The pitching of Colby Lewis and the hitting of Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz powered the Texas Rangers to a 6-1 ALCS triumph over the New York Yankees — sending the Arlington Nine to their first-ever world series. Lewis was nearly flawless in eight innings of work, giving up just three hits in eight innings, while striking out seven. A Vlad Guerrero double and Nelson Cruz home run accounted for five of the six Rangers’ runs. Josh Hamilton, who went 7 for 20 in the series, won the ALCS MVP award. Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter summed up the problems the Empire had in defeating the Rangers: “They overall played better,” he said. “They pitched better, they hit better, they just outplayed us. That’s just the bottom line. They were a lot better than us these six games.” The Rangers’ clinching win was emblamatic of the Yankees’ problems: the New Yorkers were shut down by Rangers’ pitching, going 8 for 53 with runners in scoring position in the six game series.

The Rangers, built for the post season by G.M. Jon Daniels, are much like the patched together San Francisco Giants — picked to contend in the A.L. West, Daniels traded for and signed a mix of down-and-out pitchers (Lewis came from Japan) and on-their-last-legs hitters (Guerrero was cut loose from the Angels). But the key to the Rangers success was the mid-season trade for fireballer Cliff Lee, who arrived from Seattle in a trade for four Rangers minor leaguers, including uber prospect Justin Smoak. The recriminations have already started in New York, with Yankee G.M. Brian Cashman taking the blame for his failure to land Lee, whom New York writers cite as the one obstacle that stood between the Yankees and their 28th world championship. Texas will start Lee on Wednesday against the winner of the Philadelphia-San Francisco series.

Can The Giants Beat Roy Oswalt? One of the more memorable games of the Nationals’ 2010 campaign took place back in May in Houston — when the Nationals faced-off against the Astros during an early season road trip. While the Nationals were playing well, there were signs the team was beginning to struggle: the Anacostia Nine had just dropped two of three to the Friars, after dropping two of three in San Francisco. Nationals’ hitters were desperate to get their bats going. Ironically, it was Roy Oswalt who gave them the opportunity. In one of the more lopsided wins of their disappointing season, the Nats plated 14 runs against the ‘Stros, while lighting up Oswalt, who was ejected in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn were the heroes, accounting for eight RBIs in the victory. But the key to the triumph was Oswalt’s in-game implosion, the result of a tight strike zone. The lesson seems obvious: to beat Oswalt you have to get to him early — which will be a challenge for the light hitting San Francisco line-up.

. . . and last in the N.L. East. The Washington Nationals fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 at Nationals Park on Wednesday night, but that was hardly a surprise. The surprise came when the cascade of Nats’ fans decided to stream from the park at the end of the game — shunning the last-at-home festivities planned by the Lerners and hosted by the glass-half-full team skipper Jim Riggleman. The departing throng joined those other fans who had left after the seventh inning stretch, knowing that the Half Street Nine were not going to catch the Ashburns, and knowing also that Riggleman & Co. would be recycling the message from last year’s end-of-game spiel — we’ve made great strides, the future is bright, we’ll be better next year (just you wait and see) and, oh yeah, thanks for coming. It’s not that the words weren’t heartfelt (they were), it’s simply that a large host of Nats fans (defined as those in the ballpark not rooting for the Ponies), are more skeptical than ever.

The Wisdom Of Section 1-2-9: Perhaps skeptical isn’t the right word. Cynical might be better. The section, at least last night, was livable — there were lots of Phillies fans in attendance, but they seemed mild in comparison with other nights. “They’ve clinched it, so they don’t have to be the selfish, rude and insulting little sh–s they always are ,” a fan said so every P-sketched hat would hear it. “Hard to blame them though when they’re invited in and there are plenty of seats.” A Nats fan sporting a Zimmerman jersey responded by raising his voice. “Yeah, maybe so. But you don’t see us doing this in Philadelphia.” This brought a laugh: “Three reasons. There aren’t that many of us. Citizens’ Bank is sold out. And why make the trip when ‘you can buy a family fun pack?’” More laughter — and then a general silence until the third inning, when it was clear that Ross Detwiler was going to pitch like . . . Ross Detwiler. So who’s going to be out there next year? “There’s Marquis and there’s Hernandez,” a fan said with practiced assurance. And nods, before a lone voice with a single question: what about Lannan? And then the low murmur amid the silence. “What about him?”

