NATIONALS Hope Ray Takes Holiday This Afternoon
Halladay
Beward the Ides of May.
The Atlanta Braves, all alone in firt place in the NL East, pulled into San Diego and lost all three games this past week. They haven't been the same since. Sometimes, all it takes is a single series to derail an entire season.
The Jays would love to be the team to derail the Nationals this wekend in Toronto.
Last night was just one of those games. You shrug your shoulders and take your wife out to dinner. But remember, we just did that last week against Milwaukee. We're allowed only "so" many shrugs in the season. Teams like Kansas City and Tampa have already used their allotments. We haven't, but we're beginning to.
Ted Lilly has been a terrible pitcher this year, a pitcher that most baseball fans would say, "Oh, is he still in the league?" Yet, Mr. 10.40 ERA holds the Nats to one run on a handful of hits. Sound familiar? Maybe like, oh, I don't know ... Wes Obermeuller? The Washington Nationals are beginning to turn a bunch of "whos" into "wows" and that is not a good sign.
Going into to the season, GM Jim Bowden said that we were "one bit bat short." That was true then, but what about now? With the injuries, we're about 3 1/2 basts short. We can't come back and win a game 7-6. Right now, our only hope is for that pitching staff to continue to keep the opposition under 4 runs, which it has done so well all season. But how long can they keep that up?
Looks like Claudio Vargas' first game against the Diamondbacks was an abberation. Sad. This means that Ohka or Day HAS to return to the world of the living for the Nats to continue towards respectability.
Ray Halladay is the Blue Jays version of Livan Hernandez. He is 6-2 with an ERA of 3.13. In 69 innings, he has walked only 11 and struck out 47. He has a plus fastball that tops out at 97mph, and a knuckle curve that can embarass even the most veteran of player.
Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. Tony Armas is a gifted pitcher, but he knows that at this stage in the season, a single mistake can cost him the game. And when a pitcher is too careful, well, he usually is too often the loser.
Oh, Canada.
# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 10:32 AM 
