Rasner making his pitch for Nationals

Life is good for Darrell Rasner. He's a new father. And he's still pitching at the Major League Baseball level.

It may be just Spring Training, but Rasner is having a blast. Rasner made his second appearance on Tuesday for the Washington Nationals in a 9-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.

Rasner had a solid outing, pitching two scoreless innings in relief. While Rasner didn't strike out anyone, he didn't walk anyone, either

The Nationals strength is defense and Rasner put that defense to good use, inducing a lot of groundballs.

"I threw well," said Rasner, a 1999 Carson High graduate. "I threw a lot of strikes. It's an awesome defense. It would be kind of dumb of me not to put them to work. They're good defenders, that's for sure."

Another key, Rasner said, was his ability to throw first pitch strikes and get ahead of the hitters. "That's what I'm really concentrating on right now," he said.

Rasner made his first appearance in relief on Sunday against the Houston Astros. He allowed a home run to Chris Burke, the first batter he faced, but went on to retire the next three hitters. "I was surprised, I wasn't really nervous," he said. "I was pleased with my first outing."

After an outstanding career at the University of Nevada, the right-hander was drafted in the second round by the Nationals in 2002. Rasner was placed on the Nationals' 40-man roster last fall.

He also made it through the first round of cuts on Sunday in which the Nationals began assigning players to the minor leagues.

"It's a big honor for me to be invited to this and to make te first cut is really exciting for me," Rasner said.

His debut was pushed back when he returned to Reno to be with his wife, Jennifer and his new born son, Evan. Jennifer gave birth to Evan on Feb. 23 and Rasner stayed in Reno for five days before returning to Florida. "It's been crazy," Rasner said. "I wouldn't trade one of those days back for anything."

Rasner said he didn't know when his next appearance will be, but it could be on Thursday when he travels with the team to Winter Haven, Fla., for a game with the Cleveland Indians.