Blah.

I was ready, after the top of the 8th inning last night, to grant that maybe the Nats could actually seal the comeback and win one, finally, and I'd have something great to write about, and so on. Things were looking good. The score was tied, with men on first and second with no outs.

Instead, Wilson struck out, Castilla and Schneider flied out, and that was that. Okay, okay, so they just need to hold them...

But no, Guzman bungled a perfect throw to second to catch Chipper Jones, and the brilliant decision was made to intentionally walk Adam LaRoche, who's hitting .263, and face Jeff Francoeur, who already has 3 home runs in his first 30 major league at-bats.

Predictably, Francoeur, previously 2-for-3 on the night, blooped a double into the outfield, and the winning run scored. Baerga, Church and Wilkerson all went down easily, and another comeback fizzled.

Another one-run loss. Another hitless performance by Guzman (0-for-3 with a strikeout; now hitting .181). For that matter, nobody hitting lower than fourth managed a hit at all; they combined to go 0-for-19 with a walk and 6 Ks. At least Wilkerson, Vidro, Guillen and Johnson came through, combining to go 7-for-14 with three walks and no strikeouts. But they definitely can't do it by themselves, and once again, it wasn't enough. Another series lost, the sixth straight.


Record since July 4: 5-15
Record in one-run games since July 4: 2-9