Dodgers blank Nats for 2nd straight night, 5-0 OR Nats batters laid Lowe

I really thought that the Nats would have a fair chance against the Dodgers tonight. I figured that we'd already suffered through Brad Penny, and our own Mike Bacsik was pitching well, so maybe they'd give the Dodgers a battle.

Wrong again.

The Dodgers Derek Lowe threw 113 pitches for 64 strikes (57%) over 7 innings, and managed to allow only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

The Nationals Mike Bacsik threw 74 pitches for 48 strikes (67%) over 6 innings, and allowed 4 runs, walking 1 and striking out 1. He did okay, right up until the 5th and 6th innings, when the wheels fell off. Not his fault that he didn't have any run support.

In truth, it was a pretty boring game. About as bad as the previous night. The weather was nice, real warm and slightly humid. The announced crowd was 22,000+ though it seemed smaller than Tuesday night's announced crowd of 18,000+.

Cristian Guzman hasn't had a good couple of days defensively, but he did have 2 of the Nats 4 hits. Lopez had one, and Ryan Church had the other.

Ryan Report: Those with weak constitutions might want to skip this part - Church 1 for 2 with a walk, Zimmerman 0 for 3 with a walk, Langerhans 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns 0 for 3. Congratulations, Derek Lowe.

Maybe it was the full moon. Maybe it's the economy. Maybe it's something else, but the Nats were just powerless these past two nights. It could be that the Dodgers are just the real deal, a team that is likely going to be around in the post-season. That's what I'd like to believe, anyway.

Being my day off, I was able to get to the park early and get something to eat before the game started. One happy surprise was the return of Rico at the Main Gate - the Ambassador of Baseball Cheer is back! I knew it before I even got to the gate, I could hear him, but I thought I must be mistaken, as I thought that he'd left, but I was happy to be wrong about that. For all of you fans who park in Lots #7 and #8 and come in to R.F.K. via Gates A or F, you're missing out on being greeted by the most enthusiastic vendor in the whole stadium. Come through the Main Gate over by the Team Store side sometime and you'll see what I mean.

I also bumped into William Yurasko, who was on a search for a particular shirt. We chatted a bit and got caught up. I grabbed an Attman's corned beef sandwich and saw Howard for an MGD and settled in for a nice evening. It was perfect baseball weather again, and I was pretty happy to watch the game unfold on the field, at least until the 5th and 6th innings.

It's painful to see the team struggle, even against a top-notch opponent like the Dodgers. I've always said that there's no shame in losing to a truly superior opponent, and manager Manny Acta repeated his claim that against such teams, the Nats have to play perfectly to give themselves a chance to win. I worry about the effect that loses such as these have on the players mentalities. Sure, they're professionals, but they're still human beings. It's one thing to say, "Ya gotta shake it off and just get back out there tomorrow", but it's another thing to really be able to take that to heart and do it. As I heard Bob Carpenter mention recently, baseball is better than football in that respect - rather than having to stew about a tough loss for a whole week, you can usually forget about it in less than 24 hours.

I'll try to forget about it as Micah Bowie tries his best tonight to get them a win. I'll be there!