Jason Marquis acknowledges ovation leaving scoreless game in eighth inning. (Photo by C. Nichols/Nats News Network)

THE RESULT:  Despite seven strong innings from their starter, the Washington Nationals offense could provide no support whatsoever and they were shut out by Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs 4-0, before 18,344 at Nationals Park.

The loss drops the Nats to 53-74 with 35 games remaining in the season.

It seems like for some of the Nationals, those 35 games can't get by quickly enough.

Veteran starting pitcher Jason Marquis must feel like his season is just starting.  Or starting over, anyway.

His first five starts, marred by injury, were horrendous by all accounts.  Then he spent the better part of two months on the disabled list after surgery to remove "loose bodies" from his pitching elbow.

Upon his return he struggled in his first two starts, but insisted it was just a matter of location and getting his legs underneath of him.

In his last two starts, however, he has looked like the pitcher that garnered an All-Star bid last season for the Colorado Rockies.

Last Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies he allowed one earned run on four hits and four walks over five innings.  Tonight, he bettered that, going seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and two walks.

Manager Jim Riggleman debated sending Marquis out for the eighth inning in a scoreless game, but the veteran felt good and strong, so he took the mound -- with a short leash.

Unfortunately, Marquis issued his third walk of the evening -- of the four pitch variety -- to leadoff hitter Tyler Colvin, pinch-hitting for Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (W, 12-8, 3.42).  After a fly ball to the warning track for the first out of the inning, Riggleman lifted Marquis to a loud ovation from the home fans.

Tyler Clippard entered with Colvin on first, but he didn't stay there long.  The rookie outfielder stole second on Clippard's second pitch, and on a 2-2 count, fellow rookie Starlin Castro ripped a double to the left field corner, scoring Colvin easily from second.

Just liek that, Marquis' bid for his first win of the season had vanished.

Two batters later, Aramis Ramirez tacked on his 19th home run of the season, and the competitive portion of the game was over.

Marquis was hung with the loss -- his seventh -- but Clippard played the goat in this one.

Every pitching mistake is amplified these days since the offense is in a collective slump.  The Nats scratched out just two hits off Dempster in his seven innings, a swinging bunt that Ramirez couldn't handle cleanly off the bat of Wil Nieves, and a lined single by Marquis himself.

The team once again finds itself in familiar territory, playing out the string as the season dwindles.  If they don't find some semblance of offense down the stretch, they could be looking at a very long month of September.

THE GOOD:  Marquis, without question.  His perfromance was the only bright spot for the Nationals as they suffered their 17th loss in their last 27 games.  They are 4-13 in their last 17 contests.

THE BAD:  Clippard.  He's allowed 37% of his inherited runners to score this season, and tonight was no different.  He just didn't have it.

THE UGLY:  Adam Dunn went 0-for-4, with three called strikeouts.  It was tough to watch.  Dunn is hitting .192 with an on base percentage of just .300 in August.

THE STATS:  10 Ks, 1 BB, 0-for-4 with RISP, 4 LOB, 1 DP hit into.

NEXT GAME:  Thursday at 7:05 pm against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Jordan Zimmermann makes his 2010 debut against Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter (14-4).

NATS NOTES:  The team announced after the game that they will hold a press conference to introduce OF Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 Amateur Draft, Thursday at 5:45 pm at Nationals Park.  The press conference will be broadcast live on MASN and also be shown on the scoreboard at Nats Park.

Nyjer Morgan was suspended by Major League Baseball for seven games for an incident in Saturday night's game in Philadelphia.  Morgan apparently threw a baseball into the stands toward a fan he had "on-going" altercation with, and hit a different patron in the head.  Morgan has appealed and will play pending a hearing.  He refused to comment on the situation after the game, other than to say he was shocked at the suspension.

The team also announced that RHP Collin Balester was returned to Triple-A Syracuse after tonight's game to make room for Thursday's starter, RHP Jordan Zimmermann.  Zimmermann is just 12 months out from ligament replacement surgery in his pitching elbow.

RHP Stephen Strasburg will have the second MRI on his injured arm Thursday, to be performed by team doctors.  The procedure will involve injecting dye into the area to get a better look at the injury.  Strasburg hurt his arm Satruday night against Philadelphia.  After throwing a changeup he winced in pain and shook his arm out, immediately signaling to the bench his discomfort.

And finally, OF Josh Willingham underwent debridement surgery on the meniscus in his left knee on Wednesday.  Team trainer Lee Kuntz described the surgery as a clean-up, and not a repair of a tear.  Willingham will do his immediate post-surgery rehab in D.C. and is expected to make a full recovery, but will be inactive the remainder of the season.

THE RESULT:  The Washington Nationals found a team they can beat more often than not.  Behind Stephen Strasburg's good -- but not great -- five innings, and four solid scoreless from the pen, the Nats put away the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3, taking this series three games to two, and the season series over their N.L. West foes.

The season series win over Arizona is the first over an N.L. opponent this season.

The Nats got offensive support in the form of the long ball once again, as Josh Willingham hit a big two-run homer to tie things up in the fourth, and Ryan Zimmerman tacked on an insurance tater in the eighth, his 24th of the season.

Strasburg (ND, 5-3, 2.97) struck out seven and walked none, allowing five hits and three runs, only one of which was earned.  But he needed 85 pitches to get through five innings, and on several occasions got ahead of hitters only to let them work themselves back into good hitter's counts.

One such progression typified his afternoon. 

In the fifth inning, Strasburg got ahead of All-Star center fielder Chris Young 0-2 then played around with him, throwing a curveball way outside, a fastball that made Young jack-knife to get out of the way of, and a slurve in the dirt he wanted him to chase.  When the count got back to 3-2, the rookie had to come back to the hitter, and Young pounded a fastball to center for a single.

It cost Strasburg several pitches, and the scenario was not unique for the 22-year old phenom.

