The Nats dropped a true heartbreaker to the Cubs Sunday afternoon when they lost 2-1. Left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez pitched a spectacular game going seven innings, walking one batter, and striking out six while giving up just two hits on 86 pitches (55 strikes). He even held on to a no-hit bid through the fifth inning but his performance was overshadowed by Manager Davey Johnson’s decision to pull Gonzalez after the seventh inning.

“Obviously we’d been better off in hindsight but I have all the confidence going to my bullpen and [they] just didn’t do it,” Johnson said after the game. “I very seldom early in the season will let a guy go out there and [if] he gets a guy on I don’t want him to lose it, a ball game late in the game. It’s just the way I manage. You can chalk it up to me. You don’t like it, chalk it up to me.”

Right-handed reliever Drew Storen replaced Gonazlez in the eighth and gave up the tying run when pinch runner Travis Wood scored on Starlin Castro single up the middle. But neither Johnson’s decision to pull Gonazlez nor the Nats relievers are wholly to blame for the loss.

The Cubs outscored the Nats in this three-game series 13-10 and the Nats lineup stranded a total of eight base runners today. A combination of runners left on base and tough calls from home plate umpire John Tumpane were the major causes of the Nats inability to win Sunday’s rubber match.

Several Nats fell victim to Tumpane’s calls at the plate leaving the players frustrated. While Johnson’s lineup didn’t let Tumpane’s calls frustrate them too much, catcher Kurt Suzuki couldn’t contain his frustration in the bottom of the ninth when he got called out on a close third strike call.

Tumpane ejected Suzuki after the two exchanged heated words. It was an emotional moment that summarizes how the Nats are likely to feel after dropping two consecutive games to one of the National League’s weakest teams.

Closer Rafael Soriano was charged with the loss, his first of the season, after giving up the Cubs’ game winning run in the top of the ninth. Soriano gave up back-to-back singles to start the ninth, a situation that then took a turn for the worst when a double steal and throwing error by Suzuki allowed Chicago to score. Cubs outfielder and former Nat Alfonso Soriano scored on the throwing error, an error in which the ball ricocheted off the bat of catcher Wellington Castillo landing in shallow left field by third base.

“Any time you lose a ball game, especially [when you] have the lead late and you lose a ball game it’s a missed opportunity no doubt about it,” Johnson said. “Regardless of [the] strike zone we didn’t swing the bats that good. We didn’t really have that many opportunities to score that’s why when we did get an opportunity to score I was gonna go for it.”

What started out as a four inning pitching duel between former Nationals pitcher and current Chicago Cub Edwin Jackson and Washington’s Stephen Strasburg quickly turned in favor of Chicago due to a messy fifth inning performance from the young phenom. The Nats went on to lose the contest 8-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Cubs hit four unearned runs off of Strasburg in the fourth inning and four more earned runs off left-handed reliever Zach Duke in the fifth to win it.

Strasburg has struggled for the entirety of the 2013 season minus Opening Day. When he lets his emotions get the best of him – like he did Saturday – it’s easier to remember just how young he actually is. When Strasburg’s got his three pitches working for him, he’s a force to be reckoned with, but he’s still in the growing phase where he’s learning to deal with the adversity within the game itself. Manager Davey Johnson acknowledged that fact that the game.

“He’s too good a pitcher to let adversity behind him let him down. He’s certainly capable of picking us up. It’s a team effort,” Johnson said.

Strasburg did cruise through the first four innings of Saturday’s game, mowing down the Chicago lineup and recording seven strikeouts in five innings pitched. Strasburg gave up a total of five hits, four unearned runs, and walked two batters on 95 pitches (64 strikes).

In the first four innings alone, Strasburg faced 13 batters and gave up just one hit, a single to Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Then the fifth inning blew the game wide open. Strasburg and the Nationals’ defense retired the first two batters faced but a throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman seemed to put Strasburg off his game.

He struggled to get an out after that and faced five more batters after the error before retiring the side with the Cubs up 4-0.

It also didn’t help that the Nats’ offense was relatively silent against their former teammate Jackson who pitched one of his best, if not his best, game of the 2013 season so far. Washington only managed to get four hits and two runs off Jackson including an Ian Desmond solo homerun in the fifth inning. Outfielder Roger Bernadina, who Jackson walked with one out, also scored after Jackson was replaced by Chicago reliever Shawn Camp on a Desmond single hit to left field.

On another positive note, Washington got two solid innings of work from reliever Henry Rodriguez  and a solid 1 1/3 inning performance from Ryan Mattheus, but Zach Duke struggled nearly as bad as Strasburg did.

In just 2/3 innings of work, Duke gave up four hits and four earned runs while throwing one wild pitch, hitting a batter, and only tallying one strikeout.

What the Nats need is a more consistent lineup – which is hard with Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper out, but someone else has got to step up – in order to fight back against teams who find ways to take advantage of when their pitching staff has an off day. Tyler Moore has been struggling at the plate during this series and hasn’t managed to get on base. But Steve Lombardozzi managed a one-out pinch hit triple in the seventh. It’s just too bad Lombardozzi doesn’t play outfield. Maybe it’s time to give him a few starts and see what happens.

Despite giving up five doubles in six and two-thirds innings pitched, the Washington Nationals’ left-handed starter Ross Detwiler secured his second win of the season with a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

Detwiler threw 90 pitches, 57 for strikes, and gave up eight hits, two runs, and struck out two batters.

