After Two Emotional Wins, The Time Is Now For Nationals Playoff Push

| Posted on |

In 34 days, the Washington Nationals fell from 11 games over .500 to an ugly 42-42 record. Panic was setting in, and people were bailing fast on Bryce Harper and company. Then came America’s birthday: July 4th in Washington, D.C.. Over 42,000 fans showed up to Nationals Park to try and shake their team loose. The result. however, tipped the scales in the wrong direction. Instead of a celebration, the Nationals were shut-out 3-0 by Boston. More than half of their starters struck out multiple times and it seemed like all hope was lost.

Less than three full days after their Independence Day nightmare, things are looking better. The team scored two highly-emotional victories on back-to-back days, bringing their record back over .500 and their fans’ spirit out of the dumpster. I’m not sure who said it but the whole “darkest before dawn” saying is perfect for the Nats.

I say that because, while it’s not exactly ‘dawn’ right now, the team has a chance to bring things there. I mean, they came back from a 9-0 hole on July 5th! Down by that many to the Marlins in the midst of their struggles was easily the lowest point of the season. Yet, they managed to scratch and claw back into the game before winning 14-12. The next day on July 6th, they were tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth before their pinch-hitter, Mark Reynolds, pulled off some heroics. On a 3-1 pitch, he hit a bomb into the Marlins’ bullpen for a walk-off win.

These are the kind of wins that bring teams together. If they cannot rally at this point, it’s never going to happen. Luckily, they’re a team that actually has talent.  Some, as you probably know, aren’t performing well but have to sooner or later. Think about the 2015 New York Mets…they were able to parlay emotions into a late-season run and World Series’ appearance.

Moving forward, they have the same chance. It’s like, a perfect storm of HOPE for the Nationals:

A. They finally have momentum.
B. Their stars are WAY overdue to break out.
C. All nine remaining first-half games are against sub-.500 teams (MIA, PIT, NYM).
D. Judging from the Mark Reynolds’ celebration, it seems like they enjoy playing together.

Baseball is better when the Nats are in contention. Let’s just hope they can bottle up their current juju and make a run.

CATEGORY: MLB