The Washington Nationals had no problems beating the New York Mets on Monday night as they beat em up by the score of 7-2. It was a very good win for the Nationals as they opened up the four game series against the Mets in great fashion.

The Nationals offense tagged Mets starter Pedro Martinez for eight hits and four runs. Elijah Dukes led the team with three rbi as he hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning. Anderson Hernandez helped out with two rbi of his own while Aaron Boone chipped in with one rbi of his own.

On the mound it was John Lannan tossing seven innings and picking up the victory. Lannan gave up one hit and one run as he had a very good start. Lannan is now 9-13 on the year after picking up the victory.

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The Washington Nationals lost a slug fest against the New York Mets on Wedneday night by the score of 13-10. The Nationals just didn’t have enough offense to keep up with the high powered Mets offense.

Cristian Guzman led the Nationals with five rbi’s as he had a three-run home run as well as a two-run shot in the game. Besides Guzman’s five rbi’s, the nationals also got rbi’s from Kory Casto (two rbi), Ryan Zimmerman (one rbi), Elijah Dukes (one rbi), and Wil Nieves (one rbi).  It was a good offensive showing for the Nationals.

The bad side of the game was the Nationals pitchers who allowed 13 runs to score. Odalis Perez only lasted three innings as he gave up eight hits and seven runs. Just a terrible outing for Perez who should have pitched better. Saul Rivera allowed four hits and four more runs while Joel Hanrahan gave up two more runs.

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What an up and down game for the Washington Nationals as they tied the game in the eighth inning and then went onto lose by two runs to the Philadelphia Phillies. Just another way to lose the game for the Nationals who seem to come up with a new way everyday.

Joel Hanrahan gave up both runs in the ninth inning that allowed the Phillies to win the game. Matt Stairs had a rbi double for the first run and then Chase Utley hit a rbi sac fly to add an insurance run. Odalis Perez was the starting pitcher but he only lated five innings as he gave up four hits and three runs. Perez did give up one home run as well. Marco Estrada was terrible out of the bullpen as he didn’t record an out and gave up three his and two runs.

Cristian Guzman tied the game in the eighth inning when he his a bases loaded clearing double. He led the team with three rbi on the night. Ryan Zimmerman had a solo home run and a rbi double in the game to finish right behind Guzman with two rbi. Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, and Kory Casto finished up the scoreing with one rbi each.

Just another loss for the Nationals, I’m sure there will be plenty left over the next three to four weeks.

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Jon Rauch gave up a solo home run in the ninth inning to Hanley Ramirez and then served up the game winning home run in the 10th inning to Josh Willingham as the Washington Nationals lost to the Florida Marlins 6-5 in ten innings of action. Rauch blew the save and then took the loss to fall to 4-2 on the year.  Rauch will just need to clear his head and get right back on the mound tomorrow.

Starting pitcher Tim Redding pitched the first five innings of the game and gave up eight hits and four runs.  The middle relief of the Nationals did really good as Jesus Colome and Saul Rivera pitched a combined three scoreless innings before Rauch blew the game.

The Nationals got four seperate rbi’s from four different players in the game.  Cristian Guzman, Elijah Dukes, Dmitri Young, and Willie Harris all had a rbi in the game.  Dukes rbi came via the long ball as he hit a solo home run in the fifth inning.

The Nationals will just have to forget about this game and get out there and pick up a victory on Tuesday.  Hopefully they can do that.  Nationals Blog

Jesus Flores hit a rbi single to right center field in the bottom of the ninth inning and Elijah Dukes scored the winning run as the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Angels by the score of 5-4.  The Nationals avoided a three game sweet by the Angels with the victory on Wednesday night.

Lastings Milledge led the Nationals at the plate with two rbi.  Both of Milledge’s rbi’s came in the first inning when he connected on a two run home run.  Ronnie Belliard walked with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to record one rbi and then Wily Mo Pena singled in the sixth inning to score another run and pick up a rbi.

Jon Rauch ended up picking up the victory for the Nationals as he pitched the final 1 2/3 innings of the game.  Rauch is now 4-1 on the season.  Even though Rauch picked up the win, he gave up the tying run in the top of the ninth inning so he actually received a blown save as well.

