Fish Hate Byrds

• Nationals 11, Marlins 1

Marlins, meet Marlon. You can say the Fish are slumping, that their clubhouse is in disarray, that Jack McKeon makes Frank Robinson look like Dr. Phil, but the bottom line is, the Nats went out and thumped arguably the best pitcher in the league. Hit him hard and consistently over several innings. Our boys have outscored the Fish 15-1 in the last two games, and one more win guarantees a .500 season. Let's see some run support for Stubby!

See, now I'm going to have to go rip Tony Armas Jr.'s arm off. Jose Guillen, pontificating on his subpar season, listed a number of valid justifications for his slump, most notably the myriad injuries that have hounded him all season. (Being the league leader in HBPs probably didn't help either.) But then he had to go and mention the fences at RFK. Said Jose, "I don't want to make excuses. I just need to make sure people understand I'm not playing in Philadelphia or Cincinnati, in those ballparks. I was playing in a really tough ballpark. I wasn't able to put on a show for the home fans." Judging by all the Phillies fan at RFK lately, one could be forgiven for thinking Jose was playing in Citizens Bank Park.

Platoon Spells Doom for Wilkie?

Brad Wilkerson is arbitration eligible in the offseason, and will likely earn slightly more then the $3.05 million he's making this year. The Times is hinting that he might be trade bait instead. If Wilkie goes, Ryan Church and Marlon Byrd are the logical replacements. Here's a look at how Brad's 2005 stats line up against the aggregate Byrd/Church.

B. Wilkerson: 552 AB, .250 avg, 74 R, 138 H, 40 2B, 7 3B, 11 HR, 57 RBI, 82 BB, 145 K, 7 SB

Byrd/Church: 477 AB, .277 avg., 56 R, 132 H, 28 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 62 RBI, 40 BB, 116 K, 6 SB

Even with all the Ks Wilkie produces a higher on-base percentage, but it's tough to argue that his numbers are dramatically better than the Byrd/Church platoon that would likely replace him.