Posts by Day: Monday, October 20, 2008

On March 30, 2008 the Nationals hosted the opening to the Braves and were able to play their first game at the new facility, the Nationals Park. George Bush was there to throw the first ceremonial pitch. This marked the exciting beginning of the 2008 Washington Nationals season. In April the Nationals blew out the Phillies 11 to 6. The Washington National started out strong at the beginning of their season at the first of April and then their winnings came to a halt. They lost sixteen games out of nineteen. They were able to win the last three games in April and one being against the Braves.

Cristian Guzman won an All-Star award for 2008. In July of 2008, the Washington Nationals traded Jon Rauch, who was a closer, to the Arizona Diamondbacks. This trade was made in order for the Washington Nationals to get Emilio Bonifacio who is an infielder. With Jon Rauch leaving, this will give Joel Hanrahan the first chance at being closer. As for the Washington Nationals, they have been doing okay, but in order to get ahead they will need more wins under their belts. In May they won three out of four of the first games. Then they turned around and lost two out of three games in Houston. In addition, they lost to the Florida Marlins. They have now lost more games than they have won for the month of May.

The closers have been having a hard time and the Nationals are struggling to find someone who can rack up the saves.