National Record

The Washington Nationals split two games over the past two days with the San Diego Padres.  The Nationals won on Wednesday night 6-4 but fell on Thursday 5-2.  Taking these games into account the Nationals are now 23-32 this season.

Odalis Perez started for Washington on Wednesday and was able to pick up the victory to up his record to 2-4 on the season.  Perez threw 6.1 innings and gave up three runs to the Padres line up.  Jon Rauch threw a perfect ninth, with two strike outs, to pick up his 11th save of the season, good for sixth in the National League.  John Lannan started for the Nationals on Thursday and was very sharp.  He threw six innings, giving up two runs while striking out five.  His performance resulted in a no-decision.  Saul Rivera came on after Lannan and gave up two runs in 1.1 innings and picked up his third loss of the season.

Catcher Jesus Flores led the offensive charge on Wednesday for the Nationals.  Flores went 2-4 with 4 RBI, all four of which came on a grand slam in the 4th inning.  Cristian Guzman had three hits and Felipe Lopez had two hits.  Ryan Zimmerman sat out Wednesday’s game.  On Thursday, Zimmerman was out of the line up again and the Nationals managed only four hits all game.  Wily Mo Pena struggled the most for the Nationals as he went 0-3 with three strike outs.

The Nationals will continue their west coast trip with a weekend series in Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks.  Game one of the series will be started by Tim Redding.  Game time is 9:40pm.

The Washington Nationals lost late on Tuesday night to the lowly San Diego Padres.  The Nationals offense scored two quick runs in the first inning but failed to put any more runs on the board as they fell 4-2.  The loss drops the Nationals to 22-31 for the season.

Shawn Hill started for the Nats and was pretty decent.  Hill lasted only five innings and walked five batters but he only allowed two runs and also struck out five men.  Hill received a no-decision.  Taking the loss in the game was reliever  Charlie Manning, appearing in his third career game.  Manning allowed a run and Joel Hanrahan also allowed a run.

The Nationals got their two runs in the first inning on an Aaron Boone two run home run off of Padres starter Randy Wolf.  Cristian Guzman was the only Nationals batter with two hits.  Lead off man Felipe Lopez went 0-4 as did clean up hitter Dmitri Young.  Ryan Zimmerman sat out the game with a sore shoulder.

The Nationals will continue their series in San Diego on Wednesday night.  Odalis Perez will start for Washington and Shawn Estes will throw for the Padres.  Game time is 10:05pm.

The Washington Nationals continued their four game series with the Brewers this holiday weekend.  Following a win on Friday night, the Nationals went on to win one out of three to close the series out.  The 2-2 series tie with the Brewers leaves Washington at 22-31 this season.

On Saturday John Lannan took the loss for Washington.  Lannan went five innings and gave up three runs while striking out four.  The loss drops his record to 4-5 this season.  The bullpen gave up a couple more runs that helped the Brewers pick up a 5-2 win.  At the plate, Lastings Milledge hit a solo home run and Wil Nieves had a RBI double.  Milledge and Elijah Dukes were the only Washington players to pick up two hits.

On Sunday they got back on the winning track with a 7-6 win as they scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Tim Redding started for Washington and got hit around pretty hard.  In five innings he gave up five runs on ten hits.  He did strike out seven on his way to a no-decision.  Jon Rauch threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win.  The Nationals took a 6-0 lead only to see it disappear in the sixth inning to tie things up.  Elijah Dukes scored the winning run in the 9th on a wild pitch.  Aaron Boone had a pair of hits including a home run.

Finally, on Monday, the Nationals closed out the long weekend with a  4-3 loss in 11 innings.  Jason Bergmann started for Washington and threw very well.  He went 5.2 innings and struck out eight as he allowed no runs while on the mound.  Saul Rivera dropped to 3-2 on the season as he gave up a run scoring single to Gabe Kapler in the 11th inning.  Cristian Guzman and Dmitri Young each hit solo home runs for the Nationals.  Guzman and Flores were the only Nats to pick up two hits.

