A Very Ugly Loss

We can't do any better than this?

The Nationals are up 1-0 in the bottom of the first on a Jose Guillen homer, and with two outs and a man on second Jose Vidro lets the most routine of ground balls go through his legs? Ryan Drese then serves one into Geoff Jenkin's wheelhouse for a double and two RBIs? If Vidro makes the play or Drese pitches down and on the outside corner the Nats are out of the inning, up 1-0. Instead, they're down 2-1, and those two runs would prove to be the difference in the game.

We realize that the Nats have some excuses. The umpiring was bad, for one. With two outs and a man on third in the bottom of the third inning, Russ Branyan couldn't check his swing on what should have been the third strike. But third-base umpire Paul Schreiber, he of Friday's non-balk balk call, ruled that Branyan didn't swing. The replay showed that he clearly did swing, and Branyan appeared to be laughing about it on first after he singled in Lyle Overbay to put the Brewers up 4-1. You can argue that if we take away this one run and the two runs that scored in the bottom of the first after Vidro's error the Nats win the game, but that's the complaint of a team that can't take care of its own business.

With men on first and second, the Nats were pretty clearly on the ropes because of their anemic offense. But Frank Robinson could be forgiven for leaving Drese in, despite his obvious inability to get his sinker down, to face Chad Moeller, he of the .629 OPS. Unfortunately, Drese served up another high ball and Moeller laced it into center, scoring Jenkins and putting Milwaukee up 5-1.

At that point the game was likely over because the probability of the Nationals scoring another five runs was pretty low. The Nats had some scoring opportunities, like in the top of the seventh when Brian Schneider doubled home Jose Guillen and Preston Wilson. With Cristian Guzman due up, Robinson asked Carlos Baerga to drive in Schneider, but Baerga popped up to end the inning. And Jose Guillen came up in the top of the eighth with two outs and Vidro on first and worked the count to 3-0. The Nats needed baserunners, and if Guillen walked they would have brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Preston Wilson. Unfortunately, Guillen swung at a pitch that appeared to be a ball and was at least a bad pitch to hit. He flied out to right, which should serve as a cautionary tale for all of us who ask why managers give good hitters the take sign on 3-0 counts. Anyway, with Derrick Turnbow coming in to close and the Brewers up 5-3, the game was effectively over, and that's exactly how it ended.

This was a tough loss because it was a winnable game the Nationals could have used to go 2 1/2 games up on the Braves, who were stomped on by Pedro Martinez and the Mets. We've been having to say this too much recently, but this was another wasted opportunity for the Nationals in a game they may come to regret down the stretch.