Birthday Ball

A big Triple Play shout out to Dave on the anniversary of his birth! Cake & ice cream (ok, beer and pretzels) will be served in Sec. 313 this afternoon in honor of Dave's nativity. And now, on with the show...

• Nationals 6, Phillies 1

It's Earl Weaver time! The Orioles skipper once said, "The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers." For months the Nats have been adept at the first two and abyssmal at the last one, but somebody in the clubhouse must have finally read Weaver's wisdom inscribed on a bathroom wall somewhere. Not one, but two 3-run homers keyed a must-win against our neighbors to the north. Oh, and another outstanding performance on short rest from Esteban "Stubby" Loaiza.

A Call to Arms

A bold prediction... if the Nats fail to make the playoffs it won't be because of the lack of offense, it will be because the starting rotation fell apart and we had no pitching depth to back it up. Double-A righty Darrell Rasner, doing his best Matt White impression, will get the call-up and the start against the Marlins this week, while Tony Armas has been banished to the bullpen.

This leaves Frank with just four starting pitchers (one of whom is John Halama), and serious thoughts about going with a four-man rotation down the stretch. Fans interested in joining a class action lawsuit against the team for mismanagement should contact the law firm of Ohka, Vargas, Kim & Day which has offices conveniently located in Milwaukee, Phoenix and Denver.