Going into the 6th inning, tonight looked like a great game. Detwiler had held Baltimore to 3 runs on 7 hits, pitching fairly well and putting the Orioles down for the most part. Then, well, the 6th inning happened.

After pushing a few dribblers through for hits, Acta opted to put in Hanrahan in for a strugging Detwiler. Coming in, Joel Hanrahan allowed the two inhereted runners to score, putting Detwiler's final line for the night at 5 runs on 9 hits through 5 innings. Hanrahan continued to wow as we went on to allow 4 runs of his own, while recording only one out. Villone came in to try and end the inning, serving up a perfect double play ball to Guzman that promptly became an error and more runs for Baltimore. After 8 runs, the 6th, and the Nationals were done for the night.

There is little good to report about this game. After stunning the powerful Boston Red Sox last night, the Nationals shipped up to Baltimore and played flat, poor baseball to the tune of an 11-1 loss.

Miss Chatter might lead you to believe it was 2008.

Once again The Nationals faced John Smoltz on a significant start of his carrer (albeit in a Red Sox uniform), matching him with one of their stud rookies, and once again the rookie out pitched the future hall of famer. Jordan Zimmermann set out last night and cruised through a Red Sox line up that had done a number on this club the past two nights.

Zimmermann was brilliant, scattering 5 hits through 7 innings and allowing just one run to pick up his thrid win of the season. This time, though, what has been a silent offense of late came alive with plenty of run support for young Jordan.

Getting at Smoltz early, the Nats scored 4 in the first, off of the top of the order getting on and the bottom of the order stringing together hits to bring everyone in. After Johnson was hit by a pitch, Zimmerman doubled to be followed by a Dunn walk. Willingham would find a hole in the infield to score one, which was followed by RBI singles by both Bard and Harris, who both ended the night with 3 hits.

The Nats continued to put runs on the board, with Bard driving in another run in the 3rd, Guzman knocking in 2 in the 6th and Willie Harris belting a 2 run shot in the 7th. Over all, both Harris and Bard went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs a piece.

Young pitching continued to impress as Acta put recently called up Tyler Clippard in to close out what was no where near a close game. After making the switch to the bull pen, Clippard has been lights out in Syracuse, and showed a promising start last night. Working 2 innings to finish the game, Clippard worked a one hit 8th, and erred slightly in the ninth, serving up a home run to Rocco Baldell. He soon settled down with back to back K's to secure the win.

Over all, the win was a very impressive feat, with the Nationals firing on all cylinders.

Potomac Nationals shortstop Danny Espinosa was named today to the U.S Team in the XM All-Star Futures Game to be played in July.

The game coincides with the All-Star weekend and will pin the best United States prospects vs. the best prospects from around the world. This is the 11^th annual Futures Game.

Espinoza is the only shortstop for the American team, and likely will be playing the whole game. The club just so happens to be managed by Ozzie Smith, one of the greatest shortstops of all time.

Espinoza was drafted in the third round last year out of Long Beach State, following a grand tradition of shortstops including Troy Tulowitzki and Bobby Crosby.

He has had moderate success with the bat so far. Last year he batted .328 in short season ball with Vermont. He is batting .264 with nine homers this year for Potomac. 

Well D.C already had a Chinatown, but evidently we have just created a Little-Boston, that’s the way it has looked this week at least.

Nationals Park has been overrun by the local Red Sox nation. Whether or not that is a good thing is still uncertain, but the matter of the fact is everywhere you turn you aren’t seeing a red Curly W, but a pair of Sox.

Nationals Park has seen its biggest crowds, not just of the year, but ever. The first game of the series was record-breaking in terms of attendance. This series has made it no longer embarrassing to see our teams highlights on ESPN, because the stands are full.

The invasion of east coast team’s fans is no new phenomenon, but it especially potent when the Red Sox and the Yankees come to town. Sadly, our biggest draw isn’t our own team but other Washingtonians ‘favorite teams.’

The phenomenon sparked Boswel to post the question in one of his latest columns about whether or not the Nationals would make more money as a terrible team with a tiny pay roll, than an above average team that drew in 5,000 more fans a night.

The argument was that the cost of players would be offset by the huge turnout of people coming to see the other team.

A sad but possibly true outcome, a bleak result of a new franchise in an area filled with people from across the nation.

