National Record

The Washington Nationals lost their 100th game of the season on Friday night.  The Philadelphia Phillies, fighting to make the playoffs, beat the Nationals 8-4.

Collin Balester made his final start of the season for the Nationals and it was not a good one.  Balester managed to get through only 1.2 innings and gave up seven earne runs before getting pulled from the game.  Balester will finish the season 3-7.

Washington got a solo homer from Kory Casto who got the start at first base.  Cristian Guzman led the Nationals offense with two hits as he raised his average to .314 for the year.  Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes combined to go 0-7.

The Nats and Phillies will play again on Saturday.  John Lannan will pitch against Jamie Moyer.

The Washington Nationals lost on Sunday to fellow cellar-dwellers, the San Diego Padres.  The Padres won 6-2 which dropped the Nationals record to 58-98 on the season.

Odalis Perez started on the mound for Washington and took his 11th loss of the 2008 campaign.  Perez was impressive in striking out 11 batters in only 6 innings of work.  Unfortunately he also gave up three runs and that made him the pitcher of record in this one.

Willie Harris and Ryan Zimmerman each had two hits, accounting for half of the Nationals hits.  Zimmerman hit a solo homer in the sixth inning and drove in a pair of runs in the game.  Catcher Wil Nieves added his first triple of the season.

The Nationals will take the day off on Monday and will start a series with the Florida Marlins on Tuesday.

The Washington Nationals lost a match between the two worst teams in the National League.  The Nats picked up their 97th loss in today’s 6-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.

John Lannan started for the Nationals at pitcher and was hit with his 14th loss of the season.  Lannan threw seven innings and gave up four runs (only one of which was earned) and struck out five batters.  Lannan has an ERA of 3.86 this season.

The Nationals got their only run of the game in the 8th inning on an Aaron Boone ground rule double.  The offense managed to pick up only four hits all game.  Tough to score runs that way.

The Nats and Padres will finish their series tomorrow afternoon with Odalis Perez pitching for Washington.

The Washington Nationals have been a thorn in the side of the Mets all season, but the Mets ace got the the best of the Nationals on Thursday night.  Johan Santana led the Mets to a 7-2 win.

Tim Redding started the game for the Nationals and saw his record drop to 10-10 on the season.  Redding could only pitch 3 innings as he gave up seven hits and five runs.  Jason Bergmann, now relieving, came on after Redding and gave up two more runs.

Ryan Zimmerman led the Washington offense with three hits (all singles).  Cristian Guzman, Elijah Dukes, and Wil Nieves all added two hits each for the Nationals.  The Nationals offense struggled as they struck out ten times during the game.

The Nationals will stay at home for a weekend series against the San Diego Padres.  Collin Balester is set to start on Friday.

The Washington Nationals continued to damage the New York Mets playoffs chances as they won 1-0 on Tuesday night.  Odalis Perez was sharp on the hill for Washington.

Perez threw  7.1 shut out innings to pick up his seventh win of the season.  Perez gave up only four hits, walked no one, and struck out six.  Joel Hanrahan threw a perfect ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the year.

Cristian Guzman hit a ground rule double in the fifth inning to plate the only Washington run of the night.  Guzman, Willie Harris, and Lastings Milledge all had two hits each for the Nationals.

The Nats and Mets will play again on Wednesday night with Shairon Martis scheduled to start on the mound for Washington.

The Washington Nationals got another quality start out of John Lannan and helped hurt the New York Mets playoff chances with a 7-2 win on Monday night.  The Nationals are now 57-93 this season.

Lannan was very sharp against a Mets team facing must win games every night out.  He went seven innings and gave up only one hit and one run to pick up the win.  He walked three batters and struck out seven.  Jesus Colome threw a scoreless ninth inning to seal the deal.

Elijah Dukes delivered the death blow to the Mets when he hit a three run homer in the seventh inning, his 12th of the season.  Lastings Milledge led the way against his former team with three hits (2 singles and a double).

The Mets and Nats will play again on Tuesday night, Odalis Perez is set to start for Washington.

The Washington Nationals had no trouble scoring runs on Tuesday night in New York but they had an even tougher time keeping the Mets off of the scoreboard.  The Mets were down 8-7 in the sixth and they scored three in the inning to take the lead for good.  The Mets won 10-8 and dropped the Nationals to 56-89.

John Lannan started on the mound for Washington and got hit around pretty hard.  Lannan lasted only three innings and gave up five hits but did not factor in the decision.  Charlie Manning gave up a couple of two run homers in the sixth as he got hit with the loss.

Ryan Zimmerman led the Nationals with three hits.  Anderson Hernandez and Cristian Guzman each had two hits and Hernandez drove in three runs while Guzman knocked in a pair.

The Nationals and the Mets will wrap up their three game series on Wednesday night.  Shairon Martis is scheduled to start for Washington.

The Washington Nationals capped off a come from behind win when they scored three runs in the top of the 14th against the struggling Atlanta Braves.  The Nationals won 7-4 and improved their record to 56-88 as they look to avoid the 100 loss mark.

Collin Balester started for the Nationals and got hit around quite a bit.  Balester allowed 11 hits and two walks over six innings and gave up four runs.  He didn’t factor in the decision.  Steven Shell picked up his second win of the season after throwing two scoreless innings in relief.  The Nationals bullpen threw eight scoreless innings.

Alberto Gonzalez and Aaron Boone led the Nationals with three hits each.  Elijah Dukes doubled in three runs in the top of the 14th inning for his only hit of the game, he was 1-7.  Lastings Milledge went 2-5 with two walks and scored three times.  Anderson Hernandez hit lead off and failed to collect a hit but he did walk four times.

The Nationals will take a day off on Monday before heading to New York to start a series with the Mets on Tuesday.

The Atlanta Braves rode a seven run third inning past the Washington Nationals on Friday in Atlanta.  The Braves had no trouble with Washington pitching as they won 10-5.  The Nationals are now 54-88.

Jason Bergmann got the start on the mound for the Nationals and just did not have it.  Bergmann lasted only 2.1 innings and gave up seven runs as his record fell 2-11.  Bergmann gave up five hits and walked three as he needed 61 pitches to get seven outs before getting pulled.

Kory Casto, starting at first base, led the Nationals with three hits and he scored a run.  Ryan Zimmerman and Emilio Bonifacio each added two hits for the Nationals but it didn’t really matter as they were out of the game by the third inning.

The Nationals and Braves will play again on Saturday night in Atlanta.

The Washington Nationals bounced back against the Phillies on Wednesday night with a win.  The Nationals offense took care of business and they got enough pitching to hold off the Phillies 9-7.  The Nationals improved their record to 54-86.

Odalis Perez started on the mound for the Nationals but did not factor in the decision.  Perez lasted only five innings and gave up three runs and struck out five batters.  Saul Rivera threw a scoreless eighth inning to pick up his fifth win of the season.

Cristian Guzman led the Nationals with three hits including a double.  Guzman also drove in three runs and scored two as he continues to swing a hot bat.  Ryan Zimmerman went 2-4 with two RBIs including his eleventh home run of the season.  Catch Wil Nieves was the only Washington starter not to record a hit.

The Nationals and the Braves will start a weekend series tonight.  Shairon Martis is making the start and his Major League debut.