Photo by Mylar Bono.

Whatever the Nationals’ pitching staff did over the All-Star Break, it worked. The starters turned in solid performances, with Strasburg looking as powerful as expected, Livan eating up innings, and Craig Stammen finding command of his breaking pitches. The bullpen, which was weak leading up to the break, shut down the Marlins in the late innings, with Drew Storen, Joel Peralta, and Tyler Clippard combining for 6 innings of hitless support and Capps providing a drama-free save on Friday. All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez was limited to 2 hits in ten at bats and didn’t factor in to any of the Marlins’ scoring.

Let’s say this for the offense…they’re getting on base. But nothing happens once they get there. On Saturday against Josh Johnson, the Cy Young contender with the high-90s fastball and the 90 mph slider, the Nats got 7 hits, showing patience at the plate as Johnson rang up 109 pitches in 6 innings. For the game, the Nats totaled eleven hits. But they couldn’t close it out, going 0-9 with runners in scoring position. It didn’t get much better on Sunday, when the offense put up another 0-9 effort with RISP. Plainly put, the offense is performing like a last-place team should, making weak outs when they have a chance to stage a rally.