Nats fans, however, have found a way to get their revenge this weekend on the thick New England accents that are likely starting to get on the outnumbered nerves of many a D.C fan. The Sporting Blog reported today that one sly Nationals fan was able to trick a slue of Red Sox fans to head to a local gay bar.

"Hi Everyone, I'm coming in this week for the Sox series. Are there any decent sportsbars near the ballpark?" one apparent Red Sox fan asked on the Nats' online forum.

"There's only a beer garden next to the park," replied one famously instigator from the team's boards. "you're better off up the street on Capitol Hill, Remingtons (639 Pennsylvania Ave SE) is a NE Patriots bar so they'll probably have a large Red Sox crowd this week."

Well at least we have our wits…. 

Following the embarrassing performance from the bullpen last night, the news came out that yet again the Nationals are looking to shake-up their bullpen.

Manny Acta let on in his post-game press conference that he was particularly upset that he could only confidently pitch four relievers, Biemel, Villone, Macdougal, and Tavarez.

Specifically the guys causing the current bullpen woes are Kip Wells (0-2, 6.49 ERA), Joel Hanrahan (0-3, 6.68 ERA), and Jesus Colome (1-0, 8.25 ERA). The Nationals would just as easily send them packing but as this is something like their sixth bullpen shake up, they have run out of bullpen options both in free-agency and in their farm system.

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The Washington Nationals bullpen couldn’t hold on and a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning turned into an 11-3 slaughter by the Boston Red Sox.

John Lannan went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in baseball, again. The lefty pitched 6.1 strong, scattering nine hits, allowing three earned runs, and recording three strikeouts. 

Up until this point the Nationals line up had kept pace with the Red Sox.  A few doubles and good base running had given the Nationals three runs through the fourth. Adam Dunn came through in the first to drive Zimmerman in, and Harris doubled in Bard in the sixth.

But as the Nationals have done all year, and as is the trademark of most bad teams, the Nationals fell apart at the seams when it mattered.

After John Lannan ended his performance by striking out J.D Drew, former Bo-Sox Julian Taverez came in to finish off the inning. The defense failed him. Kevin Youkilis soon reached first on yet another Ryan Zimmerman throwing error. Jason Bay then hit a bloop single that probably should have been caught, but at the very least should have been hustled to.  The lack of effort to get to the Texas leaguer resulted in an extra base for the not-so-speedy Youkalis; instead of the Nationals having first and second with one out they had second and third with one out. 

The Nationals then decided to intentionally load the bases to get to a .220 hitting Jason Vaitek, and set up the double play force in the process.  Varitek hit a fly ball to left, one that deserved a shot at home plate, yet Adam Dunn cut off centerfielder Willie Harris, caught the ball, looked back and Willie Harris, and gently threw the ball to third, challenging nothing.

With that, the Nationals were now playing form behind against one of the best bullpens in baseball. 

After this things steamrolled, and the Nationals let up seven more runs in two innings.

The Red Sox come in to try and cool down the red-hot Washington Nationals this week, as the District gets ready to welcome a club with whom they hold a surprisingly large fan base.

What’s shocking about this series, however, is that while the Sox boast the best record in the American League, the Nationals may have the advantage in the pitching matchups. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that  all year.

Lets check it out:

Brad Penny, RHP (6-2, 4.94) vs. John Lannan, LHP (4-5, 3.38 ERA)

Penny is one of the most inconsistent pitchers in baseball. He will have a half-season where he is the best pitcher in baseball, and the other half of that season he will look like, well how he looks now. Penny has been overwhelmingly average since joining the Red Sox this year. The truth is however, he just hasn’t been the same pitcher he was in 2007 where he went 16-4 with a 3.03 ERA. In 2008 he struggled and got hurt with LA, and this 2009 he has been very up and down with the Bo-Sox. Note: During his time in the NL, penny went 12-5 against Washington with a 2.54 ERA.

John Lannan on the other hand is a young pitcher who is very hot right now. Red hot. In his three starts this month he has pitched 23.1 innings and allowed only three earned runs and 13 hits. He has clearly regained his form from 2008, and is staking his claim as one of the better left handed pitchers in the NL. If he could shut down the Boston Red Sox line up, weeks after shutting down the Mets and Yankees line up, he will have truly mad his mark.

