One Down, Two to Go...

Yes! The Washington Nationals are in town. This Nationals club led the Majors with 46 losses coming into Tuesday night. Many Yankees fans, including myself, would think that this is a good thing, to be facing the worst team in the Majors. Three quick and easy wins, right?

Guess again. There are a few things going against us in this series. The Nationals are going to throw three pitchers that this Yankees team is unfamiliar with: Shairon Martis, John Lannan, and Craig Stammen. What happened the last time the Yankees faced a pitcher they didn't quite know? The Mets' Fernando Nieve held the Yankees down for 7 solid innings over the weekend. And it wasn't the Yankees offense slumping, because they rocked the 2nd best left-handed starter (maybe the best) in baseball for 9 runs in 3 innings the following day.

Judging from last night's 5-3 victory, this series could three close games. One bad start from any starter (especially Chien-Ming Wang tonight) could be too much to overcome, as this Nationals' offense is potent. Adam Dunn will not leave town without having some fun of his own in the new softball field in the Bronx. Their starters may hold us down for a few innings, but as long as our starters can keep us in the game (as CC did last night), this offense can explode on the Nationals' non-existent bullpen. If we're within 2 runs when the bullpen takes over for the Nationals, don't worry, we've got it in the bag.

And we need to have all three games in this series. Every team in our division (besides the Rays, what a bad break for them) will play the Nationals for three games this season. I don't know what advanced scouting is out there, but I do not see the Red Sox losing any games to the Nationals when they play later in the month.

Therefore, this series turns out to be a no gain situation. If we win all three, we merely keep pace with the Red Sox, who will have their Nationals bashing turn. However, if we lay down and give one away, the Red Sox will surely be ready with the dagger. The Yankees need to put pressure on the Sox. If we can't beat the Red Sox, we better beat everybody else, Nationals included. I don't see this as winning three games, I now see this as keeping pace with the rest of the division. If the Nationals steal a game from the Red Sox or Blue Jays, we can then appreciate the fact that we did our job and took all three games. One game is in the books, only two more to go...