For as poorly as the Cubs are playing this season — they’ve only won 13 games and are in fifth place in the NL Central — they didn’t waste any time scoring in game one of this three game series. They snagged an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when shortstop Starlin Castro scored on a ground out off the bat of first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Castro led off the inning with a double down the right field line.

Shortstop Ian Desmond ended up having quite a big night at the plate going 3-for-4 with three hits off the Cubs’ starter Jeff Samardzija. It all start in the second inning when Desmond hit a one-out single and advanced to second on a fielding error by Samardzija during second baseman Danny Espinosa’s at-bat. Catcher Kurt Suzuki went on to drive in those two runs with two men out on a hard hit double that reached the center field warning track, giving Washington an 2-1 lead.

The Cubs answered right back with Samardzija leading off the third inning. Detwiler gave up back-to-back doubles, allowing the tying run to score and making it a 2-2 ballgame.  Then, just when Castro was about to score his second run of the game thanks to a single hit by Rizzo, outfielder Roger Bernadina made the play from right field with a sharp toss to the plate, catching Castro and holding the Cubs to the 2-2 tie. It was Bernadina’s twenty-second career outfield assist and second of 2013.

Washington’s attempt at victory continued with a two-run rally in the fourth and a three-run rally in the fifth. First baseman Adam LaRoche led off the fourth inning with a single. Desmond then followed that hit with a huge two-run homer to left field on a 0-1 pitch, his fifth bomb of the year. It also just so happened to be a career milestone 500th hit.

Desmond was at it again in the fifth inning as part of the Nats’ three-run rally.Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was issued a two-out walk that initiated the rally and he proceeded to score on a two-out double hit by Desmond. With LaRoche still on third at that point, Espinosa hit a two RBI-double that brought both LaRoche and Desmond around, giving Washington a 7-2 lead. Outfielder Tyler Moore’s fly out ended the rally, but it also ended the Cubs’ starter’s night. Samardzija was pulled after that inning and replaced by right-handed reliever Hector Rondon.

The Nats’ bats stayed quiet against the Cubs’ three relievers faced in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings but it was of no consequence thanks to the work of right-handed reliever Craig Stammen.

Stammen entered the game with two out in the seventh and went on to record the seven outs needed to secure the Nats’ victory, but he did give up a run in the ninth. Stammen issued a one out walk to Chicago third baseman Ryan Sweeney who scored on a pinch hit ground out from David DeJesus. Stammen then retired the side securing Washington’s 7-3 win.

The Nats played without Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper on Friday night. Werth continues to have tightness in his right hamstring and has not played in a game since May 2 against the Braves. He’s expected to return on May 18 thanks to the Nats being able to backdate his disabled list stint to May 3. Harper is currently recovering from a procedure he had to remove an ingrown toenail on his right foot and was looking a bit “gimpy” after the procedure, according to Manager Davey Johnson. The Nats expect him to only be out of the action for the one game.

Coming into Sunday’s game against the Reds it could be argued that Ross Detwiler had been the Nats best starters, or at least one of them, as his 1.38 April ERA was among the tops in the NL. As they say in baseball, all things eventually regress to their mean, and Detwiler would have his first rough outing of the season. In the first inning he would get Choo to strikeout, before falling behind the next three hitters and giving up three straight base hits. All the balls were hard hit, but Cozart’s single ticked off of Espinosa’s glove, and Votto’s double just found chalk.

This is how it would go all day for the Nats and Ross Detwiler. Before the day was over Detwiler would give up 4 runs on 11 hits and 10 would be singles with more than a few of them having some luck tied to them. Take for instance Detwiler’s fourth inning in which he allowed his fourth and final run of the afternoon. Corky Miller would lead off the inning with a weak infield single that just happened to land where no fielder could reach it. After a sac bunt and a ground out moved him to third he would score on a Cozart single.

Against a line-up as good as the Reds when luck is not on your side and you’re falling behind in the count it is not going to be a good day. The three earned runs over five innings is the most Detwiler has allowed this season, but that is the type of performance more typical for a bottom of the rotation starter even on a good team. The Nats rotation needs Strasburg and Gio to remain on the track they have just gotten back on while the offense comes around.

Speaking of offense the Nats did have a couple of opportunities in this game. In the fourth inning Denard Span reached base on a strikeout wild pitch and Espinosa followed him with the Nats first hit of the afternoon, a double. With a runner on third and less than two out Cingrani found a different gear. For most of the afternoon he had been sitting 92 and suddenly he was touching 96. Harper didn’t help the Nats by attempting to bunt on an 0-1 pitch with the third baseman back and then swinging at a high fastball 0-2 to strikeout. Werth would draw a walk to load the bases, but both Desmond and LaRoche would strikeout to end the threat.

As the bottom of the next inning began it looked as if reaching back had effected Cingrani as he was suddenly at 88 and having more trouble locating, but he got better as the inning went along and on the day held the Nats to no runs on two hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts. It is the third impressive performance by another team’s top pitching prospect against the Nats. It is hard for hitters to have a book on a guy when they have never seen them but it is even harder when that guy has plus plus stuff like Harvey, Miller, and Cingrani.

The Nats played tighter defense against the Cardinals, the offense had its moments against the Reds, the starting pitching was great, and the bullpen allowed a grand total of one earned run. Play like this is what Nationals fans expected when the season started and if it continues in Atlanta and Pittsburgh it will start to be reflected in the Nationals record.

