Oh, that's what the first half was like...

The Nationals hit 173 home runs last year. They hit three last night in a great, come-from-behind victory over the hateful Mets (that's for a fantasy league competitor). Despite a bad performance from John Patterson--four earned runs, two home runs, and ninety pitches in only four innings--the Nationals scored three in the sixth, one in the ninth, and five in the tenth. This is the kind of comeback that was commonplace during the first half last year, but was virtually gone by mid-August. In other words, last night's drama reminded us all of what it like to be a Nats fan over the first 81 games last year.

It was Ryan Zimmerman's homer off Billy Wagner in the ninth that was the night's most dramatic event. Wagner is one of those pitchers who throws so hard you wonder how the catcher's hand survives the confrontation with the ball. Anyway, Wagner uncorked a 93 mph fastball, and Zimmerman absolutely crushed it. This guy is for real, folks. Frank Robinson is right to urge caution so Zim can grow into the job, but it's hard not to get excited about this guy.

Of course, the ongoing drama that is Alfonso Soriano was also compelling. Instead of running out a pop-up that started foul but ended fair, Soriano watched as he stood in the batter's box. As Jose Guillen said, everyone knows Frank Robinson, and everyone knows how he reacts to loafing. Well, that is everyone but Soriano. But the Fonz knows now, because Robinson quickly benched him, and Soriano now had the opportunity to watch the rest of the game from the dugout.

Why anyone on this team would fail to hustle given Robinson's drill-sergeant reputation is beyond us. And Soriano is quickly developing a reputation as a guy who doesn't care much about anything but himself. He's a real asset at second (less so in left), so let's hope he sees the light pretty quickly.