The Washington Nationals lost to the Philadelpha Phillies on Wednesday night by the score of 8-5.  The Nationals gave up five runs in the fifth inning and then was not able to come back and get back into the game.  This was one of those games that Nationals could have won but made a couple of mistakes that really cost them.

Tim Redding was hammered for ten hits and seven runs as the took the loss.  Redding lasted just four innings in the game as he has a very bad outing.  Steven Shell pitched the next three innnings and allowed one more run to score.  Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome finished things up on the mound in the eighth and ninth innings.

On the mound for the Nationals, Willie Harris and Jesus Flores both hit home runs.  Flores finished the game with two rbi while Harris, Lastings Milledge, and Ryan Zimmerman all finished with one rbi each.

I should let everyone know that I will be out of town until August 12th and will not be able to update the blog until I get back.  If there is a Nationals fan out there that reads the blog and wants to try doing some game recaps please use the contact us link at the top and send me a email.

Thanks – Cliff

Post info: By Cliff on July 30th, 2008
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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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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

Post info: By Cliff on June 30th, 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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It sure wasn’t a good night to be in a Washington Nationals uniform on Tuesday night.  The Nationals were clobbered by the Minnesota Twins by the score of 11-2.  Now the Nationals will be trying to avoid the three game sweep by the Twins on Thursday in what I call a must win for the team.

Jason Bergmann took the loss for the Nationals after giving up five hits and three runs in six innings of action.  Bergmann only gave up three runs so that means that the Nationals bullpen once again threw the ball terribly.  Saul Rivera gave up two runs, Jesus Colome gave up five runs, and Brian Sanches gave up one run.  Just a bad bad game for the Nationals pitching staff.

The first for the Nationals came off the bat off Felipe Lopez that hit a solo home run in the fifth inning.  In the ninth inning Cristian Guzman scored on an error by Brendan Harris.  Bad game at the plate for the Nationals as well.

All around it sucked if you were a Nationals player, coach, or fan.  Hell even the Nationals Bloggers are upset with how the team played Wednesday night.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 18th, 2008
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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.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 11th, 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.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 4th, 2008
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Jesus Colome gave up the game winning single to the Houston Astros as the Astros beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Wedneday night.  Colome came into the game after Joel Hanrahan only recorded one out in the inning.  Hanrahan ended up taking the loss for the Nationals as his record dropped to 0-2 on the season.

Odaliz Perez tossed five innings for the Nationals to get a no decision.  Perez allowed five hits and three runs.

Ryan Zimmerman had all three RBI for the Nationals as he hit a two run home run and then a solo home run in the game.  Without Zimmerman, the Nationals more the likely would have been shutout int he game.

Nationals Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 7th, 2008
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