The Nationals played well vs. the St. Louis Cardinals in this weekend’s 4-game series.  As I predicted, they split series, winning 2 games apiece. The Cardinals won games 1 and 3, game 1 being a rout of Washington.  The other games were closer.  The Nats took games 2 and 4, game 4 being won on a walkoff (ha ha! The Nats always win Game 4 walk-offs against the Cardinals!) by Denard Span, who hit a liner out to LF Jon Jay and Espinosa scored on the sac fly.  The Cardinals played ony 2 outfielders on the play and had 7 men in the infield.

That series, however, is a thing of the past, and we don’t have to worry about the Cardinals again until the 2nd weekend of June.

This week, the Nats start inter-league play, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who play not far from Disneyland, come into town for the first matchup in Major League play between slumping but still sweet-hitting outfielder Bryce Harper, and 5-tool face of the Angels, Mike Trout.  Let’s see what the Halos have this year:

What Is Nice Like Sugar And Spice?:  The Angels’ hitting has been sufficient for the first part of the 2o14 season, and if it can carry on for the rest of the season, the Angels can be a good offensive team. Mike Trout has already hit 5 homers, Albert Pujols has hit 6 dingers, and altogether, the Angels have hit exactly 30 homers, by almost all of their starters. But manager Mike Scioscia says that their secret weapon, DH Raul Ibanez, won’t be playing that much in this series.

What Isn’t Going Well 2 Blocks from Disneyland?:  If you look at Los Angeles’s pitching rotation, the only famous names you will recognize are Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson.  Weaver is not looking so much like an ace, but Wilson is doing better.  He is 2-2. The Angels’ pitching record is 8-10.  Washington is a good team. The Angels’ so-so pitching might mean a three game sweep.

What Washington Needs To Do To Sweep: The Nats need to be careful and maybe pitch around Mike Trout.  Tanner Roark, Taylor Jordan, and Gio Gonzalez might be able to beat Los Angeles in pitching.  My prediction is that this 3-game inter-league series will be kind of easy for the Nationals, but I don’t want to jinx anything.

But before I go,  I’d like to ask you a question:

#HitTheHalosHard

By the way, I have been working on my post about the Miami Marlins game I attended last week.  There are so many pictures and stories that it is taking longer to write than I thought.  It is coming soon and you will love it!

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