Right-handed starting pitcher Dan Haren threw his longest outing of the season Saturday afternoon leading the Washington Nationals to a 6-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The game was a much stronger outing than the last time he faced the Reds during the first week of the season. The Nats lost that match-up 15-0, but Haren’s start and Washington’s offense gave the Nats their third consecutive win.

Washington made right-handed pitcher Mike Leake work hard early. After a three up, three down first inning, seven of the Nats’ starting nine faced him in the second while scoring two runs to give Washington a 2-0 lead.

Shortstop Ian Desmond and third baseman Anthony Rendon both drew back-to-back walks off Leake with one out in the bottom of the second. Desmond went on to score off a two-out RBI-single by Haren hit down the right field line and Rendon followed shortly thereafter by scoring on a RBI-single hit by center fielder Denard Span.

Outfielders Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth led off the third inning with back-to-back singles before Harper went on to score off a RBI-single hit by Desmond up the middle with one out. Thanks to a throwing error by Reds third baseman Jack Hannahan, the Nats extended their lead by two more runs when Werth scored on a single hit by catcher Kurt Suzuki. Hannahan launched the ball into centerfield while trying to throw to second base and have Werth called out. Hannahan’s attempt failed, though, giving the Nats a 4-0 lead.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto kept the game from being a shutout in the fourth when he scored on a RBI-single hit by second baseman Brandon Phillips, but Cincinnati couldn’t manage a rally, making it a 4-1 ballgame.

Leake got pulled by the start of the fourth inning and was replaced by right-handed reliever Alfredo Simon. Harper crushed a two-run homer, his ninth homerun of the season, off Simon with one out in the fourth giving the Nats even more of a lead cushion and putting the team up 6-1. The homerun sailed to the Nats’ bullpen and with it, Harper gained control of the club’s record for the most RBI’s in the month of April with 18, passing Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman.

Cincinnati fought back a bit when their lead-off batter Shin-Soo Chin hit a solo homerun to right-center field off Haren in the sixth with no one out, making it a 6-2 game. But the Reds’ battle was short-lived and Phillips grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Span got in a fancy web gem during the bottom half of the sixth inning robbing perennial All-Star Votto of a homerun. The crowd of 38,903 erupted with joy when Span took a little jump to catch the ball hit by Votto just as it was about to pass over the top of the visitor’s bullpen wall in left field.

Washington’s defense backed up reliever left-hander Zach Duke when he entered the game to face three batters in the sixth. Reds right fielder Jay Bruce reached second on a throwing error made by second baseman Danny Espinosa when he led off the inning. Duke proceeded to walk left fielder Xavier Paul before striking out Hannahan and having catcher Devin Mesoraco hit a fly out.

Right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard replaced Duke with two on and two out in the seventh. Clippard allowed one run when Bruce scored on a RBI-single hit by pinch hitter Todd Frazier, cutting the Nats lead over Cincinnati to 6-3. Span averted the potential crisis for Clippard, though, by gobbling up a hit to center field by Zack Cozart to end the inning. Span breached the gap in the outfield to snag that ball in time.

The Nats’ defense held the Reds during the eighth inning when reliever Drew Storen came in to pitch. Storen gave up back-to-back singles with one out before Desmond and Esipnosa turned a 6-4-3 double play keeping Washington in the lead.

Closer Rafael Soriano finished the afternoon out by nabbing his seventh save of the season in a three up, three down ninth inning while striking out two batters.

Most of the focus on the Nationals coming into 2013 was placed on a pitching staff that finished first in the NL in ERA, but most of that focus was on the third place finisher in the Cy Young voting, Gio Gonzalez and the non-shutdown pending phenom Stephen Strasburg. Back when Jordan Zimmermann was drafted in the second round of the 2007 draft, the same draft as Detwiler, there was a lot of talk about his upside and how he could be a top of the rotation star. Tonight in one hitting a dangerous Reds line-up Jordan Zimmermann showed why he was the man who could have been the Ace.

With the Nats offense struggling to score runs and facing a pitcher that shut them out the last time they saw them Jordan Zimmermann was going to have to be on the top of his game. Instead of giving the Nats that he elevated his game. Earlier this season in Miami Jordan Zimmermann pitched a complete game win, but it was not a shutout. Against the Reds he pitched what may be the most dominate performance in Nats history. He allowed one hit on 91 pitches with 59 of them being strikes.

 All season long Zimmermann has attacked the zone. Pitching like a man allergic to pitches outside the strike zone. The one hit allowed by Zimmermann came in the third inning when Xavier Paul led off with a solid single on a 1-1 hanging curve. Zimmermann would make quick work of the next three batters he faced and wouldn’t allow another base runner until the pride of Toms River, Todd Frazier, reached on a Steve Lombardozzi error in fifth. It was important that Zimmermann hold it scoreless here as the Nats had just taken the lead and Nats pitchers have struggled with picking up their defense after errors.

The Nats took the lead in the bottom half of the fourth inning when Bryce Harper hit a one out triple. As has become customary with Harper he was going to force the defense into making the play and when the ball bounced into the right field corner he turned it into his extra gear, left his helmet in the infield dirt, and slid in safe to third. Dusty Baker would then bring in the infield to try and keep it a nothing nothing game, but Werth would beat the strategy and hit a single to the exact spot Brandon Phillips would normally be camped. The strategy ended up not mattering as it would be the only run scored of the evening and the only one Jordan Zimmermann would need.

