National Record

The Skinny:  The Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves for the second day in a row.  The Nats one today with two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the Braves 3-2.

The Pitching:  Shawn Hill made the start on the mound for the Nationals today and pitched a terrific game.  Hill lasted eight innings today and gave up only one run and allowed only six base runners.  The only are where he struggled was in strike outs, he collected only one in his eight innings today.  Saul Rivera came on to pitch the 11th and 12th.  He gave up a run in the 12th that gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.  Luckily the offense rallied and Rivera picked up his third win of the season.

The Hitting:  The Nationals offense was only able to put one run on the board over the first eleven innings but were able to score when it counted the most.  Ronnie Belliard walked with the bases loaded to tie the game in the 12th and Felipe Lopez followed him with a walk off single as the Nats won 3-2.  The Nationals had only 6 hits all day and hit only .162 as a team on the game.  The Nationals offense will need to get the ball rolling here if the Nationals want to continue winning ball games.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals will stay in DC and welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates in for a series starting Thursday night.  Odalis Perez will start for the Nationals in the opening game of the series, still in search of his first win of the season.

The Skinny:  The Washington Nationals won for the fourth time in five games as the continued their improved play.  The Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 to improve their record to 10-17, they no longer have the worst record in all of baseball.

The Pitching:   The Nationals got another quality start out of Tim Redding who has to be one of the bigger surprises in the league so far this season.  Redding went six innings and gave up only two runs to very talents Braves offense.  Saul Rivera got the win as he threw a scoreless seventh inning.  Jon Rauch came on in the ninth to close out the game and pick up his fifth save of the season.

The Hitting:   Ryan Zimmerman had the sort of games that helps hitters break out of slumps.  The slumping Zimmerman went 3-4 tonight three RBIs and two runs scored.  With the game tied at two in the 7th inning, Zimmerman drove in two runs with a double that put the Nats ahead for good.  The Nats got home runs out of Nick Johnson and Zimmerman.

What’s Next?:  These two teams will wrap up their series tomorrow.  Jair Jurrjens will start for the Braves and Shawn Hill will start for the Nationals.  Game time is 4:35pm.

The Skinny: The Washington Nationals, after a long run of losing, are starting to win some ball games.  The Nats have won three out of four games and four out of six games.  The won today 2-0 behind the pitching of John Lannan.

The Pitching:  John Lannan was the story again for the Nationals.  He improved to 2-2 on the season and lowered his season ERA to 2.64.  Over his last three starts, Lannan has threw 20 innings and allowed only one run.  Lannan lasted seven shut out innings this afternoon, striking out three.  Jon Rauch threw a perfect ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Hitting:   The Washington offense put only four hits and two runs on the board this afternoon, but it was more than enough to carry the Nationals to the win.  That Nats got both of their runs in the second inning off of Cubs starter, Ted Lilly.  Wily Mo Pena and Wil Nieves each hit RBI singles to give them a 2-0 lead that would stand up the rest of the game.  Ryan Zimmerman went 0-4 with three strike outs.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals will take Monday off before starting a brief two game series with the Atlanta Braves.  Tim Redding will start Tuesday against Tom Glavine.

The Skinny:  The Nationals split a pair of game this weekend.  Opening a series with the Chicago Cubs, the Nats won on Friday by a score of 5-3 courtesy of two runs in the bottom of the ninth.  They weren’t as fortunate on Saturday night as they were shutout by the Cubs, 7-0.  The Nationals are now 8-17 for the season.

The Pitching:  On Friday, Odalis Perez started for the Nationals.  He was quite effective.  Perez lasted 6 innings and struck out seven Cubs.  He did walk four as he gave up two runs, he received a no decision.  Jon Rauch threw a scoreless top half of the ninth inning and got the win when the Nats scored in the bottom half.  Rauch is now 2-0 on the year.  On Saturday Matt Chico got the start and gave up five runs over the first two innings.  Chico was pulled after four innings as he fell to 0-5 on the season.  His ERA is now nearing 7.00 and you have to wonder how much longer he’ll stay in the Washington rotation.

The Hitting:  The offense got off to a quick start on Friday against Cubs starter, Ryan Dempster.  Nick Johnson hit a two run homer in the 1st inning to put the Nats up 2-0 right out of the gate.  The two clubs went back and forth until the 9th inning.  With the game tied at 3 and one out, Wil Nieves hit a two run homer off of Bob Howry to win the game for the Nationals, it was his first career home run.  Nieves’ touching of home plate in the 9th inning will be the last run the Nats score until at least Sunday as they were shutout on Saturday.   Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano had the Nationals batters baffled all game.  The Nationals could muster only six hits (two by Felipe Lopez) as they were kept off of the scoreboard.

What’s Next?:   The Cubs and Nats will wrap up their three game series tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park.  John Lannan will look to continue his hot streak against Ted Lilly and the Cubs.  Game time is 1:35pm.

The Skinny:  The Washington Nationals got their slow bats up and going Thursday against the New York Mets.  The Nationals scored ten runs on their way to a 10-5 win.  They are now 7-16 on the season.

The Pitching:  Shawn Hill got the start for the Nationals on Thursday and even though he allowed only three runs he received a no decision.  Hill lasted only five innings and the bullpen took it from there.  Mike O’Connor got the win for the Nationals as he threw a scoreless sixth inning.  He is 1-0 on the season.

The Hitting:  The Nats scored all ten of their runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.  Second basemen Felipe Lopez hit a grand slam in the sixth inning after singling in two runs in the fifth inning.  Lopez had drove in six of the teams 10 runs for the game.  Six different Nationals players collected two hits, led by Lopez.  Center fielder Willie Harris scored three runs.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals are starting a series against the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.  Odalis Perez will start for the Nationals.