The Nationals will now hit the road and head to San Diego to start a series with the Padres.  Shawn Hill will start the opener for the Nationals on Tuesday night.  Game time is 10:05pm.

The Washington Nationals capitalized on a Milwaukee error to help them defeat the Brewers 5-1 on Friday night.  The Nats scored five run on only three hits and made the most of their offensive chances.  The win bumps their record on the season to 21-28.

Odalis Perez started for the Nationals but got a no-decision.  Perez went five innings and gave up the Brewer run.  He allowed five hits while striking out three.  Brian Sanches got his first win of the season for throwing a scoreless inning of relief.  Jon Rauch finished off the Brewers in the 9th in a non-save situation, he gave up a hit and a walk.

The Nationals got on the board first on a second inning, solo home run, by Wily Mo Pena.  A JJ Hardy error in the sixth inning led to four unearned runs for the Nationals.  A Ryan Zimmerman double scored one, and Lastings Milledge ground out scored another, and Jesus Flores double scored two more making the game, 5-1.

The Brewers and the Nats will play game two of their four game series on Saturday.  John Lannan will look to keep up his hot streak as he searches for his fifth win of the year.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Philadelphia Phillies offense and slugger Ryan Howard got on track courtesy of the Washington Nationals pitching staff.  The Phillies pounded out a 12-2 win which saw them take a 12-0 lead after the sixth inning.  The Nationals record dropped down to 20-28 with the loss.

Matt Chico started for the Nationals and things clearly didn’t go very well for him and the Nationals.  He went 5 innings and gave up only four of the 12 runs, he still got stuck with the loss as he fell to 0-6 on the season.  Jesus Colome came on in the sixth inning in relief of Chico and got only one out while he gave up six runs.  That Washington pitching staff threw 197 pitches to get through the game.

On offense the Nationals didn’t get their first runs until the game was already pretty much over as they trailed 12-0.  Ryan Zimmerman and Dmitri Young each had RBI singles in the seventh inning to put the Nats on the board.  Back up catcher, Jesus Flores helped lead the way for the Nationals offense as he picked up three hits.  Felipe Lopez tacked on a pair of doubles and scored a run.

The Nationals will have Thursday off as they prepare for the Milwaukee Brewers.  Odalis Perez will start on Friday night in Washington.  Game time is 7:35pm.

The Washington Nationals got some great pitching from their staff tonight but it wasn’t enough as they lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies.  Jon Rauch gave up the only run of the game in the of the 9th and that’s all that the Phillies would need.  This loss drops the Nationals down to 20-27 this season.

Jason Bergmann started the game for the Nationals and was absolutely terrific.  Bergmann threw seven shut out innings and gave up only five hits and struck out five.  Unfortunately, his offense couldn’t help him get a win.  He lowered his ERA on the season to 5.47.  Saul Rivera threw a scoreless 8th inning and left the 9th inning for closer Jon Rauch.  Rauch coughed up three hits and the only run of the game as he picked up his first loss of the season.

The offense just couldn’t get anything going against Phillies ace, Cole Hamels.  The Nationals mustered only five hits all game, led by Cristian Guzman who had two hits.  Wily Mo Pena doubled and that was the only extra base hit that the Nationals would get.  They struck out 13 times, three of them by Jesus Flores.

The Nats and Phillies will wrap up their three game series tomorrow night in DC.  Matt Chico starts the game on the mound for Washington.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Washington Nationals, led by starting pitcher Tim Redding, shut out the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 on Monday evening.  The Nationals were led at the plate by infielder Cristian Guzman.  The win brings the Nationals record on the season to 20-26.