Jon Lester, LHP (5-6, 4.69) vs. Craig Stammen, RHP (1-2, 4.76)

Lester is a great story. The young man battled back from cancer, pitched a no hitter, won a world series, and now is one of the best strikeout pitchers in the majors. While in 2008 he shined as a 24-year-old going 16-6 with a 3.21 ERA, he has struggled in comparison this year as a 25-year-old. His strikeout rate is up, but his hit, run, and home run rates are way up. Maybe he is being more aggressive, or maybe he still has a lot to learn. Either way he has the potential to put up a great performance any given night.

Stammen was the man of the hour in Yankee stadium last week. The right-hander earned his first career victory while pitching six shutout innings in the bandbox Yankee Stadium. It was the start of the first shutout in new Yankee Stadium, and may have been Stammen’s coming out party.

John Smoltz, RHP (0-0, -.--) vs. Jordan Zimmermann, RHP (2-3, 5.03 ERA)

Smoltz is one of the greatest pitchers of his generation, and a future hall of famer. He will be making his first appearance of 2009 against somebody the Nationals are hoping will have similar accolades in 20 years. Smoltz has a 21-12 record with a 2.55ERA against the Montreal/Washington franchise in 68 appearances as both a starter and reliever.

Zimmermann had one of the best starts of his career against Toronto. He continues to have powerful stuff that generates a high strikeout rate, once he can control his mistakes and cut down on hits he can be dominant. Zimmermann actually has a similar skill set to smoltz. Both are small framed power pitchers with sharp breaking off speed stuff. This should be a fun match up. 

The Nats Blog sat down with one of the top Red Sox Blogs out there, Boston Dirt Dogs, to talk about the upcoming series between our two clubs. Here is what Steve from Boston Dirt Dogs had to say. 

The Nats Blog: I come from a long line of Red Sox Fans. My grandfather and uncle both never lived to see a Boston World Series title, but they were die- hard fans of the team their entire lives. This was a common family tradition for Red Sox fans. There was a certain character to Red Sox nation before 2004, do you feel it has changed since the club has won two World Series?

Boston Dirt Dogs: Only three players left from the '04 team: Varitek, Wakefield, Ortiz... so yes, much has changed. The '04 team was rich in personality. From Pedro to Manny to Johnny Damon to Kevin Millar to Derek Lowe to Trot Nixon... to Curt Schilling... they were a team filled with characters, yet they still had character. The feeling at Fenway during the '04 comebacks against the Yankees in the ALCS will never be matched again. Now, Fenway has $325 box seats, is filled with corporate power brokers, and buzz is pretty much gone from the ballpark, unless the Sox start a rally. Guys like Jason Bay andJ.D. Drew mirror the personality of Sox GM Theo Epstein. It's a pretty boring team, but hey, they still win.

The Nats Blog: David Ortiz started the season in pretty awful fashion, but he has turned things around a bit in the month of June. How much longer do you think the club can get out of Big Papi?

Boston Dirt Dogs: Ortiz should be the DH through 2010 when his contract is up, then he'll probably sign for less money and stay on for another year or two after that. I don't believe he's washed up, or that he's really 45 years old.

The Nats Blog: Even with Daisuke going to the DL, the Sox still have a plethora of starting pitchers with Smoltz coming back, Justin Masterson currently working out of the bullpen, and Clay Buchholz pitching well in Triple-A. Do you think they will be trying to move one of their starters at the deadline to try and pick up some more hitting?

Boston Dirt Dogs: I'd like to see them get another hitter, maybe someone who could play some third base as Mike Lowell is a bit banged up. I don't see them moving any of the top tier pitchers, maybe a Michael Bowden. Smoltz could break down at any time and Buchholz could implode at the major league level again... stop me if you hear this but you can't have too much pitching.

The Nats Blog: What do the Sox need to do to beat the Nationals this weekend?

Boston Dirt Dogs: Show up with at least eight guys... or send the PawSox down there to make things interesting. Think Celtics vs. Washington Generals. This should be a cakewalk, and feel like a home series for Sox fans.

The Nats Blog: Do you believe this is a World Championship club?

Boston Dirt Dogs: It's awfully hard to get back to the Series, but this team is deep and the bullpen is solid, so yes, they can make it back. I worry about the Yankees and their lineup. Otherwise, the AL is filled with junk.

The Nats Blog: Favorite Red Sox memory?

Boston Dirt Dogs:Being fortunate enough to be on the field after David Ortiz homered in the bottom of the 12th on Oct. 18, 2004, Game 5 ALCS. And being there for Game 4, when Dave Roberts stole the base heard 'round the world.