Corky Miller of the career .187/.269/.298 career batting line would end up being the next Reds base runner when he walked with two outs in the eighth. Miller is not a batter to be feared and Zimmermann had pitched with impeccable control all afternoon. He may have walked Miller to force Dusty Baker into bringing in a pinch hitter and chasing Homer Bailey from the game. Zimmermann went right back to being dominate and struck out Jack Hannahan to end the brief threat and the eighth.

With Jordan Zimmermann due up third in the bottom of the eighth it was a question whether Davey Johnson would let him finish the game or opt for the fresh reliever. When Danny Espinosa singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth and Kurt Suzuki stepped into the batters box it would Jordan Zimmermann who stepped into the on deck circle. He would get a standing ovation when he came up to bat, but his work wasn’t finished. He had the most dangerous part of the Reds order to face.

Shin-Soo Choo is the current NL leader in OBP with an OBP north of .500 and Jordan Zimmermann had kept him off base all night. The ninth would be no different as he flew out to Bryce Harper. Cesar Izturis would then pop out to Steve Lombardozzi and suddenly the only person standing between Jordan Zimmermann and a complete game shutout was former NL MVP Joey Votto. It wouldn’t take Zimmermann long to get him either as Votto would give the ball a ride, but too close to a waiting Bryce Harper. This one was in the books and those in attendance on a cool night in April  witnessed the best game ever pitched by someone in a Nationals uniform.

For the second time in that many days, the Nationals fell to St. Louis, losing 2-0 Tuesday night, on six strong innings of work from left-handed starting pitcher Ross Detwiler. Detwiler gave up two runs on eight hits, walked two, and struck out two on 93 pitches (60 strikes).

Washington’s defense was the strongest positive worth noting in a game where their bats fell short. In the first five innings, the Nats turned four successful double plays to rob St. Louis of additional runs. But not even spectacular defense from shortstop Ian Desmond, second baseman Danny Espinosa, first baseman Adam LaRoche, catcher Kurt Suzuki, and Detwiler could win them the game.

Cardinals’ center fielder Shane Robinson led off the fourth inning with a single off Detwiler sparking the four-hit, two-run rally that won the game for St. Louis. Robinson scored on a no-out double up the right field line off the bat of first baseman Allen Craig giving St. Louis an early 1-0 lead.

That hit streak continued for the Cardinals as left fielder Matt Holliday and right fielder Carlos Beltran hit back-to-back singles off Detwiler. Beltran’s RBI-single allowed Craig to score making it a 2-0 game in favor of St. Louis.

Detwiler allowed as many earned runs in the fourth inning on Tuesday night as he had in his previous three starts of the season combined: two. Problem is — there was no run support to back it. The Cardinals, on the other hand, road the curtails of yet another successful 2013 pitching appears from their right-handed starter Adam Wainwright.

Wainwright retired thirteen consecutive batters for St. Louis before the Nats could even get their second hit of the game in the sixth. Catcher Kurt Suzuki led off that innings with a single, ending up on third and in scoring position after a single from center fielder Denard Span and a walk issued to left fielder Bryce Harper. But, with the bases loaded and two out, LaRoche squandered a potential rally opportunity with a strike out.

The heart of Washington’s order didn’t help much in Tuesday night’s game either. They collectively recorded just two hits and a total of six strike outs – four of which were LaRoche’s (he went 0-for-4).

The Nats were able to get something started in the eighth when pinch hitter Steve Lombardozzi hit a one-out single but he got called out pretty fast on a fielder’s choice play when Span grounded into the play all while reaching first base. Right fielder Jayson Werth couldn’t keep it going though, and Washington squandered yet another opportunity to catch up to St. Louis.

Harper kept hopes alive stretching a routine single into a double on a close play at the bag, one that left his batting helmet on the base path as he hustled to safety, but the Nats couldn’t manage to score.

Nats starter Dan Haren pitched one of his finer games of the 2013 season on Monday night but Washington fell just shy of a win over their National League foes from St. Louis. The Cardinals one upped the Nats wining 3-2 in the first game of a three game series.

In the clubs’ first match-up since the 2012 postseason, Haren held the Cardinals to six hits and three runs on 98 pitches, 56 for strikes, through five innings plus four batters. He walked three, struck out three, and hit a batter — a play which sparked the rally that won St. Louis the game.

The night was one of Haren’s stronger outings since joining the Nationals’ rotation in 2013 but 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller demonstrated impeccable command. He fanned eight over six and two-thirds innings on 98 pitches, 65 for strikes.

St. Louis scored first, in the third, after a couple shutout innings where each pitcher faced the minimum. Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma continued right where he left off with the Nats during the 2012 postseason by hitting a one-out single off Haren. Kozma then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Miller giving the Cardinals their first man in scoring position of the day. Haren went on to walk the next batter, second baseman Matt Carpenter, before giving up a two-out two-RBI double to first baseman Allen Craig –Cardinals 2, Nats 0.

Washington kept with the place when right fielder Jayson Werth led off the bottom of the fourth with a single off Miller. Two (strike)outs later, shortstop Ian Desmond a RBI-double — his twelfth extra-base hit of the season — to center field bringing Werth around to score and the Nats within one run of St. Louis.

