The weather sure was hot this weekend, unfortunately the Nats were not. We saw a 10-1 loss on Friday, a night when Jason Bergmann, didn’t have much to offer. Manny visited him on the mound for a pep talk that didn’t work. Sure Bergmann didn’t have a good night, he put up some awful numbers for one inning, but is that bad start enough reason for management to paint him as the only reason for the loss? He has faced the aces of four other major leagues teams in the past month and has done well. He had a really bad night on Friday, but his teammates didn’t help him out either. 10-1 or 2-1, the team still isn’t hitting with any consistency. I’m getting really tired of watching only other teams hit home runs out of Nats Park.

The story wasn’t much different on Saturday night. Shawn Hill - who has looked a little rough in his past starts - pitched well, going 7 innings without giving up a run. Hill left the 8th inning after recording one out and leaving two runners on base. Luis Ayala came in to relieve. With the score still tied 0-0 things got out of hand quickly. Luis looked flustered upon taking the mound, he missed a ball Flores threw him during the warm up, and was wearing the wrong hat. Ayala was sporting the curly w hat while the rest of the team wore the DC hat. Regardless of the reason, Ayala had a rough inning, eventually giving up a grand slam, making the score 6-0. Facing a six run deficit the Nats bats were as silent in the 8th and 9th as they had been all game. The team was shut out once again on Saturday, not a single run…how long can this continue? As if the man above was giving us a sign, the skies opened up just after the game and we got caught in a pretty heavy thunderstorm, we felt drenched and defeated at the same time. Perhaps the only good thing to come out of Saturday’s loss was the team finally offering the release of Rob Mackowiak. It was about time, I haven’t seen anything impressive out of him all season. At least it frees up a roster spot.

Sunday’s story might be the most disappointing. The Nats called up Garrett Mock from Columbus for one start. Apparently Mock spoke to Jimbo before the game and Jim told him that the only way for him to stay in the majors for more than a day would be to throw a perfect game, get a sac bunt, and hit a home run off Giants starter Zito. So that’s what we are relying on now Jim, having our pitchers hit home runs, since no one else is? Interesting strategy. Mock didn’t throw a perfect game, he issued a bunch of walks and got into trouble in the 5th inning. He left the game with the bases loaded and one out. Rivera came in as relief and didn’t fare much better. Two runs scored off a single. Then Guzman got nailed when Rowand’s ball bounced off his head and another run scored. Up until that inning the Nats had a three run lead. They had collected some hits against Zito early, but only a handful of them. Lastings Milledge put the Nats on the board with a solo shot home run. Three runs against Zito? That number should have been higher. I don’t buy the excuses for the lack of offense, something has got to change, these games are just ridiculous to watch. The Giants added two more runs in the 8th when Joel Hanrahan gave up a home run to left field. Final score on Sunday was 6-3. If the wins ain’t gonna happen against Zito and the Giants, I’m not so sure they will.

We’re watching the game on TV tomorrow, don’t think we can handle another game in the insane heat. Tyler Clippard, called up from Columbus, will face Matt Cain.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.