Jason Bergmann fell to 1-7 as he lost on Tuesday night to the San Francisco Giants.  It was the second straight game that the Nationals have lost to the Giants out in San Francisco.  They will have to win on Wednesday if they want to avoid the dreadful three game sweep.

Bergmann just didn’t have it going on the mound.  That is something that we have been saying all season long about him though.  He allowed five hits and five runs (four earned) in the game while taking the loss.  Bergmann had a problem with the home run ball as Bengie Molina took him deep twice and Fred Lewis did as well in the first inning.

Saul Rivera gave up two hits and one run in the eight inning.  The bullpen didn’t do a bad job besides for Rivera.  Jesus Colome and Charlie Manning combined to throw two scoreless innings.

Paul LoDuca hit a rbi ground rule double and added on a rbi ground out to lead the team at the plate with two rbi.  Willie Harris also hit his 7th home run of the season which was a solo shot in the 5th inning.

I would probably expect the Nationals to lose on Wednesday as well they way they are playing right now.  Hell they can’t even beat Barry Zito!

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on July 23rd, 2008
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It was a wild night between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.  The Nationals tied the game with two runs in the ninth inning, and then the two teams traded shots in extra innings before the Nats ended up losing 7-5.  The Nationals were beaten in two out of three games as they dropped their season record to 35-58.

The offense couldn’t get anything going against Dan Haren who struck out nine Nationals through eight innings.  However in the ninth inning, Haren let the first two runners on base and then the Nationals scored two runs off closer Brandon Lyon.  In the tenth inning, both teams scored three runs but in the 11th inning it was all Diamondbacks as they Nationals didn’t have another comeback left in them.

Nationals starting pitcher Jason Bergmann gave up six hits and two runs over seven innings.  Charlie Manning did throw a scoreless eighth inning before Jesus Colome tossed a scoreless ninth inning.  Jon Rauch gave up all three runs in the 10th inning and then Luis Ayala gave up two runs in the 11th to take the loss.

The Nationals will now play the Houston Astros for their final series before the All Star break.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on July 11th, 2008
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The Washington Nationals finished up a dissapointing three game series with the Florida Marlins with a 4-2 loss on Wednesday afternoon.  The Nationals had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth innint but the Marlins then scored four runs over the next three innings to pull away for the victory.  With the loss, the Nationals lost two our of three games to the Marlins.

Odalis Perez pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up five hits and two runs.  Perez didn’t pitch to badly and ended up getting a no decision in the game.  Charlie Manning was charged with one run after he gave up two hits without recording an out and took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season.  Saul Rivera was also charged with one run in the eighth inning.  Bad job by the bullpen at the end of the game.

Paul Lo Duca had both rbi’s for the Nationals as he singled in two runs in the second inning to get the Nationals on the scoreboard.  The bad news was that those were the only two runs in the game for the Nats.

The Nationals will now start a four game series with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on July 2nd, 2008
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The Washington Nationals were able to hold off the Florida Marlins for a 9-6 victory on Tuesday night.  The Marlins actually had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning but they were unable to in the inning.  It was a good win for the Nationals as they evened up the series at 1-1.

The Nationals got down early and just kept plugging away in the game.  Ronnie Belliard finished the game with four rbi as he hit a grand slam in the sixth inning for the Nationals.  Elijah Dukes also had a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Felipe Lopez chipped in with two rbi while Willie Harris had one rbi.

Collin Balester pitched five innings to start the game and only gave up one hit and one run to get a no decision.  Balester pitched well enough to pick up the victory and is now 1-0.  Steven Shell had some problems as he gave up two hits and three runs in relief of Balester.  Charlie Manning also gave up two runs in relief.  Jon Rauch pitched the ninth inning to record his 17th save of the season.

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Post info: By Cliff on July 1st, 2008
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The Washington Nationals got behind 8-0 in the third inning and lost to the Los Angeles Angels by the score of 8-3.  With the Nats getting down by eight runs so early in the game, you have to wonder if it took a lot of emotion out of the team.  They had to have been thinking, “here we go again”.  It was just another bad loss for the Nationals.