Strasburg had no trouble with his control today (85 pitches, 57 stirkes), so whether the sequence was command or strategy, it's something that needs work right now.

Strasburg's big trouble came in the second when he gave up a home run to Adam LaRoche and allowed two unearned runs off a bad throw on a swinging bunt that Strasburg air-mailed down the right field line.

"You know, it's the big leagues and they're going to get you now and then," Riggleman said.  "He got behind on LaRoche and LaRoche centered up the ball real good on him.

Zimmerman and Willingham took care of the offense for the Nats.  Each had two hits and two runs to go along with their home runs, and Ian Desmond and Ivan Rodriguez contributed RBI singles.

After Strasburg departed, Tyler Clippard, Sean Burnett and Drew Storen shut down Arizona, allowing just two hits and no walks over four innings with five strikeouts.

THE GOOD:  Josh Willingham.  Struggling with a balky knee, he hit his first home run in over a month, ending a 33-game drought.  Tyler Clippard struck out three in two innings to pick up the win, his team-leading ninth of the season.

THE BAD:  Michael Morse.  He went 0-for-4, and is now 5-for-44 in August with 11 strikeouts.

THE UGLY:  Four protesters made their way onto the field after Strasburg batted in the fifth inning.  The first two acted as decoys, while the second two attepted to unfurl a banner protesting the Arizona immigration law.  (See slideshow of unedited photos below). Riggleman cited the incident as instrumental in lifting Strasburg after allowing the pitcher to hit in the fifth.

"Once that stuff happened on the field, I just was undecided whether I wanted him to go back out there and once we sat in there a little bit longer with that stuff going on I just decided that I wasn't going to send him back out there."

THE STATS:  2 Ks, 1 BB, 2-for-7 RISP, 5 LOB

NEXT GAME:  Nats are off Monday as they travel to Atlanta for a three-game series starting Tuesday.  Scott Olsen (3-4, 5.11) is scheduled against Mike Minor (0-0, 4.50) for the Braves at 7:10 pm from Turner Field.

NATS NOTES:  Today's attendance, 21,695, was the lowest ever for a Strasburg start.  The gloomy weather certainly didn't help things out, as a light rain fell all morning at Nats Park and the tarp was not removed until right before game time.

Several conflicting rumors circulated during the game about the status of Nats 2010 draft picks Sammy Solis, A.J. Cole and Robbie Ray, with all three at one point determined signed by various sources, only to be refuted by others.  With Monday at midnight the draftee signing deadline and tomorrow's off-day, much will be said about the status of those three players, along with No. 1 overall Bryce Harper, who remains unsigned as of this post.

RHP Jordan Zimmermann, making his third start for Triple-A Syracuse as he continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery, went five innings and allowed one run on five hits and one walk, striking out three.  He threw 73 pitches, 43 for strikes.  In his three starts, Zimmermann has given up just one earned run in 12 innings.

Before today's game, Riggleman said Zimmermann could be back before the Sept. 1 call-ups, but regardless he should pitch for the Nationals this season.

by Anthony Amobi, Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - Tyler Clippard, who started so well for the Nationals to kick off the season, has been in a rut for the past three weeks and it has cost his team in several games.

On Saturday, his struggles continued.

When all was said and done, what was a close game became a 10-5 victory for San Francisco on a beautiful night after a stormy morning at Nationals Park.

Clippard didn’t dissuade any of the concern about a string of recent poor performances, as he and the Nationals squandered a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning to the Giants.

He was relied upon to preserve a narrow lead, but could not hold it – again. San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand tied the game at five with a solo homer to left and then Clippard would issue back-to-back walks to Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff. Moments later, Buster Posey singled to right and plated a run to put the Giants up 6-5.

Nationals manager Jim Riggleman had seen enough and pulled Clippard from the game.  A few minutes later though Juan Uribe stroked a two-run single off of reliever Doug Slaten to right center to put San Francisco up 8-5.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Clippard’s line in his appearance on Saturday: 1/3 of inning, four runs -- all earned -- on two hits, while walking two and striking out one.

Washington Manager Jim Riggleman, in his post-game press conference with the media, gave his set-up man a vote of confidence, and believes Clippard’s struggle is just a blip in a long year.

"Tyler's just struggling - I don't know what else to say."

He later added, “"He's been a mainstay for us, really has taken on a lot of the workload down there for us. We just got to suffer through a little bit of a bad time here with him."

The Giants padded their lead in the ninth inning as Buster Posey hit a two-run homer off reliever Miguel Batista. However, Posey’s homer had to be reviewed by the umpires via instant replay as Riggleman felt that a fan – in a Giants cap, much less – interfered with the play.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

The umpires did not change their ruling, and Posey was credited with his seventh homer of the season.

Clippard's implosion came after the Nats wrested the lead from the Giants after another shaky outing from starter Craig Stammen.

Stammen went 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He got out of the first inning unscathed; however, he ran into trouble in the second.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Posey started off the frame with a single, but Juan Uribe grounded into a double play and it seemed that Stammen would get through the second inning with no damage. However, he gave up a single to Travis Ishikawa and walked Pablo Sandoval. With men on first and second, Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run double to left, and then pitcher Jonathan Sanchez followed up an RBI-single to put San Francisco up, 3-2.

The Giants added another run in the sixth inning thanks to Uribe’s sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, the Nationals started early on the offensive front. They scored twice in the first inning off a Ryan Zimmerman RBI double and Cristian Guzman scored off a wild pitch from Jonathan Sanchez.

They added another run in the second to tie the game at three as Mike Morse hit a solo homer (his fourth of the season).

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Washington added two more runs in the fourth inning as Ivan Rodriguez roped an RBI-double to left, plating Josh Willingham. Minutes later, Stammen plated in a run with a ground-rule double.

Although the offense perhaps did its job throughout the night, it could have perhaps even been far more productive. The Nationals had a chance in the fifth inning to further a rally, as they had the bases loaded with two outs in the frame; however, Rodriguez grounded out to end the frame.

