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Welcome to MASN's live thread for today's Nationals-Orioles game at Nationals Park. I'll have updates and analysis throughout the game, and whether you're just watching the game on TV or following online, you can participate by commenting in this thread. Or, if you're on Twitter, you can tag tweets with #masnnats, and they'll be included in the chat.
If you want to participate in the chat via our Gamezone space, which includes live stats, matchup data, pitch tracking and more, head here. And if you're not into in the live chat experience, that's fine, too; I'll provide periodic updates below the chat window.
Thru 4: With rain approaching at Nationals Park, things are getting ugly for the home team. The game was tied at two in the top of the fourth when Craig Stammen threw a juicy fastball over the middle of the plate to Adam Jones. Nyjer Morgan leaped at the wall for the ball, and thinking it was gone, hurled his glove as Josh Willingham retrieved the ball. It was too late to throw out Jones, and the Nationals gave up their second inside-the-park homer in four days. Morgan stayed in the game and singled in the next inning, but came up to a hearty round of boos. And at the end of the fourth, first-base coach Dan Radison was ejected for arguing with first-base umpire Mike Winters. The Nationals trail 4-3, but you can feel the frustration mounting for the Nationals here.
Thru 6: Things have turned around here for the Nationals. After trailing 6-3 at one point when Ty Wigginton hit his 13th (!) homer of the year off Craig Stammen, Washington rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth, starting a rally with three hits at the bottom of the order. The key to the inning was Roger Bernadina's triple to right, which scored Adam Kennedy. Bernadina has two hits today, and is hitting .281 with a .782 OPS. He's hitting consistently enough to solve many of the Nationals' right-field problems, and with the comeback, some of the ire toward Morgan has dissipated, for now. Watching the replay again, it appeared the ball hit his glove. So it's getting harder to believe he thought the ball was gone. But we'll see what he has to say about it after the game, and if the Nationals can hold on for the win.
