National Record

The Washington Nationals won the opener of their series with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday and followed it with a loss on Saturday and a win on Sunday afternoon.  On Saturday they lost 9-1 in a laughed, but came back strong on Sunday with a 3-2 win in 12 innings.  The Nationals are now 33-50 this season.

The normally solid John Lannan was anything but as he got the start on Saturday.  Lannan lasted only five innings and gave up seven runs, although only four of them were earned.  Jesus Colome followed Lannan and gave up four hits and two runs in one inning of work.  Lannan took the loss and fell to 4-9 on the season.  The Nationals got their only run in the first inning on a Lastings Milledge RBI single.  Cristian Guzman and Willie Harris led the Nats with two hits each.

On Sunday the Nationals got a great start from Jason Bergmann who went seven innings and gave up only one earned run.  While he got the no-decision he struck out three batters and walked only one.  Joel Hanrahan got one out in the 12th inning and that was good enough for him to get his fifth win of the season.  The Orioles got a run in the top of the 12th inning the Orioles got a run to go up 2-1.  However, with two outs in the bottom of the twelfth, the Nats got a two run homer from Ronnie Belliard to win the game 3-2.  Willie Harris was the only Washington player to pick up more than one hit as he had two.

The Rays will leave the confines of their home park to start a three game series with the Florida Marlins on Monday.  Tim Redding is scheduled to start the opener.  Game time is 7:10pm.

A record sized crowd at Nationals Park saw the Washington Nationals defeat their cross town rivals from Baltimore 4-2.   The Nationals got some timely hitting and excellent pitching as they upped their record on the season to 32-49.

Odalis Perez started on the mound for the Nationals but lasted only four innings.  However, in his four innings of work he gave up no runs on only three hits.  He struck out three batters.  Joel Hanrahan got the win as he threw a scoreless seventh inning.  Jon Rauch nailed down his 16th save of the season as he threw a scoreless ninth inning.

The Nationals got two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.  With the game tied at two in the seventh inning, Kory Casto singled in a run.  Elijah Dukes later singled Casto in to give the Nationals the 4-2 lead.  Lastings Milledge and Dmitri Young led the Nationals with two hits each.

The Nationals will play the Orioles again this evening as they look to take the first two games of the series.  John Lannan will be the starting pitcher for Washington.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Washington Nationals salvaged a win in their series with the Los Angeles Angels.  The Nats won on Wednesday 5-4 as they scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The win moved the Nationals to 31-49 this season.

Tim Redding took his turn in the rotation and was very solid against the Angels.  Redding last six innings and gave up only two runs as he struck out a pair of batters.  Redding received a no-decision.  Closer, Jon Rauch threw 1.2 scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th inning to pick up his fourth win of the season.

The Nationals got on the board right away in the first inning courtesy of a Lastings Milledge solo home run.  They won in the ninth inning on a Jesus Flores single that scored Elijah Dukes.  Dukes, Milledge, and Wily Mo Pena led the Nationals with two hits a piece.

After an off day on Thursday the Nationals welcome the Orioles to town on Friday night.  Odalis Perez will get the start on Friday night in the opener.  Game time is 7:35pm.

The Washington Nationals have the worst record in the Nationals League.  The Los Angeles Angels have one of the best records in all of baseball.  That has all added up to a pair of losses for the Nationals against the favored Angels.  The Nats lost 3-2 on Monday and 8-3 on Tuesday.

Jason Bergmann started on Monday and was terrific.  Bergmann went seven innings and surrendered only one run.  Bergmann didn’t walk a single batter and struck out six men.  He received a no-decision for his efforts.  Saul Rivera came on in the 8th inning and gave up two runs, picking up the loss and sealing the Nationals fate.  The Nationals got on the board first in the third inning on a Willie Harris solo home run.  They scored again in the seventh inning on a throwing error by John Lackey, they were up 2-1.  Unfortunately the Washington bullpen could not hold the lead.

