The Washington Nationals gave up three runs in the 8th inning to the San Francisco Giants and they went on to lose the game by the score of 6-4 on Wednesday night.  This was a game that the Nationals should have won but once again they just couldn’t get the job done.  The Nats will now have to win Thursday afternoon to avoid the three game sweep by the Giants.

Luis Ayala gave up two doubles and three runs in the 8th inning to take the loss.  Ayala gave up a two run double to Rich Aurilia and then another double to Omar VIzquel and that is how the Giants came from behind to win.

Collin Balester got the start on the mound for the Nationals and got the no decision.  Balester threw five innings while giving up six hits and three runs.

At the plate, Jesus Flores hit a solo home run which was his sixth of the season.  Johnny Estrada also had a rbi signle while Ryan Langerhans went 2-3 and scored two runs.

So will the Nationals get the win on Thursday and avoid the sweep?  I really doubt it.  Nationals Baseball Blog

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!

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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.

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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 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.

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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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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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