Phil Wood needs to work a Lerner complement into his rants or risk being Dibbled:
'll go out on a limb here and describe tonight's top of the 5th inning at Nationals Park as the ugliest half inning in memory since the ballpark opened 3 years ago.
There's no way to sugarcoat it - this one's squarely on the players. From Livan Hernandez' pitch location to his tardiness in covering first after Adam Dunn gloved Brian Bogusevic's infield single - an error that could've gone either way - to Willie Harris' fielding error in left to Roger Bernadina's misplay in center; 7 runs across the plate, only 3 earned, but a wretched display for the fans in the stands.
Then in the top of the sixth, Espinosa and Zimmerman make two highlight reel plays. Go figure.
The nearly-5 ERA that Bud Norris entered the game with was a smokescreen - he's pitched much better than that recently, and the Astros as a team have played around .600 baseball since the break. They're no pushover. Still, tonight's effort thus far is no way to begin the season's final homestand.
