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Nationals notebook Date published: 5/17/2008
BY RICH CAMPBELL BALTIMORE --Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta kept right fielder Austin Kearns out of the starting lineup last night for the second time in the last six games in order to give Kearns time to address some flaws in his swing.Kearns is mired in a 1-for-22 slump and carried a .192 batting average into the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. "Right now, he's getting his hands back a little too late," Acta said. "His trigger is a little bit too late. He's working on that. Hitters only have so much time to read and react and realize what to do with the pitch, and when you go back with your hands too late, it's a struggle." Kearns has three homers and 16 RBIs in 41 games this season. He has just one extra-base hit, a homer against Houston on May 6, in his last 51 at-bats. Regardless of how well Kearns is hitting, he is usually reliable in right field. That wasn't the case, however, during Washington's recent four-game series against the New York Mets. On Tuesday, Kearns misplayed a scorched line drive that allowed the decisive runs to score in a 6-3 loss. In Thursday's 1-0 win, he dropped a pop fly near the foul line. Acta is confident that Kearns isn't letting his offensive struggles affect him in the field. "He always plays both ends of the game and is able to separate hitting from fielding," Acta said. "He's human, after all. He's good, but he's human. I asked him, and he said, 'No, that has nothing to do with it.'" Elijah Dukes started in right field last night, and he's struggling at the plate, too. He's in a 1-for-19 slump since returning from the disabled list on May 9. "Keeping patience late in the count, that's my thing," Dukes said. "I need to stop trying to force things." Young returns to team, bats cleanup as dh Dmitri Young returned to the Washington Nationals yesterday and batted fourth as the designated hitter. He believes that he wouldn't have benefited from any more time on his rehabilitation assignment and declared himself recovered from the lower back problems that cost him 39 games.
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