Imagine not having a drink of water for 34 years. Well, except for the fact that you’d be dead 33 years and 51 weeks before such a thing could be possible, that’s sort of like how it’s been for longtime Washingtonians and MLB baseball. Now imagine that the water’s been sitting out overnight and the oxygen has escaped or formed bubbles along the side of the glass, and sort of tastes weird when you take the drink. But you don’t mind, because you haven’t had water since there was a Pope named Paul. That’s sort of how yesterday’s game went.

In the Nats’ very first at-bat, Brad Wilkerson singled. Not a bad start … except the Nats didn’t advance beyond first base until the second inning, when Terrmel Sledge batted in Nick Johnson (while grounding out himself). The hometown Phillies promptly scored two runs, and the game stayed tight until Philly’s four-run 5th inning. Kenny Lofton’s 3-run homer put more than enough distance between them and the still-rusty D.C. ballclub. Despite 2 runs in the bottom half of the next inning, Washington never put together much of a run after that.

(Image of Brad Wilkerson from ESPN.com.)