In the sixth, the Nationals ran themselves out of an inning in the worst way.

After a leadoff double, Washington failed to execute a sacrifice bunt and the lead runner was nabbed at third by rookie catcher Buster Posey.  Later, with two on, a botched hit-and-run with Justin Maxwell at the plate resulted in Ian Desmond getting gunned down at third by Posey.

The Nationals did not score during the frame where they hit a leadoff double and were shut down offensively thereafter for the rest of the game.

Riggleman brought up the events of the sixth inning in his post-game press conference and noted, “We had an offensive night – it looks like.”

“You score five runs, but there was more out there that we didn't get. It came back to bite us."

For the Giants, Santiago Casilla (2-2) got the win in relief; meanwhile, Jonathan Sanchez – who started on the mound for the Giants – only managed to stay in the game for 3 2/2 innings. He gave up five runs, but got the no-decision.

Offensively for Washington, Josh Willingham, Mike Morse and Ryan Zimmerman had two hits. Adam Dunn, who had two homers on Friday night, had a tough night as he struck out three times.

San Francisco’s rookie star Buster Posey was the pain in the side for the Nationals on Saturday as he went 4-for-5 with a homer, three runs driven in and scored twice. The youngster is batting .351 on the season so far.

THE RESULT:  The Washington Nationals lost their third straight one-run game, depsite having early leads in all three, to the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3.

Consecutive two-out hits against Tyler Clippard (L, 8-5) in the eighth inning by Corey Patterson and Miguel Tejada made the difference.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

The Nats are now 7-17 in June, have lost four in a row and 12 of their last 15 games.  For the season, they are 33-43.

Roger Bernadina hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to make the score 3-0 against O's starter Jeremy Guthire.  But as has been the case all series with the Orioles, the Nats put away their bats after the fourth.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Washington did not score a run against Baltimore's bullpen in the three games.

The key sequences came in the eighth innng  The Nats got their first two batters on against Orioles reliever Will Ohman, but Ohman struck out the next hitter, Adam Dunn, on three pitches.  O's interim manager Juan Samuel then called on David Hernandez, and he proceeded to strike out Josh Willingham and Roger Berndina -- on six pitches.

In the Orioles' half, Julio Lugo hit a one-out double, but was then picked off second by catcher Wil Nieves.  Undaunted, the O's got to Clippard with the hits by Patterson and Tejada for the game-winner.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Clippard had a miserable weekend.  Friday night he was clobbered for the loss and Sunday couldn't get the job done again, even when given an out on the terrible play by Lugo.  In both appearances, he left his pitches up in the zone and out over the plate.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Nats starter Luis Atilano kept his team in the game, going seven innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on just five hits.  He did not walk a batter and struck out three.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

THE GOOD:  Roger Bernadina.  The right fielder went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.

THE BAD:  Nyjer Morgan followed up his excellent game Saturday going 0-for-4.

THE UGLY:  The O's tied the game in the fifth, when Adam Kennedy threw a ball into the O's dugout  on a double-play attempt.  It was a poor decision to throw, as the runner would have beaten the throw easily regardless.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

NEXT GAME:  Tomorrow against Atlanta at 7:05 pm.  Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 1.78) faces Tim Hudson (7-3. 2.54).

by Anthony Amobi, Staff Writer and Dave Nichols

"The way we're playing in general, defensively, is just not good enough.  We do a lot of talking about it, and we're out there working on it. I really can't explain it. I know we put the work in. I feel bad for them. I really feel bad for the players, because I know it's an issue for them. They see the number of errors. They see the game get away from us because we're not making plays." -- Manager Jim Riggleman, after the four error fiasco in a 7-6 loss to Baltimore.

The starter was pulled too quickly.  The reliever wasn't pulled quickly enough.  And the middle infielders made two errors apiece.

It all added up to one of them most demoralizing losses of the season, as the Washington Nationals fell to their regional rival Baltimore Orioles, 7-6, before 43,484 at scenic Oriole Park at Camden Yards in a 3-hour, 53 minute marathon.

It was another go-around in the annual ‘Battle of the Beltways’ interleague series, and it looked early on like it would be a laugher for the Nationals as they built a 6-0 lead.  But things turned in the fifth inning, ensuring that the game would be remembered by both fan bases for diametrically opposite reasons.

The poor defense of the Nationals ultimately undid a thrilling game, and the O's -- entering the game with the major's worst record -- came back from six runs down and earned the victory in the bottom of the ninth inning.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

The final of four errors by the Nationals was the fatal one, and capped Baltimore's comeback.

With the game tied at six with one out in the ninth inning, Baltimore had runners at first and second base. Orioles' second baseman Julio Lugo bounced a tailor-made double-play ball to shortstop Ian Desmond, who flipped the ball to Cristian Guzman at second to force Scott Moore (2-for-2, 2 RBIs).

Moore made a good, hard slide, and sadly, Guzman’s turn and throw ended up short of first base and the ball sneaked under first baseman Adam Dunn’s glove for a devastating error. That allowed Jake Fox, the original runner at second, to score and send Baltimore to just their 21st win in 73 games.

The loss for Washington (33-41) was a tough one to swallow in more ways than one. Both Desmond and Guzman had two errors – and also manager Jim Riggleman’s decision to allow Tyler Clippard to pitch the eighth and part of the ninth inning after allowing Baltimore to tie the game played a big role as well.

The use of Clippard in Friday’s game by Riggleman will ruminate in the minds of Nats fans.

He came into the game to start off the eighth inning and immediately walked catcher Matt Wieters on five pitches. It was obvious Clippard did not have his good stuff, and every pitch to Wieters was up and out over the plate, including his ususally impressive change-up.

Moments later, pinch-hitter Scott Moore absolutely crushed a Clippard offering and sent it over the wall in right field and on to the flag court, bringing Baltimore within one of the lead, 6-5.

