If you watched Tim Kurkjian last night on ESPN, then you know just how close he came to an on-air myocardial infarction. In the history of the game, he said, what viewers just saw was history — the best night of baseball ever of any regular season. The best, as he repeated, in 200,000 games. In fact, he’s right — it might well have been.

Unless, of course, you’re a fan of either the Boston Red Sox or Atlanta Braves. For both of those clubs, and their fans, the “night to remember” was a belly-up sinking that compared with the loss of the “unsinkable” Titanic: it just wasn’t supposed to happen. Fans will focus on the Red Sox, of course, but down in Atlanta the despair was as keenly felt. You only have so many shots at this, and this may be one of the Braves’ last.

“When you’re in a slump as a team, you find a bunch of different ways to lose,” third baseman Chipper Jones said after the Bravos dropped a nail biter to the Phillies. “Bats go silent. You get wild on the mound. You walk in runs. You find different ways to lose and we sure did over the past couple weeks.”

Okay. But still — the most improbable of improbables was not the Braves loss to Philadelphia (let alone the Redbirds whitewashing of the Astros), or even the fact that somehow the Tampa Bay Rays came back to take a 12 inning victory from the Yankees, but Baltimore’s epic ninth inning walk off victory against the Nation. “Now, there’s something you don’t see every day,” the unsinkable Molly Brown said as she saw the Titanic go down, stern first.

And that’s what we all said, last night, when Robert Andino put a Jonathan Papelbon offering just off the glove of Carl Crawford in left field to score Noland Reimold and give the Orioles (the Orioles!) a walk-off 4-3 win in Baltimore. There’s a reason why fans keep their mouths shut when they’re watching a no-hitter in the ninth, just as there’s a reason why you don’t pitch Tim Wakefield eight times in the middle of a divisional race just so he can get his 200th win. (What the hell were they thinking?)

Here’s some other things you don’t ever do, no matter what. You don’t calculate that you have an inside shot just because the Rays are playing the Yankees, you don’t headline that you have “the best team ever” at the beginning of a season, you don’t describe the Iraqi insurgents as “pushovers” — and you don’t call a ship unsinkable when it’s sitting in Belfast Harbor: you don’t flirt with icebergs.

So . . . so don’t rewrite the rules. They remain, the rules. You don’t tempt fate, which is what the Red Sox did all of September, and it’s what they did last night. It’s call hubris, and it’s been around since Homer. “I’m pretty shocked,” Red Sox arm John Lester said. “Not only with the Rays game, but in our game, we’ve got the best closer in baseball. That stuff doesn’t happen to him.” Oh, c’mon. Sure it does.  This is baseball.

Washington Nationals rookie Brad Peacock pitched five complete innings, shutting down the New York Mets — and giving the Nationals a 2-0 shutout win (their fourth victory in a row) at Citi Field in New York. Peacock, one of a passel of arms in Washington’s pitching-heavy farm system, threw 94 pitches, 61 of them for strikes in his first start, and his first win, in the major leagues.

“To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to be nervous, but just like my last outing, once I made that first pitch, I was fine,” Peacock said, following the victory. “I made sure I took deep breaths out there. I settled in nicely.” Nats’s skipper Davey Johnson praised the young righty’s approach. “I was real impressed,” Johnson said. “He showed a lot of poise. He didn’t get flustered.”

The Nationals scored their only runs of the game in the top of the 3rd inning on a fielding error from David Wright. With Ian Desmond on first, Ryan Zimmerman was given a free pass, after which Michael Morse and Jayson Werth singled. Desmond and Zimmerman scored in the inning. That was all that Washington would need.

The Washington bullpen was again impressive. Former starter Tom Gorzelanny shut down the Mets in two complete innings, Tyler Clippard registered his 34th hold, and Drew Storen came on in the ninth inning to notch his 37th save. Gorzelanny was particularly effective, and has been so over the last ten games, lowering his ERA from 4.50 to 4.13.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Peacock throws a knuckle curve, though it’s reportedly more of a “spike” curve of the type thrown by Cliff Lee and Dan Haren, than a knuckling curveball that was used by Mike Mussina. But Peacock throws it more regularly than either Lee or Haren. The knuckle curve creator (though there is strong disagreement on this point), was Chicago’s Burt Hooton, back in the early 1970s . . .

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This win, a Washington Nationals 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in ten innings, was even more improbable than Friday’s walk-off 8-4 bloodletting. With Philadelphia leading in the bottom of the ninth and with two outs and two strikes on Ian Desmond (and the Philadelphia buses starting their engines in the parking lots), the Nationals’ young shortstop put an Antonio Bastardo offering into the second row in left field to tie the game.

The Desmond home run gave the Nationals a reprieve from what seemed an almost certain loss. The Nationals took advantage of the extra inning — loading the bases in the 10th on a Ryan Zimmerman double, an intentional walk to Michael Morse, and a Jayson Werth single. After Danny Espinosa struck out, Phillies’ reliever Brad Lidge hit Jonny Gomes. Lidge’s mistake gave the Nationals an unusual HBP walk-off — and a 2 of 3 series victory.

