Morgan Has Career Game, but Nats Flounder in Frustrating Fashion

(Picture Captured from MASN-HD)

Nyjer Morgan had one of the best games of his career on Friday night in Baltimore in game one of the Battle of the Beltways. Morgan went 4 for 5, with 3 runs and an RBI. He reached base safely in his first 4 at bats. Nyjer was agressive and was just reading every Orioles pitcher as perfectly as you possibly could.

He was also lighting it up in the field, with one of the most amazing catches that I have ever seen, pictured above. T. Plush reached a ball that was easily 4 feet over the center field wall, which would have been a home run for Corey Patterson. After the remarkable catch, Patterson tipped his cap in recognition of the catch as a fellow center fielder. Nats starting pitcher J.D. Martin Miguel Tejada was less grateful when Nyjer stole extra bases from him a few innings later with a running catch.

The Nats were up 6-0 in the 5th and looked to be the dominant team. J.D. Martin pitched a decent game, one that was good enough to earn him a win, even if it was only 4 1/3 innings. And then, for reasons passing understanding, Jim Riggleman decided to use 6 of the 8 guys in the bullpen. Maybe just because he could? But after several great innings from the 'pen, Tyler Clippard came in and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 1 1/3 innings in the 8th and 9th innings. Matt Capps came in to try to just keep the Nats in it with 2 runners on base and gave up an inherited run to his first batter in the bottom of the 9th for a walk off, earning Tyler Clippard his 4th loss on the season.

That's right folks. The Washington Nationals, after the remarkable start to the game, blew a 6-0 lead to lose to the worst team in all of baseball.

At the end, batters were over-swinging. They were frustrated. Maybe with themselves, maybe with the pitching disaster by Clippard. There is no excuse for giving up a 6 run lead to the team with the worst record in baseball and the 2nd worst RBI count. But Clippard did just that, and the Nats lost another game that should have been an easy win.

At this point in the season, you have to wonder, where has the confidence gone? Where is the swagger of this once passably decent ball club? If you find it, call Jim Riggleman. He needs your help.

Nats Try to Salvage Season against Royals

On Monday, the Nationals took a big step in the right direction. First, by breaking a 6 game losing streak. Second, by scoring enough runs... 2... to land a starter a win whose name isn't Stephen Strasburg. The last time the Nats got a win that wasn't started by Strasburg was 10 days ago from Livan Hernandez.

To take it a bit further: The last Washington Nationals starter to get a win that isn't named Strasburg or Hernandez was on May 31st. 20 games ago. That was Luis Atilano. Unfortunately, this has become the problem with starting pitchers over the last month or so. The Nats simply can't score enough runs to win, even when their starters give them a quality outing.

Well, Monday night the 2 runs were enough to take out the abysmal Royals. Although the Royals are 17-19 in their last 36. I don't think we even want to discuss what the Nats record is over that time frame. (The answer is 12-24... yea... ouch.)

The Nats look for a sweep of this series to get their derailed season back on track. Not on track for the wild card, or the division, but for respectability. They'll have to do so on Tuesday on the remarkable 5-4 record of Luis Atilano and hits unsavory 4.77 ERA. The Nats will face Royals RHP Anthony Lerew for the win. Lerew has only 15 games of MLB experience since 2005, and it will be only his 2nd start on the year. If there is a day for the Nats bats to wake up, it must be Tuesday against this greenhorn starter.

The Nats have a 4:35 pm start from Strasburg on Wednesday, and hopefully that can end this series with a 3 game winning streak to take the trip to Baltimore for a 3 game series against the MLB worse Orioles (19-50). Last year on this date, the Nationals were 21-47, so yes, the Orioles are on pace to be worse than the Nats were last year. Take THAT Peter Angelos... Oh, what's that? You're making money on the Nationals success this year? Damn.

This is (not) Birdland

Well, interleague play has begun in Major League Baseball. The Baltimore Orioles come to town to take on the Nats for a 3 game weekend series in this epic rivalry. HA! Ok, I almost kept a straight face there... It's fun to have a pretend-rival though, eh? God, do I hate Peter Angelos though.

I'll be attending the Sunday game, where the Nats have yet to release a starter. Which is curious, because that's Lannan's scheduled start day. Color me concerned.

When the National Anthem is performed at Nationals Park this 3 day weekend, Nats fans should expect a lot more "OH's" at the end of the Anthem, and a lot of Halloween colors in the crowd with the park right up I-95, but other than that, they certainly shouldn't expect much competition.

Baltimore comes to town with a 2009 Nats-like record of 13-29 (the Nats were 12-28 a year ago today) and are cruising along as the worst team in baseball so far this season. The Orioles have had almost incomprehensibly low attendance numbers, some games not even breaking 10,000, for what is among the most beautiful parks in all of baseball. The Nats need to take at least 2 of these games, if not all 3, because they're going on a very difficult road trip to the left coast to face two NL West contenders and some really great pitching.

Look no further than yesterday's Capitol Baseball post, where I talked about my concerns with Nyjer Morgan. Jim Riggleman obviously agreed, because Morgan has the day off today with Bernadina getting CF responsibilities and Willie Harris in the lead off spot. O's RHP David Hernandez will start with his 5.84 ERA and 0-5 record. Gross indeed. In his 7 appearances, Hernandez has failed to go longer than 6 innings and he gives up lots of walks in those short outings, averaging more than 3 a game.

The Nats will have no excuse for not handling the O's in every aspect of the game with Scott Olsen's 3.15 and 2-1 record on the mound. They need to get the momentum back, and they need to do it soon if they want to still be in any sort of contention when Jesus comes up in just two weeks. They can't afford another extended losing streak, or they will quickly find themselves disappointed, once again, at the All-Star break. If they can keep it going, we might start hearing much more 2005 Nats team talk, which would be a welcome change of pace for many Nats fans.