They’re either going to sign Dunn or sign a replacement free agent, one fan said. A fan next to me guffawed. “Why would the Lerners do that?” he asked. “Listen, this is real simple. They’re making a profit and they’re not doing anything special — and they can always count on Philadelphia fans to fill the park. Or Braves fans. Or Mets fans. Or Cub fans. They [the owners] really suffer when the Astros come to town.” Another fan shook his head. “I hear they’re interested in [signing] Carl Crawford, or Carlos Pena.” Another guffaw as a woman two rows down smiled to herself, then turned and shook her head. No way. Another fan, still in his business suit, agreed. “Carl Crawford? C’mon. Here’s what they’ll do. They’ll say that they offered Adam Dunn a contract for three years and he wanted four. And he’ll be gone. And Michael Morse is cheap. He can play first. Maybe we’ll resign Willie Harris.” A fan with a Phillies hat, listening, nodded his head. “He just needs to get his swing back,” he said — and there was more laughter.

In the fourth inning, The Racing Presidents stood in a line holding farewell signs in tribute to Stan Kasten. “We’ll Miss You Stan,” the signs read, and the crowd rose to give the outgoing Nats’ president a standing ovation. There was disbelief among the three Nats fans one row back. “Yeah, we love you Stan. But the Lerners? Not so much.” So then it started in earnest, in the 6th and 7th innings, as the fans in 1-2-9, now in the swing of things, compared notes, position-by-position. Nyjer Morgan? “Really? Give me a break. He’s gone.” Roger Bernadina? “He plays center, Willingham is in left and Morse plays right.” And at first? Silence on this, and then a consensus. “They’ll sign someone like Pena, he’s cheaper, but don’t worry — they’ll say they did it because he’s better defensively.” An unheard from voice chipped in: “He’ll break his league in May.” Nods and more nods. But then everyone agreed: Desmond and Espinosa were set up-the-middle and the bullpen was solid. A voice in the back piped in: “Riggleman says Batista is an innings eater.” The man next to me nodded. “Innings eater is code for ‘he’s not very good,’” he said.

By the 9th inning (and really, even before), the reality had set in. The game was lost, the Nats were headed to New York to finish the season, and once again Washington was in last place. It’s hard to deny the facts and Nats fans don’t really need a graph to chart the future, or understand the present. But for those of us who like these kinds of things, here’s a graph of just where this franchise stands. It recently ran in the New York Times and comes to us by way of our friends at Nats Triple Play.

Putting A Price Tag On Winning

From 2001 to 2010, the Yankees spent 42 percent more than the second-highest spender, Boston, and have also won more games than any other team — 6 percent more than Boston. Some of the lowest-spending teams, like Kansas City and Pittsburgh, were also among the worst. But there have also been some notable exceptions. Teams below the line, including Baltimore, Detroit and the Mets, have won less than might be expected. Teams above the line, including Florida, Minnesota and Oakland, have won more. Black outlines indicate teams that won a World Series in the last decade. Boston won two, and the 2010 World Series has yet to be played.

First baseman Adam Dunn powered the Washington Nationals to a 2-1 walk-off win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, putting a 2-0 Jose Contreras fastball into the right field second deck at Nationals Park. It was Dunn’s 38th home run of the year and the Nats 68th win. The walk-off shot capped a hard fought Roy Oswalt-Jason Marquis pitchers’ duel, with Oswalt spinning a two hitter and Marquis keeping the ball down in the strike zone — inducing ten patented Marquis ground outs. The game seemed headed to extra innings, knotted at one, when Dunn stepped to the plate. “I was taking early in the count and when he got behind, 2-0, I was looking for a pitch that I could square up,” Dunn said following the Nats’ win. “I don’t think about [hitting a home run], but I want to make sure I get the barrel to it. When you get yourself in a hitter’s count, you want to be aggressive, especially in that situation. You just want to look in an area and swing. If not, let it go.”

