Tag Archives: Washington Nationals

Denard Span drops in the order and delivers a win for the Washington Nationals

WP – C. Stammen (5-4) LP – S. Cishek (3-5)

S – R. Soriano (25)

Davey Johnson decided to shake up the order to try to spark the Washington Nationals, and it worked, just not necessarily the way he might have anticipated.  Denard Span was dropped from the leadoff spot for the first time this season due to his OBP of .315 coming into the game.  He proceeded to get the Nationals in the win column hitting from the seven spot.  Span went 3-for-5, and drove in the game winning run in the top of the tenth inning as he doubled to bring home Ian Desmond.

Craig Stammen coming off a tough luck loss from the night before, picked up the win as the Nationals finished this road trip 2-5 going into the All Star break. They enter the break trailing the Atlanta Braves by six games in the National League East.  They will exit the All Star break with an eleven game home stand that will go a long way towards determining if the Nationals can catch the Braves.

Bryce Harper went 1-for-5 with a walk and a run scored from the leadoff spot.  The Nationals continued to struggle to score runners, stranding seventeen runners on base today. Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Laroche, and Jayson Werth stranded eight runners from the 3-4-5 spots in the order.  Davey Johnson might need to shake these three up if they continue to fail to score runners.

Taylor Jordan did a good job in just his fourth start, going six innings, giving up just two runs, but the offense wasn’t able to get him his first win of his major league career.  Span broke open the scoring with a double to drive in Adam Laroche in the second inning.  Derek Dietrich hit his ninth homerun of the season off Jordan in the bottom of the fourth to score two.  That lead would stand until the top of the seventh.

Anthony Rendon doubled to deep right center to score Bryce Harper from first.  This tied the game at 2-2, where it would remain until the top of the tenth.  Span doubled in Desmond, followed by an RBI single from Wilson Ramos. After a pitching change, Chad Tracy doubled to score Ramos, giving Rafael Soriano a three run lead to save the game in the bottom of the tenth. 

The Nationals go into the break 48-47, and improve to 43-10 when they score three or more runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005

Nationals homer their way past the Phillies, Gio Gonzalez goes seven strong

WP – G. Gonzalez (7-3) LP – C. Lee (10-3)

The Washington Nationals were able to pound out four solo homeruns off Cliff Lee to beat the Phillies in hopes of splitting this series. Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos hit back to back homeruns in the top of the fifth inning. Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth duplicated their teammates effort in the top of the sixth, crossing the crucial three run mark that seems to dictate when the Nationals will win or lose.

The Nationals fared well against the left-handed Lee after back to back nights of poor hitting against two other Phillies left-handers. They were able to get nine hits off Lee, giving him only his third loss of the season.

Gio Gonzalez went seven strong innings, only allowing a solo homerun to Darin Ruf in the bottom of the seventh. He gave up one run on six hits, two walks while striking out five. Gio lowered his season ERA to 3.03 with his last start before the All-Star game.

The Phillies seemed to have difficulty with Gonzalez off-speed and breaking ball all night. The biggest change from the first two games of the series was that Ben Revere only managed to get on base one time which was a source of most of their momentum in the earlier games.

Carlos Ruiz was the only Phillies hitter to manage more than one hit on the game and only he and Ruf managed to be on base more than once either.

The Nationals managed an extra run in the top of the ninth on an swinging bunt by Denard Span that brought Rendon in to score from third. Tyler Clippard pitched the eighth and Rafael Soriano closed the game out in a non-save situation in the ninth.

