Haren Plus Untuck Equals Win

Nationals 3, Braves 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nationals	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		3	8	0
Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	5	1

Dan Haren came out of nowhere to shut down the Braves as Washington defeated Atlanta 3-1 on Thursday night.  Haren gave up just 4 hits in 8 innings of work as the Nats rotation is on a roll.  As Soriano closed out the game and salvaged the series (2-2) with the Braves everyone untucked their shirts.  From Soriano, to the fans, to Ian Desmond, to even FP Santangelo, shirts out!

The Cardinals Are Evil, The Nats Lose

Cardinals 3, Nationals 2

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Cardinals	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0		3	8	1
Nationals	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0

Another game against the Cardinals, another tough loss for the Washington Nationals.  On Monday night after returning home from a 6 game road trip, the Nationals lost to the Cardinals 3-2 as the evil Cardinal watched from hell.  Rumor has it, if you stare into his dead eyes for 30 seconds you will burst into flames.  Nobody has had the guts to test him...

Wait, what happened?  Oh, I guess there was a baseball game played too.  It was much of what you would expect.  Pete Kozma was booed, and the Nats lost.  A few good things happened...sort of.

Rick Petino Not Impressed By Nationals Rough Outing In Miami

Nationals 2, Marlins 8

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		2	8	1
Marlins	0	0	0	4	3	0	1	0	x		8	11	0

Read the full box score at MLB

Miami Marlins season ticket holder Rick Petino has seen a lot of winning in his days.  Most of it has not been from his prime seats at Marlins Park.  But on Tuesday night, the National Championship winning coach (of a team called the Cardinals...BOOO!) got to witness just the third Marlins win in 14 games this season.  Unfortunately, it was against the Washington Nationals...and I'm so sad...

Reds Crush Nats, NEXT GAME!

Nationals 0, Reds 15

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	2
Reds	0	2	3	1	1	0	7	1	x		15	19	0

Read the full box score at ESPN

Welcome to Washington Dan Haren!  With the Nats new starter on the mound on Friday night, the Cincinnati Reds destroyed Washington at Great American Ballpark in a 15-0 beat down shutout.  The Nats didn't have much of a chance with the pitching staff giving up 19 hits and 7 homeruns to the Reds.

There was little to be exited about if you are a Nationals fan.  In their first true test of the season the Nats were embarrassed.  Haren only survived 4 innings giving up 9 hits, 6 runs, and 4 homers.  I'm not sure if he watched any of DC baseball last season, but that ain't gonna fly here.

Zach Duke was the only kind-of-bright spot out of the bullpen (5 earned runs lol) eating up 2 2/3rds middle innings after Haren's early exit to save some of the Nats pitchers.  But with Dukes departure in the 7th inning, in stepped Henry Rodriguez who gave up a walk followed by a grand slam.

Jayson Werth shows Davey Johnson that a fan reached out and touched a homerun to interfere

It is questionable that Rodriguez is on the roster, let alone being placed in actual Major League baseball games.  How can Davey have confidence to put this guy in anything that isn't an 8 run ballgame?

The recently shaved Danny Espinosa finally picked up a hit (LOL), and finished with a single and a double and the struggling Ian Desmond picked up a double on his final at bat.  Denard Span was on base 3 times with a single and two walks, and Lombardozzi came into the game to hit a double late.  Other than that, there was no offense whatsoever.  The Nats couldn't even muster a single run.

Game 4 of 162 isn't a time to panic.  These types of games happen, and a 15-0 blowout is the same as a 3-2 squeaker.  Tomorrow the Nats will have a chance to show the Reds that Friday night was a fluke.  But when this series is over we will know a little more about the Nats...