Shawn Hill started on Tuesday and wasn’t anywhere nearly as effective as Bergmann was the night before.  Hill lasted only three innings and gave up eight runs, six of them were earned.  Hill dropped to 1-5 on the season.  The bullpen went the rest of the game and gave up no runs on only three hits.  The Angels were up 8-0 before the Nats were able to get on the board. They got their first run in the third inning on a Wily Mo Pena solo shot.  They got another run in the fourth courtesy of an Elijah Dukes solo homer.

The Nationals will try to salvage a win in the finale of the series tomorrow.  Tim Redding will start on the mound.  Game time is 7:10pm.

After winning the opener of their series with the Texas Rangers, the Washington Nationals dropped the last two games of the series including a 5-3 on Sunday.  The loss drops the Nationals record on the season to 30-47.

John Lannan started on the mound for the Nationals and as usual, he was very sharp.  Lannan lasted six innings and gave up only two runs, both coming on solo home runs.  Lannan walked no one and struck out six.  However, the bullpen couldn’t keep the Rangers off of the scoreboard.  Luis Ayala came on in the seventh inning and gave up two more runs and was hit with his fourth loss of the season.

All three of the Nationals runs came on home runs.  Willie Harris hit a solo homer while Ronnie Belliard hit a two run homer.  That was it however for Washington.  The Nationals collected only six hits all game and no one in the Washington lineup could pick up more than one hit.

The Nats will start a series on Monday with the AL West leading Los Angeles Angels.  Jason Bergmann will start the opener.  Game time is 7:10pm.

After an emotional 14 inning win last night the Washington Nationals pitching staff ran out of gas on Saturday against the Texas Rangers.  The Nationals fell by a score of 13-3 on Saturday as they got hit around pretty good.  Their record fell to 30-46.

Garrett Mock started on the hill for the Nationals, and while he took the loss, he wasn’t the worst Washington pitcher on Saturday.  Mock went six innings and gave up four runs while striking out eight batters.  Charlie Manning and Brian Sanches got two outs between them and gave up seven runs.  That was what lost the game for Washington.  Jesus Colome also gave up two runs.

That Nationals were down 4-3 after an Elijah Dukes ground out scored a run in the fifth inning.  Lastings Milledge got the Nats on the board with a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Dmitri Young led the Nationals with three hits while Wily Mo Pena added a pair as well.

These two teams will wrap up their three game series on Sunday.  John Lannan will start for Washington.  Game time is 1:35pm.

The Washington Nationals had to go an extra five innings, but they still got a win and that’s what’s most important.  The Nationals and the Texas Rangers needed 14 innings to wrap up their game on Friday night that ended in a 4-3 Washington win.  The Nationals are now 30-45 this season.

Tim Redding started for the Nats and put in a typical Tim Redding performance.  Redding was solid as he went six innings and gave up three runs.  He struck out five batters while walking two.  The Nationals needed five relievers to go the next eight innings and they did a wonderful job, surrendering nothing to the Ranger line up.  Joel Hanrahan ended up getting the win for throwing a scoreless innings in the 13th and 14th innings.  Saul Rivera was also terrific as he threw three scoreless innings of relief.

The Rangers were up 3-0 after the second inning, the Nats offense battled back, slowly but surely.  Jesus Flores had a two RBI single in the third to bring Washington within one.  In the 8th inning, Elijah Dukes hit a solo home run to tie the game.  There was no more scoring until the bottom of the 14th when Dukes singled with the bases loaded to give the Nats the 4-3 win.  Flores had three hits for the Nats while Dukes led the way with a career high five hits.  Those two accounted for 8 of the teams 12 hits.

These two teams will get some rest and go back at it tonight.  Garrett Mock will start for the Nats, who will look for him to get some major innings to give that bullpen a break.  Game time is 7:10pm.

