In the series against the Mets, the Nationals were haunted by one man, Juan Lagares. Because of Lagares, the Nats were denied a sweep. Lagares homered, had 3 RBIs and robbed Jayson Werth of a home run in the middle game, which I attended.

Ian Desmond had a really good series with a homer on both Saturday and Sunday, and I think he is about to get hotter.  Wilson Ramos also killed New York on Sunday, having a 4 RBI game with two two-run doubles. Tanner Roark and Jordan Zimmermann had great pitching performances on Friday and Sunday, but Gio Gonzalez was placed on the 15-day  DL with a shoulder problem after a really bad 3 innings on Saturday when he gave up 5 runs. Gonzalez got killed his last two pitching performances. I hope he gets some rest and comes back hot.  Blake Treinen, who made is MLB debut in a relief appearance in Atlanta last month, is starting in Gio’s place on Thursday.

As the Mets go out of town, the Reds come to Washington to play three games. This is the last home series before a short stint in Pittsburgh. Cincinnati has always been a challenge for Washington; they lost 15-0 to them last year on a miserable Dan Haren start, if you remember. However, the Nationals Stephen Strasburg on Monday, Doug Fister’s home debut on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we have Tanner Roark on the hill.

But Cincinnati is also posting some nice guys too. Mike Leake is facing his former Little League teammate in Stras, fierce pitcher Johnny Cueto makes a start vs. Doug Fister, and surprising new starter Alfredo Simon is facing Tanner Roark.  Do I think the Nats can win this series?

Yes, I do. But not a sweep. Johnny Cueto definitely out pitches Doug Fister, and I think the Nats will lose that game 5-3. OK, that’s just my prediction and because my predictions have not been really good this year I thought I would try to predict the scores too.  The Nats will take game one by a score of 5-4, and in game 3 it’ll be 4-2 Washington.

Last thing: I need a hashtag for Cincinnati. I was thinking #SteveMcCattyBeatCincinnati. Do you like that? You can tweet your comments or suggestions to me at @MattsBats.

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