Instead of yanking Clippard and bringing in another reliever, Riggleman decided to stay with him and things only got worse. The reliever would give up a one-out double to light-hitting shortstop Cesar Izturis and then allowed the Orioles to tie the game off a Corey Patterson RBI-single.

Clippard ended the frame by getting the final two outs, but he inexplicably was allowed to come back out for the ninth inning, despite having just completed one of his worst outing of the season.

He walked Wieters again with one out and allowed the recently-recalled Moore to do more damage, as the first baseman singled cleanly. Mercifully, Riggleman would pull Clippard at that point, but the Nats fate had already been sealed.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

"Just couldn't get the ball down," said Clippard. "I just didn't establish the strike zone early, so I was a little tentative after that, and it cost me."


Matt Capps entered and immediately got Lugo to hit the grounder to short that should have ended the frame.

Not on this night.

Clippard (8-4), who pitched 1 1/3 innings, took the loss.

J.D. Martin – who started the game on the mound for the Nationals – gave up three runs, all unearned, in 4 1/3 innings of work. He didn’t factor in the decision and gave up three hits, while striking out two and walking one.

He had thrown just 80 pitches when lifted by Riggleman, and the manager chewed up three pitchers to record the next four outs.

Despite the deflating loss, there were some positives in the game. The Nationals offense came alive as they took an early 6-0 lead off Baltimore rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta in the first four innings and they got amazing performances from Adam Dunn – who drove in four runs – and Nyjer Morgan, who had four hits and became a human highlight reel.

The center fielder made one of the most spectacular catches you'll ever see during the third inning, scaling the seven foot wall in right center field to rob Corey Patterson of a home run.  Morgan's left hip was even with the top of the wall and he even fought off a fan to make the catch.

(Photo by Anthony Amobi/Nats News Network)

Even Patterson gave Morgan his props by giving him a tip of his cap. Meanwhile, the 43,000 plus who saw it live at Oriole Park at Camden Yards were stunned at the sure-fire ‘web-gem’.

As good as the play was, it went for naught in the sting of one of the most disappointing losses in Nationals history.

The Washington Nationals got three solo home runs, six good innings from Livan Hernandez and three shutout innings from the bullpen to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2, taking their first series sweep of the season, before 21,767 at Nationals Park.

Hernandez (W, 5-3) was up to his old tricks, mowing down Pirates left and right, until tiring in the sixth inning.  He allowed just two hits and one walk through five, with Jason Jaramillo's double in the third representing the lone scoring opportunity through the fifth.

On the other side of the ledger, the Nats were getting just enough offense against Pirates starter Zach Duke.  Adam Dunn hit a towering shot to right with one out in the third inning--his third homer in as many games and 13th for the season. 

After a Ryan Zimmerman ground out, Josh Willingham took one to the Red Porch seats in left center, his 12th of the campaign.

Washington got another run in the fourth off Duke (L, 3-7).  With two outs, Dunn singled to the right field corner on a hard hit ball, went to second on a balk, and scored on the combination of Ryan Zimmerman's infield single and third baseman Andy LaRoche's throwing error.

Dunn was moved into the third spot this evening by manager Jim Riggleman against Duke, a lefty.  Hitting in the third spot in the lineup this season, Dunn was hitting .412 (7-for-17) with two home runs.  He only added to those totals in this contest.

"Anytime it's a left-handed pitcher we think about doing that," Riggleman said after the ballgame.  "Dunn is very well protected by Zimmerman in that situation."

Dunn is hitting .330 (38-for-115) with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in his last 30 games.

Hernandez ran into his only trouble in the sixth, when Duke and Jose Tabata hit back-to-back doubles, followed by a single from Neil Walker and a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen. 

Hernandez really bore down though, pitching around left-handed swinging Garrett Jones before retiring the next two batters, punctuated the effort by striking out Bobby Crosby for the final out of the frame.

The veteran gave up two earned runs in six innings total on five hits and two walks, striking out three.

Former Nationals' closer, Joel Hanrahan, pitched the seventh inning for the Pirates and gave up a hit to Desmond, got Dunn to hit a fly ball and struck out Zimmerman and Willingham.

With Matt Capps unavailable after throwing three straight days, the bullpen had a little different configuration, but to another excellent result.

Sean Burnett pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Tyler Clippard was called upon for the ninth inning.  He responded as he has all season, striking out two in the process, including a called third strike on pich-hitter and former National Ryan Church, who had some words with home plate umpire Lance Barksdale after the call.

It was Clippard's first career save.

"I really wanted to give Matt [Capps] a night off...he's been up a lot," Riggleman said.  "It was gonna have to be someone else tonight and they got it done."

Including the scoreless effort tonight, Nationals relievers combined to throw 9 1/3 scoreless innings in the series with the Pirates.  Coincidence with the sweep?

Michael Morse, inserted against the lefty, also responded.  He went 2-for-2 with a walk off Duke and hit an insurance home run, his first of the season, to dead center field in the eighth inning off right-handed reliever Brendan Donnelly.

The Nationals now embark on a seven-day, six-game interleague road trip against the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.  Tomorrow they face their former manager, Manny Acta, and the Tribe.  Luis Atilano (5-2, 4.24) gets the ball versus Jake Westbrook (3-3, 4.84) at 7:05 pm from Progressive Field.

NATS NOTES:  Willingham has hit safely in seven straight and 14 of his last 18 games.  Over that span, he is .339 with six homers and 16 RBIs.

Cristian Guzman was 0-for-5 in the leadoff spot and struck out twice.

Roger Bernadina, who has struggled mightily against left-handers this season, was on base three times with a single and two walks.

Pittsburgh has lost five straight and six of their last seven games.

The Nationals had 10 hits and four walks, struck out six times, and left nine on base.  They were 2-for-11 with men in scoring position.

