Forty-four games into the 2013 campaign, the Nationals have never overcome more than a two-run deficit. As the Padres' assault continued to mount on Sunday, the Nationals needed plenty more than two.
The Nationals' victory over the Tigers on Thursday was their sixth in the past seven games as they improved to 19-15.
The Nationals' slow offensive start has been concerning to some, worrisome to others and downright nerve-fraying to certain factions of the fanbase. For plenty, it's been maddening to watch them strike out, swinging or looking, so often. To see them come up small in large situations. To hit the ball on the screws, and right at a waiting fielder.
Tyler Moore hit a three-run homer and Danny Espinosa homered and drove in three runs, leading the Washington Nationals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Sunday.
Stephen Strasburg struck out eight in seven innings and the Washington Nationals won a game he started for the first time since Opening Day by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 Saturday.
Adam LaRoche enters the Nationals' opener of a four-game series with the Braves on Monday mired in the longest hitless streak of his career. A drought that has spanned 26 consecutive at-bats and seven entire games has left him frustrated and searching for an answer.
In a 5-2 loss, the Nationals' bid for a sweep of another National League contender fell victim to singles, some just out of reach, and a hard-throwing rookie left-hander.
In 205 days, three of the area's four teams in the major professional sports leagues won division titles. It's a start. Let's be clear on something, though: It is hardly a finish.
The lineup changes Johnson made weren't drastic. They simply placed Steve Lombardozzi, one of the Nationals' highest on-base percentage players near the top spot in the order, and added Jayson Werth, another right-handed bat to the middle of an order that has been missing Ryan Zimmerman since last week.
