After a promising start to the weekend (a 4-1 win on Friday night), the Nationals dropped back-to-back games to the Cardinals in all too familiar fashion: Back-to-back 6-0 losses to the best team in baseball, and consecutive no-shows by the Nats' bats. Saturday, the Nats had no answer for the previously struggling Jason Marquis, managing just two hits. Yesterday they collected just four hits and two walks. It all adds up to another series' loss and the end to another frustrating weekend for the lowest scoring team in baseball. At this point, there's not much left to say about this team's inability to light up the scoreboard. But maybe Jose Guillen had it right after yesterday's loss when he said, "We all stink."
How bad have things gotten? So bad that GM Jim Bowden, a.k.a. Dead Man Walking, blew up at his team in the aftermath of yesterday's loss: "Be a man. Wake up, and do some damage." How bad have things gotten? So bad that Jose Guillen went as far as to declare, "We're just looking like Little League players," which is actually an insult to Little Leaguers everywhere, most of whom know better than to try to bunt with men on first and second and no outs in the early stages of a scoreless game, which is exactly what Guillen inexplicably tried to do in the 4th inning yesterday. How bad have things gotten? So bad that Brad Wilkerson called out Guillen after the game for his questionable 4th inning bunt decision, "We need to not do those types of things...When you've got your best hitter at the plate, and you're struggling to score some runs, we need him swinging the bat."
How bad have things gotten? Pretty bad, but hey, at least the Nats aren't the O's. Crazy as it sounds, the Nats are still within striking distance in the Wild Card chase, trailing Philly by just three games. The Nats are now staring down the barrel of 14 games in a row against teams that are standing in their path to the postseason: Atlanta, Philadelphia and Florida. You never know. As Michael Wilbon pointed out last Thursday, the Nationals aren't dead. They're on life support, but they're not dead. Yet. John Patterson faces Jorge Sosa in the opener of a four game series in Atlanta tonight.
(Written by Chris Kelly and originally posted 8/29/2005 at DCist.com)