The Nationals are now 47-44 on the year, and 42-10 when they manage to score at least three runs in the game. The Nationals now trail the Atlanta Braves by five games in the National League East.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005

Return of Wilson Ramos more significant than Harper

I had an opportunity to write an article that Yahoo Contributor Network chose to publish where I discuss why I think it was more significant for the Nationals to get Wilson Ramos back in the lineup than it was to get Bryce Harper back.  Give it a look:

http://voices.yahoo.com/wilson-ramos-return-more-significant-than-bryce-harper-12222025.html?cat=14

Errors costly for the Nationals again, lose 4-2 to the Phillies

WP – C. Hamels (4-11) LP – T. Jordan (0-2)

S – A. Bastardo (2)

Cole Hammels came into the game a loser of eleven games and the Washington Nationals hitter made him look like a Cy Young candidate.  He pitched eight solid innings, giving up one run on six hits, a walk while striking out four.  He gave up a solo homerun to Jayson Werth in the second inning and the Nationals didn’t threaten to score again until the eighth, where Ryan Zimmerman and Werth both failed to capitalize on a bases loaded opportunity. 

The Nationals scored off the closer in the ninth inning for the second night in a row but it was too little too late.  Wilson Ramos drove in Anthony Rendon with a pinch hit double giving him nine RBIs in the four games since his return.

Taylor Jordan pitched an excellent game again, only to see a second consecutive good start go to waste due to errors.  In the fourth inning, Kurt Suzuki was charged with an error when he dropped a perfect throw from Werth at the plate allowing Chase Utley to score.   Replay showed that Utley failed to touch the plate but Suzuki never applied a tag as he attempted to throw Domonic Brown out at second base.

In the sixth inning, Jordan got Utley to ground into what should have been an easy double play to Adam Laroche, but Laroche threw the ball off of Jimmy Rollins back, allowing the ball to go into centerfield.  Ben Revere scored on the errant throw, while Rollins advanced to third base.  Michael Young then doubled to centerfield, scoring Rollins and Utley.  This was all the Phillies would need to beat the Nationals for the second evening in a row.

The Nationals continued to struggle against left-handed pitching.  They came in batting a woeful .215, tonight they continued this trend, batting .218 against Hamels and Bastardo.  The coaching staff has got to figure something out, getting batters to adjust their stance against lefties as they are consistently unable to reach the outside strikes that these pitchers are feeding them. If they do not find an answer for this issue in the second half of the season then it will be difficult to reach the postseason.

The Nationals fall to 46-44, and 5-33 in games they fail to score at least three runs.

Additional: Scott Hairston had a fairly successful debut with the Nationals going 2-for-5 leading off, playing leftfield.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005

Former National John Lannan keeps the Nationals grounded, Phillies win 3-2

WP – J. Lannan (2-3) LP – D. Haren (4-10)

S – J. Papelbon (19)

John Lannan, like most other left-handers this season, baffled the Washington Nationals for eight innings.  He struck out four while scattering four hits and two walks to keep the Nationals scoreless.

Jonathan Papelbon came on for the ninth and ran into the only challenge Nationals hitters posed on the night.  He allowed Bryce Harper to single up the middle and a double to Ryan Zimmerman before Jayson Werth came up just a couple feet short of tying the game with a blast to centerfield.  Both runners tagged, scoring Harper.  Zimmerman scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Laroche to center and with two outs pinch hitter Chad Tracy hit a little fly ball to center to end the game.

The Philadelphia Phillies scored early on Dan Haren, getting two runs in the bottom of the first inning.  Haren again struggled with control, allowing one of the runs to score on a bases loaded walk.  He allowed two or more base runners in three of the five innings he pitched.

The Phillies would add one more run in the bottom of the sixth against Fernando Abad on a single by Jimmy Rollins to center field.  Ben Revere pestered Nationals pitching all night, going 3-for-5, with a stolen base and two runs scored.

The Nationals this season have had consistent problems with left-handed pitchers that throw a variety of off speed stuff.  The biggest problem is that the Nationals hitters seem to fail to adjust in the batter’s box to be able to consistently hit the off speed pitch on the outside half of the plate with any power.  Lannan induced fifteen ground balls from the Nationals tonight keeping them off balance on what pitch was coming all night.

