Touch 'Em All: Ramos the latest National on injured list

Nationals manager Davey Johnson must be living right.

Washington has stayed in first place in the NL East despite a series of injuries that has ravaged the team.

The Nats' best player, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, recently returned from a sore right shoulder that forced him to miss 13 games. Relief pitchers Drew Storen and Brad Lidge, leftfielder Mike Morse and utility man Mark DeRosa also were on the disabled list in April.

Then things got really bad. Rightfielder Jayson Werth had surgery Monday to repair a broken left wrist that's expected to sideline him for at least three months. On Friday, outfielder Bryce Harper needed 10 stitches to close a gash above his left eye, caused by slamming a bat against a wall near the dugout.

Less than 24 hours later, catcher Wilson Ramos tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while chasing a passed ball in a 2-1 win over Cincinnati. The young catcher is the 11th Nationals player to go on the disabled list so far this season.

This has been a brutal six months for Ramos, who had one of the best seasons by a major-league rookie last year (.269 BA, 19 HRs, 67 RBIs). He went home to Venezuela to play winter ball and was abducted at gunpoint in front of his parents' home in Valencia.

Police commandos freed him two days later and arrested the kidnappers. Ramos got 11/11/11 - the date he was freed - tattooed on his arm.

New Cleveland leftfielder Johnny Damon got applause when he came to the plate against Boston in Fenway Park on Sunday. He tipped his helmet in appreciation to the fans who have routinely booed him since he left Boston after the 2005 season and signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.

Baltimore has lost six straight on Mother's Day.

White Sox manager Robin Ventura says he wants to keep lumbering designated hitter Adam Dunn in the lineup against the Cubs at Wrigley Field next weekend, and is leaning toward playing him in left - right below Wrigley's notorious Bleacher Bums.

"He'll enjoy the fans out in the outfield," Ventura said with a grin. "He likes fan interaction."