surgery.  According to Griffin, his knee feels quite well. 

“My knee feels great. I can do all the stuff on the field without any hesitations and that’s the best part. It is all about the confidence and if I work hard enough to get the confidence back, I can get back out on the field."

Griffin also spoke to what remains in his rehab.

“The timetable for the explosive sprinting is over the next couple weeks and the cutting a couple weeks after the sprinting. I am not worried about those phases. One of my goals is to be on the field for training camp. At this point I am just worried about what I can control. As far as the season goes, I want to be back by Week 1. As soon as I woke up out of surgery I put the date of the first game as the pass code to my phone. Playing in Week 1 has always been the goal, but I am not going to risk my career to play in one game. I am definitely all in for Week 1 but also all in for my career too.”

According to RB Alfred Morris, Redskins fans need not worry.  He said 'He's going be back, I'm not worried at all."  So there you have it.  If his running back isn't worried, you shouldn't be. 

Here is a pic of RG3 running today at practice. 

For those of you that may have a twinge of worry about the relationship between RG3 and Shanahan, don't be.  Here is what RG3 had to say about it. 

“Me and Mike hashed everything out,” he said. “We’re on the same page, and we’re ready to go win.”

“It was an unfortunate situation there at the end of the season,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything that needs to be repaired. Obviously we all just need to move forward and continue to just let that bad taste that was in everybody’s mouth just get out and move forward to the next year.” 

But did he have a problem with how he was used?

“Nah, I didn’t have a problem with it,” he said.

Now stop it, ok!

Meanwhile, WR Pierre Garcon is recovering from off-season labrum surgery on his shoulder.  Garcon is said to be progressing unbelievably, according to Mike Shanahan.  Shanahan stated that "I was watching him this morning in the weight room lifting weights he should not be lifting yet."  Garcon said that he tore the labrum in the loss to Seattle.   Shanahan also believes that Garcon may very well be ready for the start of training camp. 

First of all, congratulations to the Washington Wizards for bouncing up from the eighth position to number three in the NBA Draft lottery on Tuesday night.

Yes, for the sixth straight season, the Wizards participated in the lottery. Participating in half a dozen such events celebrating futility means we should have a solid young core, right? Well, not exactly.

Before we get to my guidelines for Ernie, lets take a look at how Washington has done since the ridiculous Gilbert Arenas $111 million dollar contract. Top talent selected after the Wizards pick are shown in paranthesis.

2007 NBA Draft

#16 Nick Young. #47 Dominic McGuire  Young's NBA career is heading downhill fast. I wouldn't be surprised if he is playing overseas by 2015. The Wizards just wanted to get rid of him at the trading dealdine in 2012 and the rest of the league knew it, so they got basically nothing in return. McGuire was taken immediately prior to Marc Gasol- 'nuf said.

(#23 Wilson Chandler-DePaul) (#27 Arron Afllalo-UCLA) (#48 Marc Gasol-Spain)

2008 NBA Draft

#18 JaVale McGee. 2nd round pick sold to Boston- Like Young, the Wizards had enough of McGee's antics and dumped him on the Nuggets. Nene is a nice player, but aging fast, injury prone and very expensive.

(#19 J.J.Hickson- NC State) (#21 Ryan Anderson-California) (#24 Serge Ibaka-Spain) (#26 George Hill-IUPUI)

(#35 DeAndre Jordan-Texas A&M) (#36 Omer Asik-Turkey) (#45 Goran Dragic-Slovenia)

2009 NBA Draft

Epic faliure. Wizards were slotted second, landed fifth in the lottery. Washington traded the selection to Minnesota for injured backup guards Mike Miller and Randy Foye. The Timberwolves selected guard Ricky Rubio. 2nd round selection was sold to Houston. With the 2nd rounder, Wizards could have chosen DeJuan Blair, Marcus Thornton or Danny Green. Needless to say, two of them are playing in the Western Conference finals.... again. Yes, the Wizards could have selected any one of four solid point guards with that first round pick.

(#7 Stephen Curry-Davidson) (#10 Brandon Jennings-Italy) (#17 Jrue Holiday-UCLA) (#18 Ty Lawson-North Carolina)

2010 NBA Draft

#1 John Wall, #17 Kevin Seraphin, #23 Trevor Booker  The Wizards were basically given the Seraphin pick along with Kirk Hinrich. Down the line, the Wizards returned the favor, giving Jordan Crawford to Boston.

Slotted fifth heading into the lottery, where would the franchise be had they not hit the jackpot with the top overall selection? Overall, the 2010 draft is shaping up as one of the worst in recent memory. #7 Greg Monroe and #10 Paul George are the only prime time players at this point. The jury is still out on #3 Derrick Favors, #5 DeMarcus Cousins and #18 Eric Bledsoe.

2011 NBA Draft

Sitting at #4, the Wizards fell to #6 and fell even further with the selection of Jan Vesely. #18 Chris Singleton  Singleon was a star at Florida State- when healthy- but its painful to think they passed on Kenneth Faried. Kawhi Leonard was brought in to the Verizon Center, but for some reason the Wizards liked Vesely better than the San Diego State All-American. Give me Faried and Leonard on this one.

