WASHINGTON (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their bullpen on Friday
Tim Tebow Jersey , acquiring right-hander Ryan Madson from the Washington Nationals for a minor league pitcher.The five-time defending NL West champions
have Kenley Jansen as their closer, but he’s been shaky since coming off the
disabled list, allowing seven earned runs in four innings over four
appearances.Madson was 5-5 with five saves and a 4.08 ERA in 69 games for
Washington. The 38-year-old recently came off the DL after being sidelined by
nerve irritation that caused pain in his neck and back.“Feels like a fresh
start, especially to a year I’ve struggled a little bit,” Madson said as he was
leaving Nationals Park. “Now none of that matters. All that matters is from this
point forward and helping that team win games. That’s it.”Madson, who helped
Philadelphia and Kansas City win World Series titles, was acquired by the
Nationals with fellow reliever Sean Doolittle from Oakland in July 2017.“Just
push the ball to Kenley and that sort of reminds me of old times with (Brad)
Lidge. Just push the ball to Lidge and we win,” Madson said of his time with the
Phillies. “So, push the ball to Kenley and we win.”For his career, Madson is
61-48 with a 3.45 ERA and 91 saves.“What he’s done is proven, pitched in big
spots,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We’re betting on the stuff and the
person.”After joining the Nationals last July, Madson went 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA
and one save in 20 games as Washington captured its second straight NL East
title.“It was a huge jolt to my career last year
Jay Bruce Jersey , coming into the playoff push and kind of revitalizing … actually showed myself what I can do,” Madson said. “My stuff got so much better
and so I really appreciate them bringing me over here.”Los Angeles (72-62) began
the day two games behind Arizona in the NL West and 2½ games back in the
wild-card chase.Roberts said Madson would arrive in Los Angeles on Friday night
and be activated on Saturday.“Just to have another leverage arm is good for all
of us,” Roberts said. “He’s a guy who throughout his career has actually gotten
lefties out better than righties, so to have him at any point we want to play
him, that’s a good thing.”Washington, which unloaded second baseman Daniel
Murphy and first baseman Matt Adams on Aug. 21, received right-handed pitcher
Andrew Istler from the Dodgers. Istler, 25, went 4-4 with a 2.37 ERA in 41 games
(one start) between three levels of Los Angeles’ minor league
system.Additionally, the Nationals recalled left-handed pitcher Sammy Solis from
Triple-A Syracuse.To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated
left-handed pitcher Adam Liberatore for assignment.Washington (67-67), the
two-time defending NL East champion, entered Friday 7½ games behind first-place
Atlanta and 7½ back in the wild card. BALTIMORE (AP) — Cemented together by a
seven-year contract
http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-fernando-rodney-jersey , the Baltimore Orioles and Chris Davis are staggering toward the finish of a
historically horrid season for both the franchise and former home run king.With
35 games to go, Davis is batting .163. He’s on track to break the record for
lowest batting average by a qualifier since 1900, .179 by Rob Deer in 1991 and
Dan Uggla in 2013.That’s one glaring reason why Baltimore owns the worst record
in the big leagues (37-90). The Orioles will need a late surge to better the
54-107 ledger of 1989, the low-water mark since the team moved from St. Louis in
1954, and are still a threat to top the franchise mark of 111 defeats, set in
1939 by the Browns.The Orioles went into full rebuilding mode in late July,
trading away stars Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Jonathan Schoop. The
32-year-old Davis doesn’t fit into the team’s plan to get younger, but his hefty
contract — which does not expire until after the 2022 season — makes him
impossible to unload.So, the best the Orioles can hope for is that he ultimately
rediscovers his swing.“Chris is a guy that can get going and really do a lot of
damage for a club for an extended period of time,” manager Buck Showalter
said.The Orioles were a contender when they signed Davis to a $161 million
contract in January 2016. Davis was coming off a season in which he hit a
major-league leading 47 homers and had totaled 159 long balls and 412 RBIs over
the previous four years, helping Baltimore reach the playoffs twice during that
span.His batting average dipped from .262 to .221 in 2016, but he had 38 home
runs and 84 RBIs during a year in which the Orioles entered the postseason as a
wild card.Davis battled an oblique injury last season and hit .215 with 26 home
runs in 128 games. He subsequently hit bottom this year: He’s struck out 158
times
http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-todd-frazier-jersey , gotten only 63 hits and has 15 home runs and 41 RBIs.A pair of two-hit games
over his last seven starts, however, provided a small measure of hope that maybe
— just maybe — he can shake this extended slump.“I think it’s really taking it
one at-bat at a time. Not getting too high or too low,” Davis said. “Not trying
to hit a home run, but just going up there and trying to be a hitter.”He hears
boos at Camden Yards after every strikeout. Throughout it all, Davis has strived
to keep an even keel.“It’s too easy a lot of times to get caught up in the
negative and sometimes even to get caught up in the positive and let your guard
down,” he said. “For me, I want to finish up strong. I want to work on some
things and go into the offseason with a head of steam.”Any momentum would be
perceived as a plus.“That’s a big part of it,” Davis said, “just trying to get
something going and seeing how long I can make it last.”
