National Record

You have to love baseball.  A few more hits and this very could have been a Nationals sweep.  Instead, it’s a series loss and it it weren’t for a three run homer in the first inning of Friday’s game by Austin Kearns, this could have definitely been three straight losses.

Matt Chico had a very nice start in Friday’s game and he was the primary beneficiary of Austin Kearns three run homer.  He gave up just two runs on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  The win improves Chico’s record to 2-2 on the season.

It went downhill from there.  On Saturday, Chad Cordero gave up a run in the ninth to send the game into extra frames and then Saul Rivera gave up three in the twelth as the Nationals lost it 6-2. A great start by Jerome Williams (six shutout innings) was wasted.

Then, this afternoon, the Nationals couldn’t manage a single run.  Jason Bergmann was robbed of a win because of the lack of run support and his only blemish was a solo homerun by Carlos Beltran.  This kind of performance gives the term get away day a whole new meaning.

And it doesn’t get any easier as the Nationals hit the road for the west coast.  The first stop on their road trip is San Diego with three against the Padres.

I guess we should get used to this when your team is the worst in baseball.  For the fifth time this season, the Nationals have lost a series.  They’ve split some, but they have yet to win one.  And this week was no exception with a series loss to the all of a sudden hot Phillies. 

In Tuesday’s game, the Nationals pen gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth to lose it 6-3.  Micah Bowie took the loss all three relievers used gave up runs and a solid start by Jason Bergmann was wasted.  Austin Kearns was the hitting star.  He went two for four and he scored two of the Nationals three runs.

Yesterday, things got a bit uglier.  John Patterson dropped to 0-4 in a blowout loss and he gave up six runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  Ronnie Belliard went two for four while both Dmitri Young and Austin Kearns both scored and drove in one in the 9-3 loss.

Then this afternoon, the Nationals got some pitching.  Shawn Hill picked up his second win and he gave up just two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in eight innings.  Kearns had two hits and he scored a run while Young hit a solo homerun in the 4-2 win.  Ryan Church singled and drove in two runs.

Next up is the Mets at home.  Maybe we’ll just have to wait until next week to pick up that series win.

Well, we knew the pitching wasn’t going to be good and so far it hasn’t.  This weekend, the Nationals needed six runs and fourteen inning just to take one game in their series against the Marlins.  The other two games were downright ugly and the end result is a major league tying worst six wins.

Friday’s game was the win and even that one was scary.  The Nationals jumped out to a 5-0 lead and eventually gave up each of those runs and the game went into extra frames.  Then in the fourteenth, Chris Snelling lined one off of the second baseman’s glove and Ryan Church scampered home for the game winner.  Austin Kearns and Ronnie Belliard each finished with three hits and Belliard had three RBIs in the 6-5 win.  Shawn Hill had a solid start and he gave up two runs in six innings and Jesus Colome picked up the win with a shutout inning of relief.

It went downhill from there.  Matt Chico was roughed up for five runs and he walked seven in 4 2/3 innings.  Ryan Wagner was also bombed in a 1 2/3 inning relief appearance and he gave up four runs.  Ryan Zimmerman finished with two hits, a run and an RBI in the 9-3 loss.

Jerome Williams was even worse today.  He gave up ten runs on nine hits and four walks in six innings and he dropped to 0-4.  Ryan Zimmerman provided most of the offense with a grand slam and Jesus Flores drove in two runs in the 12-6 loss.

The Nationals get a day off tomorrow and then it’s three against the Phillies.  Jason Bergmann will get the start in the opener and our best chance will probably be on Wednesday when John Patterson takes on Jon Lieber.

It was the battle for last place and the Nationals won one and lost one against the surprisingly bad Phillies.  I mean, I know the Nationals were supposed to be bad but the Phillies just haven’t gotten it done much this year.

In the game yesterday, the Nationals blew a three run lead only to win it in the thirteenth inning.  Felipe Lopez drove in the winning run on a sac. fly.  Brian Schneider also had a nice game.  He went two for six with a homerun and three RBIs.  Austin Kearns had three hits and Levale Spagner picked up the win.  He was the eighth pitcher used and seven relievers combined to hold the Phillies to just one run in 6 2/3 innings.

This afternoon’s game didn’t go as well and it wasn’t even as close as the 4-2 score would indicate because the Nats scored both in the ninth.  Dmitri Young and Robert Fick both drove in runs in the ninth and John Patterson was hit hard and he took the loss.  He gave up three runs on seven hits and four walks with one strikeout in just four innings of work.