The Skinny:  The Nationals saw their modest one game winning “streak” come to an end on Wednesday nights as they fell the New York Mets 7-2 at Nationals Park.   The loss drops the Nationals to 6-16 on the season, the worst record in baseball.

The Pitching:  Tim Redding got the start for the Nats and he has been their best pitcher so far in 2008.  He wasn’t awful tonight, but lasted only five innings, taking the loss for the Nationals.  Redding gave up only three runs over his five innings, but he needed a whopping 97 pitches to get through the fifth inning.  Ray King and Jesus Colome each gave up two runs widening the Mets margin.

The Hitting:  Both of the Nationals RBIs came off of the bat of Redding as he attempted to help his own cause.  Redding smacked a two RBI double off of Johan Santana, Pena and Nieves scored on the play.  Lastings Milledge, dropped to sixth in the line up went 0-4 with 2 strike outs.

What’s Next?:  Shawn Hill (0-0) will start tomorrow for the Nationals as they wrap up their series with the Mets.  Oliver Perez will start on the mound for the Mets.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Skinny:  John Smoltz became the 16th player in MLB history to pick up 3,000 career strike outs, but he took the loss tonight against the Washington Nationals.  The Nats defeated the Braves 6-0 and improved their record on the year to 6-15.

The Pitching:  John Lannan made his second strong start in a row (6 innings, 11K’s last week) by throwing seven innings of shut out ball.  Lannan allowed only five hits and struck out four batters to pick up his first win of the season.  Jon Rauch threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning and struck out two batters in the process to finish the off the shut out.

The Hitting:  Four Nationals batters picked up two hits tonight (Lopez, Milledge, Harris, and Nieves).  A Harris RBI double in the 2nd made the score 1-0 and it stayed that way all the way up until the 9th inning.  The Nats scored five runs in the ninth off of Braves reliever Jorge Campillo, only one of the runs was earned thanks to an error.  The Nats scored due to the error along with three hits and three walks.

What’s Next?:  The Nats will start a two game series at home against the Mets on Wednesday night.  Tim Redding (3-1) will start for the Nationals against Mets ace Johan Santana.

The Skinny:  I feel like a broken record:  The Washington Nationals lost again tonight.  The Nationals have lost 15 of their last 17 games and are showing no signs of righting the ship.  They fell tonight in Atlanta to the Braves 7-3.  Washington is now 5-15 on the season.

The Pitching:  Matt Chico started for the Nationals and really struggled against the Atlanta hitters.  Chico lasted only 4 innings and gave up all six Atlanta runs, putting the Nats in a 6-0 hole. The Braves scored 1 in the 1st, 3 in the 2nd, and 2 in the third inning off of Chico.  He threw a scoreless 4th before being pulled.  Chico is now 0-4 on the season.

The Hitting:  For a team that scored only three runs today the Nats sure racked up some hits.  They pounded out 13 hits (10 singles) and Braves starter Tim Hudson was in trouble most of the game.  Cristian Guzman had three hits for the Nationals including a double.  Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, and Johnny Estrada each had two hits.

What’s Next?:  The Nats will continue their series with the Braves.  John Lannan (0-2) will start for the Nationals against John Smoltz of the Braves.   Game time is 7pm and the Nats will head back to Washington DC after the game to start a home series against the Mets.

The Skinny:  The Nationals lost for the 8th time in 10 games today when they fell to the Marlins 6-1.  Once again the offense struggled to put much of anything together and the pitching couldn’t keep the Marlins at bay to make the game close.   The Nationals are 5-14 and still own the worst record in baseball.

The Pitching:  Odalis Perez started for the Nationals today and was very sharp.  Perez threw six innings and allowed 1 run, (zero earned) and struck out seven Marlins.  Perez now has an ERA of 3.32 and has been very good this April.  The bullpen blew the game today.  A day after struggling, Saul Rivera was shelled today as he gave up four runs in the 8th inning that put the game out of reach.

The Hitting:  Once again, not a lot to speak of.  The Marlins pitching held the Nationals to only five hits and one run.  The one run came on an Austin Kearns solo home run.  Wily Mo Pena went 0-3 as his batting average fell to .115.  Pena is struggling to get his stroke back after being injured for the opening of the season.  They need him to start clubbing some home runs and driving their base runners in.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals are now heading to Atlanta for a brief two game series with the Braves.  Matt Chico will start for the Nats.  Chico has a respectable ERA (4.81) but is still searching for his first win of the season as he is 0-3 for the season.  Tim Hudson will start for the Braves.  Tomorrow’s game starts at 7:00pm.

The Skinny:  The Washington Nationals battled back with two runs in the 9th to tie the Florida Marlins but lost when they surrendered a walk off run in the bottom of the ninth.  The 6-5 loss puts the last place Nationals at 5-13 for the season.

The Pitching:  Shawn Hill started for the Nationals and was the less than stellar.  Hill lasted only five innings and gave up four runs.  Hill walked no one but did give up 8 hits while on the mound.  Hill received a no decision for his efforts as the bullpen was actually hit with the loss Saturday night.  Saul Rivera, who has been very good this year, got himself into some serious trouble in the 9th as he only got one out but allowed three base runners and the game winning run.

The Hitting:   After three innings the Nats lead 3-0.  They got two RBI singles in the 3rd inning from Wily Mo Pena and Johnny Estrada.  After falling behind 5-3 heading into the 9th inning the Nationals got a clutch single from Austin Kearns who had a two RBI single to tie the game up at five.  Overall it was a night of missed opportunities for the Nationals offense as they left 11 men on base to end innings.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals wrap up their series in Miami against the Marlins at 1:00 this afternoon.  Odalis Perez will get the start for Washington.  Following today’s game the team will head north to start a series with the Atlanta Braves.