The Washington Nationals survived yet another poor bullpen performance last night en route to their fifth victory of the season, a 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox.

It was a sloppy game overall for the Nationals. While they officially only committed one error in the game, multiple mental mistakes both in the field and at the plate cost them throughout, making the team that was picked by some to win a World Series in 2013, look a bit unpolished. There are certain plays that championship contending teams just do not make. For instance, Gio’s only earned run came in the first inning when he stepped off the rubber with the wrong foot with the bases loaded, a balk was called and the runner was allowed to score. There were also other silly defensive miscues.  Such as Ian Desmond attempting to bare hand a ball he likely could have made a play on with his glove. Or at the plate, with Bryce Harper trying to take second base with two outs and Ryan Zimmerman up behind him. 

Of course, it is April 9. A lack of polish can very easily be a result of too much rust. These are not plays that the Nats were making last summer, and we will likely see less and less of them as the season goes along. Right now though, when they have less than spectacular outings like last night, its important that their confidence stays high. When you are this good of a team, the biggest kryptonite is a sense of doubt.

While Gio coasted through five innings, giving up just four hits and one run, the bullpen struggled mightily this game. Craig Stammen gave up three hits and a run in the sixth, allowing the White Sox to tie the game up. Tyler Clippard gave up a three run dinger in the seventh to Paul Konerko, which pretty much erased a rally the team had made at the plate a half an inning before, and Rafael Soriano nearly blew a second save in a row, as he gave up a two run home run to Alex Rios in the ninth.

On the bright side, Drew Storen pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts.

The silver lining in this game is that the Nats bats continue to roll. In total the club tallied eight runs on 13 hits, three walks, and four home runs. Six guys had multi-hit games on the night, with only Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa going hitless.

A few thoughts:

-       It was good to see Adam LaRoche return from his brief two game stint on the bench  due to a back injury. LaRoche had started the season hitless in his first four games, but swatted two home runs last night.

-       Gio Gonzalez again struggled to command all of his pitches, especially early. The 27-year-old threw over 30 pitches in the first inning, roughly a third of his total pitch count. In total he threw just 57 of 99 pitches for strikes, a big reason he only lasted five innings last night.

-       The home plate umpire tonight was a little inconsistent. Jake Peavy who lives on his two seam fastballs, was catching the outside corner on everything, at least according to the home plate umpire. The Nationals, however, identified this problem and adjusted. Case and point, LaRoche struck out his first two plate appearances, then hit two home runs.

-       The White Sox 1-4 hitters combined for nine hits, seven runs, six RBI, and two home runs. Clearly the team needs to be more careful at the top of the order. 

After a short road trip to Cincinnati, the Washington Nationals return to Nationals Park to play host to the Chicago White Sox in their first interleague series of the season.

This American versus National League match-up comes much earlier than in years past, as a result of the new schedule that spreads interleague games throughout the entire season instead of isolating them to May and June. The Nats will not face another American League team until May 7, when they play the White Sox’s division rivals, the Detroit Tigers, at Nationals Park.

Last year, the White Sox finished three games behind the Tigers to come in second in the AL Central.

The Nats have played only six games against Chicago in their nine-year history, and have won just two of them, none in 2010 and two in 2011.

Dunn Deal

The White Sox’s designated hitter, Adam Dunn, will play in D.C. for the first time since 2011, which was his first year with Chicago after leaving the Nationals for a four-year, $56 million deal.

Dunn posted great numbers during his two years in Washington, hitting .264/.378/.533 with 76 home runs and 208 RBIs through 2009 and 2010. After suffering a terrible season-long slump in 2011 when he hit just .159/.292/.277 with 11 home runs, he bounced back last season to hit 41 home runs and 96 RBI.  Though his slash line remained low (.204/.333/.468), Dunn effectively returned to career-standard form in 2012, showing he is back on track to have a strong season in 2013.

Because Chicago cannot use a designated hitter in the series and Dunn is left handed, he will not start the first game against lefty Gio Gonzalez. However, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said he would probably give Dunn at least one start in left field during the series. Dunn played 84 games in the Nationals outfield in 2009, and he said it would be comfortable and “kind of fun” to play in the outfield there again because he feels like it is his home park.