The walk-off blast continued the pressure on the Nats’ front office to sign the big lefty — a point reemphasized by fans who chanted “Sign Adam Dunn” as he came to the plate. The chant did not go unnoticed in the Nats’ dugout, or by the game’s walk-off hero: “The people [here] care what I do, what decision I make,” Dunn told reporters. “That has never happened to me in my career. It’s awesome . They have been great. They have every opportunity to boo us out of the stadium. They just come to watch baseball. We are their home team. That’s hard to find nowadays.” The Nats Blogosphere is nearly unanimous in calling for the Nationals to provide Dunn a new contract. “Sign The Man, Rizzo” Nationals Enquirer headlined, while Nationals Fan Boy Looser described Dunn’s dinger as a reason for Nats fans to smile — adding that if the team failed to sign Dunn, “I won’t be back.” There are a lot of fans who feel that way.

Adam Dunn’s two home runs and five RBIs powered the Washington Nationals to their fourth straight win on Friday night, 8-3 — sending Atlanta to their fourth straight loss and dimming their chances for a post-season birth. It was Dunn’s 36th and 37th home runs of the year, as the big slugger has now accounted for 101 RBIs on the season. Dunn’s homers were greeted with standing ovations from Nats’ fans, who chanted “Sign Adam Dunn” during the game. Dunn’s power display helped Jordan Zimmermann to his first season win, as the big righty pitched five innings of three hit baseball, lowering his season ERA to 5.76. It was the kind of outing that the team has been hoping that Zimmermann would provide as he recovers from Tommy John surgery in 2009. Willie Harris added an exciting inside-the-park home run to help the Nats win decisively. The largest crowd of this home stand, some 22,000-plus, watched the fireworks provided by an energized Nationals’ line-up. Tyler Clippard, Joel Peralta, Sean Burnett and Miguel Batista closed out the game for the Nationals, who have now won 66 games on the season.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: You don’t need to be an investigative reporter to know that Craig Stammen is not happy being a reliever — it’s written all over his face. The righty has been solid out of the bullpen over the last month, the only real blip coming during “the Nyjer Morgan game” against the Marlins back on September 1, when Stammen yielded six in 3.1 innings of work. When he gets the ball down in the zone he pitches effectively, and he’s done so impressively out of the pen a number of times. Truth is, the Nats seem to be doing some of this in reverse (though there’s no absolute tradition in creating a starter), by using an assignment to the bullpen as a kind of demotion. Of course the Nats would deny that, but that’s sure the way it looks. And our bet is that Stammen feels that way. Maybe it’s time he got another chance . . .

Tim Kurkjian says that the Cubs are giving serious consideration to hiring Ryne Sandberg as their manager, though the actual decision is more than a month away. There’s a glitch, however: the Cubs (Kurkjian reported on Baseball Tonight), are worried that dumping such a poor team on a rookie manager like Sandberg might not go over too well, as those close to the club acknowledge that the team could be in line to lose upwards of ninety games next year — a year of retooling and shedding contracts. It’s not like Sandberg is simply a fan favorite or doesn’t deserve the job: when he said he wanted to manage, some four years ago, the Cubs’ front office told him to go get some experience. So he did. This year he was voted Pacific Coast League manager of the year. Then too, the Cubs are suddenly filled with kids, a lot of whom Sandberg knows well. And c’mon really, what’s the worst that could happen — that the team stinks, loses 84 games and finishes fifth in their division?

This is the kind of pitching staff the Washington Nationals are working for: an imposing and overpowering young right hander with a lights-out fastball, a young kid with a a deep hook and a electric stuff, a veteran righty who knows his way around the league and can provide the stability needed to anchor a young staff — and complementary fourth and fifth starters who can come up with enough wins to put the team into the playoffs. That is to say, it’s just the kind of pitching staff that the Florida Marlins damn near already have. Josh Johnson (a six-foot-seven bundle of intimidation) is Florida’s top fastball hurler, the struggling Chris Volstad (taller than Johnson at 6-8) has a fair hook complemented by a good outside fastball, savvy (though now injured) veteran Ricky Nolasco, Anabal Sanchez (a block of granite compared to Johnson and Volstad), who might well be the most talented pitcher on the team (and the sit-em-on-the-bench winner on Saturday) and then two others: the still-developing Alex Sanabia and (lest we forget), lefty Andrew Miller, who is still learning his trade.

