John Lannan pitched yet another gem Sunday afternoon as he took the Nationals into the top of the 9^th with a 2-1 lead.

The Nats brought in  MacDougal to slam the door on the Padres and take their second series in a row.

MacDougal looked unhittable. Hitting as high as 97 on the gun, with great movement, he soon fanned Padres number three hitter Chase Headly. Then he made third basemen Kevin Kouzmanoff look awful as he forced him to pop it up to right. The smoke MacDougal was dealing was so nasty that Nationals broadcasters could hardly believe he had experienced so many troubles in the past.

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Bill Ladson reports “Dimitri Young is out for the season because of a torn left quad….(he) hurt the quad running out a single for Double-A Harrisburg on July 19^th.”

The idea of Dimitri Young running out anything almost makes me injure myself just imagining it.
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Not even the rain could cool off Ryan Zimmerman as he helped bash the Nats past the Padres for the win, 13-1.

Zimmerman got things going with a monster bomb to center in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Guzman and giving the Nationals the early 2-0 lead.

Then the rain came. The Nationals waited…and waited…and waited. It started to look as if their early offensive output would be for nothing as the game may be rained out.

Finally 3 hours and 11 minutes later, the teams took the field again.
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The Nationals looked like little leaguers last night.

You remember that team in little league only cared about hitting, and they would rake a few bombs but could not field to save their life…kicking the ball in the infield and throwing the ball away in the outfield.

Yup, that was the Nationals last night; Four errors, three unearned runs, and a 6-2 loss against the last place Padres.
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Nationals Now Are Shopping Dunn

Chico Harlin reports in today’s Washington Post:

“ Contrary to what Rizzo said in a radio interview earlier this month, the Nationals are willing to trade cleanup hitter Adam Dunn before the July 31 trade deadline.”

Whether this is a change in policy or strategy since the Manny Acta firing or just a simple mistake by Rizzo at the beginning of the month is unclear, however what is clear is that the Nationals are willing to trade Dunn and have taken several offers into consideration.

This decision may finally mean the Nationals are willing to move in the right direction.

The honest truth is the Nationals signed Adam Dunn so they could trade him. The same way they signed Dmitri Young or traded for Alfonso Soriano. The two-year length of his contract was a clear indicator that this wasn’t a permanent solution for either side, only a quick fix for both.
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A game over two months in the making took forever to finish last night.

The Nationals made up their rainout from May 3^rd against the Cardinals last night. Filled with hour-long rain delays and very few fans, the game eventually was stopped in the top of the seventh, with the Cardinals winning 4-1.

Right-hander Collin Balester got his first start of the season, but it would only last three innings. The twirler allowed two earned runs with two strikeouts and one walk. Balester could only throw 53 pitches before the rain delay.

On the other side of the hill Adam Wainwright got the start for the Cards, earning his first complete game of the year, all be it only six innings.  Through six he struck out seven, allowed eight hits, and only allowed one earned run.
 

At the plate both Nyier Morgan and Adam Dunn had themselves a day. Morgan went two for three, and Dunn went three for three with a double and the Nationals only run.

The Nationals could not take advantage of a Cardinals line up that for the first time all season did not have Albert Pujols in the line up. 

The Nats Blog sat down with the Padres blog, Gaslamp Ball, to share in the miseries of a losing season and to talk about our upcoming series against one another. Here is what Gaslamp Ball had to say.

The Nats Blog: While the Nats make the Padres look good, the Padres are struggling none the less, were you expecting better going into this year? 

Gas Lamp Ball: We weren't just expecting, we were like the octo-mom.  The team sucked last year and things only got worse in the off season.  We only hoped that the team would play with some passion, that lasted a few weeks.  Now they'll roll over for anybody.  They completely gave up about a month ago.

TNB: Adrian Gonzalez is greatly underrated around the country, how well is he received as a homegrown boy from San Diego?