Additional:  The Nationals completed a trade with the Chicago Cubs today for Scott Hairston and a player to be named later for a minor league pitcher and a player to be named later. 

The Nationals fall to 46-43 on the year, and 5-32 in games that they score less than three runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005

Zimmerman slam leads Nationals over Padres 11-7, Strasburg picks up the win

WP – S. Strasburg (4-6) LP – R. Erlin (1-2)

On a sizzling afternoon, Ryan Zimmerman crushed a bases clearing grand slam to deep right center, scoring Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Stephen Strasburg to lead the Washington Nationals to a sweep of the San Diego Padres. Bryce Harper had three hits, three RBIs and two stolen bases on the day.  He had an opportunity to really do some damage in the bottom of the seventh, at bat with the bases loaded and two outs but hit a line drive to the centerfield to end the inning.

Stephen Strasburg picked up the win on a day when he struggled with control in the heat.  He pitched six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out nine.  Strasburg also hit three batters on the day on a day that he would need 110 pitches to get through six innings. Alexi Amarista hit a two run homerun for the most significant hit off of Strasburg.  Strasburg limited most of the Padres other scoring came on little dinks and dunks, moving runners around.

The scoring started early for the Nationals with Bryce Harper singling home Denard Span in the bottom of the first inning.  The big inning though was the bottom of the third, where the Nationals scored six runs on Zimmerman’s grand slam and Anthony Rendon hitting a two run homerun, scoring Jayson Werth.  The Nationals would tack on four more in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from Rendon and Strasburg, along with a wild pitch that scored Harper and a groundout that brought Werth in to score.

The Padres would make a push to make the game close by scoring three more runs in the seventh and eighth off Craig Stammen.  This is the third outing in a row that Stammen has had difficulty getting outs.  He allowed two runs in the seventh on twelve pitches, all strikes.  He failed to record an out in the eighth before being lifted for Drew Storen, who quickly put the Padres down in order.  Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth to close out the win.

This is the Nationals first sweep of a series since a two game series against the Detroit Tigers back in the second week of May.  The Nationals now take on the Philadelphia Phillies for a four game series.

The Nationals improve to 46-42, moving four games back of the Atlanta Braves, who lost to the Phillies.   The Nationals are now 41-10 in games where they score at least three runs. Additional, it was announced that Ross Detwiler would be placed on the 15-Day DL.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

Adam Laroche and Bryce Harper lead the Nationals over the Padres 5-4

WP – R. Ohlendorf (2-0) LP – N. Vincent (2-1)

S – R. Soriano (24)

Adam Laroche got the scoring started with a solo homerun in the bottom of the third inning for the Washington Nationals.  Laroche went 2-for-4 for the day but arguably made a much more important contribution with his glove, robbing All-Star Everth Cabrera of a game-tying hit to get the last out with a great diving stop in the top of the ninth.  Bryce Harper, announced as a starter for the All Star game today, also came up big at the plate going 1-for-2, with an RBI in three different at-bats on a walk with the bases loaded in the fourth, a single in the bottom of the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. Harper also had a great diving catch in the outfield that saved a run from scoring.

Denard Span continues to improve his OBP as he went 2-for-3 with a walk. He also stole a base and scored two runs beginning to show what the Nationals expected when they obtained him from the Minnesota Twins before the season.

Jordan Zimmermann was attempting to be the first 13 game winner in the National League and went five and a third innings before being lifted for Ross Ohlendorf. Zimmermann (12-3) gave up three earned runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts on the day.  The rumor is that Zimmermann is dealing with tightness in his neck, first noticed in his last start, both of which have been his shortest of the year thus far.  Hopefully it’s nothing serious and Zimmermann can make his next scheduled start before the All Star game.

Ohlendorf had what is probably his worst outing as a National to date, allowing a three run homerun to Jesus Guzman in his first batter.  He clamped down after that and closed out the inning with no more damage and would also pitch the seventh allowing no one else to score.  The Nationals would score two runs in the bottom of the seventh to give Ohlendorf the win.  This is the second time in three games where a reliever gave up a three run homerun to cost a starter a win, only to end up the winning pitcher.

