Cole Hamels pitched his first complete game of the season, shutting down the Washington Nationals and besting Livan Hernandez, giving the Philadelphia Phillies a 4-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park. The sole run scored by the Nationals came off the bat of Michael Morse, who put a Hamels’ offering into the right field seats. Hamels was the Philadelphia hero on a night when Phillies fans welcomed Jayson Werth back to Philadelphia with a mix of cheers and boos.

The Hamels masterpiece should not have come as a surprise. The Phillies’ lefty is 9-0 in his last nine starts against the Anacostia Nine, with a 2.73 ERA. “Hamels was the story, he was really good again, hitting his spots with his fastball,” Nats’ skipper Jim Riggleman said following the game. “It’s a good fastball, but he had a good changeup, as he always does.”

In The Valley of the Lost Bats: For the first time this season, MASN commenters F.P. Santangelo and Bob Carpenter wondered aloud what would happen to Danny Espinosa if his struggles at the plate continue. It’s possible that Riggleman could sit the second sacker, putting Jerry Hairston at second. Espinosa is hitting .219 and has struck out ten times in the last 10 games . . . The comment was telling. Back on April 22, Carpenter was asking where the Nats’ offense would be without Espinosa. Now he’s wondering if the kid can get back on track . . .

But if you’re going to sit Espinosa, you’d also have to sit Adam LaRoche, whose troubles at the plate make Espinosa look like Ruth. LaRoche is 0-17 in his last six games, his last hit coming on April 27 against the Mets. Then too, if you’re going to sit Espinosa, you’d have to swallow hard in defending Jerry Hairston as the heir — Hairston is not exactly hitting the ball on the screws: he’s  7-33 in the last ten games. Hairston is a good ballplayer, but he’s not DiMaggio. His lifetime BA is .256 . . .

And while we hate to say “we told ya so,” a little Alberto Gonzalez medicine would look good right now. The MASN boys regularly laid into Gonzalez for not being able to put the bat on the ball, but last year he hit better than either Desmond or Espinosa are hitting right now. Sure, Alberto didn’t like his part time gig in D.C., and it was time for him to head out. But it would be nice to see him at third now that Ryan Zimmerman is down. Then again . . . Alberto isn’t hitting the leather off the sphere for the Friars. After a good start, he’s hitting a torrid .172, and the Padres have settled into an infield of Jorge Cantu, Jason Bartlett, Orlando Hudson and Brad Hawpe, with Alberto on the bench . . . San Diego’s infield is (admittedly) mere filler, but not all that bad when you think about it . . .

Alberto Gonzalez isn’t the only former D.C. batsman who’s struggling at the plate. Pale Hose acquisition Adam Dunn has been almost embarrassing in Chicago, where he’s having problems acclimating himself to his role as a designated hitter. “What’s Wrong With Adam Dunn?” FanGraphs asked yesterday. Dunn is hitting a measly .157 in Chicago and looks terrible at the plate. Last night, he was the final batter faced by Francisco Liriano in his no hitter, lining out to end the game. “There are three reasons why Dunn is struggling so far,” FanGraphs says. He is having bad luck, “he has not found his power stroke,” and “his strikeouts are up.”

We love FanGraphs, but that doesn’t tell you a whole lot: the reason Adam Dunn is hitting poorly is because he’s hitting poorly. Right. The question is: why is he hitting poorly? The answer may well be that Dunn has not mastered the intangibles of the D.H., which requires you to be in the game and ready to play despite the fact that you sit the bench. D.H.-ing is a lot like entering the line-up as a pinch hitter four times a game; it takes real discipline to do it well. Dunn hasn’t developed that discipline yet, or he wouldn’t be hitting .157 — and the Chicago South Siders would look like contenders, instead of bums. Which, at 11 and 20, is . . . what . . .  they . . .  are.

We were always fans of Alberto Gonzalez, as he struck us as a more than just a utilityman. It helped that he was an underdog, the target of Rob “hey, remember the Fonz?” Dibble semi-zingers, particularly when he slumped badly at the end of the 2009 season. But he was a gamer and, in our opinion, San Diego didn’t give up too much to land him. That said, if Gonzalez wasn’t going to start in Washington (particularly if, as expected, Alex Cora becomes the new Gonzalez stand-in), then at least Mike Rizzo could swap him for some pitching. Which is just what he did. Yesterday, Gonzalez was shipped to San Diego for good-record lots-of-skepticism righty Erik Davis (with a ‘k’ no less).

