161-1?

Well, teams lose games, so I'm certainly not surprised that the Nats left the ranks of the unbeaten today, but the way they did it was frustrating. After jumping out to a 5-0 first inning lead, Jay Bergmann pitched very well for five innings, but the wheels started coming off in the sixth. He gave up thee runs all by himself, was removed, and Saul Rivera was unable to keep Bergmann's additional two baserunners from crossing the plate, making Bergie's line look way worse than it was. 5.1IP, 5ER, 1BB, 6K is the ugly stepsister of 5IP, 1ER, 6K, which was his line after five.

Saul Rivera was actually unable to really do anything, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 ER without retiring a batter. Ray King came in and cleaned things up for a while, followed by a good inning from Joel Hanrahan, and Luis Ayala who was part of a walkfest, but got out of it unscathed. Jesus Colome pitched a good ninth, but was given the questionable signal to IBB both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases. He then walked Jayson Werth in on four pitches to end the game. I wasn't able to watch the game on TV, but the pitches better have been well wide for an umpire to have the balls to call four straight balls to end a baseball game.

The IBBs today were actually just really annoying in general. Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome were both asked to IBB Chase Utley and Ryan Howard today, and certainly those two are very good hitters, but you have to imagine that putting two guys on base for free has an effect on a pitcher's mental game. Furthermore, the 10th inning walks to Utley and Howard loaded the bases to allow for the winning run to be walked in. Utley has a career .357 OBP and Howard has a career .387, but walking them for free gives them that 1.000 for free of charge. I just don't like it. Six or seven times out of ten, if you pitch to them, they get nothing.

But while the pitching was suspect, the hitting was pretty good. Fourteen hits is good to see obviously, though Ryan Zimmerman's 0-6 line wasn't pretty. The real question in my mind is why Willie Harris was trotted out to bat in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Dmitri Young remained planted firmly on the bench while Harris grounded out to first. That's really confusing to me, because I thought the whole idea of D-Meat on the bench was that he would get some clutch late game at bats, while I thought the idea of Willie Harris on the bench was that he could do everything, but none of it very well. I'm sure Manny has his reasons, but I had a few choice words for MLB.com when I saw who the pinch hitter was, that's for sure. Also confusing was the eighth inning decision to pinch hit Rob Mackowiak for Joel Hanrahan, and then pinch Lo Duca for Mackowiak without Mackowiak taking a pitch. I mean, I know they were going for the righty vs. lefty match up, but what a way to waste a bench player. One who could have been useful, perhaps, in place of Willie Harris in the ninth. OH WAIT THERE WAS SOMEONE READILY AVAILABLE WHO IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ADEPT AS A HITTER THAN WILLIE HARRIS.

Did I mention that I didn't like that move?

Today's lineup also managed to generate a good amount of hitting without being the A-team. Three starters were given the day off today, as a Boone (probably Bob) played first, Jesus Flores caught, and Felipe Lopez made his debut in left. Felipe didn't seem to be too awful from what the internet has told me, he didn't make any errors or anything, as he went 1-5. Jesus was trying desperately not to get sent to AA as he singled, stroked a pair of doubles, and walked, driving in a run in the process. He also notably didn't strike out, which has been one of his problems. His performance today once again raises the questions of why Paul Lo Douchebag (oh my god, do you see what I did there?) is playing every day. I think maybe I have an idea for an answer. While I wouldn't be able to tell even if I watched the game, it's possible that Flores' game calling ability was what hurt Bergie and Saul today. I really don't know if that's true, and certainly Lo Duca allowed the pitchers to get six runs tacked on them a couple of days ago, but it's one of the few explanations I can come up with that would make sense.

Ah well. O-Diesel Perez will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Braden Looper as the Nats (3-1) head out to St. Louis (2-1).

And while one season is just beginning, another is nearing its end. If the Caps can beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and the Flyers split their last two games of the season, the Caps will make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. How glorious that would be.