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.

Nationals Blog

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 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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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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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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