The stunning Nationals’ win overawed the solid pitching of starter Chien-Ming Wang (five hits and three earned in 5.2 innings), the toughness of the Nats’ bullpen (one earned run in 4.1), and the solid performances of the up-the-middle combination of Ian Desmond (2-5 with an RBI) and Danny Espinosa (3-5, two RBIs and a home run — his 18th). “Those two guys up the middle are very talented, and unfortunately I think a lot of people forget how young they are sometimes,” Ryan Zimmerman said following the victory. “It’s not easy to learn at this level, but they’re doing a great job with it.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Phillies’ bloggers are not taking this well. After making an insultingly stupid joke about Chien-Ming Wang prior to the game, The Good Phight told his readers that today’s game shows that baseball isn’t football. Brilliant . . . Phillies Nation said they were “a little shocked” by the loss, then crowed that “Phillies Nation” won in Washington because of the thousands of Phillies’ fans at Nationals Park . . .

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We’ll just bet that Yankees are happy they didn’t trade Robinson Cano — but they tried. Cano was offered to the Texas Rangers in the deal for Alex Rodriguez in 2004, but the Rangers took a pass. The Yankees then tried to trade him for Kansas City’s Carlos Beltran, (passing through KC on your way to stardom is almost a requirement), but he went to Houston instead. Then Cano was offered back to Texas for Randy Johnson. They got another “no.” It’s almost as if the Yankees didn’t want him, or maybe wanted someone else more.

You have to wonder why. As Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have aged, Cano has emerged as the glue in the Yankees’ infield. He won a Gold Glove last year (along with a Silver Slugger, his second), and he’ll probably win another one in 2011. Cano is in his seventh season with a career BA of .308, and he just came off a season when he hit 29 home runs — and he’s on a pace to equal that this year. It’s never been a surprise that he’s had a kind of relaxed power, so those who know say it’s not a big shock that he won last night’s Home Run Derby.

Yankees fans aver that second has been the weakest position in team history. That may be, but Tony Lazzeri, who played for the Yankees for twelve years (from 1926 through 1937) was a steady and an elegant presence. He was a kind of merry prankster, which is reflected in photos of him. He hit for power (the first major leaguer to hit two grand slams in one game), and was one of the best clutch hitters of his time. In any other city and on any other team, they would have carried Lazzari through the streets on their shoulders. He was sandwiched between the Yankee greats (much like Cano), which is too bad: what a player.

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Ubaldo Jimenez looked like his old self on Saturday night, holding the Nationals to just five hits and one run in eight innings — and notching a 2-1 win for his Colorado Rockies. Jimenez, who is suffering through a 4-8 season and an unusually high (4.14) ERA, looked like the Ubaldo Jimenez of last year, when his up-in-the-eyes fastball was the talk of the league. The Nationals loss, meanwhile, squandered a solid outing from former Rockies’ hurler Jason Marquis, who toughed out six innings, giving up two runs to the often run-starved Heltons.

Despite Jimenez’s dazzling performance, the Nationals were within 90 feet of tying the game and a long bomb away from winning it. But slumping star Jayson Werth couldn’t keep the ball out of the glove of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who turned a double play to end the game. Werth, who is mired in a season-long slump, has been booed by Nationals’ fans this year, but no more so than on Saturday, as he stood beyond first after hitting into his game ending double play.

But for Washington, the problem was not Werth — it was the Rockies’ staring pitcher. “He’s filthy,” Johnson said of Jimenez. “He’s one of the best pitchers in the league. We’ve been swinging the bats pretty good, but he calmed us down quite a bit. I think we outhit them, just couldn’t score.”

The Nationals loss marked their third loss in a row — all of them by one run. That mini-streak had been preceded by three wins, all of them also by one run. “Right now, we’re living and dying by the one-run game,” shortstop Ian Desmond, who was 2-3 with a triple, noted. “These one-run games are just flukes. It’s one of those things, but it will turn around for us.”

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Here’s one way to grab a headline: write an article speculating that Albert Pujols will become Washington’s first baseman in 2012. That’s what Tyler Kepner did yesterday in the pages of the New York Times, fueling a kind of baseball mini-industry that is one misplaced quote away from becoming a national obsession. “By signing Jayson Werth for seven years and $126 million in December,” Kepner wrote, “the Nationals showed they will spend serious money. Adding Pujols to Werth and Ryan Zimmerman would give them an intimidating middle of the order. And the No. 1 overall draft picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper would presumably be in their superstar prime before Pujols’s deal runs out.” Of course Kepner’s article was speculation, but he has a point: if Pujols doesn’t sign in St. Louis (baseball’s fourth smallest market), then anything is possible — including the presumably impossible. But is Pujols-to-D.C. likely?