All Photos 2010 © Cheryl Nichols Photography/

Nationals News Network. All Rights Reserved

Tyler Clippard is being overused.

Called upon again to protect a tie in the eighth inning, the gangly right-hander could not do the job Tuesday night, surrendering a no doubt about it solo home run to Ryan Ludwick, and the St. Louis Cardinals hung a fifth straight loss on a reeling Washington Nationals team, 3-2, before 36,345 at Busch Stadium.

"I just threw a bad pitch," Clippard said. "Bottom line, it happens."

Bad pitches do happen, but this one confused even the "experts".  Three different announcers on the broadcast described the 88 MPH pitch three different ways.  One thought it was a fastball that Clippard took something off.  One thought it was a change-up.  One couldn't tell what it was.

Clippard described it a "cutter with no bite."

Regardless what it was or supposed to be, Ludwick crushed it.  Clippard didn't even bother to turn around to watch it.

On top of the homer, Clippard--who was so good earlier in the season--also walked three batters in the frame, a career-high for an appearance.

"I feel good. I'm just not making the pitches when I need to," Clippard said. "That's the biggest thing right now. It happens. I'll just stay the course, still work hard. It's tough right now."

Clippard has appeared in half of the Nationals' 40 games.  He's on pace for 83 appearances and 113.1 innings, which would obliterate MLB career highs.

In his last seven and two-thirds innings, Clippard has allowed six runs and 10 hits.

It was a tough way to lose yet another close game.  The Nats have played 14 one-run games so far this season, with a record of 8-6.  Those things have a way of evening themselves out.  Three of the five games on the losing streak have been by one run.

The Nats have scored a grand total of 10 runs in those five games.

The loss takes away from the positive outing from starter John Lannan.  The lefty has dealt with soreness in his elbow much of the season, but Tuesday night looked like a return to his old reliable self.  He went six innings and gave up just two earned runs--on Felipe Lopez' two-run homer in the third inning.

Lannan gave up just five hits and more importantly, walked just one.

The Nats offense, however, did not have as good a night as their starting pitcher.

Missing their clean-up man once again with flu-like symptoms, the Nats eeked out nine base hits, but only two extra base hits:  Wil Nieves' third career home run, and Adam Kennedy's double.

Lead-off hitter Nyjer Morgan went 0-for-5 and is hitting .182/.265/.182 since May 6, going 8-for-44 with no extra-base hits in the time span.

Chris Carpenter (5-1, 2.80) got the win for St. Louis.  He went eight innings, giving up two runs--one earned--on nine hits.  He struck out five and did not walk a batter.

The Nationals limp home for a five-game homestand, starting with two games with the New York Mets, before a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles.  Livan Hernandez (4-2) goes on three days rest tonight against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, making his 2010 debut.

NATS NOTES:  Sean Burnett threw a scoreless inning of relief.

Cristian Guzman went 3-for-5, but failed to score from third base on a ground ball in the fourth inning.

Ian Desmond went 2-for-4 with an RBI single.

Food Network star Paula Deen will be at Nats Park today from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm teaming up with Nationals players and their wives for the Nationals Annual Food Drive.  Deen will also host a VIP Military Reception from 5:00 - 6:00 pm with Smithfield Foods from the Nats Park Rooftop Party Deck.

You would think a pitcher making his first start since September 2008 because of shoulder surgery would be a little nervous, rusty or wild.

You would be wrong.

Jeff Francis, a former 17-game winner for the Colorado Rockies, returned to the mound for the first time since late 2008 and threw seven innings of one-run ball, defeating the Washington Nationals 2-1 before 42,874 on a beautiful Rocky Mountain Sunday afternoon.

The loss hands the Nationals their first three-game losing streak of the season, and drops their record to 20-18.

It was also something of a moving day for the Nats as well.  Before the game, Mike Morse was activated from the 15-day DL and Willy Taveras was designated for assignment. 

After the game, 2009's No. 10 overall draft pick Drew Storen was summoned from Triple-A Syracuse and Brian Bruney, who has struggled all season long, was designated for assignment as well.

Storen has a 1.08 ERA in 16. 2 innings, allowing 15 base runners and striking out 15 between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse in 2010.

Bruney has been, in a word, brutal this season.  He went 1-2 with a 7.64 ERA, giving up 18 runs, 21 hits and 20 walks in 17.2 innings.  He struck out 16, but the appeal of having a potential strikeout arm in the pen was more than overshadowed by the constant walks and good contact made against him.

Bruney was acquired in the off-season from the New York Yankees for the rights to the first pick in the Rule 5 draft, and was expected to be a main cog in Manager Jim Riggleman's bullpen.  Instead, his poor pitching forced the Nats hand to promote Storen, probably early enough that he will qualify for "Super 2" status, reaching arbitration and earning his free agency a year earlier than the rest of the Class of 2010.

"This is a results orientated game," Bruney said afer the game.  "When you don't produce, obviously you're going to think about that."

"I don't feel like I'm a minor league pitcher, so we'll see what happens. Maybe somebody else doesn't feel that way, either. As it sits now, I'm going to go home."

As for the game, the Rockies scratched out a run off Tyler Clippard in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie, and Manny Corpas made the run stand up, giving reliever Matt Belisle (1-0, 2.28) the win.

Francis was sharp in his first start in over a year and a half.  He gave up seven hits and two walks in seven innings, allowing just one earned run.  He struck out six Nats batters.  Francis threw 67 of this 106 pitches for strikes, and used a variety of off-speed pitches to keep the Nats off-balance.

On the other side, Nats starter Scott Olsen kept his team in the game, despite his admission of not being as sharp as he had been earlier this month.  He went six and two-thirds, allowing five hits and one walk, striking out three. 

Though the numbers look good, Olsen said after the game he did not feel very comfortable on the mound, but felt better as the day went along.

Clippard, who bailed Olsen out in the seventh retiring Clint Barmes with two on and two out, couldn't keep the game knotted in the eighth.

