Scary Movie XIV

The script was a bit different today, but the outcome was the same--another frustrating, one-run loss.

Instead of their pretty regular stellar pitching performances, the Nationals got another mediocre (or worse) outing from Ryan Drese: 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks, only 2 strikeouts, and 1 home run. Drese gave up 4 runs, one of which was unearned, and saw his ERA climb to 5.61--ouch! After showing some promise after the Nationals claimed him off waivers, Drese has returned to the form that convinced the Rangers to put him on waivers in the first place. He doesn't throw hard enough to overpower hitters and doesn't do much to fool them, either. He strikes out so few players that he relies on batters hitting 'em where they are, and that's not a strategy for long-term success. He needs to develop a pitch other than his sinker, preferably one that has lateral movement on it.

Sorry for that digression--back to the game. Last night the Nationals intentionally walked Adam LaRoche to get to Jeff Francoeur, who made them pay for that decision. Francouer continued his torrid hitting today, blasting two solo home runs off Drese and Sunny Kim. Francoeur is now hitting .441 and has an OPS of 1.412. That is, by the way, about 3 times more than Cristian Guzman's OPS, which is interesting because Guzman makes about 12 times more than Francoeur.

The Nats put up a fight, but again couldn't capitalize on opportunities. In the top of the fifth, Nick Johnson doubled, but the Colorado couple--Vinny Castilla and Preston Wilson--popped out. After Johnson went to third on a wild pitch, Schneider and Guzman walked. Carlos Baerga couldn't get the ball out of the infield, but that was good enough for a single that scored Johnson. With men on second and third and the score 4-1, the Nationals really needed another hit. What they got instead was a foul ball out by Brad Wilkerson. Think about that for a moment: with two men in scoring position two Nationals' hitters couldn't put the ball into fair territory in the outfield. This is becoming a recurring problem for us.

The Nationals squandered another opportunity in the top of the sixth. Jose Vidro doubled, and Jose Guillen singled him home. After Nick Johnson singled Guillen to second, Castilla tried to sacrifice bunt. We say "tried" because Castilla's bunt was bad enough that Brian McCann, Atlanta's catcher, threw Guillen out at third. Frank Robinson overuses the bunt, and this was a prime example of that--if you're not going to rely on one of your alleged power hitters to advance the runners by swinging away, why is he in the lineup? And it's not like Castilla was setting the table for Bonds and Pujols--Wilson and Schneider were waiting in the wings and both of them are mired in slumps. Sure enough, Wilson flied out and Schneider grounded out to end the inning.

Guillen hit a two-run homer in the top of the 7th to put the Nationals within one run, but they couldn't mount any rallies over the next two innings. The one-run margin is a little hard to take given that the Braves scored one run in the bottom of the third when Schneider dropped Castilla's throw to home that was there in time to tag Rafael Furcal, who was trying to score from third on a ground out by Chipper Jones.

It was another tough loss, and it put the Nationals three back of the Braves and only a half-game ahead of the Astros for the wild card. Houston could tie the race tonight with a win at home against the Mets. With a weekend series in Florida looming, the Nats had better turn this around fast or their going to be out of the playoff picture in August.