It is said about good teams that they find ways to win when their go to guys have an off night. The Nationals are becoming the exact opposite. They're starting to find ways to lose when their achilles heel is a strong point.Their starting pitching was not the problem in their 8-0 loss to the Braves on Tuesday night. Rookie Matt Chico had given up only a home run to Andruw Jones through the first four innings. He should have been out of the fifth as well. But Ronnie Belliard dropped a pop-up much like the one caught in this picture, and the Braves scored three unearned runs with two outs to knock Chico out of the game. With the Nats bats asleep, the rest of the game was pretty much academic.
It's becoming increasingly evident that this is going to be an ugly, ugly season for the Washington Nationals. Here's a nugget for you: The Nationals, after eight games, have not yet sent a batter to the plate with the team in the lead. With a statistic like that, it's amazing the Nationals have a win.
Meanwhile for the Braves, Tim Hudson looks gosh darn good. His sinker was darting nicely, and he threw a back-up slider that fooled Brian McCann to the point he almost didn't catch the ball (you know you're going well when you fool your catcher with a pitch he called). Jeff Francoeur drove in five runs including the two that knocked Chico out of the game. As for Andruw Jones, he puts himself in the conversation as to who will top
Previously on The Fanhouse:
Is Andruw Jones Going Somewhere Else to Chase the Home Run Record?