Tim Redding continued his strong pitching in this game.  He lasted into the seventh inning, going 6.1 innings of shut out baseball.  Over his outing Redding gave up seven hits while walking two batters and striking out two.  In picking up the victory, Redding is now 6-3 this season.  Three Washington relievers finished off the last 2.2 innings of the shut out.   Redding’s career high for wins in a season is 10 which he achieved back in 2003 while with the Houston Astros.

Cristian Guzman was setting the table all night for the rest of his team as he collected three hits and scored three runs.  Ryan Zimmerman and Lastings Milledge each had a pair of hits.  The Nationals got on the board in the first inning courtesy of a Dmitri Young sacrifice fly.  Milledge delivered the big blow in the third inning with a two run double to make the score 3-0.  They would tack on another run in the seventh inning.

Washington and Philadelphia will play again tomorrow as the Phillies look to even the series.  Jason Bergmann will start on the mound for the Nationals and the Phillies will send their ace, Cole Hamels, to the hill.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Washington Nationals salvaged a game in their series with the Orioles by winning today, 2-1.  The game was delayed because of rain briefly during the 8th inning, luckily they were able to finish it this afternoon.  The win brings the Nationals record on the season to 19-26.

John Lannan picked up his fourth win of the season as he got the win today and pitched very well in the process.  Lannan pitched into the 8th inning, going 7.1 innings and allowing only one run on the day.  Lannan gave up only four hits, a walk, and struck out five.  He kept the Orioles off the bases for most of the afternoon.  Jon Rauch threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his tenth save of the year.

The Nats first run of the afternoon came on a Cristian Guzman solo home run in the third.  They went up 2-0 in the 8th inning after Ryan Zimmerman doubled in Felipe Lopez.  Lopez and Guzman led the offensive charge with two hits a piece while Dmitri Young and Aaron Boone each walked twice.

The Nationals will make the short trip back home to take on the Philadelphia Phillies.  Tim Redding will take the mound in search of his sixth win of the season.  Game time tomorrow is 7:10pm.

The Washington Nationals fell again in Baltimore the Orioles on Saturday afternoon.  Starting pitcher Odalis Perez got hit around and put the Nationals in an early hole as they lost 6-5.  The Nationals fell to 18-26 on the season.

Odalis Perez has been pretty good so far this season, he was not at all good on Saturday.  Perez lasted five innings and gave up all six runs on 10 hits, 2 walks, and 2 home runs.  Perez obviously got hit with the loss which dropped him to 1-4 on the season.  The bullpen helped keep the Nats in the game as they threw three scoreless innings.

Aaron Boone and Wily Mo Pena each had two hits for the Nationals and Boone had a pair of RBIs late in the game to keep things interesting.  Lead off man, Felipe Lopez went 0-5 and Lastings Milledge and Austin Kearns also failed to collect a single hit.  Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo home run.

The Nationals will look to avoid the sweep as they play Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.  John Lannan will start on the mound for Washington.  Game time was 1:35pm.

The Skinny:  The Washington Nationals fell to the crosstown rival, Baltimore Orioles.  The Orioles pitching kept the Nationals offense in check and closed it out in the end, 5-3.  The Nationals are now 18-25 this season.

The Pitching:  Shawn Hill got the start on the mound for Washington and was less than stellar.  Hill lasted only five innings and gave up all five Baltimore runs on eight hits and a pair of walks.  The Washington offense gave him leads of 2-0 and 3-2 and he just couldn’t hold them.  The bullpen threw the final three innings and gave up nothing to give the offense a chance to get them back into the game.

The Hitting:  Ryan Zimmerman got things going early as he singled in two runs in the first inning to give the Nationals the early 2-0 lead.  After the Orioles tied things up at two, Elijah Dukes hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to put the Nats up 3-2, it would be their final run of the game.  Zimmerman led the way for the Nationals as he collected three hits and drove in the two runs in the first.

What’s Next?:  The Nationals will get another shot at the Orioles tomorrow in Baltimore.  Odalis Perez will start on the mound for Washington.  Game time is 7:05pm.