THE NATIONALS: Are You Kidding Me?

Just when the Jays have pitched as well as any five-game stretch over the course of the season, the offense fails to bring the runners home. Brett Cecil gave seven strong innings last night, and it was just what Toronto needed. But this game stank so much of 2008's offensive failures, where the pitchers eventually lost because the offense couldn't pick them up at all. What more can you ask from Brett Cecil? The bullpen? The white horse Scott Richmond who saves the entire staff by pitching on two days rest in the 11th and 12th innings? And although Richmond would take the loss, it's hard to blame him because it was the 12th freaking inning!

Oddly enough, on the offensive front, Vernon Wells is riding a hot streak, and his homerun drought came to a close after a dismal 160 at-bats, which saw the slugger's average drop in the .240 range, only to rebound to something known as respectability. But just when Wells started to get hot, the rest of the team left him out to dry, in these two games in this strange baseball wonderland known as Washington DC, where it is just the fifth season played in the 38 years since the Senators left town in 1971....

That franchise, now the Texas Rangers, leads the American League West, but they have nothing but a handful of playoff appearances to show for all their time in Texas, no matter how difficult the ballpark in Arlington can be to play at on a mid-summer's night. I apologize for the Shakespeare in the latter, but it is almost something out of one of William Shakespeare's epic plays—a troubled history of baseball in Washington DC, coupled with the dismal end to what was once a great franchise in Montreal. But everyone knows the story of Olympic Stadium, the roof that didn't retract, leaving an ugly eyesore of a cookie-cutter dome that still litters the Montreal skyline. I, for one, have never been a fan of Olympic Stadium, and the montrosity that it was. It just seemed to me that you went into the space age to play a baseball game on an alien surface that took funny hops often resembling that of moundy terrain.

Two nights, and two extra inning losses to the lowly Nationals who have now won four straight games against American League opponents, including two fucking nailbiting games to the see-saw Blue Jays, who in June at times have shown the likes of a first place club, but have also shown the other side of the spectrum....

20-46? Still the worst team in baseball by a mile. And for Toronto? It's the same old story once again—they play up and down to the competition—just when it looked like they may have turned a corner and run all over the Nationals after sweeping the defending champs, they began a new chapter of absolute infamy in joining the short list of teams that have lost a series to the freakin fucking Nationals. Maybe, and just maybe, if the Jays were able to get a left-handed power bat, they could stick around a little longer against the terrible teams in baseball. Then again there's another thing one should consider—maybe it's just about timing—did the Nationals suddenly get hot when the Jays rolled into town, and it seemed like they could do nothing wrong? This game, I tell you, I've been watching it for over 17 years, and I still can't fucking figure it out. And that was since I was three.

The 1992 and 1993 World Series wins made me a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays forever as I watched those videos hundreds and hundreds of times, and can remember so vividly, it's just every once in awhile, I question why I still watch this game. It's been such a struggle, the Blue Jays are good, but they just aren't good enough, despite how hard they try. Like holy fuck, the rotation is entirely on the shelf, and they're still able to pitch deep into games. Brett Cecil is going to be a bonafide major leaguer. Brian Tallet has done an incredible job. Ricky Romero has been dynamite as of late, and Scott Richmond has been everything and more that the Blue Jays could ask for. So hey, maybe when Roy Halladay returns with his 10-1 record, the Jays suddenly become that playoff-contending team yet again.

I can't believe that I even dare to suggest this, but almost a decade ago Kansas City Chiefs' fans were absolutely demoralized after losing a playoff game to the Colts back in early 2001. A grief counselor in Kansas City advertised a group counselling session for Chiefs' fans to get over the playoff loss to Indianapolis, and 39 attended. It was one of the top signs of the apoclaypse in SI's 50th anniversary edition magazine in 2004 that I happened to stumble upon in my bedroom...

If the Jays tantalize fans with the idea of making the playoffs—they are just two games out of the wild card with 90-odd games to play, and somehow heartbreakingly lose it, that might just be an idea after all. It's just the Jays can ill-afford to lose games to the worst teams, for this is the HARDEST division in baseball, so for fuck's sake, salvage the series today!