Watch out Chase. This is indeed war. I had a soft spot in my heart for the Mets given all the ex-Nats succeeding in NY, but now…it’s really on.  As difficult as it was to watch Flores be carted off the field thanks to Utley’s elbow, it was energizing to hear the resounding chorus of boos Utley faced in each of his following plate appearances. Given the small crowd and the high percentage of Phillies fans within that mix, the boos were a sign of life from Nats fans - a meaningful defense for the fan-favorite catcher and a clear message to the city of Philadelphia.  Utley’s one hard slide into second from Elijah Dukes away from another even clearer message.

Here’s Lannan, Zimmerman, Acta, Utley and Manuel’s takes on the play.   I bet Flores has a different opinion.

The game itself centered on the Utley play/Flores injury.  The Nats offense couldn’t do much with Hamels on the mound.  It was your typical Lannan start too: six innings, five hits, two runs.  That’s never a bad line when facing Philadelphia.  Speigner returned just as we had remembered him:  3 hits, 2 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning.  Lefty Mike Hinkley had a great debut with 1.2 innings pitched, no runs or hits and 2 strike outs.  Instead of throwing at Utley, he got him to ground into a double play.  With that, the Nats met the end of their longest winning streak of the season.

After the game, the Nats called up catcher Luke Montz.  He’s an exciting young prospect, but this is not the way we imagined him making his debut.

Tonight, Odalis Perez (4.14, 6-10) faces Joe Blanton (6-12, 4.69).  We faced Blanton just once this year, only a few weeks ago.  He went just 5 innings, giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and a solo homer to Willie Harris.

Picture:  The Canadian Press

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