Given that the Nats’ loss yesterday afternoon dropped their record in day games to a horrendous 14-35 (.286 winning percentage), I have a foolproof solution for someone to put in a bid to buy the team from the Lerners: Charles Montgomery Burns. Mr. Burns can install his giant sunshade over Nationals Park and keep the Nats more comfortable out of the sun, and see the win total rise! Also, he signed Wade Boggs once upon a time, so Mr. Burns knows the value of on-base percentage.

Mitchell Parker allowed a one-out walk to A’s shortstop Darnell Hernaiz in the top of the second, then surrendered a bomb to the next hitter, center fielder Colby Thomas, on a 3-1 count. The A’s got one more run in the inning (thanks largely to Daylen Lile - who shows at least once per game that he is not a major league-caliber outfielder - playing a double into a triple) and three more later in the game, but that was all superfluous. Soft-tossing southpaw Jacob Lopez cruised for seven and two-thirds, striking out ten Nats (including his final two hitters, one of which was an eighteen-pitch at bat - !!! - by Nathaniel Lowe to lead off the frame), and Justin Sterner recorded the final four outs, all on a mere 125 pitches.

The Nats collected just three hits (one, yet another double by the rejuvenated Robert Hassell III) and no walks while striking out a dozen times. On the homestand, the Nats scored eleven runs outside of meaningless ninth-innings while surrendering fifty-five. Eek.

What to do about James Wood? In 102 plate appearances beginning with the July 4th series that was the last straw in ending Mike Rizzo’s and Davey Martinez’s tenures, Wood is hitting .122/.225/.178 with one homer, ten walks, and forty-one strikeouts, and it looks that bad. He looks - as Zim put it the other day on the television broadcast - like he is caught in between, chasing way more than he ever has while watching very hittable pitches pop the mitt. He also appears to be coming open more to try and pull more balls or get to more pitches in on his hands, which has the end result of taking away his ability to drive stuff on the outer third to the opposite field. Once Dylan Crews returns, I hope the Nats consider giving Wood consecutive days off and more swings in the cage to help him get back to his good habits.

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