When the Nats completed the series win over their budding rivals from Baltimore last weekend, things were looking up. They'd won two in a row (and three of four), stalwart starter Livan Hernandez appeared to have returned to last year's All Star form, and Alfonso Soriano was proving why Jim Bowden coveted him so badly. The team seemed to have turned a corner on their poor start.

But Momentum, she is a fickle lady.

The Nats fell flat on their face in an abysmal 10-3 loss on Monday night where nothing went right. The opening sequence for starter Zach Day was a Willy Taveras single, a stolen base (with an error on the throw), a walk, a wild pitch (with Taveras scoring), and a two-run Lance Berkman homer in Hondo territory in center field. Day managed to pitch into the fourth before leaving the game and heading for the DL. The rest of the game played out as a three hour and 19 minute ordeal for the 18,803 fans - the lowest attendance at RFK since the Nats moved to D.C. Tuesday's Post followed with a litany of missteps from the team's tough night.

But just when this club appeared on the edge of an abyss that would send the rest of this season's fortunes plummeting, they pulled out a nice win on Tuesday, vintage summer of 2005.

Photo by Flickr user walkingparty. See the original here.

Ramon Ortiz made his best start of the year, scattering one run on six hits over seven innings. Gary Majewski had a perfect 8th, followed by Chad Cordero's 6th save of the year. Like last year, the offense provided just enough, with Damian Jackson, Daryle Ward, and Alfonso Soriano all going deep in the 4-1 win. Jose Guillen returned from injury to drive in the go-ahead run with a sacrafice fly in the 7th. Tuesday was as efficient as Monday was wasteful--the 2h 8min game was the shortest in RFK in the last two years.

But getting back to Monday, it was the kind of night that fuels detractors of Jim Bowden and his strategy of looking for gold amonst the rubble of coulda-been stars and the chronically injured. When a team puts five starting pitchers (Lawrence, Astacio, Drese, Patterson, Day) on the DL in the first two months of the season, it's not bad luck, it's over-reliance on a thin group of marginal pitchers, some with poor health histories. And while his hands are indeed tied in terms of payroll, Bowden has worsened the situation by spending the limited payroll on mediocre veteran backups. An injury to Nick Johnson, Jose Vidro (batting .350), or Tony Armas - all of whom spend time annually on the DL - would send this year's team into a tailspin.

What remains to be seen is whether the arrival of incoming president Stan Kasten (in town this week meeting with the front office) will affect Bowden's strategy from here on out. Is Soriano a cornerstone Nat? Or is he the best trade-bait possible? Though Hernandez is happy in Washington, could trading him shore up the depleted farm system? Where do Jose Guillen, Jose Vidro, and Ryan Church fit in the club's long-term plans? What do the denizens of DCist think will happen with the Nats between now and the trade deadline?

Meanwhile, Michael O'Conner takes the hill tonight against Roy Oswalt. Those looking at a light work week may already be planning on spending Thursday afternoon watching Tony Armas face the struggling Andy Pettite in the series finale.