Results tagged “nleast>”

73-89. Anyone who would have predicted that record at the start of the season would have been seen as either an optimist, an idiot, or both. After starting the season 9-25, the prognosticators who saw 100 losses seemed generous, but somehow the Nationals managed to play .500 ball (64-64) for the rest of the season, finish out of last place in the NL East for the first time since 2003, and win 2 more games...

These are exciting times in Nationals land. The Nats are currently in control of the NL East! We realize that someone without any imagination, or joy in their life, might say that the team has been eliminated from the postseason, and is currently 15 games under .500. To them we would point out that all of the remaining games for the Nationals are against either the Mets or the Phillies, two teams separated by 1.5...

Bonjour! This Nats update is coming to you straight from Paris -- that is the level of our devotion to this team. How has the team repaid us? Well, they've gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, own a better record than 6 teams in baseball, and have all but guaranteed that they will not finish last in the NL East. They are currently 6 wins away from tying last year's record, a feat that...

Since we last left the Nationals, the team has gone 4-3 and pulled itself out of last place in the NL East. They are one win away from 63, and thus avoiding the humiliation of triple digit loses this year. They are also nine wins from tying last year's total. These are the metrics we have to use to judge a team that wasn't really competing for the post-season anyway (during the pre-season, Vegas...

UPDATE (4:10pm): Nuthin! Per Barry Svrluga, the Nats passed the trade deadline without making a move, despite a flurry of late rumors. While they might make minor moves in August (like last year with Livan), they decided against moving Rauch or Cordero. Let's hope Chief's feelings aren't hurt and he strikes out Dunn for the save tonight! UPDATE (2:35pm): The Red Sox, rumored to have sought after Cordero since last winter, have reportedly filled their...

On Sunday, with their 7-2 win over the Brewers, the Nats reached the All Star break and the season’s traditional halfway point. With the team on a not-quite-as-bad-as-expected 66-win pace, those of us who write about them are stuck somewhere between the building euphoria in Boston and the pitchfork and torches crowd in Cincinnati. One of the beautiful things about baseball, though, is that the long season generates plenty of moments, both incredible and pathetic,...

We were rubbing our eyes last Sunday as we watched the Nationals sweep the Florida Marlins to win their first series of the year. Then they took 3 of 4 from the Braves and knocked them out of first place in the NL East, and now we’re asking ourselves, “Who the hell are these guys?” With only two of their regular starters hitting over .250 and none of them within shouting distance of .300, they...

When the best sports news to come out of the weekend is that the Nationals managed to not get swept, the thing to do is move on as quickly as possible. We'll try and make as painless as possible for you. Redskins Grab Safety in First Round With the sixth overall pick in Saturday's NFL draft (and only pick in the first four rounds), the Redskins selected LaRon Landry, a hard-hitting safety from LSU. What's...

Well, Nats fans, what's there to say? What can we add to the criticism leveled by so many others? What can we say about an opening week where the Nats have yet to lead for a single pitch? When the pitching has spotted the opposition leads of 6-0, 6-0, 5-0, 4-0, 7-0, 6-0, and 3-0? When the lineup needed 30 at bats to finally get a hit with a man in scoring position? When the...

[Editor's Note: With the Nationals readying to begin their third season in D.C., change is constant and questions abound. Last week, we took a look at this year's lineup in our Season Preview. Today, we discuss this year’s most pressing questions with some of the Nats' best bloggers: Chris from Capitol Punishment, Basil from Federal Baseball, and Brian from Nationals Farm Authority.] DCist: Since the Lerner/Kasten team took over the team, every move is justified...

Livan Hernandez is Frank Robinson’s kind of player: crafty, with dogged determination and competitive fire. He wants the ball in every situation. He's eaten innings in big chunks, leading the league in IP for three years straight. He’s loyal, perhaps to a fault. He’s been one of the faces of the franchise in recent years, and was the first player to throw a pitch for the Nationals last year. Despite not having the best...

Alfonso Soriano is still a Washington National. For this season, at least. After what we assume were some intense negotiations with over a dozen teams, Jim Bowden failed to trade the Nats’ star left fielder. The 4 p.m. trading deadline came and went without a deal for Soriano, or any other Nationals for that matter. As a waiver-wire trade will be logistically impossible to complete, Soriano will stay with the Nationals for the remainder...

The Washington Nationals arrived at this year's All-Star Break in ignominious fashion, suffering their fifth sweep of the season at RFK. This time, the Nats were victimized by the San Diego Padres. After a successful series against Florida earlier this week, the Nats could smell second place in the NL East. They now find themselves amid the musky odor of the division's basement. That they played the Padres so closely only adds to the...

With Mother Nature tossing lightning and thunder, space shuttle Discovery shooting across the Florida sky, and the pyrotechnics on the National Mall, the Nats' little matinee date with the Marlins was easy to overlook yesterday. Only 23,000 showed up for the game between NL East also-rans played under threatening skies. But rookie RBI machine Ryan Zimmerman would have none of it. He launched some fireworks of his own with a walk-off homer in the bottom...

A few weeks ago, the Nationals were down and out, battling to stay in front of the Florida Marlins. Now, after a weekend sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee, the Nationals, led by Alfonso Soriano's hot bat, are on the rise. Winners of three in a row and 12 out of their last 17, the Nationals face off against their NL East rivals this week in a set of six games that could make or...

