Now playing: a live-action version of “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” with Jim Riggleman in the title role. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)- Braves 8, Nationals 1: You think you had a bad day? Nationals manager Jim Riggleman certainly can relate. First, he was informed that one of his two great young pitchers — Jordan Zimmermann — will be sidelined for the next 18 months after he undergoes Tommy John surgery. Then, his other great young pitcher — John Lannan — took the mound in Atlanta and tossed one of his worst games of the season. Lannan (8-9) allowed six runs and four walks in 4.2 innings, and Nats hitters struck out 13 times, which was plenty to put an end to Washington’s eight-game winning streak. Braves rookie starter Tommy Hanson (7-2) was on all night, allowing seven hits in nearly as many innings. To top it off, Nationals hitting coach Rick Eckstein was ejected in the third inning after arguing a tough call on a steal attempt by Nyjer Morgan at third base. Eckstein then had to be restrained by Riggleman after getting tossed, something I’m sure that the manager was oh-so-pleased about having to do. Hey, when it rains, it pours. But keep an eye out for that rainbow, skipper — after all, you’ve led the worst team in the bigs to a respectable 14-12 record since you took over, so it’s not all bad.
- Shock 81, Mystics 77: Head coach Julie Plank should probably work in a few more stamina drills between tonight and the next game, because her team has a serious problem with falling off the face of the earth in the fourth quarter. Last night was no exception — the Mystics gave up 35 points and an eight point lead in last night’s final ten minutes to lose against Detroit in front of 10,398 at the Phone Booth. The home team had five players score in double figures, but the Shock got 23 from star Deanna Nolan, and a big 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench from sixth-woman Shavonte Zellous.
