Nationals Make It Five in Row

Nationals 6, Braves 3

ATLANTA, Oct. 2 -- No matter the style in which the Washington Nationals end their 2009 season, they will likely be remembered more for their first week (winless) than their final week (wonderful). All the ugly truths have long been self-evident. When the season ends, the Nationals will have more losses than any other team in baseball. For all of Washington's spring training goals, the aspiration to claim the 2010 No. 1 pick and draft Bryce Harper was never quite included in the plan.

But here in the season's final days, baseball's poorest team is finishing as among its hottest. With Friday's 6-3 defeat of the Braves at Turner Field, the Nationals have a five-game winning streak -- no team in the National League has a longer one. They are firing on all cylinders, including a few they didn't even know they had. They're getting opposite-field power from September call-ups Ian Desmond and Justin Maxwell. They're getting quality starts from Liván Hernández, the potbellied, late-August, low-budget acquisition. They're getting doubles from Adam Dunn, who started the night in an 0-for-26 slump. No 103-loss team is having more fun.

"Winning is fun," Desmond said. "We need this momentum to carry us into spring training, into next season. It's so important. It's just good to see all the guys doing well. Dunner had a couple doubles tonight, [Mike] MacDougal got another save, Maxwell is swinging the bat great. This is all stuff that we need to go into spring training with so we can start it rolling earlier next year."

Though Washington has played well in the last week, this game took the offense to a higher level, relieving some pressure on the pitching staff. Even in their previous four games, the Nationals had struggled offensively, twice winning 2-1 games. Entering this game, they hadn't gotten 10 or more hits since Sept. 13. Since losing Nyjer Morgan on Aug. 27 to a broken hand, they were averaging just 3.4 runs per game. They ranked last in the National League in that span in batting average, on-base percentage and extra-base hits.

But the full cast of characters, on this night, led a barrage, sending Derek Lowe's sinkers to various unmanned portions of the deep outfield. Sometimes, the only person there to make a play was a ticket holder. In each of the five innings against Lowe (who lasted 4 2/3 ), at least two Washington players reached base. Desmond turned on an inside pitch in the second inning for a solo homer down the left field line. Dunn twice doubled to the opposite field. Desmond added a two-RBI triple to the right field corner in the third, giving Washington a 4-2 lead. Lowe, by the time he was yanked, had given up eight hits and five walks. He also allowed five extra-base hits.

Emerging from his slump, Dunn, after the game, joked that his new goal is "to win player of the month this month."

And even those in the winning clubhouse who weren't joking around enjoyed the hot streak.

"Here as of late, we've played good and won, and that's huge," interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "For players to realize that we can win these games, we can win series, we can compete against these teams who are potential playoff teams . . . it's hopefully going to be a confidence-booster for our whole ballclub."

Hernández, meantime, recorded his sixth quality start in his eighth outing with the Nationals. Down the stretch, the 34-year-old right-hander has become a stabilizing force in the Washington rotation. Hernández wants to return to the Nationals next season, and his final start in 2009 counted as a closing argument for his value.

Though Atlanta had six hits against him through four, and though Hernández lucked into several outs on liners, he never buckled. His final line: 6 1/3 innings, nine hits, three earned runs.

"Certainly Liván is going to pitching somewhere, and I would say the odds are it'll be with us," Riggleman said. "He's really impressed us, and he goes deep in the game -- that's the thing."