Not for the first time this year (remember that stretch back in April that got them within three of .500?) did the Nats make us think a competitive season was possible, when they ran off a 7-3 homestand to close the NL East gap to single digits. After taking bragging rights from the Orioles and a series each from the Astros and Dodgers, the Nationals headed back out on the road to face division rival...

With a disastrous April in the books, is the honeymoon over for the Nationals and their fans? Over the weekend, the Nats dropped two out of three to Albert Pujols and the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals. The team has now lost seven out of its last eight, the lone victory coming Friday. For Nats fan who could actually watch the games on TV, the biggest story was Albert Pujols' 14th home run of the month....

The Nationals enter the weekend needing reverse some serious negative momentum. Thursday night’s 6-2 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis made for five straight. The Nats haven’t led in a game since late Sunday, a streak now at 38 innings—during which they’ve been outscored 23-10. They now trail the Mets by 7.5 games in the NL East. Last night, recent call-up Michael O’Conner made an emergency start as John Patterson nurses his sore...

This entry was written by DCist contributor Benjamin Kabak. With Ryan Church providing some much-needed ninth-inning heroics during the Nats' Easter Sunday win over the Marlins, the headlines nearly write themselves. Church, who struggled during Spring Training and hit even worse during his first week playing at AAA New Orleans, came up big with a two-run home run in the top of the 9th as the Nats overcame a 5-4 deficit to top the Florida...

This entry was written by new DCist contributor Jeff Beam Away from the three ring circus created by Major League Baseball, City Council, and Mayor Williams’ office, the 2006 edition of the Nationals prepares this week to close shop in Viera, Florida and head north for another season along the Anacostia. A number of roster moves via trade, promotion, and shoulder tears have changed the look of the team, so we’ve compiled a season preview...

But for a few cities in flyover country the baseball season is effectively over, and the rest of the nation has turned its full attention to the gridiron. In Washington, the story is no different, this being the peak of the D.C. sporting year, and the Post is in full Skins swing, plastering banner photographs on Monday editions above war news and natural disasters. For real baseball towns, however, the offseason is an art in...

The Nationals ended their final road trip of the season in fine fashion, lighting up the scoreboard on consecutive nights and earning a three game sweep against the fading Florida Marlins. Last night's 11-7 win was highlighted by a seven run, seven hit 4th inning that guaranteed an easy road to victory despite a not-so-good performance from Esteban Loaiza (6IP, 10H, 6R, 1BB, 1HR), and also guaranteed that the Nats can finish no worse...

Seriously, the boos aren't helping. Last night, in the top of the third with two outs and two on, John Patterson struck out Barry Bonds to end the threat. Patterson returned to the dugout in happy kid form, practically skipping his way off the field. Bonds went down again in the fifth and was intentionally put on in the seventh. It was almost an uneventful night for the slugger. Except for that time up in...

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...

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, before the Nationals took on the Phillies at the Bobby, the RFK crowd was treated to a performance of the National Anthem by a trio of pre-teen blonds in American flag dresses which had dubbed themselves, or had been dubbed, Clique. In true Sparklemotion style they sang the anthem (and since it was Sunday, God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch), while the scoreboard announced that their names were Ariel,...

Last Friday, the television behind the bar at Bar Pilar was switched from a tie ball game between the Nationals, who were then a half game off the wild card, and their division rivals the New York Mets to a preseason Redskins game. On Saturday night (or perhaps Friday, as well; we can't be sure how quickly these things turn around) a measure of karmic retribution was exacted, as the Nats erased an eight...

The Nationals missed an opportunity to overtake the Astros in the wild card chase, dropping a tough 4-3 decision against the Phillies last night. Esteban Loaiza coughed up four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. Bright spots for the Nats included Vinny Castilla's 3rd inning homerun, and Luis Ayala, Joey Eischen, and Gary Majewski combining for 2+ innings of scoreless, hitless relief. The Nats managed to cut the Phillies'...

A weekend trip to Colorado might have been just what the doctor ordered for the oft offensively-challenged Washington Nationals, who appear to be breaking out of their offensive doldrums just in time for the second leg of their make-or-break 13 game road trip. After a 4-2 win Friday and an 8-0 thrashing Saturday night, the Nats completed the three game sweep by pounding the Rockies 9-2 yesterday. More importantly than winning (and sweeping) their first...

The longest month in the brief history of the Washington Nationals came to a merciful end with a 4-2 victory over the Marlins yesterday afternoon. Livan Hernandez earned his 13th win and ended the Nationals skid with an eight inning, two run effort, and Chad Cordero pitched a perfect 9th for his 35th save. But what a difference a month makes: The Nats entered the month of July with a 47-31 record and proceeded to...

Good news, Washington — the heat is over. For the time being, anyway. The Weather Channel promises temperatures in the 80s for the foreseeable future, and we would desperately like to believe them. The recent weather wasn't only sticky and unpleasant; it was also chaotic. D.C. public pools stayed open late, then had to close early after swimmers got a minor electrical shock; President Bush's trip to the Boy Scout Jamboree was cancelled due to...