John Patterson may make his return by Friday of this week against the Orioles, and not a moment too soon.

After last night’s 11-3 drubbing in Fenway, Nats pitchers have now surrendered 66 runs over the past eight days. That’s an average of over eight runs per game, for a team that ranked 9th in the majors in team ERA last year. The failures are across the board, with the bullpen and four of the five starters joining the implosion (Mike O’Connor’s Sunday gem notwithstanding).

Last night, Livan Hernandez couldn’t get out of the second inning, his shortest outing since 2002. As both Frank Robinson and pitching coach Randy St. Claire noted after the game, when a pitcher who depends on changing speeds as much as Hernandez doesn't have velocity on his fastball, he can't effectively set up his other pitches and problems ensue. For Hernandez, that's the 3rd straight start with the same problems. While he's not blaming his knee problems, Livan has a tendency to hide injuries and try to pitch through pain. What can we say? We love the guy's attitude, but Robinson and St. Claire need to find a solution.

The notable exception to these woes is today’s rookie starter Shawn Hill. He’s been impressive in his last two starts, blanking the Phils and holding the Yankees to 3 runs last Friday before the bullpen coughed up the lead and the game. The Nats need Hill to go as far into the game as possible, since the bullpen is nearly depleted after the first two Boston routs. Hill was expected to be the player removed to make room in the rotation for Patterson’s return, but with Hernandez’s velocity problems and Tony Armas ailing, he may be sticking around for a few more starts, at least.

Photo by Flickr user leafblower

In other (discouraging) player news for the Nats, Nick Johnson's back tweak may be more serious than previously thought. Though he hopes to play against the O's this weekend, the team has sent him back to Washington for evaluation before deciding whether to place him on the DL. For the chronically injured Johnson, that would make seven years in a row with a lengthy shelving.

In brighter news, despite his recent offensive slide, Alfonso Soriano is now 2nd among outfielders in All Star votes and projected to start in the July 11th game. The voting is tight, with less than 65,000 votes seperating Soriano and the 5th place Andruw Jones, so Nats fans need to keep on voting until the June 29th online-voting deadline to ensure a starter in Pittsburgh.