It's the opening game, so Nats fans should stay positive, and not dwell on the negative of yesterday's 12-6 loss to the Florida Fish.
So there was Adam Dunn's massive three-run homer. Mike Hinckley pitched a scoreless inning of mop-up duty. And... And...
That's about it.
If you had Doc Brown's time machine you could've ported this game into August of last season and, other than wondering when you traded for Dunn, it would've fit right in: lousy pitching, blah offense, and errors. Oh, those errors.
Johnny Lannan just didn't have it. He's a decent enough pitcher, but he's never going to be a true ace. He just doesn't have the raw stuff of the league's elite.
But he does have command. He can drop that curve inside or outside. And he can spot that fastball where he needs it.
But when he doesn't have feel -- as he didn't yesterday -- it's batting practice. Too many pitches found the heart of the plate, and two of 'em left the yard.
All the runs weren't entirely the pitchers' fault though. The team played some first-class lousy defense.
Adam Dunn butchered a ball in left, turning a sure out into a hit (which led to the first two Fish runs). Lastings Milledge turned former Nat Emilio Bonifacio's long fly ball into an inside-the-park homer since he had him played so shallow.
And the "Gold" Glover, Ryan Zimmerman had another one of his airmail throws. Any time he's got enough time to snare the ball, stare at it, contemplate where he could sign the sweet spot and figure out how much he could charge his fans, he's going to toss it away.
Sure, there wasn't much to smile at. And a whole lot that caused indigestion, but it's baseball!
(You're still allowed to think that for the first week -- before the bitterness of losing fully sets in.)
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He thinks that Bob Carpenter's announcing didn't make the game any easier to endure.
