Washington at 13-12 entering homestand
It is already early May and the Nationals find themselves in an unusual position entering a six-game homestand this week.
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Major League Baseball’s worst team two years running is still a game above .500 with a 13-12 record — even after back-to-back ugly losses to the Florida Marlins over the weekend that had far more in common with 2008 and 2009 than this potential turnaround season.
Through 25 games in each of the previous four seasons Washington was 8-17. So while it remains a long way from contention in the National League East, a winning record in May counts as progress.
Livan Hernandez gets the start for the Nats on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. as they begin the homestand at Nationals Park against the Atlanta Braves, who they face for the first time in 2010. Kenshin Kawakami (0-4, 5.48 ERA) starts for Atlanta.
Hernandez has been Washington’s best pitcher so far. Not bad for a reclamation project who was signed off the scrap heap at the end of last season just to eat some innings. But Hernandez showed renewed promise late last summer and got in better shape during the offseason. With the knee problems that have hampered him since his last go-around in the District now completely behind him, Hernandez is pitching like the 2005 version of himself. He is 3-1 with a 0.87 ERA in four starts and has yet to allow more than two earned runs in a game. The 35-year-old right-hander has walked just eight batters in 31 innings.
That’s been a huge boost for a pitching staff that has lost free agent signee Jason Marquis for at least six weeks with bone chips in his elbow. John Lannan and Craig Stammen have been inconsistent so far. Scott Olsen has had two good starts, one average one and also took a beating from the Colorado Rockies on April 20.
Hernandez is coming off a seven-inning performance at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday. He gave up just one run on six hits with a walk in a 3-1 victory that night.
The Braves sit in last place in the NL East at 11-14. They snapped a nine-game losing streak by sweeping lowly Houston at Turner Field over the weekend. Tommy Hanson (2-2, 2.17 ERA) and Tim Hudson (2-1, 2.87 ERA) also will start for Atlanta in this series. They are opposed by Washington’s Luis Atilano (2-0, 2.25 ERA) — making his third big-league start — and Olsen (2-1, 4.35 ERA) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
