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 year) and a starting effort by John Halama that could probably be described as laughable if not for the fact that the Nats are still in the Wild Card hunt. Halama-lama-ding-dong (sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves there) lasted just two thirds of an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk. A familiar cast of Travis Hughes, Jason Bergmann, Joey Eischen, Gary Majewski, Hector Carrasco and Mike Stanton followed Halama to the hill and chipped in to allow 11 more runs.

DCist wonders why manager Frank Robinson had such a quick hook with Halama, just a night after rookie starter Darrell Rasner lasted just two and two-thirds innings in a 4-2 loss that featured most of the previously mentioned cast of weary bullpen arms: Bergmann, Stanton, Hughes, Majewski, and Carrasco? Old Frank’s explanation: “I didn’t like what I saw…I wasn’t going to sit there and wait till he gave the game away in the first inning. You’re going to pitch for me, you’re going to throw strikes.” Seems like with a guy like Halama, a veteran of eight big league seasons, one might show a little bit more patience, especially considering that the starting rotation is in shambles.

(AP Photo by Nick Wass)