The Nationals Enquirer

The Song Remains the Same

After a promising start to the weekend (a 4-1 win on Friday night), the Nationals dropped back-to-back games to the Cardinals in all too familiar fashion: Back-to-back 6-0 losses to the best team in baseball, and consecutive no-shows by the Nats' bats. Saturday, the Nats had no answer for the previously struggling Jason Marquis, managing just two hits. Yesterday they collected just four hits and two walks. It all adds up to another series' loss and the end to another frustrating weekend for the lowest scoring team in baseball. At this point, there's not much left to say about this team's inability to light up the scoreboard. But maybe Jose Guillen had it right after yesterday's loss when he said, "We all stink."

How bad have things gotten? So bad that GM Jim Bowden, a.k.a. Dead Man Walking, blew up at his team in the aftermath of yesterday's loss: "Be a man. Wake up, and do some damage." How bad have things gotten? So bad that Jose Guillen went as far as to declare, "We're just looking like Little League players," which is actually an insult to Little Leaguers everywhere, most of whom know better than to try to bunt with men on first and second and no outs in the early stages of a scoreless game, which is exactly what Guillen inexplicably tried to do in the 4th inning yesterday. How bad have things gotten? So bad that Brad Wilkerson called out Guillen after the game for his questionable 4th inning bunt decision, "We need to not do those types of things...When you've got your best hitter at the plate, and you're struggling to score some runs, we need him swinging the bat."

How bad have things gotten? Pretty bad, but hey, at least the Nats aren't the O's. Crazy as it sounds, the Nats are still within striking distance in the Wild Card chase, trailing Philly by just three games. The Nats are now staring down the barrel of 14 games in a row against teams that are standing in their path to the postseason: Atlanta, Philadelphia and Florida. You never know. As Michael Wilbon pointed out last Thursday, the Nationals aren't dead. They're on life support, but they're not dead. Yet. John Patterson faces Jorge Sosa in the opener of a four game series in Atlanta tonight.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 8/29/2005 at DCist.com)

Missed Opportunity

The Nationals missed an opportunity to overtake the Astros in the wild card chase, dropping a tough 4-3 decision against the Phillies last night. Esteban Loaiza coughed up four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. Bright spots for the Nats included Vinny Castilla's 3rd inning homerun, and Luis Ayala, Joey Eischen, and Gary Majewski combining for 2+ innings of scoreless, hitless relief. The Nats managed to cut the Phillies' lead to 4-3 in the top of the 7th, and had the tying run on third with one out, but neither Carlos Baerga (pop up) nor Ryan Church (ground out) could get the job done.

With one out in 9th and Jose Guillen aboard representing the tying run, Frank Robinson made what might have been his most curious, if not his worst, managerial decision of the season, sending Tony Blanco to the plate to pinch hit for Brian Schneider. Apparently Frank didn't like the lefty-lefty match up with Schneider and Phillies closer Billy Wagner, but Blanco was clearly overmatched, flailing helplessly at Wagner's 95+ MPH heat. Schneider was 0-2 in his career against Wagner, and Blanco was 0-2, so it's not as if the decision was based on some overwhelming piece of statistical data. And even if such statistical data existed, it's unlikely that Frank would have (a) known about it or (b) cared about it. And it still wouldn't have justified the decision to pull Schneider, who has been tearing the cover off the ball lately; with his 7th inning double last night, he extended his hitting streak to 10 games. During those 10 games, he's hitting .438 (14-32), with 3HR and 6RBI. He's also hitting .273 for the year against lefties. Tony Blanco. Tony Blanco!? Seriously!? We're talking about a rookie who has spent most of the year on the DL, had his last at bat almost a week ago (Aug. 11th), and hasn't gotten a hit since June 5th! It just doesn't add up. Lefty-lefty match up be damned, you take your chances with Schneider.

>Meanwhile, in Houston, the Astros got beat 4-2 by the Cubs, so the Phillies move into a tie for the WC lead, and the Nats still trail by a half game. And don't forget the NL East: the Braves beat the Dodgers 10-2, so the Nats fall to 5 1/2 games back.

>Thanks to the rainout Tuesday night, the Nats and Phillies play a crucial double header today: Tony Armas and Vicente Padilla square off in the afternoon, and Ryan Drese and Cory Lidle pitch the nightcap

>One question coming into last night's game was how Cristian Guzman would respond a day after being thrown under the bus by manager Frank Robinson in the wake of his recent spate of error-prone play: "I really don't understand how a major league shortstop of his caliber misses ground balls like that...Straight at him, coming in, ball into the glove, drops out. You know, you could take a guy playing [Class] Z ball and he would at least catch that ball." Not only did Old Frank throw Guzman under the bus, he ran over him, then backed over him again for good measure. Guzman responded with a fantastic play in the 2nd inning, turning a difficult double play with Philadelphia's Todd Pratt bearing down on him at second, then doubled (and eventually scored) in the 3rd. He went 1 for 2 on the evening, raising his average to .190, and was eventually lifted for a pinch hitter (Carlos Baerga) in the 7th. So, the Guzman Watch continues: Will he crack .200? With 43 games remaining, let's assume that Frank won't come to his senses, and starts Guzman every game. So let's say Guzman gets around 170 ABs down the stretch. Guzman was what, a .266 career hitter coming into the season? So let's be generous and assume Guzman hits at around a .260 clip the rest of the way. That would be roughly 45 hits. Given that scenario, he'd finish up with a .215 average. Why does any of this matter at this point? Because Guzman's 4-year, $16.8 deal is a blight on GM Jim Bowden's record, and with a yet-to-be-named owner taking over the team, you can be sure that Bowden's performance is going to be as closely scrutinized as Guzman's. While it will only be one of many factors, a strong finish by Guzman might help strengthen Bowden's case to keep his job. On that note, MLB wants a new owner picked in September.

