To This We've Come

The Nationals aren't at the mathematical brink (Not even the Cardinals have technically clinched). Yet, they've reached the breaking point.

With their second straight defeat of the hapless New York Mets, the Nationals lurch forward slightly in their race for the Wild Card.

At the end of the night, this is what the standings look like:

78 -- Florida
78 -- Philadelphia
77 -- Houston
75 -- Washington

The Nationals are three games back. Unfortunately, they have just 16 left.

At a minimum, this team is going to have to go 12-4 in those 16. With that, they'd have 87 wins.

To reach that same 87 wins, Florida would need to only go 9-7. Philly would need to do the same. Houston would have to do a little better -- 10-7.

It's an uphill climb, but it's not completely unreasonable. Both Houston and Philly have losing records in their last 10.

But the most important thing is that this team rips off a streak that reminds us of what caused us to fall in love with the team during that magical May and June.

If they can recapture that magic, this team can do the unthinkable.

They may be sputtering, but they're not quite dead yet.