The Padres starter was Jason Marquis, a former National, who pitched six innings giving up three runs on eight hits, three walks and three strikeouts.  He escaped several jams early on, especially in the bottom of the third when the Nationals had the bases loaded with two outs but only managed one run.

Drew Storen had a great outing, retiring the Padres in order on five pitches which had to feel good after two consecutive challenging outings.  Rafael Soriano had to overcome some interesting drama to get his 24th save. Soriano allowed two base runners to advance to second and third with two outs before getting Cabrera to ground out to Laroche.

The Nationals improve to three games over .500 at 45-42, and are now 40-10 in games that they score more than three runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

A Team Effort, Nationals beat Padres behind seven strong innings from Gio Gonzalez

WP – G. Gonzalez (6-3) LP – A. Cashner

S – R. Soriano (23)

 

The Washington Nationals had a great team effort tonight to beat the San Diego Padres 8 to 5.  Gio Gonzalez pitched six and two thirds, giving up three earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.  He seemed to have trouble early on controlling his pitches but he settled down and gave the Nationals another solid performance.  The Nationals’ hitters were able to get to the Padres starter early and often, led by Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos.  Werth went 3-for-4 with one RBI, while Ramos went 2-for-4 with three RBI’s.  Denard Span continued to improve on his numbers, going 2-for-5 and two RBI’s as well. 

 

The Padres were led by Carlos Quentin, who hit a three run homerun off of Craig Stammen in the top of the seventh, who gave up two runs and allowed an inherited runner to score on the homerun.  The Padres also got runs in the first and third.  In the first inning, Chase Headley hit a ground rule double off Gonzalez, scoring Chris Denorfia.  In the third, Headley homered to deep left field. 

 

Bryce Harper continued to struggle, going 0-for-4, with a sacrifice fly RBI in the second inning.  Davey Johnson after the game discussed how he will likely give Harper the next couple games off to clear his head, as he is 1-for-18, with a homerun and two RBI’s since returning from the disabled list on July 1st.

 

The Nationals were well below their season average on strikeouts with only three on the night, so this helped to move runners around.  The Nationals have improved their team batting average from .232 to .238 over the last six games with their recent hitting improvement.

 

The Nationals improve to 44-42, and 39-10 in games where they score at least three runs.

 

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

 

Wilson Ramos to the rescue, Nationals top the Brewers 8-5 on the 4th of July

WP – D. Storen (3-2) LP – T. Gorzellany (1-1)

S – R. Soriano (22)

Wilson Ramos has been missing from the Washington Nationals lineup since May 16th.  He returned with a bang, hitting a game winning three run homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning along with a two run single in the sixth, giving him 5 RBIs for the day.  Taylor Jordan had a great effort in his pursuit of his first win, pitching five and two thirds innings, giving up two runs on six hits.  He was in line for the win as he left the game, unfortunately the bullpen couldn’t keep the lead.  This is the second solid performance from Jordan since getting called up from AA with Dan Haren on the disabled list.

Tom Gorzellany, a former National, took the loss this Independence Day for the Brewers, as he pitched the sixth and seventh innings, giving up the homerun to Ramos.  He also allowed two runners inherited from Burke Badenhop to score. The Brewers starter, Donovan Hand gave up five runs on five innings pitched before yielding to Badenhop. 

Besides Ramos, who went 3-4 at the plate, Ian Desmond, Adam Laroche and Jayson Werth all had multi-hit games.  The Nationals need to find a way to consistently deliver this kind of performance at the plate to be able to catch the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.  Ian Desmond also stole two bases in this game giving him a team leading 10 stolen bases for the year.