The Washington Nationals lost the final two games of their series in Minnesota and it wrapped up another sweep for the Nationals.  They lost 11-2 on Wednesday night and 9-3 on Thursday afternoon.  The sweep in Minnesota drops the Nationals to 29-45 on the season.

Jason Bergmann started on the mound for the Nationals and pitched very well, unfortunately, he was still hit with his fifth loss of the season.  Bergmann went six strong innings and gave up only one earned run and two unearned runs.  The bullpen could not keep the game close.  Saul Rivera gave up two runs and only got two outs.  Jesus Colome five runs and got only three outs to help put the game out of reach.

Washington got their first run in the fifth inning on a Felipe Lopez solo home run.  They scored again in the ninth inning after a Minnesota error.  Not the greatest game offensively.  The Nationals had a lot of hits, 11, but were unable to push many of them across the plate.  Cristian Guzman and Elijah Dukes each had three hits while Aaron Boone and Felipe Lopez each had two hits.

Shawn Hill started on Thursday afternoon and got hit around pretty hard.  Hill lasted only 3.2 innings and gave up three walks and ten hits that led to seven Minnesota runs.  Jon Rauch came on in the ninth just to get some work in and didn’t give up any runs.

The Nationals offense got a pair of runs in the third on RBI singles from Cristian Guzman and Elijah Dukes.  Dmitri Young added a solo homer in the 8th inning.  Guzman and Felipe Lopez led the Nationals with two hits each.

The Nationals will head back to Washington to start a series with the Texas Rangers on Friday.  Tim Redding will start on the mound for the Nationals.  Game time is 7:35pm.

The Washington Nationals got yet another strong start from John Lannan but lost anyway but a score of 2-1.  The Nationals offense was unable to get anything going that would have helped them win this ball game.  The loss drops the Nationals to 29-43.

Lannan was great for the Nationals but got stuck with his eighth loss of the season.  He went seven innings and gave up both of the Minnesota runs.  He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three.  Both of the runs he gave up came in on a Justin Morneau two run homer in the sixth inning.

The Nationals scored in the second inning on a Cristian Guzman RBI single.  Guzman spent the beginning of his career playing for the Twins.  Elijah Dukes hit in the second slot again but struggled as went 0-4 with a pair of strike outs.  Of their five hits, the only one to go for extra bases was a Paul LoDuca double.  LoDuca would score on the Guzman single.

The Nationals and Twins will go at it again on Wednesday.  Jason Bergmann will start for the Nationals.  Game time is 8:10pm.

The Washington Nationals finished off an impressive sweep with two wins over the Seattle Mariners this weekend.  They received some timely hitting and some very strong pitching on their way to a 5-2 win on Saturday and a 6-2 win on Sunday.

Tyler Clippard got both the start and the win for Washington on Saturday.  Clippard was terrific as he lasted six innings and gave up only two runs.  Both runs were surrendered on solo home runs while he struck out two batters.  The bullpen gave up nothing and Jon Rauch struck out the side in the ninth inning to pick up his fifteenth save of the season.  On Sunday Tim Redding made the start and he lasted six innings while giving up only two runs (one earned).  However, Redding wasn’t able to pick up the win.  Jesus Colome threw scoreless seventh and eighth innings to pick up his second win of the season.  Joel Hanrahan threw a scoreless ninth inning.

The offense was led on Saturday by catcher Jesus Flores who seems to be getting better and better.  Flores singled and homered as he drove in three runs for Washington.  Belliard, Lopez, and Pena each picked up two hits to help lead the Nationals offense.  On Sunday Flores got the Nationals on the board first with a RBI ground out.  Lastings Milledge led the Washington line up with three hits on Sunday, all three of his hits were singles.  Even though Flores was held without a hit he did drive in two more runs on Sunday.

The Nationals will have a day off on Monday as they travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins.  John Lannan will start the opener on Tuesday for Washington.   Game time is 8:10pm.