Then, the recently called up rookie got his moment. Third baseman Anthony Rendon, who got called up from Class AA Harrisburg to play with the Nats on Sunday in New York after Washington sent Ryan Zimmerman to the 15-day disabled list, tied up the game at two runs a piece. He recorded his first Major League hit and RBI with a two-out double up the middle off Miller. Not bad for a home debut.

The sixth inning is when Haren’s strong outing started to fizzle St. Louis’ rally started with left fielder Matt Holliday leading off and getting hit by a pitch. The Cardinals proceeded to hit back-to-back singles — thanks to right fielder Carlos Beltran and catch Yaider Molina — and took back their lead on the Molina single that brought Holliday around to score. But with no one out, the bases loaded, and St. Louis up 3-2, Manager Davey Johnson pulled Haren in favor of right-handed reliever Craig Stammen.

Stammen got a couple quick outs on a 3-2-3 double play that center fielder Jon Jay hit in to. Stammen then intentionally walked Kozma with two outs, re-loading the bases, before striking out Miller.

The Nats had the tying run on second and the go-ahead run on first in the seventh inning with two outs but pinch hitter Chad Tracy couldn’t lay down a base hit for an RBI. He came close with a bloop hit that just about landed in the center field grass, but Jay was able to scoop it up. Tracy’s bat broke on contact and Jay was just fast enough to keep it from dropping.

Despite the loss, reliever Drew Storen got a chance for 2012 redemption. He faced Kozma in the ninth, striking him out, which must have felt great for the young pitcher after the way Game 5 of the NLDS ended in October. Storen gave up a tying two-out, two-run single to Daniel Descalso in that game and a go-ahead two-run single to Pete Kozma in the ninth inning allowing St. Louis to advance in the playoffs, but Storen looked good on Monday in his three up, three down performance.

As I walked up to Desperados on U Street, I was greeted by a man collecting tickets who describes himself to be “5 foot, 19 inches”. He appeared to be just a guy manning the front door until I found out he was Richard Bennett, LYGO DC co-founder and host of the comedy show I was attending.

As I went into the basement bar/restaurant I immediately spotted the stage: a small black wooden crate that couldn’t have been more than two feet long with a height of probably six inches. Behind the makeshift stage was a long sheet of black plastic that resembled a shower curtain. To say the set-up of the event was no-frills would be an understatement, but it is the bootstrapping approach that has helped the local group grow from a brunch-time comedy show at to quickly growing addition to the DC comedy scene.

Thanks to the success of their weekly shows at the Codmother, LYGO (which stands for Laugh Your Grits Off) has expanded their performances to the neighboring Desperados. The shows feature a rotating roster of local comics and aims to be and source of locally sourced comedy compared to the Improv, which typically features nationally known acts.

The showcase I attended featured some pretty funny people including English ex-pat Chris Milner, who effectively skewed the Ross in Old Town Alexandria, and headliner David Tveite, who was immensely entertaining. Just check out some of his material and you’ll understand why.

What I found the most interesting about LYGO is that it’s a local group that has a lean start-up feel to it. Everybody involved takes up different facets of running the business from graphic design to marketing. Right now they can’t afford to bring in comics from other parts of the country exclusively but are working to help book gigs around town to make a LYGO show appearance more realistic. However for me it’s all about appreciating the local talent, something Bennett echoed when I chatted with him after the show. Sure there’s other open mics and comedy shows around town but I really dug LYGO’s local connection much like one would appreciate the produce off the stand of a local farmer’s market.

Sure we often take ourselves very seriously here in The District but it’s nice to know we can enjoy a laugh every now and then as well.

LYGO produces a comedy show at The Codmother (1334 U St NW, Washington, DC 20010) every Wednesday and at Desperados (1342 U Street NW Washington, DC 20009) every Sunday. Both locations are accessible from the U Street/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo metro station (Green/Yellow). Tickets are $10. Check their website for a complete event calendar.

The Nationals lineup was no match for Atlanta’s right-handed starter Tim Hudson who secured his second win of the season with a 3-1 Braves victory in Washington. The afternoon’s loss was Washington’s second in two days versus Atlanta.

An early throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman in the third inning cost Washington two runs when left fielder Justin Upton stole second ahead of catcher Evan Gattis’ two-out two-run homer. It wasn’t Stephen Strasburg’s strongest outing either, which didn’t help the Nats.

On the first Saturday day game in DC of the season, a sellout with a paid of attendance of 41,992, Strasburg pitched six innings and gave up five hits, two runs (both unearned), issued one walk, fanned seven batters, threw one wild pitch, and hit a batter. He threw 112 pitches, 66 for strikes.His command just wasn’t there today, according to Manager Davey Johnson.

Washington’s bats only managed four hits including second baseman Danny Espinosa’s two-out solo homerun — his first of the year — off Hudson in the fifth. Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 with one strikeout while leadoff hitting center fielder Denard Span, right fielder Jayson Werth, and Zimmerman each hit singles all off Hudson as well.

It was a one run game between the Braves and Nationals up until the top of the ninth when Atlanta’s first baseman Chris Johnson scored on a Jason Heyward groundout off right-handed reliever Ryan Mattheus. It’s going to be a season-long battle between these two teams who will continue to fight for the top spot in the National League East.

Like Game 5 and 7/20/12 before it, the Nats looked to have a game well in hand. They jumped on Braves rookie starter Julio Teheran early and managed to score two runs in the first and second inning. In the first, Span hustled down the line and beat out a throw that pulled Braves first baseman Evan Gattis off the bag. Two batters later, Harper would lift his fifth homer of the season the opposite way into the left field stands. It was an impressive display of strength by the second year, 20-year old, player.