He walked the leadoff hitter, Seth Smith, and allowed a single to Carlos Gonzalez, moving Smith up to second.  After a sacrifice, Brad Hawpe lofted a fly ball to deep left field, and Smith trotted home with the tie-breaking--and winning--run.

Clippard dropped to 7-2 this season, taking his second loss in a week.

Washington got their lone run of the game with the first out of the game.  Nyjer Morgan led off with an infield single, Ian Desmond doubled to left, and Cristian Guzman hit a sac fly to plate the run.  That was the extent of the Nats offense against Francis.

Desmond's double was the Nats' only extra-base hit of the game.

Colorado took the final three games of the four game series, the last two by one-run margins.

It's a quick turnaround for the Nats, who play Monday in St. Louis.  Craig Stammen (1-1, 5.84) faces Kyle Lohse (0-3, 5.68) at 8:15 EDT.

NATS NOTES:  Morse and Guzman had two hits apiece. 

Ryan Zimmerman, hitting the clean-up spot, went 0-for-4.

Adam Dunn was given the day off due to flu-like symptoms.

Nyjer Morgan went 1-for-4, but struck out three times, including in the seventh inning when the Nats had runners at first and second with one out.

Tuesday night, the Washington Nationals took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning.

It didn't last that way.

Relievers Brian Bruney and Tyler Clippard combined to allow six runs--five earned--on six hits to surrender what seemed like a comfortable lead, and the Nats fell to the New York Mets 8-6 before 31,606 at Citifield in Queens.

There's a lot of hand-wringing in NatsTown this morning after the loss.  Bloggers and fans are calling for the head of Brian Bruney, after he allowed all three batters he faced to reach base without recording an out in the frame.

Bruney has been fairly terrible this season, pitching to a 6.89 ERA with more walks than strikeouts.  And if he'd been hit hard, or walked a couple people, I would be on the bandwagon driving him out of town. 

But last night wasn't that case.

Jason Bay led off with a ground ball that got through the infield.  It happens.  A few feet one way or the other and it's an out.

David Wright, a right-handed batter, was late on a fastball, but he got enough of it to slice a line drive into the right field corner.  A few feet more and it would have been a harmless foul ball.

Rookie Ike Davis, who did narrowly miss a three-run home run on a foul ball, hit a routine ground ball that shortstop Ian Desmond mishandled, then made a poor throw on to allow Davis to reach safely and bring Bay into score.

So, scapegoat Brian Bruney all you want, but last night wasn't really his fault.  He didn't get hit hard.  He didn't walk anyone.  He did what management wants:  he pitched to contact, and a couple balls got through and his shortstop made an error.

These things happen.

Oh, and the score was only 6-3 when he was pulled from the game.

Clippard, on the other hand, was rocked.

He maanged to strike out Jeff Francouer for the first out of the inning, but then in succesion gave up a bomb to Rod Barajas that almost cleared the fence in left field, a bunt single to Alex Cora that he has no one to blame for but himself, a clean single to right field by Angel Pagan and a double to right field by Chris Carter, making his Mets debut.

Clippard has been living in such luck so far this season, it's not surprising that things would catch up to him.  You just wouldn't expect it all in one appearance.

Carter's two-RBI double gave the Mets the lead, and after Miguel Batista intentionally walked Jose Reyes to load the bases to set up a double play, he then unintentionally walked Jason bay to force in the insurance run.

That's something to get mad about.

So my suggestion to NatsTown:  brush this one off.  The Nats have been living right so far this season, with an 8-3 record in one-run games.  They've gotten better-than-expected performances from some unlikely sources, and they are still tied for second in the division.

I fear that the unsustainable early season success has some folks around here printing playoff tickets in their minds, but the Nats are still too seriously flawed to really be competitive this season.  Nats fans need to enjoy the journey to respectability, not expect it all at once.

Losses happen.  It might be tougher to take when it happens in a game the you think they should win.  But if you take a look at the results so far this season, you just might find a game or two where the Nats were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat themselves.

Back off the ledges, people.

NATS NOTES:  Adam Dunn hit a three-run home run in the top of the first, his seventh of the season.

Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored.

Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-RBI single in the Nats fifth inning.  Desmond drove in the other run with a single in the same inning.

Starter Scott Olsen had another good result on a night he didn't have his best stuff.  He went five and one-third innings, allowing two earned runs on nine hits and one walk.  He struck out two.

Tyler Walker and Doug Slaten combined for one and two-thirds scoreless innings.

Jason Marquis made a rehab start for Class-A Potomac Tuesday night.  He went three and two-third innings, allowing three runs, six hits, one walk and one hit batter, striking out three.  He threw 54 pitches, 36 for strikes, and according to Nats Director of Player Development Doug Harris, Marquis had no health related problems in his appearance.

The Washington Nationals, showing a resiliency that has permeated their 2010 campaign thus far, scored single runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings to take a comeback win over the Florida Marlins, 5-4, before 21,633 sun-drenched and wind-blown fans--including some of the four-legged variety on "Pups in the Park" day at Nationals Park.

Josh Willingham homered in the seventh off Florida reliever Burke Badenhop to tie the game, and Adam Dunn was hit by Reynel Pinto with the bases loaded in the eighth, forcing in Ian Desmond--who himself was hit by Badenhop--for the eventual game-winner.

"We had quality at bats. And sometimes you gotta get a little lucky, you know?" Nats manager Jim Riggleman told reporters after the game.  "We don't go up there with the design to get hit by a pitch, but we've been on the other end of that a few times ourselves, so we'll certainly take the break. But we had some great at bats."

"A lot of good things happened for us in the game."

The runs made a winner of Tyler Clippard for the fifth time this season, and Matt Capps recorded his 12th save in as many chances, closing out the ninth--albeit with a little excitement thrown in.