Back At It

First baseman Adam LaRoche will return to the Nationals’ lineup on Tuesday, after missing the last two games with back tightness. With the off-day Monday, LaRoche had three days to rest his back, and said the time off plus muscle relaxers helped him feel better today.

As always, having the Silver Slugger winner in the game will benefit the Nationals, and especially so against the White Sox, whom he has been successful against in the past. In 27 career plate appearances against White Sox pitchers, LaRoche has a slash line of .286/.444/.762 with six walks, six strikeouts and three home runs.

In The Zone

Kurt Suzuki (C) 3-for-4, 3 RBI, 1 HR (vs. Reds 4/7)

Who’s Hot?

Alex Rios (RF) .364 AVG, .440 OBP, .773 SLG, 3 HR, 1 SB, 22 AB

Alexei Ramirez (SS) .333 AVG, .364 OBP, .571 SLG, 1 HR, 2 SB, 21 AB

Who’s Not?

Jeff Keppinger (3B) .048 AVG, .048 OBP, 2 SO, 1 H, 21 AB

Alejandro De Aza (CF) .167 AVG, .160 OBP, 6 SO, 4 H, 24 AB

Probable Starters

4/9, Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 S, 6 IP) vs. Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 SO, 6 IP)

4/10, Jordan Zimmermann (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1 SO, 6 IP) vs. Gavin Floyd (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 5 SO, 6 IP)

4/11, Dan Haren (0-1, 13.50 ERA, 5 SO, 4 IP) vs. Dylan Axelrod (0-0, 0 ERA, 3 SO, 5.2 IP)

Opening Week is over for the Nationals, so we talk about the good and the not so good from the first week of the season. We evaluate the state of the team after some real baseball is under their belts, and we tease episode 50, coming your way next week. 

The Washington Nationals' season is one week old today, during which they played six games against two totally different ballclubs. They started the season with the hapless Miami Marlins, who've won just one of their first six games. In stark contrast, they traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds for the second series of the year, who won the NL Central last season and finished the 2012 season with the second-most wins in baseball, right behind the Nationals. Here below is the return of the Nationals Weekly Report Card for the 2013 season.

Grade: B

The pomp and circumstance surrounding Opening Day at Nationals Park was very special. The NL East Champions banner went up, James Brown was the emcee for the ceremonies, and more than 45,000 fans were raucous in the stands as the Nats went 1-0 on the season. Much of the first series went that way as the Nats swept the Marlins, but let's remember: the Nats swept the Marlins. That Marlins team has the potential to be just as bad as the Houston Astros with the talent on their 25 man roster. As they say, a win is a win, but the first real challenge didn't come for the Nats until they left the comforts of Nationals Park to the horrifying confines of Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Friday's game was a travesty and was the largest margin of defeat (15-0) in the team's DC history. Dan Haren's four inning start was an atrocity, giving up four home runs and six earned runs. Still, in those four innings, he didn't walk anyone and struck out five Reds batters. The Nats relievers didn't fare much batter. Each of the three relief pitchers, Zach Duke, Henry Rodriguez, and Ryan Mattheus, gave up at least one run, and all but Mattheus gave up a home run on the way to a six home run day by the Reds offense.

Saturday's game wasn't much prettier after Ross Detwiler, who pitched brilliantly, and Tyler Clippard, who did equally well, left the game. Drew Storen pitched reasonably well, despite the less than stellar result. Rafael Soriano had a total breakdown, giving up two runs, including a home run, in just one inning to earn his first blown save of the season. The Nats defense, which is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the team, had three errors, two on Ian Desmond and one on Bryce Harper. Desmond and Harper had an error each on the same play. The Nats snuck away with a win on the great pitching from Craig Stammen and some timely home runs by Desmond and Wilson Ramos in the 11th innings.

Sunday's game was a similarly disappointing game. Stephen Strasburg didn't have his best stuff, despite a few amazing changeups, at one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the country, and he give up six earned runs and four walks. Johnny Cueto didn't have the best game for the Reds, either, but he settled down to hand the Nats their first series loss of the season.

All in all, it was an above average week for the Nationals with a 4-2 record, but they beat up a really bad team and struggled against a really good one. There's nothing to be scared about long term. It's one week at the beginning of the season, after all. I just can't give higher than a B with how the team was dominated by the Reds.