In the bottom of the second the Nats would add two more as Suzuki would lead off the inning with a walk, get sacrificed to second by Detwiler, and score on a Denard Span single. With one out Span would steal second, his second steal of the season, and Werth would single him home.

 As impressive as the early offense was, even more impressive was the work of Ross Detwiler who went seven solid innings only allowing one run on four hits and striking out five Braves batters. Detwiler has been a nice surprise for the Nats since the end of the 2011 season when he started trusting his natural ability and relying almost exclusively on his fastball and sinker.

As good as Detwiler was, the Nats bullpen was just as bad. Coming into this game, Nats relievers had allowed 21 runs in nine games, with 19 of them being being earned, for an ERA of 5.76. What was thought to be a strength, and still should be when the pitchers regress to their career averages, has been a weakness early on in the season. On this night Clippard, Storen, and Stammen were the culprits.

Clippard entered in the eighth inning with the Nats looking to have the game well in hand; it continued to look that way as he got the first two batters he faced to fly out weakly. Then he found trouble with a patient, powerful, and dangerous Braves line-up as he walked Jason Heyward, allowed a single to Justin Upton, walked Evan Gattis to load the bases, and walked BJ Upton to force in the Braves second run of the evening.

Storen would be called upon to get the four out save but was unable to do so as he took the mound in a save situation for the first time in Nats Park since Game 5. Storen got the out in the eighth when Dan Uggla flew out deep to the warning track in center, but ran into trouble quickly in the ninth. He would go to a three ball count on Chris Johnson before letting him reach on a single and them Ramiro Pena dropped a beauty of a bunt for a base hit. With two on and none out, Fredi Garcia elected to sacrifice bunt and Storen was able to strikeout Andrelton Simmons before walking Heyward to set up a bases loaded two out match-up with Justin Upton.

Upton would make the Nats pay by grounding hard to Ryan Zimmerman, who made a good play in just getting the ball, and could have preserved the lead by not making a throw. By the time Zimmerman bounced to his feet, Justin Upton was half way down the first base line and may have beaten the throw. Zimmerman decided to go the short way to second and it proved to be a mistake, as his throw went wide of the bag and allowed the tying run to score.

The Nats went down in order in the ninth and it was on to Craig Stammen and extra innings which did not last long. In the top of the tenth Stammen struck out BJ Upton, walked Dan Uggla, got Chris Johnson to fly out, and then gave up one of those bad homeruns. Ramiro Pena, the hitter who an inning earlier figured his best move was to trick everyone with a bunt and of the three MLB homers since 2009, crushed a homer that landed deep in the Nats bullpen. What had been a 4-0 lead after the second inning was now a 6-4 deficit, and Craig Kimbrel would do what he does best and make the Nats go meekly into that good night.

Much like 7/20/12 when the Nats blew a 9-0 lead to the Braves at Nats Park this was a blip on the radar. The Nats are a very good team and even very good teams blow saves and lose games that they shouldn’t. As they say over the course of 162 these types of things will even out. The Braves have gotten off to a hot start and are 9-1 while the Nats have looked out of sync, at least as far as the bullpen and defense is concerned, and have still managed a 7-3 record through the seasons first ten. The Braves will not maintain this torrid pace and 9-1 may very well be their best ten game stretch of the season.

The Nats get an early shot at redemption with a 1:05 start tomorrow and happen to have their Ace, Stephen Strasburg, on the mound. In his last start Strasburg gave up six runs in six innings and will be looking to right the ship against the Braves as will the Nats bullpen. The best part of the baseball season is that it is 162 games and until October tomorrow is guaranteed. Now the Nats need to take advantage of that tomorrow, put this one behind them, and let Strasburg do what he does best. Be the Ace of the Washington Nationals.

Right-handed starting pitcher Dan Haren earned his first win in a Nationals uniform Thursday night leading Washington to a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox and a 7-4 victory. The theme of the night for Haren was dancing himself out of trouble, though it was an improvement from Friday night’s 15-0 loss in Cincinnati. Haren pitched five innings, gave up ten hits and three runs with five strikeouts in addition to throwing one wild pitch and hitting a batter.

Chicago fought hard to prevent the sweep, shelling the Nats with thirteen hits, but they weren’t quite as successful on the base path. The White Sox stranded eleven runners leaving the game in Washington hands if they were able to maintain the lead.

The Nats offense got to work early by scoring a run in the first. Right fielder Jayson Werth hit a one-out single off Chicago starter right-hander Dylan Axelrod. Werth played it smart while on the base path. He stole his first base of the season advancing to second but quickly rounded the bases to third on a throwing error made by White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers during third baseman Ryan Zimmernan’s at-bat. Werth went on to score on a RBI single hit by first baseman Adam LaRoche giving Washington their early one-run lead.

That didn’t last long though with the White Sox seeking a win to avoid the sweep. Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko scored on a groundout from Flowers to tie the game up in the second inning.

Washington continued to hack away in the third inning by tacking on a couple runs and a short-lived 3-1 lead. The hit parade continued with left fielder Bryce Harper hitting a RBI single to right-center bringing center fielder Denard Span around to score. Harper then second himself on shortstop Ian Desmond’s sacrifice fly to center field.

What’s been interesting during this three-game series is how scrappy these teams are – one team scores, the other fights back, and so on. It made the three-hour eighteen-minute game seem more like a horse race than a ballgame.

