Ronnie Belliard News

If you're looking for one sequence that encapsulates the Washington Nationals' sloppy 13-6 defeat to the Colorado Rockies last night--because recounting all of them isn't for the faint of heart--look to the top ...

The Nationals lost their ninth consecutive game and were pounded by the Rockies, 13-6, at Nationals Park on Saturday night.

Multiple media reports have indicated that the Dodgers were awarded a waiver claim on Nationals infielder Ronnie Belliard on Thursday.

Blog reports indicated on Thursday that the Nationals are in trade discussions with the Dodgers, who are looking to acquire infielder Ronnie Belliard.

Durham showed some more pop, homering to right with two outs. Hardy made it back-to-back shots with one to left.

The Nationals were on a high for seven games entering Friday night, having averaged six runs per game during that stretch.

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 9 -- The zeroes, linked together, span the width of two games, two days and two menaces. They span two box scores and 18 innings, lighting a trail that leads all the way back to the Washington Nationals' arrival in Milwaukee, where the Brewers greeted them with domination done twice.

The hardest thing about facing CC Sabathia, it turns out, is recovering from him. Because Saturday night, one day after enduring Sabathia's shutout, the Nationals ran into the rare pitcher capable of carbon-copying such an effort. Ben Sheets, high water to Sabathia's hell, finalized the Nationals' collision with two of baseball's top arms by pitching another shutout, a 6-0 defeat that left the Washington's lineup helpless.

DENVER, Aug. 6 -- Last weekend, Manager Manny Acta tried something new, both because his team needed it and because, finally, he had the young players who wanted it. He asked his team to take a rudimentary infield practice. The Nationals fielded grounders. They turned double plays. They honed their timing.

For some of those involved, that Saturday afternoon drill felt like more than a practice. It felt like the commemoration of a new team -- one that was willing to learn, even if it meant doing things that might have caused eye-rolling among veterans. In the infield that day, Emilio Bonifacio and Alberto GonzA lez took grounders at second and shortstop; both had been with the Washington Nationals for two days. Meanwhile, the old second baseman, Felipe LA3pez, was gone -- released Thursday night, as part of a veteran purge that altered the dynamic of the team.

Lastings Milledge hit two homers and drove in a career-high four runs to give the Washington Nationals a 6-3 victory over Colorado in the first of two games Thursday at Coors Field.

Second baseman Ronnie Belliard , who surprisingly holds the team lead in home runs with 10, nonetheless will be a utility infielder for the rest of the season as the Nationals move forward with their stated ...

As it turned out, Ronnie Belliard's status as the Washington Nationals' leading home run hitter couldn't prevent an entirely different status, the one he formally regained this week: bench player.

Washington's decision Thursday to promote second baseman Emilio Bonifacio from the minors signaled not just the arrival of a new everyday starter, but also diminished playing time for Belliard. During the weekend series against Cincinnati, Belliard, who started 19 of the team's 24 games in July, appeared once -- rising from the dugout to hit a pinch-hit home run.

It is just two games, Washington Nationals Manager Manny Acta warns. Two games in the span of a 162-game season are hardly defining, but the players and manager alike recognize something is different.

In the clubhouse, in the dugout and on the diamond, members of the Nationals recognize a distinguishable difference since the days before the infield tandem of Emilio Bonifacio and Alberto Gonzalez played their first game on Friday.

The difference was highlighted by the Nationals' 10-6, come-from-behind win over the Cincinnati Reds last night at Nationals Park. And it was evidenced in the festive atmosphere of the Nationals' locker room after the game.

Pete Orr picked up his first RBIs in more than 15 months, slapping a pinch-hit, two-run single into left field in the seventh inning Saturday night to put the Washington Nationals ahead to stay in a 10-6 win ...

Nationals general manager Jim Bowden said it's doubtful that he will trade his veteran players before the Trade Deadline on Thursday afternoon.

Derek Lowe allowed one hit over eight innings, Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra homered, and the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Odalis Perez a rude welcome back to Chavez Ravine with a 6-0 victory over the Washington ...

The Nationals traded reliever Jon Rauch to the Diamondbacks for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, who was then optioned to Triple-A Columbus, on Tuesday.

Only Ryan Zimmerman's return can finally fill the void he created some eight weeks ago. Sure, when Zimmerman suffered a left shoulder injury May 18 -- and when he vacated the Washington Nationals' lineup for good after May 25, in a prolonged attempt to recover -- Zimmerman was in the midst of a substandard season. Because of a miserable April, he had just a .257 average. With runners in scoring position, he was batting .170.

But somehow, Zimmerman's importance to the team became more pronounced once his contributions disappeared. Without the third baseman, who will return to the lineup tonight against the San Francisco Giants, Washington had a 16-32 record. The various pieces Washington used to fill Zimmerman's spot -- Aaron Boone, Ronnie Belliard, Kory Casto, Pete Orr and Willie Harris -- have batted, as third basemen, .198 (37 for 187) with just six home runs.

Washington Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young is back in the District to work on getting his blood sugar back to normal while the team is on the West Coast, but that won't be the only step Young needs to take ...

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, Orioles president Andy MacPhail appeared headed for a dilemma that he would have been perfectly happy to confront.

If the Washington Nationals decided not to return from the All-Star break, would anyone really notice? Surely the baseball world would survive, perhaps even thrive, without its worst team, one that is 36-60, is ...