Nationals Lose 6th in a Row: Ask for Blog Coverage

“It’s mind-numbing at times to watch the Nationals' defense.”
-Rob Dibble said in the fourth inning of yesterday's game.

The Nats' 4-2 loss last night marked their third, six-game losing streak of the season. It was a milestone defeat, however, as Jamie Moyer won his 250th career game at the ripe age of forty six. Moyer was probably throwing back Mike's Hards like they were water, on the night Nats' starter John Lannan, twenty four years old, was being conceived.

However, yesterday's loss cannot and should not be pinned on Lannan. Allowing three ER and striking out seven in five innings is a little less than you expect from your staff ace by default, but not by much. No, let's chalk up another loss to the worst fielding team in the majors. Their inneptitude around the diamond has been discussed before, but sometimes the less than obvious plays are game-breakers.

With one out and runners on first and third in the bottom of the fourth, Lannan got Pedro Feliz to ground into a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play, to end the inning. The only problem is Nats' fielders don't have a tailor, and in classic fashion, Anderson Hernandez couldn't even get the ball out of his glove, messed up, and pathetically watched Raul Ibanez cross home plate for a 3-1 lead.

The game was ultimately won by two runs, 4-2, but these are the types of plays that indirectly affect the outcome by altering the momentum of a game. They are also the type of plays that make a winner become mediocre, a mediocre team become a bad team, and a bad team become a historically bad team.

Historically bad? No thanks, didn't we come close enough last year?

Nationals go for seven in a row for the third time this year tomorrow against the Giants.