Joe Beimel finally got what many Nationals fans had hoped for, a save opportunity. Beimel brought something that many in the Nats bullpen did not have, a professional track record. He brought to fans the hope that in him we may actually have a competent closer for 2009.

Whoops.

In his first save opportunity, Beimel blew it to say the least.  Up one run going into the bottom of the eight against San Francisco, Beimel let up 3 earned runs on a Pablo Sandoval walk off dinger, leaving Giants fans ecstatic and Nats fans in shock.

It was a hard nights sleep.

Jordan Zimmermann continued to look like a 22 year old as he gave up five earned runs scattered through six innings.  He had two big innings, and four shut-out ones. This isn’t all that bad, he’s taking his licks, he’s learning how to get through rough innings, and is showing he has the ability to be dominant in others.

There’s something special about watching him pitch. He has a swagger on the mound that’s hard to put into words. It’s confident, he knows his ability. At the same time he looks like he’s taking everything in and learning something new every inning he takes the mound. There’s just something about Jordan Zimmermann that puts confidence in the Nats future, yet shows flashes of excitement in today’s game.

Ryan Zimmerman

The hit streak continues. With his 2-5 performance last night he extended his hit streak, reaching the elusive 30 game club. He is now tied with George Brett for the second longest streak ever by a third basemen, but still stands 14 behind Pete Rose for the NL/3b record and 26 away from DiMaggio’s all-time record.

For the Nationals however, this hit streak has meant much more than the first scent of good publicity the team has had since 2006. In the month of May Zimmerman has caught on fire, batting .500/.509/.760. Yes, that’s an OPS of 1.269, and the effects are starting to show in the win column as the Nats sport a 5-5 record for the month.

His hot streak is spreading throughout the Nats line-up:

Month of May stats:
Cristian Guzman .346/.346/.500
Adam Dunn .318. /.412/.705
Nick Johnson .268/.380/.390

In the last two weeks I have been asked to contribute as the Nationals correspondent for two websites. First I answered questions for The Baseball Opinion about the Nationals. The interview was published in two parts. Part 1, Part 2

I also have been asked to contribute on a monthly basis to Baseball Reflections. This is a cool site, where writers from many different clubs write once a month about how their teams individual month has gone. Sorry Nats fans, I couldn't be too positive about April (Natinals, Elijah Dukes, The Bullpen, Kasten inviting Philly Fans). My first reflection will be up soon, and I'll let you know. 

With Ryan Zimmerman’s outstanding 4-5 performance last night, he extended his hit streak to 29 games, making his streak the third longest for a third basemen in Major League History.

 He now ranks behind George Brett, whose 1980 hit streak reached 30, and Pete Rose, who has the second longest hit streak of all time with 44.  Zimmerman’s first inning single helped him pass Wade Boggs who previously had the third longest streak with 28.

Zimmerman of course has a long way to go before making any significant history.  He of course already has the Nationals franchise record for longest hit streak, although that isn’t saying much. However, while 29 games is amazing, lets look at what others have done this decade alone:

2006 – Jimmy Rollins 38
2002 – Louis Castillo 35
2006 – Chase Utley 35
2003 – Albert Pujols 30
2006 – Willy Taveres 30
2007 – Moises Alou 30

Right now he has 16 games to go to break the National League mark and the mark for his position, which Pete Rose set at 44 in 1978. Of course he also has 27 to go to tie the all-time record of Joe Dimagio, who hit in 56 games consecutively in 1941. Many consider it the hardest record to break in sports.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

I apologize everyone for the lack of updates in the next few days, but I am graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University. We'll be back up by Monday at the latest. 

Many view young Jordan Zimmermann has the hope of the franchise. So when the 23 year old gets rocked for six first inning runs, hope gets sucked out of the stadium pretty fast for Nats fans.

The Nats did something last night they hadn’t done all year however, they dug in their heels and fought back. Facing a 6-0 deficit in the 6^th the club began to chip away. Josh Willingham got the party started with a drive just past the left-field foul pole. Andy Hernandez and Adam Dunn continued it in the seventh, bringing the score to 6-4.

Then the top of the eighth saw the Nationals not only take the lead, but take it with force. Austin Kearns slammed a two run –bases loaded- double over the centerfielders outstretched glove to get things started. Johnson got in on the party next, smacking in Kearns and Hernandez. After it was said and done, the Nationals had scored 6 runs in the top of the eighth, and took the lead for good winning 11-9.

With the victory the Nationals became the first team in Major League Baseball to beat the Dodgers at home this season, only a night after L.A had set the record for consecutive home victories to start a season.

The offense was spectacular overall. Seven of the Nats eight starting fielders had multi-hit games, and Elijah Dukes contributed one hit himself. The club finished with six extra base hits.

Despite Zimmermann’s poor first inning, he showed great maturity in locking down. Not letting the six run first get to him, he put the first inning behind him and pitched form the second inning on.

