Tuesday Night's game was perhaps the most important game the Washington Nationals have played all year. Sure, opening day was special, the first game at RFK was huge, and that just completed 10 game winning streak was out of this world.

Then they got pummeled 11-1 by the Angels Monday Night.

The Nationals had two options; they could come to the ballpark Tuesday evening and revert back to that so-so team that was as likely to win that day's game as they were to lose. They could have easily said" Well, these guys are good, so their is no disgrace in losing to them." The Nationals of a couple of weeks ago, perhaps even a month ago, might have lost to the the Angels 11-1 the previous game and said, "Hey, no big deal; we'll get them tomorrow." No. This team was angry.

They came back to the park Tuesday afternoon ready to redeem themselves. They were a first place team playing a first place team. These were the NEW Nationals -- the first place, in your face, no disgrace Nationals who wouldn't take an 11-1 pummeling lightly.

Livan Hernandez didn't have his good stuff last night. No, that's not quite true. He didn't any stuff last night. He flirted with disaster all evening, eventually holding the Angels to 3 runs over 6 innings, giving up 9 hits and walking 3 -- not exactly the stuff to write home about. But the fact that he didn't have his stuff isn't the story. No, the story is that Livan Hernandez willed himself to keep the team close, and that he did. By the time he departed, the score was 3-1.

It could have been worse. With the bases loaded and two out, and with Livan seriously struggling, Darin Erstad sweet-spotted a sharp ground ball that should have scored at least two and broken the game wide open. Instead, Junior Spivey made a play at second that ESPN nominated for a web-gem that saved the inning, and ultimately, the day.

Nothing much happened until the 8th inning, when the Angels of Los Angeles over by Anaheim that once was in California that started in Los Angeles lost their cool.

And the game.

Brendan Donnely entered the game, but never threw a pitch. Tipped off by the Nationals' video technician, Frank Robinson asked to have the Angels reliever's glove inspected, and within moments, "quite a bit of pine tar" was discovered. Good bye, Mr. Donnely. Angels manager Mike Scioscia got angry. Then he got mean. He told Frank Robinson that he was going to "undress" each and every Nationals player for the rest of the series. What? That's like a husband catching his wife cheating, and the wife saying that she would have him watched 24/7 from that point on. Frank got mad, and deservedly so. True to his word, Scoscia "undressed" Gary Majewski when he came out to pitch the 8th inning.

Enter Jose Guillen.

Each time Guillen had come to the plate, the Angels fans let him have it with a cascade of boos normally reserved for the most hated of players. Monday night, Guillen dinked a single and drove in the Nats only run, but no one hardly noticed. Tuesday night, however, they noticed Jose Guillen. Jose's fiery personality has remained in check pretty much all season. Tuesday night, however, he lost his cool, which is wrong, but for the right reason. He was in the background while the bru-ha-ha was occurring on the field during the 8th inning until Mike Scioscia began his verbal barrage against Nats manager Frank Robinson. Guillen entered the fray to protect his manager. It took two coaches and all the strength they could muster to drag Guillen into the dugout to give him a chance to cool off. Once the game began again, Scott Shields came in and promptly hit Ryan Church. A purpose pitch? Enter Jose Guillen, who launched a laser over the left field fence to tie the game. The crowd grew quiet, then erupted in yet another crescendo of boos. Guillen watched the ball, flipped the bat, and s-l-o-w-l-y toured the bases, enjoying the moment. The Nats scored 3 more runs and ultimately won the game 6-3. Gary Majewski won the game and Scott Shields took the loss.

The Nationals showed me so much Tuesday night. After being the "darlings" of all baseball media, they were trounced by the Angels and relegated to back page news. They could have enjoyed the run, and quietly reverted back to the team they were before the winning streak. But they didn't They came back from that loss with a vengeance, determined to keep winning, demanding of themselves their very best. I waited to see if this was a winning team, or a team of winners. They are both.

A quick thought on the Jose Guillen / Mike Scioscia situation from last year. Based on how I saw Scioscia treat a hall of famer like Frank Robinson, maybe Guillen's actions, while not justified, were perhaps now more understandable.

regardless, the Nationals increased their lead in the NL East to 2 full games over the Phillies. If Philadelphia cools off while we remain hot, we could find ourselves 6 games up going into July.

Man. Who woulda thunkit.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 9:24 AM