The pink bats were out and mothers of all kinds filled the stadium at Nationals Park today. Behind another brilliant start by pitcher Livan Hernandez, the Nationals took the rubber game in a 3-2 victory over the Florida Marlins. The win means that the Nationals will end their most recent homestand with a 4-2 record and they now have an 11-8 record at home this season.

Against the Marlins, Livo displayed the same skill that has led to a rebirth of sorts for him this season. He threw tons of junk, varied the speeds on his pitches, and never let the Marlins get too comfortable at the plate against him. Hernandez put up goose eggs through the first five innings and his only blemish was leaving a sinker hanging to Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez gave the misplaced pitch a new home in the RF bleacher. Livan walked only one batter, meaning that in the last four games, the Nationals' starting pitchers have pitched 26 innings and walked only 2. For the third time this season Hernandez exceeded 100 pitches, finishing with 110, and has now gone seven or more innings in all of his starts except for his most recent one versus the Braves. In addition to his efforts on the mound, he laid down two perfect bunts, bringing his total to 4 for the season, two shy of last year's Nationals sacrifice leader, Jordan Zimmerman.

The game was handed to the Washington bullpen in the eighth inning and Sean Burnett came into face Chris Coghlan. After letting Coghlan single to center, Burnett was replaced by the Nationals set-up man, Tyler Clippard, who was making his sixteenth appearance of the season. Clippard followed Burnett's lead and let up a bloop single to Wes Helms and then walked Hanley Ramirez. The next batter, Jorge Cantu, knocked in Coghlan with a sacrifice hit to Josh Willingham and the Nationals lost there one run lead. As badly as the first three batters went for Clippard, that is how well it went for the next two. In a battle against Dan Uggla, Clippard was able to get the strikeout on a slider that got foul tipped into the glove of Ivan Rodriguez. The next batter, John Baker, made poor contact with a Clippard changeup and grounded out to Adam Kennedy. Clippard had blown the lead the night before as well, but was picked up by the lineup in a comeback win. Today was a repeat of history.

Last Father's Day I wrote a piece about how dads influenced the way we came to know, watch, and love baseball. While it was well received I still got a lot of flack from my female readers who said, "What about Mom?!?" And while at first I dismissed their comments as jokes I came to realize that they were very right.

It was my mom who drove me to all my little league practices and games.

It was my mom who went to 7-11 to make sure I had extra gatorade to put in my bat bag.

It was my mom who stayed up and watched the Red Sox topple the Yankees with me in 2004.

It was my mom who came to all my high school games, even when I didn't play an inning.

It was my mom who cheered just as loud for me when I struck out as when I got a hit.

It was my mom who bought me baseball cards for no reason at all when at the grocery store.

It was my mom who gave me five bucks to go to the batting cages on a hot summer day.

It was my mom who taught me how to write, and it was my mom who pushed me to keep blogging when I got too upset.

It was my mom who taught me to root for a team with hope and not anger.

It was my mom who put up with the 1986 Bill Buckner jokes for 23 years.

It was my mom who made baseball that much more to me of what it is today.

If you have a baseball loving mom, be sure to send her this today. Happy Mother's Day baseball moms! Especially mine.

Washington Nationals Keep Coming Back, Beat Florida Marlins 5-4 - Patrick Reddington, Federal Baseball

Jamie Moyer, at 47 years old, became the oldest player in the history of baseball to pitch a complete game shut out, beating the Braves 7-0.

Moyer probably has another five years left in him. He already knows how to pitch without blowing people away and barring any injuries, his arm doesn't seem like its going to break down any time soon...for the average pitcher, that probably would have happened fifteen years ago. Moyer has now thrown shutouts in 1986, 2006, and now 2010. The Phillies are looking good as usual, with a new player stepping up every night. Jayson Werth continues to hit everything thrown to him and has been the Phillies MVP so far this season.

Fish Stripes tells us why the best has yet to come for Anibal Sanchez.

I’ve never really considered the idea that throwing a no-hitter early in a pitchers career would be bad for them in the long run. And I don’t really agree with the idea that the reason why it would be bad is because it would be too taxing on a young throwers arm. I could see how it would affect them mentally though. Having such early success in the beginning of their career and then never being able to put it all back together, it can completely mess with a pitchers mind. The only thing that has been holding Sanchez back from making any further progress has been injuries, so Florida would really like to see him have a breakout year in 2010.

Washington Nationals top prospect Stephen Strasburg successfully completed his first Triple-A start Friday night in front of a sold-out Syracuse Chiefs crowd. The 21-year-old simply dominated the Gwinnett Braves on the mound, and even drove in two runs at the plate. Dave Shenin wrote in Nationals Journal:

"Props to the Syracuse crowd. With two outs in the sixth, and a 3-2 count on Gregor Blanco, most of the fans at the stadium were on their feet, recognizing this would be Strasburg's final batter. After Blanco fouled off a 95-mph heater, Strasburg froze him with an 81-mph curve, then bounded off the mound as the crowd roared. This was a simply dominant performance by the phenom:This was a simply dominant performance by the phenom: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. His ground-out to fly-out ratio was 12-to-0. He threw 65 pitches, 45 for strikes. And to reiterate: the only ball to leave the infield was the weak grounder up the middle by Blanco in the fourth."

Analysis: So much for that "rocky" final Double-A start for the future ace. Strasburg asserted himself again as the hands down best talent in the minor leagues as he made the Gwinnett Braves look like an overmatched little-league team for six innings Friday night.

What's getting scary is that as the competition he faces gets more difficult, he seems to get better and better. His numbers in the Arizona Fall League were very good but not spectacular. In Double-A he was blowing past batters at amazing rates, and tonight he didn't let any balls leave the infield in the air.

Strasburg is improving because he is implementing and mastering new pitches. Often forced to stick to his fastball and curve/slider while at San Diego State, Strasburg has unveiled a nasty changeup and a two-seem fastball that seems to be inducing ground balls better than even the top ground ball pitchers in the majors. While the Nationals certainly wish they could have the future star in their rotation now to help them compete, Nats fans will be thanking Mike Rizzo a few years down the road when the club has one more year of control over the potential superstar.

Behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Craig Stammen the Nationals were able to grab a 2-1 lead at the end of the sixth. It was short lived.

Washington Nationals lose late to Florida Marlins as Brian Bruney Struggles - Adam Kilgore, Washington Post

"Stammen was on a roll, until he wasn't. He hung a 1-2 curveball to Jorge Cantu, a pitch Stammen chose because he had struck out Cantu swinging at one earlier. Even as Cantu swung, Stammen pounded his thighs with his fists. He knew. Cantu unloaded and crunched a home run over the left-center field wall. Stammen didn't survive the inning after a triple by Cody Ross."