>Lastly, the Nats picked up Red Sox castoff John Halama from the scrap heap to start against the Mets on Sunday.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 8/18/2005 at DCist.com)

Mile High Clubbing

A weekend trip to Colorado might have been just what the doctor ordered for the oft offensively-challenged Washington Nationals, who appear to be breaking out of their offensive doldrums just in time for the second leg of their make-or-break 13 game road trip. After a 4-2 win Friday and an 8-0 thrashing Saturday night, the Nats completed the three game sweep by pounding the Rockies 9-2 yesterday. More importantly than winning (and sweeping) their first series since July 1-3 against the Cubs, the Nats got back to within one game of the Astros for the lead in the Wild Card race, improving to 4-2 on the trip.

It goes without saying, of course, that the games were played against one of the worst teams in baseball and at Coors Field in Denver, where offensive numbers are laughably skewed. But in outscoring the Rockies 21-4 over the weekend, the Nats head back East for a four game set in Philadelphia with a little swagger back in their step. With the Nats looking up at the Phillies by a half game in both the Wild Card and NL East races, the next four games are that much more critical. Livan Hernandez takes the hill for the Nats tonight against the Phillies' Brett Myers.

John Patterson, who earlier in the season couldn't buy even a little run support, has now won his last three starts in a row to improve to 7-3 on the year. In those three starts, Patterson has given up a total of four earned runs, while his mates have backed him up with a big, fat, 22 runs scored. While his last two starts (8IP, 9H, 1ER, 2BB, 5K yesterday; 5.2IP, 7H, 3ER, 4BB, 2K last Tuesday against Houston) weren't exactly as sharp as previous outings, he's been good enough to win both, just as he was so many times earlier in the season when the no decisions piled up like Nats' runners left on base during the month of July. It's gotta be pretty frustrating for him to think of what his 7-3 record in 22 starts might have been if only he had gotten a little run support along the way; we might be talking about him as a Cy Young candidate...

The logjam in the outfield provided an interesting sidebar over the weekend, leaving Brad Wilkerson a little confused about being the odd man out on Friday and Saturday: "I'm ready to go. It's the manager's decision, if he wants to keep me out. They didn't ask me yesterday, so they didn't know." Wilkerson was back in the leadoff spot yesterday, going 1-4 with a walk and two runs scored. So, [NE] wants to know: Among Church, Wilson, Guillen, Wilkerson, and Watson, it seems that Guillen is the only lock - so who should start, and who should sit? With a chance, however slim, of a playoff berth still hanging in the balance, [NE] believes that you've gotta start your vets: Guillen, Wilkerson, Wilson. There will be plenty of at bats waiting for Watson and Church when the calendar turns from August to September, should the Nats fall out of contention completely.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 8/15/2005 at DCist.com)

Turn the Page

The longest month in the brief history of the Washington Nationals came to a merciful end with a 4-2 victory over the Marlins yesterday afternoon. Livan Hernandez earned his 13th win and ended the Nationals skid with an eight inning, two run effort, and Chad Cordero pitched a perfect 9th for his 35th save. But what a difference a month makes: The Nats entered the month of July with a 47-31 record and proceeded to sweep a three game series from the Cubs in Chicago. From that point on, just about nothing could go right for the team that, for a while anyway, could seemingly do no wrong, and the Nats began their limping descent from the top of the NL East mountain.

Their victory yesterday snaps a six game losing streak and ends what was viewed as their most critical test of the season, a trip through Atlanta and Florida that began with the Nats still tied for first in the NL East. Thanks to a sweep in Atlanta, and losses on Friday night and Saturday in Florida, the Nats finish their six game road jaunt 1-5 and wake up this morning five games out behind the Braves, and one game behind Houston for the lead in the Wild Card. With a 9-18 record for the month of July and 10 straight losses in one run games, it's time for the Nationals to turn the calendar page from July to August, and not look back.

The trading deadline passed yesterday at 4 PM without Jim Bowden dealing away the future to further upgrade the Nats' still-lifeless offense, although if you ask the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers, this isn't such a bad thing, since bad deals at the deadline can be 'deadly'. Although the Nats managed 11 hits yesterday, they rank last in the NL in almost every major offensive category, including runs (404), hits (888),homeruns (73), and slugging (.385). Only the Pirates have a worse team batting average than the Nats' .253 average. Frank Robinson has tried shaking up the lineup in recent weeks to remedy the situation, and has been forced to trot out some pathetic lineups due to injury, but at what point does hitting coach Tom McCraw take some of the blame for the team's woeful offensive production? Could a little bit of housecleaning, starting with McCraw, be part of the solution?

After an off day today, the Nats welcome the underperforming LA Dodgers to RFK for three, followed by a visit from the worst first place team in the worst division in baseball, the San Diego Padres, who at 51-54 are tied for first in the NL West with the 52-55 Arizona Diamondbacks.

(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 8/1/2005 at DCist.com)