Redskins Stumble out of Preseaon The Redskins dropped their fourth and final preseason game last night, losing to the Baltimore Ravens 17-10. The loss sealed the first winless preseason in Joe Gibbs’ 24 years as a coach. Though common wisdom dictates the insignificance of the preseason, there should be cause for concern among Redskins fans. The team scored a meager 27 points over the 4 preseason games, their lowest total since 1961. Their first-team…

The Washington Nationals found themselves in a familiar position Sunday afternoon. After dropping their first two games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Nats again were trailing in the third and final game of the series. Down 3-1 in the seventh, and in danger of being swept for the fourth time in a month’s time, the Nationals turned to pinch-hitter Alex Escobar. With Jose Guillen on board with a walk, Escobar drilled a shot over…

The highly anticipated Battle of the Beltway ended its second round yesterday with the Nationals losing the weekend series to the Orioles at Camden Yards. The series concluded this year’s meetings between the two teams. Looking back on this budding rivalry, it is clear that the Nats and Orioles played themselves to a stalemate. Each team won its home series by taking 2 of 3 games. Each team finds itself struggling to stay out…

Just a speed bump on the road back to a competitive season? Or a return to earth for a team playing way beyond its ability for nearly a month? In either case, the Nats did not look good in dropping the first two of a four-game set with Colorado on Monday and Tuesday. The Nats began the week having won six of their last seven series, winning at a .696 clip during that span….

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…

“People keep asking me, ‘What’s wrong?’ I’m going to have my numbers. People shouldn’t worry about Jose Guillen.” Somewhere, Gilbert Arenas is smiling. He would definitely appreciate the third-person proclamations Jose Guillen made in Monday’s Post. Especially since Guillen had previously struggled so badly – through Saturday he had two homers on the year, was batting a paltry .227, and recently was dropped from cleanup to the fifth spot in the order. But Guillen emphatically…

Quite a weekend for the local sports teams: >> Showing no ill effects from Marlon Byrd and Tomo Ohka’s bizarre behavior on Saturday, the Nationals beat the Marlins 6-3 yesterday and put themselves atop the wacky NL East. While you’re swelling with hometown pride keep in mind that the last place team in the division is only 1 1/2 games behind us. The scrappy Nats have won six of seven during their homestand and seven…

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…