WASHINGTON -- Nationals manager Dusty Baker is leaving the team following Thursday afternoon's game against the Mariners to attend the high school graduation of his son, Darren, who is graduating from Jesuit High School in Carmichael, Calif., on Saturday. Chris Speier, the Nats' bench coach, will manage the team this weekend.
Baker will rejoin the team for the start of a 10-day, nine-game West Coast road trip Monday afternoon against the Giants at AT&T Park. It was much easier for Baker to travel from his home outside of Sacramento to those games than to try to make it back to Washington ahead of Sunday's series finale against the Padres.