This is the first time in over a month that the Nationals have had what they would consider their whole lineup back for a game, so hopefully with the return of Ramos this team can win more of the games they are supposed to.  It was apparent with today’s performance how much of a difference Ramos is at the plate over Kurt Suzuki. 

The Brewers have consistently fought their way back into games this series, this time coming back from a 5-2 deficit with homeruns from Yuniesky Betancourt and Carlos Gomez off Drew Storen in the seventh inning.   That brought the total runs given up by Storen to seven over the last two innings pitched, compounding the inconsistency from the Nationals bullpen that has plagued them all season.   Ramos came to Storen’s rescue in the bottom of the inning with his homerun to put the Nationals in the lead for good.

Bryce Harper continues to struggle since his return.  His first at bat back from injury was a homerun but Harper has gone 0-for-15 since then.  Opposing pitchers seem to be pitching Harper strictly away, using breaking balls and off speed pitches to keep Harper from pulling the ball.

The win today gave the Nationals a split of this four game series, and brought their season record to 43-42.  The Nationals improve to 38-10 when they score more than three runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

Washington Nationals bats are quiet again, Lose 4-1 to Milwaukee Brewers

WP – K. Lohse (4-6) LP – R. Detwiler (2-7)

S – F. Rodriguez (7)

The Washington Nationals hitting malaise continues to haunt them this season, as they managed only five hits against the Milwaukee Brewers’ Kyle Lohse and Francisco Rodriguez in a disheartening effort all around.   This team prides itself on its ability to remain even keeled whether winning or losing, but that even keeled is beginning to come across as lack of passion, as several Nationals had effortless at bats.  This team doesn’t seem to have an answer to why it cant consistently hit the ball or advance runners, especially early in the game. 

Kyle Lohse pitched eight great innings, striking out seven as he helped the Brewers take a second game in this series.  There were a couple of outstanding fielding plays behind him especially Carlos Gomez robbing Bryce Harper of an extra base hit on his second at bat. 

Ross Detwiler provided six solid innings of work, giving up four runs but only two earned over that time.   The damage was done in the fifth inning, when Sean Halton and Logan Schafer both scored on a Norichika Aoki single that got by the drawn in infield.  In the sixth, the Brewers got two additional runs that scored after Bryce Harper made an error in left field on a line drive that he seemed to lose in the lights.  Logan Schafer tripled to drive in Aramis Ramirez and Jonathan Lucroy after the Harper error.

The four runs would be all Kyle Lohse needed as he baffled Nationals hitters all night other than a solo homerun given up to Anthony Rendon, who continues to hit with power consistently since his call up last month from the minors.  Rendon also had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning but came up just short on a drive to center field off Rodriguez.  He finished the game 1-for-4 and his season average now sits at .312 with 2 HR and 9 RBI. 

The biggest problem for the Nationals is that the top five batters in the lineup went a combined 1-for-19 in this game.  That’s a whopping .052 average for the night.  The Washington Nationals are going to have to do something to correct these hitting woes that consistently plague this team.  It might take Davey Johnson losing his calm cool demeanor with this team or making a drastic change to the lineup. It might even require changing the hitting coach at this point. 

I won’t claim to have the answer but if this trend continues much longer Johnson’s prophetic “World Series or Bust” will most likely be a bust.  This team now sits seven games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, and six back in the wild-card standings, behind the St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. 

The Nationals are now 42-42, and fall to 5-32 in games where they score fewer than three runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

Strasburg gem wasted by bullpen, Washington Nationals lose 4-0

WP – J. Henderson (3-2) LP – D. Storen (2-2)

Stephen Strasburg threw seven strong innings, scattering three hits, and striking out eight.  His record remains at 4-6 but he improves his season ERA to 2.24.  He escaped one jam in the sixth inning, allowing the Milwaukee Brewers to get the bases loaded with only one out, partially due to another atypical error by third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.  Strasburg was able to strike out the next two batters though to end the inning. 