Clippard actually gave up the go-ahead runs to the Marlins in the top of the seventh, as he surrendered a two-run home run to Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez, his second of the year.  Clippard was brought in to face Sanchez after Sean Burnett walked center fielder Cameron Maybin on four pitches.

But Clippard bore down, striking out Hanley Ramirez to end the inning, and he completed a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, gathering two more strikeouts.

Capps came on in the ninth and got Cody Ross to line out to Cristian Guzman at second base for the first out.  Chris Coghlan pinch-hit for Brett Carroll and grounded to third, but Adam Dunn could not handle Ryan Zimmerman's low throw, so Coghlan was safe on the play.

The next batter, Bryan Petersen, grounded sharply to Dunn, and the hulking first baseman threw to second for the out, but the return throw from Ian Desmond was wide of the bag, so Petersen was safe.  But Capps, as he has all season, finished things up striking pinch hitter Wes Helms out quickly to secure the win.

The other big story of the day, after the win itself, was the performance of the Nationals' starting pitcher.

Matt Chico went 7-9 and led the Nationals staff in innings pitched--in 2007.  Saturday afternoon at Nats Park, he made his first Major League appearance since May 21, 2008, taking John Lannan's turn in the rotation as the left-hander nurses his sore pitching elbow.

Chico earned the spot start by pitching well at Double-A Harrisburg.  He was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last three starts for the Senators.  He held the Marlins today to two runs on six hits and no walks, striking out three.

He had an inauspicious start, hitting lead-off man Maybin on the first pitch of the game, but settled down and really battled to keep his team in it.

"He did a great job today," Riggleman said.  "To hit the first hitter and get himself composed and pitch as good as he did for the next five innings was pretty impressive."

Chico did a good job of keeping his pitches low in the strike zone, and induced eight ground ball outs in his five innings, to go with the three strikeouts.  He only found real trouble in the sixth inning, when two seeing-eye singles got through the infield, followed by the only especially hard-hit ball against him all day, Jorge Cantu's RBI double to left field.

Chico was lifted at that point in favor of veteran reliever Miguel Batista, who let in the second run on a groundout.  But Batista managed to stem the bleeding and got the last two out of the inning to limit Florida to just the two runs.

After the game, Chico was returned to Double-A Harrisburg, and the Nats are expected to call up a reliever for Sunday's game. 

But it must be nice for the Nats, and Chico himself, to know that he apparently has come all the way back from "Tommy John" surgery and can be competitive at the Major League level.

The Nats record improves to 16-14 and they will look to take the series victory over the Marlins Sunday at 1:35 pm.  Livan Hernandez (4-1, 0.99) hopes to continue to drink from the fountain of youth against Anibal Sanchez (1-2, 4.06) for Florida.

NATS NOTES:  Willie Harris hit a two-run home run in the Nats three-run fourth inning.  Josh Willingham had tripled on the previous at bat, driving in Adam Kennedy with the Nats first run of the day.

The Nats struck out six times, walked once and left four on base.

My man Mike Harris at Nats Fanboy Looser has a piece up today about Tyler Clippard and whether or not the bespeckled one can continue his torrid pace of destroying National League bats this season.  I started to type a comment to his post, but it was longer than a post comment should be, so I decided to move it over here where I could expand a bit.

And I'm going to try to do this using numbers that Mike doesn't have to break out his slide rule to understand.

Clippard has several things going for him so far this season that has led to his success:

• 
  
  He's given up eight hits in 19.1 IP.  That's a rate of 3.7 hits per nine innings.  His career number is 6.5 H/9.
• 
  
  He's not allowed a home run.  Career-wise he's given up 1.3 per nine, relatively high for a short reliever.
• 
  
  He's walked 4.1 per nine.  Career he's 5.0 per nine.

But here's the thing.  His numbers are trending down throughout the course of his career.  His 2010 numbers are outstanding and will regress somewhat.  But taking a little bit deeper look they might not be completely unsustainable.

His BABiP against (Batting Average on Balls in Play) this season is .195, which at first blush screams that regression would be imminent, owing to the fact that major league average is around .300.  But in 2009 his BABiP was .201.  In his major league career, spanning 62 games and 117.1 innings, his BABiP is .235. 

We might just be dealing with a guy that has so much deception and quirkness in his delivery that hitters don't get a good look at him and can't pick the ball up out of his hand, leading to weaker contact.  And he's doing this while remaining a predominantly fly ball pitcher (.46 ground balls per fly ball.  MLB average is .79.)

Clippard is essentially a two-pitch pitcher.  He's got a low-90s fastball that runs in on right-handed batters and a wicked change-up that falls on the tops of the shoes to left-handers.

He's getting batters to swing and miss at many more pitches out of the strike zone than he did last year (34.8% to 24.3%), and getting more swinging strikes in total (15.9 % to 13.9%).

He's not throwing more strikes, but he's doing something--so far--to make hitters think he is.

So expect a few more batted balls to end up in play, and probably a few more walks thrown in there.  And expect a couple hitters to guess right and hit couple homers against him along the way.

But it seems that the converted starter has really found a niche in short relief.  If he can maintain a repeatable delivery, confusing hitters between his fastball and change-up, the Nats might have discovered a valuable piece to a major league quailty bullpen.

It wasn't easy, or very pretty, but the Washington Nationals rode three innings of scoreless relief from Tyler Clipaprd, and a career day from journeyman outfielder Willy Taveras, to beat the New York Mets 4-3 before a chilly, but sun-drenched Citifield crowd of 33,044.

The win raises the Nats record to 2-3 for the 2010 season.

Following the old Yogi Berra-ism, "It's ain't over till it's over," the Nats didn't have this one in the win column until a sinking line drive off the bat of the New York Mets' Rod Barajas nestled safely in the glove of left fielder Willie Harris for the third out in the ninth inning.

Harris dove headfirst back toward the infield to snag the quickly sinking liner, reminiscent of the diving catch he made last season to rob the Mets of an early season win.