The chase for a win continued when the White Sox answered back in the top of the fourth inning. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie and Axelrod scored a couple of runs for Chicago tying the game back up again at 3-3. That was Haren’s weakest inning of the night. He gave up four singles in that frame alone.

The Nats answered back with a three-run rally in the fourth when Haren got his first hit with Washington – a one-out double to right field. Axelrod managed to get two outs and keep Haren on second until a wild pitched got past Gillaspie during Werth’s at-bat. Haren scored on that wild pitch and Werth went on to hit a single putting two men on the base path. Then, something strange happened. The White Sox chose to intentionally walk Harper with Zimmerman in the on-deck circle.

Manager Davey Johnson mentioned that this was one of the first times (if ever) the batter before Zimmerman was intentionally walked. Lit up from that, Zimmerman was out to prove himself and did just that – despite his slow start at the plate this season – with a two-RBI double to give the Nats back the lead .

Washington held on with the help of their bullpen which collectively gave up just one run in four innings of work. Closer Rafael Soriano gave up a two-out single but held the White Sox to recorded his fifth save of the season.

This Friday just got even better since a friend of mine showed me “The Panel Crasher.”  The two day old blog documents the exploits of a former Hill staffer/Non-profit associate turned unemployed sequestration victim with a ton of time and no funds as he crashes Think Tank/Hill events, eats their food, pays no attention to their discussions and then makes fun of them on his blog.  There have only been two entries to date, but they feature a problem intern girl, Michael Jordan fashion, a Luke Perry reference and tons of other hilarity.

For just the 13th time in major league history a baseball team has opened the season with back to back shutouts. The 2013 Washington Nationals backed by Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are the first team to do so since a 2002 Diamondbacks team that featured Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling atop their rotation. It was thought that the Nationals could make history in 2013, but who knew it would be so fast? On Opening Day Bryce Harper became the youngest player to hit two homers on Opening Day and just two days later the Nats became just the 13th team with back to back shutouts to open the season.

It is no mystery that the Nats starting staff is a formidable one and we’re only 2/5 of the way through it. The Marlins line-up is nothing special featuring such luminaries of the game as Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco, Miguel Olivo, and Casey Kotchman. Speaking of Kotchman he had to exit the game with an injured hamstring after grounding into a double play in the fifth inning. That sequence was in itself Kotchmanesque.

The Marlins had runners on first and second courtesy of double by Ruggiano and walk to Olivo. Kotchman attempted to bunt the first pitch he saw, failed, and instead of giving away one out gave away two grounding into a double play, and to top it off he hurt himself. Kotchman is widely regarded as one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball, but one of baseball’s poorest offensive players mustering a measly .715 OPS is 3,394 career plate appearances.

The bottom of the fifth is where the Nationals would finally make their offensive presence felt. On a cold 40 degree night with nothing carrying and the Nats having hit several line drives at people Gio Gonzalez took matters into his own hands. With one out and none on Gio Gonzalez took the first pitch he saw from Slowey and drove it over the left field fence for the solo homer that broke the 0-0 tie. Gio Gonzalez started off his sixth and final inning with a walk to the opposing pitcher Slowey and then Pierre attempted to bunt for a base hit but was thrown out by a pouncing Suzuki. Gonzalez did the rest himself striking out Solano and Stanton to end the inning.

The the game in the hands of the bullpen they were as solid and the Nats pitching has been all season. Mattheus, Storen, and Soriano closed out the game each throwing a scoreless inning. The biggest threat game in the ninth inning when Soriano allowed a single to Solano and walked Stanton after striking out Pierre. Polanco flew out to right fielder, Jayson Werth, and Ruggiano to Denard Span.

Overall it was another dominating performance by the Nats and another step in leaving their sad history in the past. Historically the Nats have struggled against the Marlins, but a roster featuring so much washed up talent shouldn’t be a match for the team widely believed to be favorites for the World Series. These first two games have both been slow and methodical dissections of a lesser team. The WPA graph looks like death by strangulation. The Nats are a better team, more talented team than the Marlins and have demonstrated that in these first two games.

We here at WLDC are constantly trying to do two things: 1) make this site ever more awesome and 2) reward those who help contribute to making this site ever more awesome. With that in mind, we are starting a new regular photo post. Specifically, it will be highlighting pictures that are submitted to our Flickr pool during the week.

We’re calling it “Week In Review.” It will run every Friday at 1pm, and it will be a clone of Weekend Flashback (ie: light on text, heavy on photos). Put simply, the photos we get from our contributors are amazing and we don’t have enough posts to do them justice. This will slightly rectify the problem. We will start the posts next Friday (3/22).

Along with this, we’ll be moving Featured Photo from Tuesday at 9am to Wednesday at 11am. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to change your photo uploads accordingly. I’m also hoping to do more photo posts, and possible photo related events, during the year. If you recently got a new camera (and your phone does count), and always wonder where are photos come from, they come from people like you; please share.

If you watched the horror show in Philadelphia last night, you know the Caps just looked bad. As in, start-of-the-season bad. The team floated the “we were tired” balloon as an excuse, as the game was their third in five days.

It’s an excuse that would hold more weight if the Caps were firing on all cylinders from the start and deep in the playoff race. But they’re in catch-up mode and in danger of missing out on this year’s Cup run. “Being tired” just doesn’t cut it at this point.

