Nationals lose fifth straight

May 19, 2010 [LINK / comment]

Nationals lose fifth straight

What a revoltin' development this has been! After doing better than they had done in any of their first five seasons in Washington, the Nationals have now lost five games in a row. After getting off to a good start on this road trip, winning three of their first four games, they just fell apart. Admittedly, the Cardinals are a tough team to beat, but they have been slipping lately, ceding first place to the Cincinnati Reds, so the Nats should have won at least one of the two games in St. Louis. On Monday, Craig Stammen gave up four runs in the first inning, a troubling sign, but he hung in there for another five innings, to his credit. Last night, John Lannan had one of his best performances this season, giving up only two runs in six innings. In the eighth inning, Ian Desmond tied the game 2-2 with a clutch RBI single, but then the Cardinals got another run in the bottom of the inning, and that's what decided the game. That means Tyler Clippard's record is now 7-3.

And so, the Nats have gone from a very promising 20-15 record, one game behind the division leading Phillies, to a so-so 20-20 record, clinging precariously to third place. Time to kick some butt in the clubhouse. This evening they begin a five-game home stand, facing the New York Mets and then the Baltimore Orioles, as interleague play begins.

Storen replaces Bruney

One piece of good news is that the highly ineffective relief pitcher Brian Bruney was "designated for assignment" (fired) over the weekend, replaced by Drew Storen, who was called up from the Nats' Triple A farm club in Syracuse. Storen went right to work on Monday in St. Louis, getting two outs in the seventh inning, and striking out the Cardinals' Matt Holliday. His only mistake was hitting Ryan Ludwick with a pitch. Storen was the 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft. See MLB.com.

Miami webcam

As with Nationals Park, Target Field, and other recently-built baseball stadiums, you can keep track of the construction progress in Miami by means of a webcam. It's at MLB.com. You can also follow the commentary on the future home of the ~~Florida~~ Miami (!) Marlins at baseball-fever.com; hat tip to Bruce Orser.

Also, I've got a lot of news to report from Mike Zurawski. Stay tuned...

COMMENT by: Brian Hughes, of Edison, NJ on May 19, 2010 20:33 PM
Brief note on your Nationals Park page, when I hover over the "My proposed modification", the diagram disappears off the page altogether as this: http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/HETopGearia/Untitled-4.jpg

COMMENT by: Andrew Clem, of Staunton, VA on May 19, 2010 21:46 PM
I HATE when that happens! Sorry, it's been fixed now. Thanks for letting me know. With all the behind-the-scenes format modifications and content changes I've been making lately, soon to be formally unveiled, I'd be surprised if there's not a lot more such glitches here and there.

COMMENT by: Andrew Clem, of Staunton, VA on May 19, 2010 21:51 PM
Dang it, while I was fixing that glitch, the Mets got a home run in the top of the ninth, reducing the Nats' lead to two runs. That's your fault, Brian! :-)

Fortunately (from the Washington point of view), the next two Mets batters were put out to end the game, so the Nats finally put an end to their losing streak.

COMMENT by: Brian Hughes, of Edison, NJ on May 20, 2010 04:38 AM
Oh! You just reminded me that I have some Citi photos to pass along that I totally forgot about. Incoming email!

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 20 May 2010, 4: 38 AM

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