Nationals Drop to Basement on the Season

ALEXANDRIA, VA - The Washington Nationals dropped a 7-2 contest to the Cincinnati Reds on July 19 to fall to 40-53 on the season.

The 13-game below .500 mark means that the Nats are in the basement of the very competitive National League East - 14 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta.

The Braves weigh-in at 54-38 and maintain a five game lead on the second-place New York Mets (49-43).

Rounding out the third and fourth spots are the Philadelphia Phillies (48-44) and the Florida Marlins (45-47).

The Nats will send right-hander Luis Atilano to the mound on July 20th, versus the Reds, to attempt to turn things around.

Atilano is one of eight Nationals pitchers with at least a .500 record at this juncture of the season.

Atilano weighs-in at 6-6 overall (4.85 ERA).

The other seven include: Stephen Strasburg 4-2 (2.03), Tyler Clippard 8-6 (3.19), Livan Hernandez 6-6 (3.27), Matt Capps 3-3 (3.10), Drew Storen 2-1 (2.28), Doug Slaten 2-1 (2.79) and Scott Olsen 2-2 (3.77).

Washington's team pitching ranks 11th in the entire National League in terms of ERA - specifically 4.14.

The Nats team offense ranks tied for eighth in the entire National League in terms of batting average - specifically .259.

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Both professional soccer teams in the D.C. area are also struggling somewhat this season.

On the Men's side, D.C. United is dead last in Major League Soccer's Eastern Division.

United has won three games, lost 11 and has played three to a draw. In its most recent game, D.C. United dropped a 2-1 contest to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

United, the most successful franchise in the entire league over its lengthy history, has had serious trouble scoring this season.

In 17 contests, United has merely scored 12 goals which ranks dead last in the entire 16-team league.

If the playoffs were to commence today, Los Angeles, Real Salt Lake, Dallas, Colorado, San Jose, Columbus, New York and Toronto FC would be the eight teams to qualify - with Houston, Seattle, Chivas USA, Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia, New England and D.C. United left out.

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On the Women's side, the Washington Freedom has won four, lost five and has played five to a draw. (In its most recent game, the Freedom dropped a 2-1 contest to the Boston Breakers).

In the seven-team league, FC Gold Pride maintains the top spot with a record of 10-3-1.

The next six teams in order: Philadelphia (6-5-3), Sky Blue FC (5-6-3), Washington and Chicago both tied at (4-5-5), Boston (4-5-4) and Atlanta (2-7-4).

First-place FC Pride will visit Washington July 24th at 7 pm.

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The Washington Redskins (4-12 a season ago) will play at home for their first two regular season games this autumn.

The first eight games in the Skins regular season are Sept. 12 and 19 - host Dallas and Houston respectively; Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 - visit St. Louis and Philadelphia respectively; Oct. 10 and 17 - host Green Bay and Indianapolis respectively; Oct. 24 and 31 - visit Chicago and Detroit respectively.

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The '10/'11 high school sports schedule will commence in approximately 5-6 weeks with Golf leading the charge, chronologically at least.

A week or so after Golf commences the proceedings: Cross country, Field hockey, Football, Soccer and Volleyball will get under way in earnest.