Nationals Take 2 of 3 from San Diego

Thanks to strong pitching and hot bats, the Nationals managed to win their second consecutive series by taking two out of three games from the San Diego Padres this weekend.  The offense was led by Ryan Zimmerman, who went 5-8 with two home runs and four RBIs in the first two games but went a dreadful 0-5 with 3 strikeouts in the finale, and Cristian Guzman who went 5-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs in his familiar number two spot in the batting order.  John Lannan threw eight strong innings in Sunday’s game to further prove he is now Washington’s ace but the real star of the series was Tyler Clippard.  Clippard came into Saturday’s game in the third inning following a lengthy rain delay and threw four shutout innings of one hit ball where he posted a remarkable seven strikeouts.  Clippard has been the team’s most valuable relief pitcher since being called up to the big league club.  There will be fans who will want to see the former starter get an opportunity to start again for this team but I feel his best role will be out of the bullpen for the Nationals.  It will be interesting to see if this series was used as a last audition for Josh Willingham, who has been linked in trade rumors as of late.  The Nationals will now try to take momentum into their upcoming road trip that starts with a three game set in Milwuakee.