Well, this used to be a good team. Now, the Nationals are just not very good. We've known about the lack of offense and the shaky bullpen, but the team has begun to play shaky defense as well. Vinny Castilla's error last night in the ninth inning that gave Colorado the win was unforgivable. If Castilla makes the routine play, the Nats go to the bottom of ninth tied, not behind by one. And what was Preston Wilson doing in the top of the fifth? He managed to turn a routine fly ball into a run-scoring triple, misplaying the ball about as badly as anyone could. If that wasn't bad enough, Cristian Guzman's error in the top of the sixth permitted Colorado to score another run. That's three runs the Rockies never should have scored, and without them this game is an easy win for the Nationals.
While we're on the subject of Guzman, no rational person would continue to play him every day. We knew that Guzman can't hit, but now he can't even bunt. Last night he failed TWICE to bunt a runner to second. Worse, Guzman's first attempt resulted in a double play, at least in part because he failed to run out the play. He apparently thought that B.K. Kim would catch his pop fly. Instead, Kim let the ball drop, and Colorado had an easy double play.
Pretty much everything is going wrong for the Nationals right now. The Nationals have lost 9 of 12, and many of those losses were, like last night's loss, a give-away of a game that the team should have won.
But, before we panic, let's remember that this is a long season, and we knew that the team would hit more than one rough patch in the second half. Well, the rough patch is here. The team needs to get back on track, and the Rockies are just the team to help them do it. The Rockies have the worst road record in baseball and are a bad baseball team, so let's hope the Nats can take the series.
Let us state the obvious: this rough patch demonstrates that the Nationals are not going to play in the second half like they played in the first half. Unfortunately, no team can win their one-run games at the same pace the Nationals won them in the first half. The only way the Nationals can win the National League East is to make the trades they desperately need to fill some of the gaping holes in their lineup. Now is the time for Jim Bowden to earn his pay.
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Actually, I think its fair for Nats fans to panic at this point. Recently dropping their home series to the Brewers and splitting with the Mets in NY, the Braves aren't exactly burning it up lately. But (1) they've made up 5 games in 2 weeks, (2) the Jones boys are BACK in town (as in back to back dingers - get used to it Nats fans), and Hampton will recover from Sunday night - his control is better than that. Hudson could be dominant in the second half, and Smoltz is the guy that every team would like to have in the trenches. Don't forget about the young guns either. Johnson, Betemit, Langerans and Davies are testimony to what Braves' fans have known all along -Bobby Cox can and will win with the talent he has on the field. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Schuerholz knows how to put that talent on the field.
I have a suggestion for all you Nats fans out there - if you want to root for a "home team" that has an outside chance at winning its division, pull your O's caps back out of the closet, dust them off, and head up the BW Parkway. RFK will be quieter this October than it was in 1971.
So let me get this straight, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Mike Hampton, Tim Hudson, John Smoltz, Kelly Johnson, Wilson Betemit, and Ryan Langerhans all are great! They're great, did you hear me, GREAT!! The whole team is GREAT!! Everyone, everyone, I say, is GREAT!!
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