Jay-Z’s first inning: 4 H, 6 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 K
Jat Z’s last four innings: 2 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 3 K

That’s a bulldog right there. How many young pitchers do you see get shell shocked after the first sign of trouble? This is a great sign for the Nats, because if Zimmerman can develop and get better, we know he has the mentality to be a dominant pitcher, even if he never has dominant stuff.

It looks as if Anderson Hernandez has found his stroke again. The second basemen has raised his batting average from .176 to .328 in his last 10 games. This stretch has seen him have six multi-hit games, score eight runs, and walk a surprising eight times.

While his experiment as the clubs leadoff hitter may have failed, he has more than excelled at the ‘second leadoff spot,’ the eight hole. Manny Acta may even want to think about tinkering his lineup so that the pitcher hits eighth and Hernandez bats ninth. We saw L.A do this last night with Juan Pierre…then again Acta is no Torre.

I think the epic words of Manny Acta can say all this better than I:

“Those guys had something special going on over here, but we were able to stop their winning streak at home,” manager Manny Acta said. “I think that counts for a lot, especially after we were already trailing 6-0. It’s a huge comeback and a very good win for us.”

Thanks Manny. 

Major League Baseball has suspended Manny Ramirez 50 games, starting today, for testing positive for a substance banned by the sport.

 A source has told Yahoo! Sports that the substance Ramirez tested positive for was not steroids or HGH. In fact it was not performance enhancing at all, at least not on the baseball field.

 “The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said.

Ramirez tested positive for the substance during spring training, then was administered a second test more recently, and it also was positive. Major League Baseball notified Ramirez of the second positive test after Wednesday night’s Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals. Ramirez admitted to having taken the substance and declined to appeal. His 50-game suspension begins today.

“The substance is not a steroid and it is not human-growth hormone,” the source said.”

Apparently playing the Nationals wasn’t stimulating enough for Manny. Ramirez did not address this specific claim in his press conference today, however he did address the suspension.

“Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me.”

“Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons,” Ramirez said.

As a result, Manny will lose $7.65 million out of the $25 million owed to him this season.

According to the New York Daily News, superstar Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance and will be suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball, starting tonight's game against the Nationals. 

"Baseball superstar Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance and will be hit with a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball, a source told the Daily News Thursday morning.

Ramirez now joins some of the greatest players in recent baseball history - Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez - in his link to pharmaceutical cheating.

An annoucement by MLB and the players' association is expected Thursday afternoon."

The Nats gave L.A a bit of a scare as they kept it close into the late innings Wednesday threatening to give the Dodgers their first home loss of the year. 

The wheels fell off. All of them. The Dodgers rallied in the bottom of the sixth to the tune of seven runs, ultimately taking the lead for good and wining 10-3. With the win, the Dodgers set an MLB record for consecutive home victories to start the season.

Wednesday's damage came after Nationals starter Daniel Cabrera had been taken out of the game with the bases loaded. The ball was handed over to reliever Mike Hinckley who would not record an out.

Hinckley allowed a singled to Raphael Furcal, allowing Sweet Lou Loretta to score, and then walked the O-Dog, Orlando Hudson, to allow Casey Blake to score. Things got worse as new Nat Logan Kensing came on to face Many Ramirez with the bases loaded. A double, a walk, a single and a fielders choice later and the Nats were down 9-1 going into the seventh.

Back in my highschool baseball days our coaches always used to tell us to avoid the big inning, if you walk no one, and make no errors, then the big inning will happen less and less often...maybe Coach Grove needs to talk to the Nationals.

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw emerged last spring as a 19-year-old top pitching prospect for the Dodgers. After striking out Sean Casey in March and the fall-out from this Yahoo Sports article, he became a perceived phenom and was anointed as having the ‘best curveball in baseball.'

However things haven't gone quite as outrageously successful as some may have had you believe in May of last year. Klayton Kershaw has not come into baseball like Dwight Gooden, he is not Sandy Kofax just yet, no Klayton Kershaw is pitching like a 21 year old with great stuff...he's just 21.

The only reason we bring up Kershaw's success despite his hype is to remind Nationals fans of what to expect when we do in fact select Steven Strasburg with our first overall pick this summer. Yes Strasburg has college experience, and yes he is a bit older. However prospects don't come much bigger than Kershaw, and neither does stuff. The Nats gave Kershaw his first win of 2009, and he plays on a team that has 20 of them. Yes Nats fans, young pitchers, no matter how good, will struggle.

Poor offense

 I guess we jinxed it yesterday. The Nats offense bit the big one last night as they mustered only 6 hits in 31 at bats. They stranded 14 and struck out nine times. In total, four Nationals batters when 0-for on the day.  With the pitching staff of the Nationals, they simply wont win games with performances like these. You can blame it on the long trip, or on the change in weather, or whatever you want. The bottom line is the Nats didn't face a pitcher last night with an ERA below 4.8, and couldn't get the bat on the ball.

Bright spots: Guzman 3/5 with 2 runs, Flores hit his third homer of the year, Zimmerman extended his hit streak to 24.