Nationals starting pitcher Tim Redding gave up seven hits and two runs over six innings of action to get a no decision in the game.  Saul Rivera pitched a scoreless inning of relief before Luis Ayala gave up two hits and two runs.  It seemed like the pitching staff just wanted to give this game away and they were lucky to come away with the win.

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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.

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Exactly what I thought would happened did happen to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.  They were beaten by the Minnesota Twins 9-3 and were swept in their three game series.  We had blogged last night that the Nationals were going to have their hands full with the Twins today and that is exactly what happened.

Shawn Hill got the start on the mound for the Nationals but he sure didn’t stay out there very long.  Hill only lasted 3 2/3 innings as he gave up ten hits and seven runs.  Hill’s season record is now 1-4 and he really needs to turn things around in a hurry.

Brian Sanches pitched the next 2 1/3 innings and didn’t have any problems.  However when Joel Hanrahan came in he gave up two runs in the seventh inning that really put the game out of reach for the Nats.  Jon Rauch did a good job in the eighth inning when he pitched a scoreless inning to hold the Twins to nine runs.

We can’t expect the Nationals offense to score enough runs to win games like this.  Sure they only scored three runs, but I put all the blame right back on the pitching staff.  Cristian Guzman was the guy that did get the Nationals scoring started with a rbi single in the third inning.  Also in the third inning, Elijah Dukes had a rbi single.  It wasn’t until the eighth inning when teh Nats finally scored again when Dmitri Young hit a solo home run.

So now the Natinals are 29-45 on the season and continue to struggle.  It’s going to be a long season in the Nationas capital if you ask me.

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The Washington Nationals just couldn’t get over the hump on Thursday afternoon as they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5.  With the loss, the Nationals lost two of three games against the Pirates.  Natioanls could have really used atleast one more win the series but it just didn’t work out that way.

Jason Bergmann only pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Nationals as he gave up eight hits and six runs.  Only four of the six runs were earned but he still did a poor job of pitching.  The Pirates jumped all over Bergmann, and the Nationals could never really recover.

Cristian Guzman had three rbi to lead the Nationals at the plate while Elijah Dukes wasn’t too far behind with two rbi.  The rest of the lineup (3-8) didn’t do a whole lot in the game as all the production came from Guzman and Dukes in the first and second spots in the order.

The Nationals will now board a plane and head out to Seattle to take on a the Mariners in a interleague series.

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It was a low scoring game between the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.  The Nationals were on the losing end of a 3-1 ball game.  These are the games that the Nationals should really win if you ask me.  I think Nationals fans would also agree with that statement.

John Lannan threw six innings and gave up seven hits and two runs to take the loss for the Nationals.  Lannan is now 4-7 on the season but he threw the ball very good on Wednesday night and really could have had a better outcome had the Nationals scored more then one run.  Joel Hanrahan gave up one run in relief of Lannan and then Jesus Colome threw a scoreless inning in the eighth inning.

Elijah Dukes had the only rbi for the Nationals and that came in the seventh inning when he singled to center field to score Felipe Lopez.  The Nationals offense left 21 batters on base and you just can’t do that.  Especially against a team like the Pirates where you should take advantage of all those runners on base.

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The Washington Nationals blew the lead in the ninth inning but Elijah Dukes made sure that they didn’t lose the game as he hit a game winning walk off two run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning.  The 10-9 win salvaged a split in the double header against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

After Jon Rauch gave up two runs in the ninth inning to blow the save, Brian Sanches gave up a home run to Joe Mather and it looked like the Nationals were going to lose for sure.  That is when Dukes bailed out his pitching teammates.  You always try to pick up your teammates if they have a bad day and that is exactly what Dukes did.  Sanches actually ended up getting the win in the game because of that.

I should mention that Nationals starting pitcher Tim Redding was rocked in his 5 2/3 innings of action.  He allowed nine hits and six runs.

Dukes led the Nationals with four rbi in the game.  Aaron Boone and Kory Casto both had two rbi while Cristian Guzman and Ryan Langerhans had one rbi.

The Nationals should be glad they were atleast able to come away with a split in the double header.  They will begin a weekend series with the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

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