Jinx Beater

It would seem we have another late-inning go-to guy flourishing on the Nats. A player who is as clutch as Tony Romo wishes his fingertips were. Add Jesus Flores to the relentless stream of large-and-small-scale redemptive stories of this season. His fall and rise came together in a single game, and even overcame, eventually, the bedeviling Carpenter/Sutton jinx. This dangerous jinx seems to be growing rapidly (it has already claimed Shawn Hill at least twice), and appeared to be well on the way to destroying young Flores last night.

After Jesus dropped the first of his two botched popups, our man Sutton boldly declared, "He won't do that again for five years." Anyone else think it would inevitably happen in a much, much, much shorter timeframe after that? Seriously, these guys should just start talking about no-hitters during the second inning, hitting for the cycle after a first-inning single, and a Game 7 World Series victory during a spring training preview in February. Why not? Better yet, they should start making video games.

Back on point: as we know, you can't keep a good saviorly named man down, particularly not an impressionable youngster raised in the Acta School of 'Tism. Flores delivered a ninth-inning, two-out, game-winning shot down the left field line that was as crisp and refreshing as a post-game interview shaving cream pie. Don't mess with Jesus, don't mess with Manny, and if your name is Carpenter or Sutton, just don't mess with anything.