Our long Nationals nightmare is over

Well, it ended the losing streak, at least. Livan pitched in and out of trouble last night, Clip n' Save performed as advertised...but the offense didn't really do much. If we have to rely on dingers from Guzman and Morse to get those curly W's, we're going to be in a world of hurt. Pat Reddington has the details on last night's game. Ben Goessling provides a clip of Riggleman's post-game interview.

After John Lannan packed his bags for Harrisburg (and, hopefully, a headspace adjustment from Randy Tomlin) the question inevitably arises: who's going to replace him? Mark Zuckerman looks at three possibilities. While we're on the topic of John Lannan, Steven at Fire Jim Bowden doesn't like the way Rizzo handled this one bit, and neither does Chris at Capitol Punishment. One has to wonder - when are the other non-performing assets on the roster going to be sent on their way? Given the way the offense has been sputtering of late, I don't see how we can justify leaving Willie Harris and Taveras continue to leech playing time from Morse and Bernadina, who are clearly better players. It would also clear space to get someone in center field who fields better than Nyjer Morgan.

Brian Oliver brings the word about the farm teams.

Meanwhile in St. Charles, the Blue Crabs (32-24) swept four games at Long Island to take a half-game lead in the Atlantic League's Liberty Division. They'll be hosting the Newark Bears (18-38) in a three game series starting tonight; so far this season the Crabs have a 5-2 lead in the season series, including three wins in the Bears' home turf earlier this season. The Bears are managed by former Expos outfielder Tim Raines, while the Blue Crabs are led by former Red Sox  third sacker Butch Hobson, who has made a second career out of managing in the independent leagues. Tickets for tonight's game available here; note that kids under 5 get in free.

Over in Bowie, the Baysox are doing much better than the parent club, posting a 36-33 record in the Eastern League's Western Division, most recently taking two out of three from the Nats' AA farm team in Harrisburg. They're on the road for three games each against Reading and Altoona, coming home for a double-header against Erie on the 28th which will combine Tailgate Tuesday (featuring live music by Terry Glaze of Pantera) with a Twilight promotion featuring blood chugging, book & ticket giveaways, and trivia contests. Should be an interesting mix.

Meanwhile,  the Baysox' single-A partners in Frederick have nailed down the first-half title in the Northern Division of the Carolina League with a 41-29 record. They're off until Tuesday due to the Carolina League All-Star break.