Oh, those sometimes woeful Washington Nationals. Maybe it was the Icarian pre-season projections that have made this two-month-old season so frustrating.

We thought that the pain caused by the loss of Nyjer Morgan to the disabled list would be more than compensated for by an emerging Roger Bernadina, who went 4-for-8 in two starts at the top of the order in the Arizona series. However, manager Jim Riggleman, who clearly favors unnecessary platoons over any chance at establishing consistency, thought that Bernadina would be at a disadvantage going against left-handed starters (Clayton Kershaw and Ted Lilly) in the Dodgers series and started the right-handed-hitting, underperforming Justin Maxwell in center instead.

Last year, Nyjer Morgan fractured his hand on August 27th, ending his season. The Nationals went on to lose 10 of the next 11 games. Fast-forward to the present day, where Morgan is again on the disabled list with a strained hip flexor, a decision with which he is apparently none too pleased.

Those Nationals went a respectable 3-3 over the last week. They took a three game set against the Orioles, a series highlighted by a thrilling 12th inning walk off homerun. Since the team has come to Washington, the Nationals are 10-8 against Baltimore. Also, the fact that Teddy earned his first race win against the Oriole Bird cannot be ignored. This year has been the first year during which it felt like a real rivalry…