The Friars never expected much from 13th round pick Davis, but they got a lot. Drafted out of Stanford, Davis proved a better competitor in pro ball than he did as a college righty. Even so, the Padres weren’t impressed with his “cerebral approach” (we guess that’s considered a negative out San Diego way), or his so-so “heater” — a word that, in the case of Davis, simply denotes a fastball. Yada, Yada, Yada: so-so “heater” notwithstanding, Davis was 32-9 in the Padres system, with a 3.49 ER in 73 games. He posted 8.5 strikeouts per 9 as a Friar puppy — not good enough for the San Diego brain trust (that’s cheeky — it just means front office), it seems. But it just might be good enough here in Washington, where the starting rotation reads like answers from a trivia quiz given ten years from now.

The Nats line-up is now set for the season opener, with Zimmerman, Desmond, Espinosa and LaRoche around the horn, Morse, Ankiel and Werth left-to-right, and Pudge behind the plate. Let me just express the views of our legendary board of directors with the following one-word description: Ick. The line-up yields more questions than answers — will the up-the-middle combo be good enough? What happens when Rick-the-former-pitcher hits south of .203? How long will it take for us to realize the Mike “the bomb” Morse’s spring training barrage was simple a spring training barrage? And, not least — how in the world can we compete with a starting five that begins with age and ends with maybe. We’re going to find out starting Thursday, at Nationals Park, when our beloved Nats take on those stinking Braves.

Bill Ladson parses the Nationals 2010 campaign in a posting on the Nats website, and there’s not a whole lot exciting or new in his analysis. But what’s interesting is that Ladson goes to some lengthes to draw attention to all-world utility player and when-Zim-gets-hurt tough guy Alberto Gonzalez. It’s about time that Gonzalez got some attention. Alberto’s slick glove but poor bat made his 2009 season one to forget, but he came to Florida last spring newly energized and confident that he could swing enough lumber to regularly put himself in the Nats line-up, the result of a torrid September — when the Nats emerged from their year-long doldrums. Now, at the end of another losing campaign, it’s clear that Gonzalez is one of the most important cogs in the Nats’ hit or miss machine.

Ladson describes the super utility guy this way: “Willing to play anywhere just to get into a game,” and then (later on in the story) adds that “Gonzalez proved he could play spectacular defense at third.” Gonzalez’ 2010 numbers are the best evidence of his improvement at the plate — for despite his lack of power, skipper Riggleman had no problem pinch hitting him or inserting him as a late inning defensive replacement. Gonzalez undoubtedly would like more playing time, but his numbers are more than good in a spot starting role: a .247 average in 114 games. While this is hardly knocking the horsehide from the sphere, it’s far better than most major leaguers who are part time players (like, ah, Willie what’s-his-name).

Add to this the fact that the hot fielding sometime-third-sacker has actually saved games with his glove: like the snag he made while subbing for Ryan Zimmerman at third during the Astros series — which preserved a shaky 7-2 Nats win. Nats skipper Jim Riggleman recognizes Alberto’s value: he recently noted that he’d be happy with Gonzalez as the team’s middle-infield back-up, a sub for Desmond and Espinosa and a more than adequate replacement should anyone go down with any injury. So it is that, in a season where the Nats bench seemed particularly weak, Gonzalez was one of the few bright spots — a guy with a line-drive bat, a snappy glove and a good attitude. Which means we can expect to see him around next year.

Michael Morse’s home run and his three RBIs, combined with the steady pitching of Ross Detwiler, resulted in a 7-2 spanking of the Houston Astros on Thursday at Nats’ Park — and a three of four game series triumph. With Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn out of the starting line up as a result of minor injuries, the kids led the team: in addition to Morse’s dinger, Roger Bernadina added a home run in the 6th and Danny Espinosa added one in the 7th. Ross Detwiler, slowed by a hip injury for most of the season, pitched six respectable innings, while a number of stellar defensive plays were made behind him — including a down-the-line pick-up from Alberto Gonzalez at third, good enough to be included as a BBTN “Web Gem.” But Morse was the hero. “I’m just trying to finish strong — finish on a positive note — and try to continue to show them that I could be an everyday player,” Morse said following the victory. “I would love to get 500 at-bats in a season one day and see what happens.”

