On Thursday, the Lerners took in their first game as the official to-be-owners of the Nats, and it was a stinker. The Nats’ poor play has left them in last place, and has local scribes taking a long view toward the Lerner/ Kasten team building a contender. The Nats started the week with a quick two game series in New York with the first-place Mets. And they had to do it while desperately shorthanded and…

The short, troubled association of the Washington Nationals and centerfielder Endy Chavez came to an end late last week, and unlike Boyz II Men, we still can let go. Chavez’s conspicuous habit of causing third outs during spring training earned him the nickname “Inning-Endy” among Nats bloggers, and it seemed to many like his time with the Nationals would be short. Sure enough, the Nats sent him down to the minors before opening day, and…

Spring may not have arrived in the mid-Atlantic region just yet, but down in Viera, Fla. — where the Nationals have been training for the past few weeks — it’s practically summer. Good thing, because the ex-Expos play their first game with an interlocking D.C. on their uniforms there tomorrow, against the New York Metropolitans (but against Tom Glavine, not Pedro). Game time is 1:05 p.m. Weather should be 62 degrees and partly cloudy. If…