Robinson sticks to his guns

Manager Frank Robinson wouldn't back down from his stance that he lost respect for Angels manager Mike Scioscia.
The two nearly came to blows after Robinson had the umpires check Angels reliever Brendan Donnelly's glove for pine tar late in Tuesday night's game at Angel Stadium. Donnelly was ejected for having the foreign substance in the glove. Robinson also believed that Donnelly had sandpaper on his right hand.

After several minutes of arguing, Scioscia then called in reliever Scot Shields. But before going back to the dugout, Scioscia yelled at Robinson near the first-base line and had to be restrained by the umpires before both benches and bullpens emptied. There were no punches thrown.

Robinson and Scioscia have not talked to each other since the incident, and Robinson wants no part of Scioscia.

"As you notice, he walked over to me. I was on the field on the first-base side of the line, minding my own business as manager of the ballclub, and he walked over there and he said something to me that I took exception to," Robinson said. "He walked over to me and said, 'Every one of your pitchers that come into the game, I'm going to have them undressed.' I felt like he was off-base making that kind of statement. He has a right to check my pitchers without trying to intimidate me."

On the mound: Reliever Joey Eischen, on the 15-day disabled list because of a broken right radius (forearm), had a simulated game Wednesday afternoon and was pleased with his performance.

"The ball came out of my hand real good. I threw strikes. I put the ball where I wanted it," the left-hander said.

Asked how his right arm was doing, Eischen said, "It's attached and healthy. It will be right next Spring Training. It will get me through the season. Next year it will be like it used to be. I lost a lot of strength and size in the arm. It's going to be a slow, daily grind."

Stat of the day: Entering Wednesday's action, the Nationals were 16-7 in one-run games and 23-1 when they scored five or more runs.

Did you know? During his baseball career, Jose Guillen played for two California teams. He played for the Athletics in 2003 and the Angels in 2004.

On deck: The Nationals have the day off on Thursday and then play a three-game series against the Rangers at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.

John Patterson will get the start in Game 1. Patterson will face the Rangers for the first time in his big league career.

In his last start, Patterson turned the corner in his baseball career. He pitched seven solid innings and helped the Nationals defeat the Mariners, 2-1.

It was the seventh inning with the score tied at 1. With two outs, Mike Morse on third base, and Ichiro Suzuki coming to the plate, Robinson came out of the dugout. That usually means Patterson is coming out of the game. But Robinson did something that is normally reserved only for right-handers Livan Hernandez and Esteban Loaiza. He kept Patterson in the game. Robinson's confidence in Patterson was rewarded when Ichiro flied out to left fielder Marlon Byrd to end the inning.

Source: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/