The Kasten Resignation: The Nationals are soft pedaling Stan Kasten’s decision to resign his position as president, and so is Kasten himself. Kasten told reporters that the decision was made a year ago and that he simply wants to move on to other opportunities. But Adam Kilgore has this right — Kasten’s resignation shows that the Nats are at yet another crossroads, with the Lerners now under pressure to follow the model he set of developing younger players and increasing the team’s payroll to take advantage of the little on-the-field progress the team has made. Kasten “did everything,” Kilgore says, and he’ll be hard to replace. There are some dissenting voices. “The fact of the matter is that the natural progression of the Nationals’ franchise over the last five years left Kasten more and more marginalized within the front office,” Mark Zuckerman writes over at Nats’ Insider. “The team simply didn’t need a president in charge of day-to-day operations anymore.” Zuckerman makes a strong argument, characterizing Kasten as less important over the last year.

We’re agnostic: the litmus test of success for this franchise is not in the front office, but on the field. If the Nats can produce a solid and successful 2011, then Kasten’s legacy will be assured, and if they don’t . . . well, they’re be a lot of rethinking about why Kasten left. Then too, the real question here is not who runs the front office, or even who fills the role of being the face of the front office (that’s Mike Rizzo), but whether the Lerners are willing to increase the payroll sufficiently to bring in the players that will fill out a roster comprised of young and talented position players and even younger (and untested) arms. The question is: do the owners of this franchise want to be the Minnesota Twins (who spiked their payroll in 2010 to some $97 million — from $65 million in ’09), or do they want to remain the Kansas City Royals — the perennial bottom feeders of the N.L. Central? That question remains unanswered. Then too, and for the record, the Royals actually have a higher payroll than the Nats ($74.9 million vs. $66.2 million), while they’ve actually won two fewer games.

Josh Willingham’s sixth inning double into the gap in right center field scored three and the Washington Nationals went on to shut out the Florida Marlins, 4-0 on Saturday night in Miami. Starter Stephen Strasburg notched the win with six complete innings of four hit ball. Strasburg struggled in the first two innings of the game (attempting to pinpoint his uncooperative fastball) before settling down and registering seven strikeouts. Willingham’s gapper scored Nyjer Morgan, Cristian Guzman and Adam Dunn — accounting for three of the Nats’ four runs. Dunn just barely beat the throw home to account for the Nats third run. Nats reliever Drew Storen kept the Marlins at bay in the 7th and 8th innings, while Matt Capps closed out the game in the 9th. This was the team’s first shutout since the Nats subdued the Dodgers on April 25, 1-0.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: We must be getting close to the trading deadline. Ray Knight subbed for Rob Dibble in the MASN booth and immediately focused his attention on the top of the Nats’ order — noting the poor on base percentages of Nats leadoff man Nyjer Morgan (.313) and number two hitter Cristian Guzman (.342). Knight mentioned the lack of production in the number one and two spots no less than four times during the game; at one point Knight went on at length about the poor OBP performance of the Morgan-Guzman tandem while a MASN camera lingered on the two in the dugout. In the 9th, when Alberto Gonzalez replaced Guzman at second, Knight pointedly gave his opinion of the shift: “Gonzalez is the best defensive infielder on the team after Zimmerman,” he said. As if to celebrate this notice, Gonzalez registered the third out with a circus snag of a hot up-the-middle grounder to end the game . . .

Jim Riggleman was in a semi-permanent snit during the Nats 4-0 win against the Marlins, the apparent result of missed signs, missed bunts and indifferent fielding. His patience might be running out — a sure sign that changes are in the offing. But what kind of changes? Moving Guzman will be difficult (he’s a 10-5 player, so can veto a trade) and he’s owed a chunk of money. And it’s not clear that the Nats are sold on Gonzalez at second — Nats beat reporter Bill Ladson sure isn’t: “I will tell you that Gonzalez is not the answer,” he wrote in a recent column. “He was given a chance last year and didn’t do a good job. He stopped hitting and wasn’t very good defensively. I think he is a very good utility player. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how I feel about Gonzalez.”

The CFG team doesn’t agree even a little bit with Ladson, but there are a lot of people who do: Gonzalez was the target of widespread fan grumbling during the ’09 campaign and only really started to hit in September, when it was too late. And while Gonzalez is good defensively (or even very good), he’s not a top-of-the-order guy (his OBP stands at .333, about the same as Guzman’s). Of course, none of that may matter now: the Nats are the poorest defensive team in the NL and the front office is desperate to find a way to stop the bleeding. Guzman is popular and when he could have sulked in April (when Ian Desmond replaced him at short), he sucked it up and dedicated himself to team play. Even so, Rizzo-Riggleman & Company have to do something and, since they’re not going to sit Desmond (and why should they?), Alberto’s time may have come. It’s overdue.