The heroics were necessary because closer Matt Capps (S, 2) struggled again, loaded the bases on a single and two walks.

The game was full of heroes, though.

The pitching hero was Tyler Clippard, who relieved starter John Lannan (W, 1-1, 8.31) and threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks, striking out seven of his nine outs.

Clippard mixed his low-90s fastball with a devestating change-up and hard-breaking slider to confound the Mets hitters.  Clippard's slider was the key to his performance.  Usually his change-up is his best pitch, and hitters will attack his fastball, but the slider gives him another weapon in his arsenal to keep hitters off his fastball.

Clippard's day was so good, he also singled against reliever Ryota Igarashi when left to hit for himself in the seventh inning.

Lannan went five innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits and three walks, striking out two.  He was not sharp, as he nibbled around the strike zone all day--though he was not helped much by home plate umpire Daryl Cousins.

Lannan gout out of a tough jam in the third.  Alex Cora reached on an infield single that third baseman Ryan Zimemrman couldn't come up with, David Wright walked, and Jason Bay reached on Ian Desmond's third fielding error of the season.

Lannan bore down though, and got Jeff Francoeur to tap a ball just in front of home plate, where Ivan Rodriguez completed the 2-3 double play, then coaxed a ground ball from Gary Matthews to end the inning.

Today's batting hero was as unlikely a source as you could find.

Willy Taveras, who hit .240/.275/.285 last season for Cincinnati--including .219 against left-handers, went 2-for-4 with a triple and a career-high four RBIs, pacing the Nats' offense against Oliver Perez (L, 0-1, 6.35) and a trio of Mets relief pitchers.

Taveras tripled in the first inning, scoring Josh Willingham and Rodriguez, and hit a two-run single in the fourth, both off Perez.

So the Nats, looking for heroes, found three today in the forms of their utility player, middle reliever and fifth outfielder. 

But they'll take heroes anywhere they can find them.

Tomorrow in the series finale, Livan Hernandez will make his first start of the season against Mets ace Johan Santana (1-0, 1.50) at 1:10 pm.

NATS NOTES:  Ryan Zimmerman left the game in the late innings due to a strained left hamstring.  In his post-game interview, manager Jim Riggleman hinted that Cristian Guzman might make his regular season debut at third base tomorrow filling in for Zimmerman.

Despite the win, the Nats were outhit 8-5. 

Both teams made two errors.  Desmond made his third of the season when he booted a routine grounder that could have been a double play, and Adam Dunn misplayed a grounder at first for his first error of the season.

The Nats first four hitters in the lineup went a combined 0-for-16 with one walk and five strikeouts.

by Anthony Amobi, Staff Writer

WASHINGTON – It’s been a tough couple of days for fans as they have had to endure two straight poundings at the hands of the Phillies, plus an ongoing controversy – at least online – about Opening Day.  Wednesday, however, turned out to be a good day for the Washington Nationals.

The Nats finally hit paydirt as they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5, for their first win of the young 2010 season, avoiding a three-game sweep. In a game that remained close from beginning to end, Washington broke a deadlocked game with the score tied at five in the bottom of the seventh as Ryan Zimmerman plated in Alberto Gonzalez with an RBI-double to right field.

Washington held their lead as Tyler Clippard came through in the clutch on the mound and pitched one and two-thirds innings of shutout ball for his first win of the season. Matt Capps (S,1), whose struggles were well documented in Spring Training, got his first save as a member of the Nationals.

Then again, Capps’ regular season debut in Washington was very much a tightrope walk. Down by a run in the ninth inning, the Phillies got two men on base with no outs (Chase Utley doubled, Ryan Howard reached via an intentional walk); however, Capps settled in and got three consecutive flyouts to end the contest.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s Nelson Figueroa (L, 0-1) – who was on the mound in the fateful seventh inning – took the loss.

The Nationals got the upper hand on the Phillies initially as they scored three times in their opening inning. They jumped on a shaky Kyle Kendrick – who started the game for Philadelphia – as he allowed Cristian Guzman to drive in a run with RBI-single, followed with an Adam Dunn groundout and a Josh Willingham sacrifice fly to center.

Craig Stammen, who earned the third spot in the rotation before the season, started on the mound for Washington and would get a no-decision. He gave up four runs in five innings of work.

Stammen would allow the Phillies to score in the second inning thanks to a Shane Victorino groundout. He would give another run in the third inning via a Chase Utley groundout.

With the score at 3-2 in the fourth inning, Willie Harris hit a two-run homer off Kendrick to give the Nationals a cushion with a 5-2 advantage; however, the Phillies would chip away at their lead in the fifth as Placido Polanco plated in Ross Gload – who reached on a single. Sadly, he was given a bit of help as Nyjer Morgan misplayed Polanco’s hit for a huge error. Moments later, Ryan Howard plated in Polanco with a single.

The Phillies tied the game at five in the sixth inning, as Jimmy Rollins plated Raul Ibanez – who reached on a walk – in the sixth inning with two outs in the frame.

Kyle Kendrick, like Stammen, earned a no-decision. He went only four innings and was charged with five runs.

With the first series of the season out of the way, the Nationals travel to New York to face the Mets for a three-game weekend set.

The Good: Ryan Zimmerman was 2-for-4 with two doubles and the deciding RBI in the seventh inning.

Cristian Guzman, the newly minted super-utility guy, went 2-for-4 with a double.

Matt Capps: It wasn’t pretty, but congrats on your first save as a National.

Tyler Clippard: He was clutch today and perhaps saved Washington to from potential doom. His pitching salvaged the game for the Nationals and allowed Zimmerman to perform his magic at the plate.

The Bad: Sean Burnett’s outing. One-third of an inning, two walks, one run. He pitched in the sixth inning and nearly opened up the flood gates for the dangerous Phillies until Clippard came into the game in relief and put out the fire.