John Patterson

John Patterson wasn't sure what hit him. After all he had an ERA under 1.00 for much of the year, and after a so-so start, he took his 1.65 ERA to the mound against the San Francisco Giants. Three innings and four runs later, he was in the showers, and his superlative ERA was now just good. Which is the real John Patterson? The first 4 starts, or the last 2?

Greg Maddux, the bespectacled, Clark Kent like pitcher, has had many more of those starts than Patterson. Of course, when you spread them over almost two decades, they are a minor part of his pitching career. To be sure, Greg Maddux is not the same pitcher he was during his halcyon days with the Braves. During the mid 1990s, his ERA hovered around 1.60 or so. He was simply unbeatable. Today, the tread is thin on his pitching rubber, and he gets by more now on guile than ability. Don't let that choir boy look fool you. His nickname, afer all, is "Bull Dog." Just as Eddie Murray in the 1995 World Series, who got knocked down by a Greg Maddux pitch after the Indians scored a few runs against him.

I felt perfectly comfortable asking Livan Hernandez to stop the bleeding last night. It was OK to say that if we didn't win last night, we might find ourselves in a free-fall for who knows how long. Hernandez has a lot of that "Bull dog " quality in him too. John Patterson, on the other hand, has never pitched in a "must win" game in his professional career. He's never felt the adreline rush of pitching against a man like Greg Maddux and knowing that he had to continue to right the Nationals "ship." It's not sinking, but it is taking on water.

No, to John Patterson, I say: Do your best. You haven't earned the label "stopper" yet so all we can ask of you is to do your best. We'll be content with that.

5 of the last 6 games have been decided by one run .... Ryan Church is 9-22 on Sundays .... The Nats pitching staff has allowed 3 earned runs or fewer in 17 of the last 18 games [John Patterson was the only "oops"] .... the starting pitchers have given up 3 runs or less in 83% of all of their starts .... Brad Wilkerson ranks 2nd in the major leagues in number of pitches seen with 669 .... Nick Johnson ranks 3rd in the NL in number of pitches seen per at bat at 4.38 .... The Nats hit 25 home runs in April and only 5 half way through May .... Jamie Carroll is hitting .344 since taking over for the injured Jose Vidro