(#9 Kemba Walker-Connecticut) (#11 Klay Thompson-Washington State) (#15 Kawhi Leonard-San Diego State)

(#22 Kenneth Faried-Morehead State) (#30 Jimmy Butler- Marquette) (#38 Chandler Parsons-Florida)

2012 NBA Draft

#3 Bradley Beal, #32 Tomas Satoransky  The Wizards slipped from two to three in the lottery, but still got the player they targeted. Beal had a horrible start, but came on mid-season before injuries plagued him down the stretch. Satoransky showed promise in Summer League play, I would be disappointed if he isn't on the 2013-'14 roster.

(#6 Damian Lillard-Weber State) (#7 Harrison Barnes-North Carolina) (#9 Andre Drummond-Connecticut)

My suggestions for the 2013 draft? Don't trade the lottery pick. Don't trade down with the lottery pick. Don't take a Euro. I would try and package the two second round selections to move up into the back end of the first round. Take Otto Porter if he is available and get a combo guard like Erick Green of Virginia Tech with the pick generated from the trade.

After a relatively brutal West Coast swing for the Washington Nationals, ending it today with a 2-1 win was a nice way to come back home.  The Nats avoided a three game series sweep by the Giants by defeating the Giants 2-1 today.

Gio Gonzalez tossed a gem for the Nats, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits over 7.1 innings.  Despite the excellent start by Gio, he left the game without a decision.  The Nats offensive struggles continued, smacking out 8 hits at the plate, but only accounting for 2 runs.  Fortunately, with the excellent pitching they got today, they only needed 2 runs.  After Drew Storen blew the save opportunity in the bottom of the seventh inning, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings.  Clippard picked up the win to improve to 3-1 on the season, while Soriano picked up his 13th save.

After going 0-8 on the series with the Giants, Bryce Harper smacked his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot in the 6th inning that gave the Nats a 1-0 lead and broke up the scoreless pitching duel between Gonzalez and the Giants' Matt Bumgarner.  Harper was 2 for 5 on the day and scored both of the Nats runs.  an Desmond provided the game winning RBI single in the 10th inning to score Harper.  

After a day off, Washington will come home to play division rival Philadelphia for a three game series and beltway rival Baltimore for a two game series.  The Nats will be happy to get home from a 4-6 West Coast swing.    

The Wizards slotted eighth in the NBA draft lottery hit a stroke of luck and will select third in next month's draft.

Represented by first year shooting guard Bradley Beal, Washington jumped up five spots and will select following the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.

A pair of freshman, Kentucky center Nerlens Noel and Kansas guard Ben McLemore are widely regarded as the top two players available and will likely be selected by the Cavs and Magic with the first two selections.

Who might the Wizards choose? Washington may not have to leave the District, with Georgetown Otto Porter a nice fit.

Washington also holds a pair of second round selections, #38 and #54 overall. The Wizards are expected to package those two picks in an attempt to acquire a second 1st round selection. Who might be interested in such a deal? Any number of teams with salary cap issues will jump at the chance. Second round selections do not require guaranteed contracts, nor the salaries of first rounders. Potential targets for such a deal are New Jersey at #22 and New York at #24.

While the Wizards have been searching for a small forward since Caron Butler was in his prime, they could go in several directions with a second selection. A backup combo guard or a developmental big man are both a major need.

Potential Wizards Draft Selections

Otto Porter Georgetown 6'8" 200 Sophomore- Trevor Ariza has one year remaining in Washington and Martell Webster may very well end up signing elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent. Porter would complete the perimeter starters for the Wizards for the next decade alongside John Wall and Beal. Porter is a scorer who can create his own shots and most importantly a solid defensive player.

Gorgui Dieng Louisville 6'11" 230 Junior- The starting center for National Champion Louisville is an elite rebounder, shot blocker and post defender. Likely only available to the Wizards if they are able to trade into the bottom of the first round. Could be groomed to replace Emeka Okafor as a starter for the 2014-'15 season.

Mike Muscala Bucknell 6'11" 240 Senior- Muscala also had a strong combine, but should be available if the Wizards stand pat and use their own second round selection. With Okafor gone after next season and Nene wearing down and injury prone, the Wizards are going to need post players sooner rather than later.

Erick Green Virginia Tech 6'3" 180 Senior- Green improved each season in Blacksburg, finishing as the nation's leading scorer as a senior. More of a scorer than a point, Green could be the combo guard that Washington needs. When Wall was out early on and Beal sidelined late in the season, the Wizards backcourt depth was exposed.

Ricky Ledo Providence 6'6" 200 Freshman- Ledo is a lottery pick, lottery in the sense he could be a big time player or a bust. One of the top offensive talents in the draft, Ledo was ineligible academically this season. Ledo could end up going mid-first round or late in the second. Has the skill set to play any of the perimeter positions.