Player of the Week: Bryce Harper

Harper had an insanely good start to the season. The two home runs in the first two at-bats of the season pretty much solidified his standing as the player of the week, but he never let up. he's still hitting .360 with a 1.120 OPS and a mind blowing 206 OPS+. I get the feeling Harper will appear here a few more times this season.

The Washington Nationals had a rough series opener against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night losing 15-0, which was the worst loss in team history since 2005. The Nats looked to come in to recover from that beating on Saturday afternoon behind Ross Detwiler, and they did just that, even if it did come off the rails a bit in the late innings.

Speaking of Detwiler, he had quite the first start of the season as he validated his "best fifth starter in baseball" moniker. He threw six innings of one run, six hit effective baseball. He threw just 82 pitches, most of which were fastballs, and he found ways to get out of a few minor jams throughout the game. Detwiler's performance seemed like a totally different game from what happened from the eighth inning on, though.

The Nats bullpen had a 5-1 lead when Detwiler left the game, and Tyler Clippard threw a dominant seventh inning to keep that going. The eighth and ninth inning with Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano, respectively, were less great. Storen was throwing pretty well, actually, but he couldn't have possibly had worse luck. Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper each had an error on the same play that allowed a run to score, which put the Reds within two runs of the Nats who, at one point, had a commanding four run lead.

As unlucky as Storen was, Soriano was just as bad. He missed spots, threw wild pitches, and allowed a home run. It was his first blown save of the season. Soriano looked incredible in his appearance on Opening Day, but none of that pinpoint precision showed up in today's game. It's certainly not a long term concern on April 6th, but he was incredibly ineffective against a very good Reds lineup.

Craig Stammen's performance was a different story. He came in in the 10th and 11th innings and totally dominated, mostly as a result of his slider. He did allow two hits and an earned run, but his performance was exactly what kept the Nats in the game. His slider has always been his best pitch, and he controlled it extremely well and confused batters all the way until the end of the game. Stammen has the unique ability to have dynamic secondary pitches and also throw well for several innings, if necessary. His value can sometimes be understated.

Outside of the pitching stories that evolved in today's game, the offense also made its appearance after a rough start to the series. They hit five home runs: Harper, Ramos, Werth, Desmond, and Ramos again. Desmond was able to recover from his two errors with his 11th inning blast, but it was Ramos' second home run of the game that gave the Nats the runs to put them over the top. According to FP Santangelo on the broadcast, the Nats hit 2,044 feet of home runs at a hitter friendly ballpark. Just about all of the Nats home runs would have left almost every ballpark in the country.

As an aside, I don't like to criticize umpires any more than necessary, but it appeared there were some very questionable calls by the men in blue today. Detwiler has two hit-by-pitches from today's game, and it didn't look like either of them actually hit the batter. The one on Joey Votto really wasn't close, and the one with Shin-Soo Choo seemed to barely (maybe?) graze his jersey. The third base ump blew a check swing on Votto in the 11th inning that almost came back to haunt the Nats, but it didn't end up mattering in the final result.

Nationals’ fans are understandably disappointed in Dan Haren’s poor performance last night. In his first start in a Washington uniform, the 32-year-old gave up four home runs, and six earned runs total over the course of four innings, earning the loss in what was ultimately a 15-0 blowout.

It’ safe to say Nats fans were hoping for more, to say the least. Haren was brought in to replace Edwin Jackson in the rotation, and was touted a former All-Star prepared to return to form after a 2012 season filled with nagging injuries. It’s easy for Washington Nationals fans to panic, but its important to remember that Haren had longer-than-usual rest prior to the start, and also, he was pitching against a really good team.

For what its worth, you may remember that Gio Gonzalez had a terrible Nationals debut last season as well. In his first start, he gave up seven hits and four earned runs in just 3.2 innings to the lowly Chicago Cubs. It may sound crazy to read now, but after that start there were dissenting Nats fans who touted the trade to acquire him as a mistake.

Let’s give this one some time. 

After sweeping the Miami Marlins in their opening series, the Washington Nationals will head to hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park to face a more formidable foe, the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds posted the second-best record in baseball last season – 97-65 to the Nationals’ MLB-best 98-64 – and are a favorite to win the National League Central. The Nationals were 5-2 against the Reds last year, and will play them seven times this season, all in the month of April.

