After being swept by the woeful Reds (21-31) last Thursday, the Nats’ prospects against the non-woeful Cardinals (33-18) looked pretty bleak. Friday’s inevitable loss brought the team to .500, a low since late April, when the team record was just 11-11. Then Saturday’s “L” put them under the halfway mark for the first time since the Nats’ seventh game of the season, where they fell to division rival Atlanta. But then something happened: the Nats won their final game in St. Louis, mostly on the strength of Livan Hernandez‘s impressive pitching.

Then something else happened: the Nats came home to face the Braves, and won two more games. Thank you, Nick Johnson. And this, while the Nats continue losing players to injuries. Terrmel Sledge, Joey Eischen, John Patterson, Wil Cordero and Jon Rauch are among the ones whose names you might have heard, which is to leave out the latest fallen man: Jose Vidro, whose ankle injury will probably keep him out of baseball and in a funny-looking ankle brace until the All-Star break. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a proposed trade that would send out right hander Zach Day and reportedly import Juan Encarnacion from Florida was called off because of a hairline fracture in Day’s right wrist. Nats GM Jim Bowden would only confirm that a deal had been in place, not who it was with. “We finally got a deal that would help us win, and this happens,” Bowden told the Post. “It’s a tough day for us, but we’ll overcome it.”

Tonight the Nats suit up for their third of four games against Hotlanta’s finest. Game time is 7:05. Get your tickets here. Go Nats!

(Photo from the AP)