The Prodigious Son Returns

Livan Hernandez waddles in from the left-field bullpen for the second time since the Nats traded him to the Diamondbacks. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. He's nothing if not entertaining (unless you were a Nats fan watching him pitch BP for 2/3 of a season last year).

Whatever was wrong with him here in Washington, the dry warm air of Arizon healed him. He was excellent for them down the stretch, putting up a 3.76 ERA in his 10 starts last year. He got off to a good start this year when he shut down the Rockies in Colorado for seven innings back on the third.

Opposing him is Shawn Hill and his turbosinker -- the poor man's (VERY poor) Brandon Webb. Hill, knowing that Josh Wilson won't be behind him today, probably slept well last night. How well he does today is going to depend on how well Lopez and Belliard do behind him.

Call me optimistic, but I think we pull it out today. (Unless Livan cranks a three-run bomb). It's Easter Sunday, and strange things that woeful franchises cling to for year after year after year sometimes just seem to happen.

But perhaps that's just the rationalization I've come up with to explain why I'm going to be spending a cold Easter holiday in the cheap seats cheering on a crappy team.

It should be on MASN2 (Screw you, Peter!). If you're watching, chat along here.