Great Four-Start Streaks in Nationals History

Everyone's going ga-ga over Jason Bergmann's latest outings. While I've been a bit skeptical, I've also talked about how his stuff does appear different, so this might not be just a hot streak, but something that happens when everything clicks into gear. That being said, we've seen four-game streaks by some otherwise mediocre pitchers recently.

Ramon Ortiz: 5/23-6/7/06, 2.63 ERA, 27.1 IP, 22 K

Tony Armas: 4/12-4/28/06: 2.59 ERA, 24.1 IP, 17 K

Livan Hernandez: 7/22-8/6/06, 3.00 ERA, 27 IP, 20 K

Mike O'Connor: 4/27-5/13/06, 2.86 ERA, 22 IP, 15 K

Zach Day: 4/30-5/17/06, 3.13 ERA, 23 IP, 10 K

Tony Armas: 7/2-7/23/05, 3.00 ERA, 21 IP, 15 K

Ryan Drese: 6/15-7/3/05, 2.08 ERA, 26 IP, 8 K

Bergmann, for comparison's sake, is at 1.78 over his last 4 starts with 25 K in 25.1 IP.

Given the K totals and how fluky some of those performances were -- only Ramon Ortiz' performance looked real, because he was K-ing batters for the first time all year -- we might be nervous. But Bergmann hasn't been succeeding on smoke and mirrors. He's been overpowering batters in a way that none of those other guys really did. He, of course, really isn't a 1.78 ERA pitcher, but then nobody really is!

Think he can keep it up? We'll have a good idea today, as he faces off against Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs.

The Nats have been good at the reverse lock this year, defeating some tough pitchers like Smoltz and Hamels, despite seemingly being outmatched.

But with Bergmann's hot pitching, and Carlos Zambrano's near-6 ERA, this almost seems like a reverse reverse lock! Still, if Bergmann keeps that slider away from Soriano, he could have lots of fun this afternoon. First pitch in 30 minutes! Following along? Chat away here, if you're bored.

This is why I don't gamble... 4 runs and counting in the first inning!!!