It was a battle of two of the bottom feeders, and the Nationals came out on top. If you’re a Nationals’ fan, your lucky number is seven because that’s how many runs the Nats scored in each of the three games.
Friday’s game was the closest. The Cubs took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth when the Nationals tagged Bob Howry for three runs to give the Nationals the lead. Mark Prior had another bad start and he hasn’t won a game since some time last year. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings and he gave up four runs on four hits and three walks. Aramis Ramirez was on fire and he went yard twice and drove in three runs.
The Cubs had the lead yesterday as well but the Nationals scored the final five runs of the game to win it 7-3. Scott Williamson took the loss and got traded for his troubles (more on that). Ramirez homered two more times and he drove in two runs. Sean Marshall left the game after four innings and he’s now on the disabled list with a rib injury.
This afternoon’s game was the most lopsided. The Cubs scored their one run on Neifi Perez’s sac. fly. Once again, we couldn’t get an official game out of starter as Carlos Marmol gave up five runs on six hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.
And it doesn’t get much tougher because the Cubs start a three game series against the best team in the National League, the Mets. The Cubs are no 23 games below .500 and they have only two more wins then the last place Pirates.
The Cubs did make a deal this weekend. They traded Scott Williamson to the San Diego Padres for Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo. Both were sent to Single A and neither show up in John Sickel’s Baseball Prospect Book. Both had horrible strikeout to walk ratios so far this year and both have a WHIP above 1.500, so these are guys we won’t be seeing for at least a couple of years.
