If you normally arrive late to baseball games, the recently-completed Nationals-Marlins series was not for you. Arriving late would have meant seeing the home team either going through the motions to earn a paycheck or valiantly fighting to overcome a large deficit (depending on how full your glass is). The Nats have now lost five in a row, and you’d have to go back to Saturday’s extra-inning loss against the Dodgers to find a game in which the team even looked competitive. To date, I’ve harped about bad defense, poor clutch hitting, and a leaky bullpen. Those issues remain, but somehow, the starting pitching came out unscathed. That changes now.

I have a small confession. Months ago, when I agreed to take over Nats coverage for DCist, I was anticipating a historically bad season. The kind of season that I could tell my children about, and allow me to forever hold my head above future bandwagon fans. So imagine my surprise that on my inaugural post there are a staggering seven teams with worse records than the Nats, despite seven Washington losses in their last…

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…

As Nationals fans, we are but flecks of dust blowing in the wind. A tiny, insignificant bit of marginalia scribbled in the tome of baseball lore. That’s what researchers found in a poll released yesterday by AP-AOL Sports. Out of the 2,002 people polled, the 32 percent that claimed to be baseball fans were asked several questions, including “Which Major League Baseball team do you root for during the regular season?” A whopping one percent…

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…

It was just over two weeks ago that the Washington Nationals, to great fanfare, took the field at RFK Stadium for the first Major League Baseball game in Washington in over three decades. Years of political bickering, backroom negotiating, and hoping were finally put to rest as the team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a capacity crowd. It’s not uncommon to see commuters sporting “W” hats, and for those residents living near RFK,…

>> Wins on Friday against the free falling Cleveland Cavaliers and on Sunday against the Charlotte Bobcats coupled with an Indiana Pacers loss at Miami have moved the Wizards into 5th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with just two games to go. The Wizards overall record now stands at 45-35 and the team has won four in a row since their five game losing streak. With the Pacers two games back with only…

Today will be partly cloudy in the morning then clearing, with highs around 80. Latte Driving: The Post analyzes the complications to the regular commute caused by coffee – what one researcher has dubbed the “Starbucks effect”: “The two men represent what one researcher says is evidence that the national craving for gourmet coffee may be adding mileage to the morning rush hour.” Nats Unveil Mascot: His favorite song? “Fly Like an Eagle,” of course….

Thirty-four years after the last D.C. baseball team slunk out of town, the Washington Nationals play their first-ever home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 7:00 p.m. (TV: UPN 20). As if that isn’t exciting enough, the Nats arrive with a stadium-warming surprise gift: a winning record (5-4) and a two-game win streak (all road games, no less (of course)). It’ll be no small task to keep those winning ways going: The Diamondbacks, even shorn…

Stadium Re-Naming Moves Forward: DCist reported last week that local pro-democracy activists are pushing to have RFK Stadium, currently searching for a $1.5-$2 million a year corporate sponsor, named the “Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK Stadium.” The initiative’s initial goal was $10,000 by April 3, but overwhelming support for the idea pushed them to up the ante to $20,000 and now $51,000 by April 14, the date of the Nationals home opener against the…