This week in MLB’s first-ever Interleague Opening Series, the Reds topped the Los Angeles Angels, hitting three home runs in the series finale. Back in Ohio for their home opener, the Reds will look for revenge on the Nats, who walked off against the Reds in an exciting 10-inning victory in their own home opener last season.

The Nats went on to sweep that series, and will now attempt to get their brooms out again and extend their winning streak to six games.

Stacking Up The Stats

As the two best teams in baseball in 2012, the Nats and the Reds put up similarly successful stats. In the National League, the Reds were ninth in batting average (.251), 12^th in on-base percentage (.315), and sixth in slugging percentage (.411). The Nationals ranked slightly higher in all those categories with a team slash line of .261/.322/.428.

On the pitching side, their team stats were almost identical. Washington pitchers put together a 3.33 ERA with an average of 8.12 strikeouts per nine innings, with Cincinnati very close behind with a 3.34 ERA and 7.73 strikeouts per nine. According to James Wagner’s article in today’s Washington Post, when the stats are adjusted to the ballpark specifications, the Reds’ pitching stats actually surpassed the Nationals’ as best in the majors in 2012.

With the majority of last years’ Reds returning for the 2013 campaign, including All-Stars Jay Bruce and Joey Votto and all five of their starting pitchers, there is no reason why the Reds won’t be able to put together a repeat performance of last year’s success. The Nationals will just have to try to stay one game better.

Haren’s First Start

We’ll get to see Dan Haren in action today for the first time in a Nationals uniform, as he will get the ball in the series opener. In case you need a refresher on the history of the newest addition to the Nationals rotation, Haren posted a 4.33 ERA with the Angels last season, which was almost a full run higher than his career mark of 3.66 through 10 seasons. 

It was a fun series to start a 2013 season with a whole lot of expectations for the Washington Nationals. They start the season 3-0 behind remarkable pitching and a late offensive explosion. So, with all the excitement surrounding this team and this series, rather than doing a full game review, here are some awesome bullet points:

- It’s the little things - The Nationals were able to do all of the little things right, which makes it much easier to win games. Denard Span laid down a perfect drag bunt that caused Marlins pitcher Wade LeBlanc to make an ill-fated decision to flip the ball toward first unsuccessfully. Span scored on a Bryce Harper hit.

- Zimmermann has success without dominance - Jordan Zimmermann continued the success of the Nats pitchers. He did give up the first run of the Nats season in the second inning on a Justin Ruggiano home run in the second, but that was all. He threw 89 pitches through six innings, but he didn’t own the game. It appeared, at times, that he was throwing too many strikes, and the Marlins hitters knew what was coming. You can’t knock his performance, though, as the team walked away with the win.

- Bryce Harper is ridiculous - Harper had a 2-for-4 day driving in a run. He is unreasonably locked in at the plate, and he can seem to do no wrong. When he was caught stealing third base in the third inning, it was certainly a questionable decision. There was just one out with Ryan Zimmerman at the plate. He was already in scoring position. We’ll have to start taking the unbelievably great with the marginally poor decisions, though.

- Decent day for The Franchise - Ryan Zimmerman had a 3-for-3 game with a walk and 2 RBI in his best day of the young season. Zimmerman is clearly capable of hitting clean up in a roster so stacked with talent, and he’s getting locked in early after a three strikeout game on Opening Day.

- Oh, Henry - Despite the success in that he had a 1-2-3 inning, Henry Rodriguez had his usual control issues at times. He wildly missed on several pitches in the seventh inning. He threw seven of his 12 pitches for strikes, but when he missed, it wasn’t very close. It’s infuriating that such a talented pitcher can’t harness the talent with any regularity, but the results were good for today.

- Jayson Werth channels NLDS Game Four - Werth hit a major blast that blew the game wide open in the seventh inning to much the same place that he hit his infamous home run in Game Four of the NLDS last postseason. It was a three-run shot over the visiting bullpen in right center field that put the game at 6-1.

So, the first series is in the book, and the Nats have a 3-0 record with just 159 games to go. They will head to the friendly confines of Great American Ballpark to face the Cincinnati Reds this weekend, which should be a fun thing to watch, even if the temperatures aren’t all that warm. That ballpark is not big.