Drew Storen proceeded to implode in the top of the eighth, allowing four runs.  He gave up back to back singles to Logan Schafer and Rickie Weeks before allowing both runners to score on a double by Juan Francisco.  Francisco came in to score on a play ruled a double by Martin Maldonado.  The ball was well hit but Bryce Harper in his second game back from injury should have caught the ball as it tipped off the top of his glove.  Jeff Bianchi singled to left to score Maldonado which ended up being the last run of the night.

The Nationals looked as if they were going to get things started early, as they had two runners in scoring position in the first and another in the second but were unable to capitalize once again.  The see saw nature of the Nationals offense this year was on full display, going from 23 runs in the last two games to a complete shutout.

Wily Peralta pitched an outstanding ballgame for the Brewers, going five and a third innings of shutout pitching before having to leave with an apparent injury sustained throwing a pitch to Ryan Zimmerman. He attempted a second pitch after the initial pain throwing off the mound.  He seemed to have something wrong with his hip but I am sure the team will release details at a later time.  The Brewers bullpen pitched a solid three and two thirds inning to complete the shutout.

The Nationals looked like they might have one last hope of getting back into the game as Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon singled back to back to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, but the rally ended there with Kurt Suzuki watching strike three, pinch hitter Roger Bernadina struck out swinging and Denard Span hit a weak line drive to the shortstop.

Span, Rendon and Zimmerman each had two hits apiece in this losing effort but the team couldn’t put the hits together to get anything more done

The Nationals continued their inability to avoid the strikeout themselves, giving eight outs back without putting the ball in play.  Surprisingly the Nationals are only middle of the pack in this category at almost eight per game, not even coming close to the league leading Detroit Tigers who strikeout almost 9.2 times per game.

The Nationals fall to 42-41 overall, and 5-31 in games that they score less than three runs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

Harper returns with a Homerun, Zimmermann improves to 12-3

Nationals 10, Brewers 5

WP J. Zimmermann (12-3) LP: Y. Gallardo (6-8)

Tonight marked the return of Bryce Harper, who wasted no time in announcing his return, smacking the second pitch for his 13th home run of the year.  Harper had been out for the last 31 games due to a lingering knee injury.  He showed no holdups running the bases, so now we will see how the knee reacts to his first game back. 

This was just the beginning for the sluggish Washington offense as they continued some momentum from the game Sunday night where they pounded the New York Mets 13-2, pounding out five runs in the third inning that started with a double from starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, who went 3-3 from the plate, while also pitching six innings, giving up four runs.  You have to wonder if all the base running took a little out of the Nat’s starter, who is now leading the National League in wins as we approach the all-star game, as he typically goes a bit farther into games.

This two game explosion of 23 runs on 26 hits is a breath of fresh air for a team that has been batting .232 as a team.  Jayson Werth really seemed to enjoy the move back to the two spot in the order, delivering five RBI’s on a 2-for-5 night.  Ryan Zimmerman also contributed a couple RBI’s bringing his season total to 43, second on the team to Ian Desmond, who also knocked in one, giving him 49 for the season so far. This was plenty of offense to allow the bullpen to close things out.  It was a combination of Craig Stammen, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Fernando Abad to finish off the last three innings. 

It was good to see the Nationals take one step closer to being a full roster again.  Speculation is that catcher Wilson Ramos, the last remaining starter on the Disabled List, may return as early as Thursday for the 11 am game against the Brewers on the 4th of July.  It will be interesting to see the lineup that Davey Johnson chooses to employ once Ramos returns.

At least for this night it all seemed to click for the Nationals who are now 26-19 when Harper plays, and 37-10 when they score more than three runs.  Let’s hope that the Nationals can deliver a string of wins over these next thirteen games against the next four teams, all of which currently have losing records.  It could go a long way to brining them back into contention with the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.

