The Washington Nationals (26-29) welcome the Cincinnati Reds (31-23) to the nations capital in what is sure to be an action packed weekend series. Washington hopes they can right the ship after a disappointing west coast swing that now has them in last place, 6.5 games behind the division leading Braves. As for the Reds, they are surprisingly tied for first in the Central with the Cardinals.

Most of Cincinnati’s success this season has come from their ability to get the big hit in crucial at bats, as a majority of their wins came in their final at bat. First baseman Joey Votto has emerged into the star everyone knew he would become by batting .320, with 11 home runs and 34 RBI. Also, the contributions from veteran third baseman Scott Rolen have been a pleasant surprise by sporting a .298 average and leading the team with 13 home runs and 37 RBI. Rolen hasn’t played more than 115 games since he was a member of the World Series winning St. Louis Cardinals back in 2006, and was limited to only 40 games last year. Many people, including myself were beginning to write Rolen off as being a “has been” with his most productive years clearly behind him, but he has silenced all of his critics in 2010 showing that he can still play at a high level.

One of the best stories in baseball this year has been the performance of rookie Mike Leake, who went straight from the Arizona State campus to the major leagues…and he hasn’t disappointed one bit. With a 4-0 record and 2.45 ERA he has consistently been going 6 or 7 innings per outing, unheard of for a pitcher coming straight out of college.

What has people scratching their head is the rapid downfall of Aaron Harang, who will pitch the series opener Friday. Harang had 32 total wins in 2006 and 2007, but since then, has only managed to pick up 16 wins and has seen his ERA skyrocket to 5.48 this season. Beginning in 2008 Harang’s strikeout totals have dropped at an alarming pace and hitters are batting .299 against him in 2010. That is an incredibly high number which makes you wonder how much longer Reds manager can keep him in the rotation if Cincinnati wants to make a serious run at the post-season.

The Nationals will be sending out some of their best in Livan Hernandez and Luis Atilano to put an end to the teams ugly play as of late. Washington has played a lot better at home than on the road and should aim to take two of three from Cincy, if not a sweep. The Nats then can hope to bring that momentum into the Pittsburgh series beginning Tuesday when Stephen Strasburg takes the mound for the first time.

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Syracuse (30-21, 2nd place, 0.5 GB) Potomac (23-29, t-2nd place, 6 GB) Higley has yet to show up on many peoples radars when it comes to top prospects in the Nationals' farm system, but he has always been a guy that has quietly been doing big things in the shadows of anonymity.  A 9th round pick in the 2008 draft, Higley is what one could consider a "max effort" type of player.  This past week Higley was 9 for 29 (.310) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, and seven runs scored.  He has a propensity to strike out quite a bit, which he showed even this week, taking the walk of shame to the dugout 11 times without drawing a walk once and the power he displayed this week was not atypical for him.  He plays great defense in CF and RF, though, and fits the Rizzo mold of high character, never give up type of player.  Higley is most certainly at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to outfielders on the Hagerstown roster, but more weeks like this could go a long way in changing that.

The Nationals (26-28) lost their second straight game to the Astros (19-34) in Houston last night by a score of 5-1. A pair of lefties took the mound last night with Wandy Rodriquez earning the win bumping his record up to 3-7, and John Lannan getting the loss dropping to 2-3. Neither starter put up an impressive line, but the Astro bullpen, who held the Nationals to just 2 hits in the games final 4 innings, didn't give Washington a chance.

The lone bright spot for the Nats came in the first inning, when Adam Dunn drove in Washington’s only run by hitting a double to left that scored Nyjer Morgan, after that, it was all downhill. The Nationals had the bases loaded in the 4th with 1 out but could not get the job done following consecutive strikeouts by Wil Nieves and John Lannan, contributing to Rodriquez’s 8 total strikeouts on the night. They also had the bases loaded in the 5th with 2 outs, but the “goat” of the game, Ian Desmond, grounded out to short to put an end to the threat.

Desmond’s bat was the least of his worries last night as he became the latest victim to give into Washingtons poor defensive play by committing three errors on a missed catch, throw, and fielding, giving him a team leading 14 total miscues on the season. Ryan Zimmerman ranks second on the team with 6.

Clearly the most disturbing stats from this game is the Nationals 10 LOB and how they went 1-for-6 with RISP. In a game in which they scored only 1 run, coming in the first inning, you hate to see so many missed opportunities to put some more runs on the board, especially when your playing a weak team like the Astros. Houston struck out 13 Nationals, making them look like the second coming of Nolen Ryan.

As for Lannan, although he only gave up 2 earned runs, but 5 total, Nationals fans are still waiting for his “breakout” moment. In 2008 and 2009 he gave Washington fans plenty of hope that he was on track to be a left-handed mainstay in the Nats rotation, but he seems to have taken a step back this season. He is not striking out nearly as many hitters as he used to and his 4.79 ERA is nearly a full run higher than last seasons.

The Nationals will send out J.D. Martin (0-1, 1.50) in the series finale against Brian Moehler (0-2, 7.29), to try and get a split of the 4 game series in Houston. For Washington, this is a must win situation. This is their final game of their disappointing road trip before they return home for the biggest week in the history of the franchise.

Following his banishment to the bullpen, there have been several rumors circulating about what the Mets plan to do with Oliver Perez.

It's hard to believe that this is the same Oliver Perez who started for the Mets in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS against the Cardinals. Enough is enough, the Mets have to get rid of him. He has no value in the rotation or bullpen and is not showing any signs of improvement. If there is anyway he can salvage his career, it won't be in New York. Perez needs a change of scenery where he won't consistently be in the spotlight, but its his attitude that is causing all of the issues. For three years now, the Mets have been giving him his chance to turn things around, to find any sort of consistency but all we have seen is that he is consistently inconsistent. I realize it must be hard for a major leaguer to swallow their pride and accept a trip to the minors, but what does he have going for him with the Mets? The best thing for him is to head to Triple AAA Buffalo and hope another team in the league is willing to take a chance on him.

Roy Halladay accomplished something that has only been done 20 times in the 135- year history of the league...Phillies Nation shares his thoughts on this "perfect" moment.

Unbelievable, its only the first day of June and we have already seen three no hitters in baseball this season, two of which were perfect games coming within three weeks of each other. With the type of numbers Halladay has put up in his career thus far, its hard to believe he hasn't already thrown a no-hitter, its almost as if he was destined to accomplish the feat. What's even more impressive was the circumstances he was facing. The Phillies bats have been struggling to score runs and continued their difficulties against Josh Johnson on this night. But a 1-0 lead didn't faze Halladay, who else would you rather have on the mound in that situation. With 11 stikeouts, Doc was in complete control, literally mowing down Marlin hitters one by one. Its games like this where you know exactly where you were and exactly what you were doing when you watched history being made before your eyes.