Most interesting, however, was NBC Sports commentator Mike Milbury’s diatribe about Caps captain Alex Ovechkin. I’ll caveat by saying I’m not a huge Milbury fan for innumerable reasons. But considering the Caps woes right now, including Ovie’s less-than-stellar stats for this point in the season…I think Milbury has a point buried in his overemotional pontification.

Are the Caps in danger of tanking out this season if Ovie can’t get it together?

My magic 8-ball says “Signs point to yes.”

The Capitals had flashes of greatness on Thursday night, slicing through the Devils lines like the team that won the Presidents Trophy in 2010, but a maddening display of undisciplined behavior in the third period undermined what should’ve been a Caps triumph. New Jersey 3, Capitals 2 was the final as the Caps dropped to 5-11-1, their 11 points is worst in the league.

There were some highlights, though: Braden Holtby made 35 saves — a number that usually means a win for the young net-minder — but tonight it wasn’t enough, as penalties mounted late.  Twice in the third period the Caps were missing two men, part of a disastrous collapse marred by mistake after mistake.  The Caps racked up 12 penalty minutes in the third on six minor penalties, giving the Devils the edge they needed to even the game, and then move ahead, on tallies from Loktionov and Kovalchuk.

One last thought: tonight was the first time since last May that we saw Alex Ovechkin display any of his unique talents. There were three breakaways tonight that carried that same fire that the talented forward can demonstrate. When he chooses to, Ovechkin can dazzle your senses, and do things that mortal forwards cannot, but so often this season that Ovechkin is absent from the ice. Tonight he was present and accounted for, if he was shut out by the Devils’ Brodeur. We also saw a careless tripping penalty (which really looked like a roughing penalty from where I was sitting. I’m fairly sure it’s hard to trip someone with an elbow to their face) from the Russian, though, which made him look petty amid the pretty.

The Capitals are running out of time. Now at the one-third mark of the shortened season, the Caps are six points behind the division lead and the last playoff slot. They will rematch with the Devils on Saturday at the Phone Booth. Tickets, as you might imagine, are plentiful on the open markets.

Going into the third period last night, it looked as if the drubbing the Caps delivered to the Florida Panthers over the weekend was a fluke. Down 5-3 just over six minutes into the final frame, the Caps were at a point familiar to fans this season: the fold-n-fade.

Fortunately, not so last night. Eric Fehr tipped in a Joel Ward-to-Mike Green pass to put the spark back into the Caps. That culminated into an Alex Ovechkin power play goal with just under three minutes to go, tying it up at 5.

Troy Brouwer finished the Panthers off 32 seconds into overtime with a sweet breakaway, giving the Caps a much-needed divisional win. The victory also gave the team a morale booster shot. “Two points is two points,” Brouwer said to reporters after the game. “We’ve had a few games we’ve given away two points, now it’s our turn to battle back and get those two very important points. The way we did it is very encouraging, too, because we rely on our skill a lot of the time, but this time it was ugly. It was good bounces, guys going to the net. Those are the ways that you score those goals, and that’s how you get back in the games, guys working hard.”

A two-game win streak is promising, even if both come against a struggling Florida team. The real test will be if this can turn into a string of wins to put the Caps back on track. They’ll face Tampa Bay tomorrow at 7:30 pm.

Going into last night’s game in Pittsburgh, the Caps had gone 9-0-1 in the Penguins’ own home, a streak dating back to 2007. So if there was any night the Caps could break out of their dismal start and begin the arduous climb back into the playoff picture, now was the time.

Until the second period, it looked as if the Caps were on the upswing. And then it all fell apart. The Pens scored five goals in the second, including two in the span of eleven seconds, and put the game out of reach. Michal Neuvirth was pulled after Pascal Dupuis put the Penguins up 2-1, but the goalie switch didn’t spark anything. The Penguins lit up Braden Holtby for three more goals. Final result? Penguins 5, Capitals 2. Streak broken.

Alex Ovechkin and Ribeiro got a goal and assist in the loss. Ovechkin continues to do well, struggling only in the points department. He was his usual aggressive self, even as he continues to adjust to his new spot on the right wing. He’s got five points in five games – but it’s just not enough to spark a flagging and apparently mentally drained Caps team.

After the game, Ovie was clearly upset. Reporters asked how angry he was. “Angry enough,” was his simple response.

It’s a sentiment many long-time Caps fans identify with these days.

Next game is tomorrow as the Caps host the equally-struggling Florida Panthers. Puck drops at 7 pm.

After leading through most of three periods, the Caps couldn’t contain some of Toronto’s younger talent. Nikolai Kulemin and Matt Frattin scored just over two minutes apart in the middle of the third, giving the Leafs the lead and eventually, a 3-2 win.

Michal Neuvirth earned the night’s third star for his 37 save effort but it wasn’t enough to keep Washington from its fifth loss of the season. The Caps are now 1-5-1 and off to a dreadful start of this shortened campaign.

Upsides are a little hard to find. The Caps did stymie seven of eight Leaf power plays on the night, though it also means the Caps took too many penalties in the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his second goal of the season. And Neuvirth was a solid presence in the net.

“It’s a very disappointing loss obviously, we were up 2-1 after the second like in Ottawa,” a dejected Neuvirth told NHL.com. “Maybe we are missing a little bit of luck and we definitely have to stay out of the box.”

The Caps are at home tonight and face a stuttering Philadelphia Flyers team. Puck drops at 7 pm.