Adam Kilgore thinks so. Or did. Writing a follow-up to the Kepner article on his blog yesterday, Kilgore noted that the “Nationals’ money and their malleable first base situation makes them an intriguing potential suitor. Yes, they signed Adam LaRoche to a two-year contract this offseason. But in the pie-in-the-sky event they can land Pujols, they could easily trade him or just eat LaRoche’s contract and consider it part of the astronomical price to acquire one of the best hitters in baseball history.” Hmmm. Well, maybe. But a much more likely scenario (as Kilgore, in a second-thought moment, noted today) is that Pujols stays in St. Louis. That, or (as Phil Rogers says) the rich get richer and he ends up in New York or Boston.

None of this would be all that exciting except that the Pujols mini-industry is headline news in St. Louis and, of course, in baseball. There are internet sites focused solely on the Pujols contract, a handful of fan clubs vie for the allegiance of his followers, on-line artists play endlessly with his image (note: above) and notebook toting reporters follow him wherever he goes. Pujols has been on six SI covers, is the lead advertising card for Topps and fills the seats in St. Louis. All for good reason: if Pujols were to retire today he’d be a shoo-in for Cooperstown — and he has at least eight years to play. Still, the numbers are sobering. Pujols will command a $300 million contract, half the total value of the St. Louis franchise and nearly as much in one year (at $30 million) as the Pirates spend on their total payroll. Pujols is destined to make, in his lifetime, more money than any other ballplayer in history.

This is where the calculations get tough. Would you rather have Albert Pujols (and his tremendous talent) for one year, or Ian Kinsler ($22 million) for five? Would you rather spend $30 million for one player, or the same amount of money for three — let’s say Kinsler ($6 million in 2011), Hanley Ramirez ($11 million in 2011), and Alex Rios ($12 million in 2011). Pujols gives you a Hall of Famer at first, Kinsler, Ramirez and Rios give you a team that’s strong-up-the-middle and (arguably) an automatic contender. So Kepner’s right: adding Pujols to Werth and Zimmerman would be wonderful! And he’s wrong, because that trio (with Strasburg and Harper), couldn’t possibly last.

No one can read Mark Lerner’s mind, but I would bet that sooner or later, Nats’ fans would end up with an aging Hall of Famer at first — and not much around him. Which is only to say: the Nats would love to have Pujols (who wouldn’t?), but there’s a limit. The implications of a Pujols signing for any team (with the exception of the very richest franchises) is that the tried-and-true rule of building a contender (short term sacrifice, long term gain — and develop pitching) goes out the window.

By now, you would think, Nyjer Morgan is getting the message: on Wednesday, MLB Trade Rumors reported that the Nationals would sign former Cincy outfielder Laynce Nix to a minor league contract. The signing nearly overstocks the Nats’ outfield — particularly considering the team’s previous inking of Rick Ankiel. While Nix is only so-so against lefties, he will provide a steady presence off the bench and (perhaps more importantly) provide some competition for Morgan and the planned left field platoon of Roger Bernadina and Michael Morse. Put simply, the outfield is getting crowded — with Nats skipper Jim Riggleman now looking at a full complement of Jayson Werth, Morgan, Nix, Bernadina, Ankiel and Morse, which is not to mention the addition of MLB wannabe Corey Brown, who was acquired in the Josh Willingham trade to Oakland. Brown will pressure the likes of Nix and Morgan: which is just the kind of competition that Mike Rizzo and skipper Riggleman like.

Prior to Nix’s signing, the Nats parted ways with Justin Maxwell, ending an experiment that began in 2005 — when the Nats drafted the fleet-footed former Terrapin in the fifth round of that year’s draft. The rap on Maxwell is well known: he simply couldn’t hit and his speed on the base paths and talent with the leather wasn’t enough to keep him around. Maxwell brought a solid return (despite some skepticism in the Nats blogosphere) — Adam Olbrychowski isn’t exactly the second coming of Bruce Sutter, but he could eventually figure in the Nats’ mix as a solid middle innings reliever. River Avenue Blues wrote not all that long ago that “Adam O” needs to add a second pitch to his 91-93 mph fastball. Last week the Nats also added Cla Meredith, whose weird looking side arm motion once baffled hitters, though that now seems long ago. Still . . . still, Meredith is a solid veteran and certainly worth taking a chance on.  He was pretty good back in San Diego (73 games, 4.09 ERA), but he struggled with the Showalters. Hardball Talk has this right: he will compete for a back of the bullpen job in Spring Training, though he might land in Syracuse.

You have to admit — all of this reshuffling is pretty impressive. The Nats outfield is nearly remade, the team has apparently made a long term commitment to a middle infield of very green youngsters, the signing of Adam LaRoche gives the Nats a new first baseman and (while Rizzo & Co. did not land that big front of the rotation guy we need), there’s a new mix on the mound — “filled with potential.” We say that advisedly — it was the same phrase we used last year. There’s probably more to come, but with Spring Training now an eyeblink away, the Nats are set to enter the season with a tougher defense and a newly reshuffled outfield. No one is predicting a trip to the World Series (or even a Wild Card berth), but there’s enough here to keep Nats fans in the seats until August. Maybe.