Shawn Hill stunk it up as he only pitched three innings and gave up eight hits and six runs.  Hill was rocked right from the get go as the Angels bats were hot and they were hitting him hard all over the field.  Hill dropped his record to 1-5 with the loss.

I will give the Nationals bullpen credit however as they limited the hot hitting Angels scoreless.  Steven Shell, Jesus Colome, Joel Hanrahan, and Charlie Manning all pitched well out of the bullpen for the Nationals.

Wily Mo Pena hit a solo home run in the third inning for the Nationals first run of the game.  Elijah Dukes then hti a solo home run in the fourth inning.  Kory Casto had a pitch hit rbi single in the fifth inning for the Nationals third and final run of the game.

Now the Nationals will look to avoid the sweep on Wednesday.  I really expect them to lose on Wednesday as well.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 24th, 2008
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The Washington Nationals played a really good game on Monday night but they came up just short as they lost 2-1 to the Minnesota Twins.  One mistake in the sixth inning cost the Nationals the game as Justin Morneau took starting pitcher John Lannan deep for a two run home run.

Lannan took the loss and is now 4-8.  He didn’t throw that ball that badly at all as he piched seven innings and allowed five hits and two runs.  Charlie Manning pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Nationals.  The pitchers did great, there was just no offense for the Nationals.

Cristian Guzman had a infield single that scored Paul Lo Duca for the only Nationals run in the game.  The Nationals only had five hits in the entire game and just couldn’t push across one or two runs late in the game to get a victory.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 17th, 2008
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The Washington Nationals lost 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night and with the loss they were swept in the four game series at home.  Now that is what I call a very dissapointing series as the Nats lost all four games against a medicore team.  It was the Nationals seventh straight loss as well.

Tyler Clippard took the loss after throwing 4 1/3 innings and giving up five hits and three runs.  He was a bit wild as he had three walks in the game.  Clippard gave up two rbi singles to Randy Winn and a rbi double to Bengie Molina in the game.

Brian Sanches, Jesus Colome, Charlie Manning, and Luis Ayala all seen action out of the bullpen and all did a pretty good job.  They did not allow the Giants to score another run, and that is about all you can ask for out of your bullpen.

Jesus Flores had sac fly in the fourth inning that scored Lastings Milledge. That was the only recorded rbi in the game for the Nationals.  Milledge did score an unearned run in the eighth inning on error by Giants catcher Molina.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 9th, 2008
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The Washingon Nationals lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 on a rainy night in the nations capital.  There was a 49 minute rain delay in the top of the fifth inning as the game took longer to play then what had been planned.

The Natinals had hardly any offense in the game as they were only able to come up with six hits and one run.  The one run came in the bottom of the fifth inning Ryan Langerhans grounded out to second and Jesus Flores scored.  The Nationals just weren’t able to string together two or three hits at a time to get a rally going.

Odalis Perez took the loss as he pitched three innings and gave up five hits and four runs.  The Cardinals scored four runs in the first inning with the big blow coming off the bat of Yadier Molina when he took Perez deep for a three run home run.

Jesus Colome came in after Perez exited and he didn’t have any luck either.  Colome gave up two runs on three hits in only one inning of action.  Brian Sanches, Charlie Manning, Saul Rivera, and Jon Rauch were finally able to hold the Cardinals down for the last five innings of the game.

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Post info: By Cliff on June 4th, 2008
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The San Diego Padres scored three runs off the Washington Nationals bullpen in the eighth inning on Thursday as they beat the Nationals by the score of 5-2.  The Nationals were going for the series win but instead dropped two of three games to the Padres.

Saul Rivera gave up two runs as he pitched in relief of starting pitcher John Lannan.  Rivera took the loss and is now 3-3 on the season while Lannan got the no decision.  Charlie Manning recorded the final two outs but still was charged with one earned run in the game.

Elijah Dukes had a sacrafice fly in the fourth inning that scored the Nationals first run of the game and then pitch hitter Ryan Langerhans singled in Dukes in the seventh inning for the Nationals second and final run of the game.

The Nationals will now travel to Arizona to take the Diamondbacks on in a three game weekend series.  This series spells trouble for the Nationals if you ask me.

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Post info: By Cliff on May 29th, 2008
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