There’s little doubt — the Marlins aren’t there, at least not yet. But the formula they have adopted looks a lot like the one promoted by Mike Rizzo, of drafting young arms and developing them, and then surrounding them with home-grown young players (Ryan Zimmerman) and the odd here-or-there free agent boppers (Adam Dunn). And for Florida it’s worked, despite their struggles to find a consistency that would translate into a division championship — and despite the spate of August aches and pains that have taken them out of the race to the flag. It’s true: the combination of Johnson, Nalasco, Sanchez, Volstad and Miller, looks pretty good to a team like the Mets or Brewers who are struggling to find starting pitching, and have only a handful of arms  in the minor leagues.That’s not true for the Marlins, whose pitching staff is the envy of nearly everyone in baseball.

Can the Nats successfully mimic the Marlins’ model? Well, they’re trying, and remain confident that in 2012 (or, perhaps, with luck — next year) the team will boast a rotation that provides two top of the rotation fastballers (the Josh Johnson-like Stephen Strasburg — in 2012 — and Jordan Zimmermann), a developing finesse righty (Yunesky Maya) a steady lefty or two (John Lannan and perhaps Scott Olsen), a pair of savvy veteran arms (Jason “I’m back” Marquis and Livan Hernandez) and a welter of kids competing to fill-in-the-blanks: Ross Detwiler, Collin Balester (or even) Ryan Tatusko or (you never know) Tanner Roark — who, since being traded from the Rangers, sports a stellar 2.50 in 36 innings for Harrisburg this year. It’s all speculation, of course, but the Stan Kasten/Mike Rizzo philosophy of drafting young hurlers and then, and only then, surrounding them with needed pieces works. It just takes patience.

Ryan Zimmerman accounted for four of the Nats runs with four RBIs, righty Jason Marquis pitched a solid six innings and slugger Adam Dunn hit a long home run into the left field seats as the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1 on Sunday. The win marked the first time that the Nats had won a road series since May, as the Anacostia Nine took two of three on the road against the Ahoys. “Start-by-start I feel like I’m getting to where I need to be,” Marquis sai following his outing. “Obviously early on I was hurting, and since the surgery I feel like Jason Marquis more day-by-day. The last four starts have been right where I want to be, although I’d like to go a little deeper into games, but I’ve just got to minimize my pitch count and that will happen.”

Fear And Trembling In San Diego: You don’t have to listen too closely to hear the concern in the voices of the radio announcers for the San Diego Padres. It was obvious in the bottom of the 9th inning on Sunday, with the Colorado Rockies about to sweep their three game series with the Friars — sending the Pads to their tenth loss in a row. “Well,” color analyst Jerry Coleman said, “the Padres have three outs to turn this thing around. You have to wonder.” The frustration of the broadcast team of “double X 1090″ had been growing throughout the game, ever since the Padres had tied the Rockies in the 6th, only to see the Heltons climb back by scoring two in the top of the seventh. “It’s like we’re snake bit,” Coleman said. The Padres skid is their worst since May of 1994 and the worst for a first place team since the 1932 Pirates. “We’re in games,” Padres manger Bud Black explained after Sunday’s loss. “We’re just not generating the big hit, we’re not generating the offense to get us over the top. We’re just not executing the pitch, making the play that changes the course of a game.”

If San Diego doesn’t do something soon, they’re in danger of drawing comparisons with the 1969 Cubs, who were in first place in August, but then let the Mets catch them, or the 1964 Phillies — whose late-season collapse remains legion. It’s hard to determine what ails the Pads: there haven’t been any blow-outs during the skid, but the team seems incapable of winning the close ones. In many ways, the Sunday tilt against the Rockies was typical: the pitching was solid (but not solid enough) and the Padres hit (but not exactly when they need to), and the team took the early lead — but couldn’t hold it. With the exception of a 5-0 skunking at the hands of the Phillies back on August 29 and an 11-5 disaster against the Diamondbacks (that started the meltdown) the Friars have been in nearly every game.