The Nationals Teeter Totter Season….the bats must come alive

Nationals

Consistency, something that has been seriously lacking from the Washington Nationals this season, is something they must find if they hope to catch the Atlanta Braves to win the NL East again this season. This team seems to take two steps forward, three back and two more forward. They continue to flirt with a winning streak but haven’t been able to put together a solid week’s performance this season. It has been a bad pitching assignment one night, or a lack of hitting another that stops their momentum.

The starting pitching this year has been solid for the most part, led by Jordan Zimmerman (11-3) 2.28 ERA, potentially the starter for the All Star Game next week. Gio Gonzalez has continued to deliver great performances but hasn’t gotten the support for his record to show it. Gio went 2-0 in the month of June, delivering six performances of at least six innings with an ERA of 2.16 in that span. Brilliant stuff that the bullpen and the bats just couldn’t help get a few more wins. Stephen Strasburg coming off a stint on the disabled list went 1-1 in the month of June, with an ERA of 1.89 during his three outings. It’s a bad sign when as a team almost to the All Star break, the pitcher with the second highest wins on the team is a reliever in Tyler Clippard at five wins.

The big black hole on the staff has been the pitching of Dan Haren (4-9) 6.15 ERA, who recently ended up on the disabled list with a strained throwing shoulder. The recovery from this injury will go a long way to determine how the back end of the rotation helps carry the team. The positive performance of several of the relievers recently called up from the minors, including Ross Ohlendorf, Ian Krol, and Fernando Abad has given the team hope that if Haren is not able to recover there will be teammates that can fill the void.

The bigger problem facing the Nationals is their lack of timely hitting which has been compounded by injuries. As many as four starters have been on the disabled list at the same time this season, so a challenge for consistency is understandable. Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa, and Wilson Ramos have all spent time recovering from injuries, costing the Nationals significant at bats in key games. The injuries still do not account for having a team batting average that is third worst in Major League Baseball, sitting just in front of the New York Mets and Miami Marlins.

If this team hopes to get back to winning consistently, they need to reduce the high strikeout count (7.92 per game) and put the ball in play. Losing almost a third of your outs in each game without putting the ball in play leaves you struggling to move runners over when they actually get on base. Almost every other offensive stat has the Nationals sitting close to the bottom of the league, 29th in Runs Scored, 28th in Hits, and 27th in at bats. I keep hearing that it’s because the Nationals have streaky hitters, that Adam Laroche, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are all better second half hitters, that the bats will come alive after the All Star Game. That’s nice if it’s true but everything I have seen so far makes me wonder if the amazing performances we saw last year was a team reaching beyond its norm and this is more what the team is made of.

The switch from Danny Espinosa to Anthony Rendon has been a major surprise and seems to be paying early dividends with Rendon batting above .300 with ten doubles so far. Espinosa, as popular as he has been with the coaching staff, just has not been able to deliver, averaging almost a strikeout per game while batting .158.

Denard Span was brought in to be the prototypical leadoff man, the guy that gets on base, steals bases, and provides the hitters behind him with extra opportunities for RBIs. So far he has an On Base Percentage about one hundred points lower than where you would expect a leadoff man to be, with only seven stolen bases, and only eighteen extra base hits. This just isn’t getting it done from that spot and considering the move to trade to get him led to the Nationals trading Michael Morse away, it just seems like a move that hasn’t worked out thus far. I enjoy Span’s hustle and how well he plays centerfield but if he doesn’t start getting on base I hope that the Nationals at least give a look to their minor league system to see if someone else can deliver in that spot.

As a fan it’s challenging to watch your team struggle day in and day out to consistently compete. As we near the second half of the season, the Nationals need to find a way to string together six or seven wins in a row coming out of the break. The positions are filled with the best talent they have so barring a significant trade they will have to find a way to start winning these games with the staff that they have. I am not sure what spark it’s going to take to light a fire under this team but I hope Davey Johnson can find it and gets this team moving towards first place and a return to the playoffs.

Robert Peterson lives in the Washington DC Metro area and has been covering the Nationals since the team moved to the area in 2005.