"I got lucky. I made the right contact and the ball went to the right place," --Danys Baez, May 22, 2009.

THE RESULT: Danys Baez, a relief pitcher that hasn't batted in the major leagues since 2003, scratched out an infield single and scored on consecutive doubles by the next two hitters, Brain Roberts and Adam Jones against Kip Wells.

And so, the Washington Nationals fell to 12-29 on the season as a result of a 4-2 loss to their geographic rivals, the Baltimore Orioles.

The loss spoiled a fine performance from four other Nationals pitchers, not the least of which came from rookie starter Jordan Zimmermann. He went seven innings and gave up just two earned runs on six hits and one walk, striking out seven.

Ron Villone, Jason Bergmann, and Joe Beimel all pitched scoreless innings to take the game into extra innings once again, where the Nats are now 0-6 on the season.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run home run for the Nats, extending his consecutive on-base streak to 40 games.

THE TAKEAWAY: Three nights in a row, a reasonably played ball game. I mean, it sucks to lose on a 30-foot squib by a relief pitcher. But things like that happen in baseball.

THE GOOD: The Zimmerman(n)s. Jordan threw his best game to date, and Ryan continued his all-star campaign.

THE BAD: 22,556. The attendance was some 13,000 less than the Friday night game last season against the Orioles.

THE UGLY: Kip Wells. He got through the 11th, but fell apart int he 12th. After Baez' swinging bunt, he was just tossing batting practice.

NEXT GAME: Tonight. Game two against the Orioles. Ross Detwiler makes his second start of the season against Koji Uehara (47.2 IP, 2-3, 4.34 ERA, 35 Ks, 9 BBs).

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