The Padres’ problem is what we always thought it would be — hitting. The Friars have scored just 23 runs in their ten game skid and have found it nearly impossible to hit with runners in scoring position, plating one run for every five chances. Ryan Ludwick was supposed to help solve the team’s RBI production problems but, after a solid start in his new digs, he just hasn’t done it. The right fielder, who the Padres picked up in a three-way swap with the Cardinals and Indians at the trade deadline, is known for his nose-in-the-dirt play and ability to compete in close games, but he’s hit .194 over the losing streak — a fall-off in production as sudden as it is unexplained. And don’t look now, but young hurler Wade LeBlanc (a solid starter to go with the likes of Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, Jon Garland and Kevin Correia) is in a free-fall. In ten starts since mid-July, LeBlanc has seen his ERA fall from 3.30 to 4.15. Ugh.

There’s a bright side, of course. The Padres are still in first place, the team’s starters are still “the best in the West” (and maybe in the entire National League), Bud Black is one of the savviest managers in the majors — and it ain’t over until it’s over. But the Padres have to be worried: they face the surging McCoveys seven times over the next four weeks (including a four game set this coming weekend) and the Rockies seem to have their number, having won 11 of 15 in their last meetings. The Padres face Colorado in a three game set in Denver starting next Monday — having just been swept by them in San Diego. “We’ll be fine — trust me,” Padres’ second sacker David Eckstein said in the midst of this most recent skid. And, you know, maybe he’s right. But in the sprint to the poll, and with the Giants and Rockies in their rear view mirror, the Padres need to start hitting.

(above: Ryan Zimmerman, AP Photo/Keith Srakocic. Below: David Eckstein in San Diego AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn homered, and Jason Marquis pitched 5.2 solid innings to lead the Nationals to a 9-3 victory over the Florida Marlins in Miami on Monday night. The win was the third in a row for the Nationals — a “laugher” — who have energized their sudden surge by scoring 40 runs in the last five games. On Monday, the Zimmerman-Dunn combination accounted for seven of the nine runs, as Zimmerman hit his 25th and Dunn hit his 33rd home runs. Roger Bernadina and Michael Morse also continued their offensive assault, with both accounting for two hits. The sudden plate production stands in stark contrast to the Nats of just a week ago — when the Anacostia Nine had difficulty scoring against the Braves, Phillies and Cubs, and dropped seven of nine games.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains: It was a bad night for Florida baseball. The official attendance for the Nats-Marlins tilt was given as 18,326, but after a nearly three hour rain delay the Marlins were playing in front of hundreds — not thousands. In the seventh inning, a ballgirl snagged a ground foul along the first base line and trotted towards the seats to hand it to a fan: there was no one there. Then too, it’s an open debate whether anyone scrambled for Adam Dunn’s home run into the right field seats — no fan was even close. If you head to see the Marlins tonight, you might want to look under your seat. When the game finished at 1 a.m this morning, there were more people in Dupont Circle than at the Marlins game. The Marlins are counting on a new stadium to solve their attendance woes, but you have to wonder whether that’s really going to work. There’s a beautiful stadium in Toronto and a good, young team — and they don’t draw a lick . . .

Over in Tampa, where the Rays were taking on the Jays, precisely 11,968 patrons showed up at “The Trop” — an embarrassing non-anomaly for a team that now ranks 23rd in MLB attendance (just behind the last place Nats). The Nationals ranked as high as 19th in attendance this year, but the Rays have never been a notch over where they are right now. Bleacher Report’s J.C. De La Torre says there’s a reason for this: 70 percent of the fans live nearly an hour from the stadium (which is true) and Tampa has the second highest jobless rate in the state. And De La Torre notes that Cincinnati, San Diego and Texas also have attendance problems. They are all first place teams with 62 percent or less in capacity this season.

No matter what the issue, the Rays’ problems are long term and not likely to be resolved anytime soon — and they will have an impact on the franchise, which will see star left fielder Carl Crawford headed out of town (wouldn’t it be nice if he came to Washington, instead of New York) come October. “It was a big letdown,” Crawford said of the sparse crowd. “We came out all fired up and you see that, it’s really depressing.” The Rays desperately need a new stadium, but are locked in a head-to-head battle over whether the team will play in St. Petersburg (where they are now, officially, located) or Tampa — which could be the site of a new stadium in the waterfront area. The battle won’t be joined until after the season, which means that a new stadium (if there is one) won’t be started for at least another year. And no one has yet figured out how a new ballpark will be funded.

(above: Jason Marquis AP Photo/Wildredo Lee; below: Carl Crawford against the Red Sox in Tampa)