Phillies 6, Nationals 1: Pop quiz, hot shot. There's only six games you can lose before hitting 100. You've got bases loaded, one out, down by two, against a team you haven't scored against in 16 innings. If this lead goes any higher than it is now, the game is blown up. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? Well, if you're Nationals reliever Jason Bergmann, you groove a two-strike pitch right down the middle to Jayson Werth and he absolutely crushes the ball into the left-center stands for a killer grand slam. (Good thing that Bergmann wasn't the negotiator in Speed, eh?) The trooper of the night award goes to starter Livan Hernandez (8-11), who was solid: two runs in six innings should be enough to give your team a good chance to win. But the Nationals' run production was, once again, anemic. They finally broke their scoreless streak against Phillie pitching in the ninth inning, but Joe Blanton (10-7) -- who had a rough go of it at Nationals Park one week ago -- benefited from numerous base-running mistakes, including Ian Desmond being thrown out at third on a safety squeeze and Cristian Guzman getting doubled off first base on a line drive with two men in scoring position. more ›

Well, we may have been reluctant at first due to his, um, colorful past (as were many others). We also doubted his All Star chances. Now, though, we’re now firmly aboard the Dmitri Young Chuckwagon. In the same week he was named to the NL team for next week’s All Star Game in San Francisco, Young went 3-4 yesterday. His day was highlighted by a grand slam, cementing the Nats 6-0 win in front of... more ›

Put the champagne on ice, kids. The Nats, at 4-9, are threatening to climb out of last place for the first time since last June, ahead of struggling Philadelphia. Both teams are 4.5 games back, but the Nats have one more win thus far. Try washing down your $90 million payroll with that, Phils fans! After a dreadful first turn through the rotation, the Nats starters have rebounded with some impressive performances as of late.... more ›

Ouch. The Nationals got pounded 12-1 by the Florida Marlins last night, a loss that, coupled with Houston's 8-6 win over Philly, drops the Nats to three and a half games behind Houston in the Wild Card standings. The score tells you pretty much all you need to know about last night's drubbing, but the game also featured a solid start by Florida's Cy Young candidate Dontrelle Willis (who improved to 20-8 on the... more ›