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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Tim Redding and the Washington Nationals beat up on Greg Maddux and the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night. It was the second night in a row that the Nationals beat the Dodgers and now they will be going for the sweep on Thursday. The 5-4 victory over the Dodgers improved the Nationals record to 48-85 on the season.

Redding was good as he pitched six innings. He allowed eight hits and three runs in the game while improving to 9-8 on the year. All three runs that Redding gave up were solo home runs. He did get lucky that they were all solo shots that is for sure. Saul Rivera gave up one run and then Joel Hanrahan pitched 1 1/3 innings to get his sixth save of the season.

Ryan Zimmerman had a solo home run for the Nationals as he was the only Nats player to go deep in the game. Lastings Milledge, Ronnie Belliard, and Jesus Flores all added rbi’s as well in the game for the Nationals.

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The Washington Nationals will just want to forget about the game that they played on Thursday night. The New York Mets defeated the Nationals 9-3 as they blew the game wide open in he top of the ninth inning with four big runs. The Nationals had no answer in the bottom of the inning as four runs is just too much for this team to come back from in the the final inning.

Collin Balester was charged with four hits and five runs in six innings of action to take the loss. Balester served up two home runs while walking five batters. Walking that many batters and giving up home runs is never a good combination.  Joel Hanrahan was the pitcher that allowed four runs to score in the top of the ninth inning.

All three of the Nationals runs came in the seventh inning when Pete Orr had a two run triple and then he scored on a infield bunt single by Emilio Bonifacio. Just not enough offense to keep up with the Mets.

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The Washington Nationals got back at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night with a 5-0 victory.  It was a great game all around for the Nationals as they limited the Diamondbacks to only three hits and held them scoreless the entire game.  That is the way you want to play every game!

John Lannan improved to 5-9 on the season with the victory as he tossed six innings and only allowed two hits.  It was a good quality start for Lannan as his only mistakes were three walks but they never came back to haunt him.

Joel Hanrahan, Luis Ayala, and Jon Rauch all pitched one inning of relief and all did a great job out of the bullpen as they all pitched scoreless innings.

Jesus Flores led the Nationals at the plate as he hit a three run home run in the sixth inning and finished the game with three rbi.  Kory Casto finished the game with two rbi as he walked in the second inning and then had a rbi double in the sixth.

The Nationals will try to win the series on Thursday as they face off against the D-backs once again.

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The Washington Nationals had a bad night at the plate on Tuesday night as they were shutout by the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0.  Terrible job by the offense on a night where the pitching staff actually threw the ball well.  If it isn’t the offense, it is the pitching, the Nats just can’t get both things clicking on the same night.

Odalis Perez tossed 2 1/3 innings and gave up one hit and a run but was tossed from the game after he argued a balk call.  Steven Shell then came into the game to throw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.  The Diamondbacks did get one unearned run off of Saul Rivera in the sixth inning.  Joel Hanrahan then tossed the final two innings of the game and did not allow a hit or a run.

Austin Kearns and Dmitri Young both had two hits but were unable to help the team score any runs.  Just another night where the Nationals offense stunk.

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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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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 didn’t get off on the right foot Thursday as they lost game one of a double header against the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 4-1.  Hopefully the Nationals can bounce back in game two and get a split in the double header.

John Lannan took the loss and dropped to 4-6 on the record.  Lannan tossed six innings and gave up four hits and two runs.  Joel Hanrahan then came in and gave up two more home runs.  Lannan gave up a two run home run to Troy Glaus while Hanrahan gave up a long ball to Albert Pujols.  Luis Ayala was able to come in and pitch a scoreless inning in the ninth.

The one Nationals run came in the eighth inning when Felipe Lopez singled in Kory Casto.  Not much was happening for the Nats at the plate.

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