Next up is a trip to Miami to take on the Marlins.  I’m not getting my hopes up, but the good thing is, we don’t have to see Dontrelle Willis.

It didn’t take the Nationals very long, but they lost their tenth game last night.  Jerome Williams was hit hard and he dropped to 0-3 on the season.  He gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings of work.  Felipe Lopez had two hits and an RBI and he continues to hit the ball well and Chris Snelling went two for three with an RBI and two runs in the 6-4 loss.

There was a win in this series though as Matt Chico finally put together a solid start.  He gave up just one run on four hits and five walks in five innings of work and it’s his first major league win.  Dmitri Young had a nice game with the stick n the 5-1 win. He went three for four with two RBIs and a run.  Felipe Lopez finished with three hits in that gave and he had five total in the two game seires.

Next up is two agaist the Phillies in a surprising battle of the bottom feeders.  Yeah, I know it’s not too surprising that the Nats are near the bottom of the standings but the Phillies were supposed to contend for a division title.

The Mets rolled through everyone last year, at least in the regular season, so to take a game against them with such a bad team is a minor accomplishment.  And misery loves company as the Royals now sit with the Nationals with a MLB worst 3-9 record.  Yeah, I’m a half glass full kind of guy

And it could have been a sweep if the Nats had put together a couple of more runs on Friday.  As it was, a solid start by John Patterson went to waste in the 3-2 loss.  He gave up two runs on just two hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  Chris Snelling had two hits and an RBI.

Then on Saturday, the Nationals got the bats going.  Snelling hit a three run homer and Ryan Church and Dmitri Young also went yard in the 6-2 win.  Shawn Hill had a nice outing and he picked up his first win of the season. He gave up just two runs on eight hits and one walk with five strikeouts in seven innings.

Next up is a two game series against the first place Braves.  Maybe we can rain on their parade with a win or two.  The again, maybe not.

It’s getting ugly early for Nationals fans and once again the team lost another series, this time at the hands of the Braves.  Things kicked off on Tuesday when the Nationals lost their fifth straight game in an 8-0 shutout.  Matt Chico had a rough start and Ray King was hit for four runs in relief.  In the meantime, the hitters racked up just three hits.  It wasn’t pretty.

Then the Braves scored eight more runs yesterday to make it six straight losses.  Jerome Williams actually wasn’t that bad in his five innings but Ryan Wagner and Jon Rauch each gave up three runs each their inning of work.  Rafael Belliard had a good game with the stick and he had three hits and two RBIs.

Then the Nationals finally got some pitching.  Jason Bergmann threw six shutout innings and three relievers combined for three more shutout innings as the Nationals won it 2-0.  Both runs came in the eighth with Belliard’s RBI single being the game winner.

Next up is three against the Mets, which could get ugly because that team can score some runs.  I like our chances in the first game though.  John Patterson will take on rookie Mike Pelfrey.

Six runs in four games isn’t going to cut it, and that’s all that the Nationals got in their four game series this weekend.  It’s almost not worth running down each of the four games because from the Nationals’ perspective, nothing happened.  The closest they came to winning was on Thursday when they actually scored three runs yet lost 4-3.  Then there were two straight 7-1 beat downs before yesterdays 3-1 loss.  Ryan Church leads the team with two homeruns and Austin Kearns has four runs.  Sigh.

Maybe a change of scenery will do them again.  Then again, they’re facing the 5-1 Braves beginning tomorrow night.  Matt Chico will try to end the streak and a few runs would be nice.

This was a pretty gutsy game by the Nationals.  They were down 5-0 and then 6-1 and the clawed back into it. With Jorge Julio on the mound, the Nationals then scored three runs to win their first game of the season.  Dmitri Young had the game winner and Kory Castro tied the game up.  I was kind of annoyed that, with the Nats down by one run and with Robert Fick at first, Felipe Lopez put down a bunt for the first out of the inning.  I thought the Nats were playing for the tie and with nobody out and the top of the order up there, they should have let Lopez do his thing and went for the win.  It worked out though as the hits kept coming.

Matt Chico was shelled for six runs in four innings.  Give some props to the pen because they did a nice job here and held the Marlins scoreless in the final three frames.  Jon Rauch picked up the win as he struck out the two batters he faced.

Ryan Church homered and five Nats had at least two hits with Ronnie Belliard leading the way with three hits and a run.

The Diamondbacks roll into town tomorrow and Jason Bergmann will get the start.  Hey, maybe the Nats can make it two in a row.

If you’re not sure who those five guys are that make up the Nationals rotation, Jeff Sackman breaks them down for us over at the Hardball Times.