The Nats finally enjoyed a day off yesterday after more than two weeks of consecutive gamedays. A winning May seems to have gotten the season back on track after a disasterous April, but the Nats still have to cover plenty of ground if they want to make a run at the top half of the division. Winning four out of the six remaining games on this roadtrip will be necessary to maintain some momentum heading…

Not for the first time this year (remember that stretch back in April that got them within three of .500?) did the Nats make us think a competitive season was possible, when they ran off a 7-3 homestand to close the NL East gap to single digits. After taking bragging rights from the Orioles and a series each from the Astros and Dodgers, the Nationals headed back out on the road to face division rival…

You gotta give The Kid points for style. After nearly a month on the DL, Ken Griffey, Jr. returned to the Reds last night with a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th. Unfortunately, the Nationals were the unlucky victims of Griffey’s 539th career home run. With Alfonso Soriano mired in an 11-for-58 slump and on the bench, the Nats scored three in the 11th to pull ahead 4-1. Three relievers tried…

Stick a fork in ’em? The Nationals’ three game cross-country trip to San Diego, which started out on a high note with Friday night’s 5-1 victory (John Patterson was brilliant – 9IP, 3H, 0BB, 1R, 6K), ended in the worst way possible: back-to-back heartbreaking losses that might have finally, quietly, snuffed out their 2005 playoff hopes. As you remember, the banged-up Nats left for the West Coast on Thursday a giddy bunch, with their…

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…

The Nationals missed an opportunity to overtake the Astros in the wild card chase, dropping a tough 4-3 decision against the Phillies last night. Esteban Loaiza coughed up four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. Bright spots for the Nats included Vinny Castilla’s 3rd inning homerun, and Luis Ayala, Joey Eischen, and Gary Majewski combining for 2+ innings of scoreless, hitless relief. The Nats managed to cut the Phillies’…

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…

>> It took them three tries, but the Mighty Wiz finally earned their first playoff win in 17 long years on Sunday with a 117-99 win against the visiting Chicago Bulls. For those counting at home, Gilbert Arenas was all of 6 years old at the time of the then-Bullets last playoff win. The Big Three were The Big Three + One on Saturday, as reserve Etan Thomas shot 8 for 9 from the…