The Plan Marches On

Another piece is falling into place: clutch hitting. Six runs with two outs tonight! Did the Nats have that many in the first 63 games of the season? With a 7-4 win over the Baltimore (not Washington) Orioles, broadcast with pride on the Mister Angelos Screws the Nats (MASN) network, Washington is but ten games under .500. Do we dare mention that they are just as many games out of the wild card spot? Probably not (yet), but regardless, records like 1-8 and 9-25 are becoming more distant memories, and may not have even happened.

It was great to hear a large (or at least loud) contingent of Nationals fans in our lovely neighbor's house tonight. It seems to us, based on this circumstantial-yet-convincing evidence, that a sizable portion of the Nationals' fan base resides in the Baltimore area, thus making it Washington "territory", thus making it essential to the team's survival that the Orioles be contracted (or moved to Montreal/San Juan) and the holy "territory" be preserved. Right, Peter? But we digress.

A great start to a new series in what is becoming a longer and longer stretch of success for the Nats (18-12 since that little eight-game losing streak that also may not have happened). We've always had faith in The Plan, but not even on our most optimistic day (which is every day) did we think so much could happen so soon.

Calm down, it's just one win against a lesser team, you say? Balderdash. Each win is as precious a building block for the future as each of these guys. A win against the Orioles might even be worth two Josh Smokers.

Finally, lest we forget, Chad gets his 100th save, also making some bad memories more distant. The Plan knows no bounds.