The 2008 season is crashing to an appropriate end for Manny Acta’s Nationals.
Even the admittedly meager goals left to them — avoiding 100 losses and not finishing with the worst record in Major League Baseball — seem unlikely after a weekend sweep by the equally inept San Diego Padres.
Recommended Stories
Kevin Kouzmanoff doubled home two runs in the first inning and another in the eighth and the Nats could do little offensively against San Diego starting pitcher Cha Seung Baek, who gave up just one run in seven innings of a 6-2 Padres’ win.
The two teams featured identical records entering the series, but the Nats (58-98) leave needing to win five of their final six games to avoid 100 losses. With the sweep, San Diego (61-95) seems out of the running for the No. 1 pick in next June’s Major League Baseball draft — likely its own hometown phenom Stephen Strasburg, a right-handed pitcher for San Diego State.
“Hey, the Padres are a major-league team,” Acta said. “You could say the same thing to the Dodgers about us when we swept them [last month]. It’s baseball. Every team in the majors has a chance to beat the other club.”
Nats starter Odalis Perez allowed three hits in the first, but retired 14 of the next 16 batters and struck out a season-high 11. The only other mistake was a leadoff home run by Adrian Gonzalez in the sixth. Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI.