Craig Stammen, just recalled from the Nats Syracuse Triple-A farm club, threw seven innings of brilliant baseball and super sub Alberto Gonzalez went 4-4 as the skidding Nats ended their five game losing streak with a 7-2 win in Atlanta. Stammen finally mastered what had been bothering him in successive starts prior to his demotion — he kept the ball down in the zone and threw strikes, keeping the Bravos hitters off balance. Stammen threw 99 pitches, 57 of them for strikes, before giving way to Sean Burnett in the 8th inning. “Craig was just outstanding,” skipper Jim Riggleman said after the win. And the skipper praised Alberto Gonzalez, who looked rusty at the plate on Monday. “He’s a great fielder,” Riggleman said, “and he can hit a little too.” This marked the second successive start for Gonzalez, who has done some spot pinch hitting. But Riggleman was uncertain whether the Gonzalez start was the beginning of a new trend. “He’s kind of the fourth guy among four guys, so it’s tough for him to get playing time,” Riggleman said.

In breaking loose for seven runs, the Nats end a despairing streak of one, two and three run games that saw them sink further into last place in the NL East. Relief seems to be in sight: Nyjer Morgan’s bat is finally heating up (he was 2-5 on Tuesday), Josh Willingham put one into the seats at Turner Field (his 14th), Ryan Zimmerman plated two RBIs — and then there was Alberto Gonzalez, whose 4-4 stint brought his BA to .292: oh, and he can field a little bit too. To cap it all off, Roger Bernadina is starting to look like a keeper (slapping balls to left field) and Tyler Clippard pitched a nifty clean 9th. The news gets even better from there. The Nats went errorless in nine innings, which must be some kind of record.

Today I Settle All Family Business, So Don’t Tell Me You’re Innocent: If you google “The Kid,” you get sites for a Charlie Chaplan movie, news that Angelina Jolie’s little girl wants to be a boy (“she likes to wear boy’s everything,” Angelina poofed), and a reach on Ted Williams who, it seems, was called “the kid” until someone thought of something better — like “The Splendid Splinter.” (Which reminds me: wasn’t Gaylord Perry once referred to as “The Splendid Spitter?” No? Okay, maybe not). But nowhere on the internet does anyone talk about our Anacostia Nine who, it is reported, are calling Stephen Strasburg “the kid” in the privacy of the Nats’ clubhouse. We’re betting the name will stick, confirming Angelina’s little pout about “Shiloh,” who “thinks she’s one of the brothers.”

Stephen’s nickname confirms that he too (and for sure) is now one of the Nats brothers (that’s what being given a nickname means) — albeit without the apparent transgender issues of Shiloh Vomit Pitt. And it’s a good thing. Strasburg took the heat after his Monday outing, as Braves fans everywhere (there aren’t as many as there once were for “America’s Team“) laid into “the kid” for giving up five runs (er, three earned) in the 7th inning of Monday night. Even some Nats fans were disappointed. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God — what happened? So here’s the deal: we here at CFG have taken a poll of our staff (final vote? 3-0) and determined that we would take, any day, an outing from any pitcher on our staff who could throw 6.1 (!), give up three earned runs (!), and strike out seven. You never know, if we have outings like that every game, we could actually win the division. Yeah, there’s no question about it, Monday’s performance shows that we need to send “the kid” to the minors to “straighten out his stuff” and “build his self confidence.”

Say It Ain’t So Mike: The Nats are apparently “entertaining offers” . . . no, that’s not the right phrase. Damn. Let’s start over. The Nats are “actively considering” … no, that’s not right either. Okay. Here it is. The Nats are talking to at least two teams about a trade that would involve Nats first sacker and potential All Star Adam Dunn, the heart and soul of your Washington Nationals (if you don’t count Ryan Zimmerman, Pudge Rodriguez, Stephen Strasburg, Ian Desmond, Josh Willingham, Livan Hernandez . . .). The report must be true: MLB Trade Rumors has it by way of Ken Rosenthal, who has it from the Chicago Sun Times, who has it from the White Sox.

The Angels are already interested, Rosenthal says, and Joe Cowley of the Greatest Newspaper in the Greatest City in America (it’s ahead of the Trib, dontchaknow), says that the Nats and Pale Hose are exchanging names, though the Sox don’t have much to give in the way of pitching prospects — they were all traded to the Little Monks from San Diego for Jumpin’ Jake Peavy. No one likes this kind of talk, least of all Adam Dunn, who doesn’t want to be a DH and likes it just fine here in D.C.  We like him here too, Mike — as he is headed for another season of 40 home runs (oops, he had only 39 last year) and is one of the surprises, perhaps the surprise on the team: unlike the other nine we slap together to play the Baltimore Pathetics, he’s fielding his position like a pro. And who would have guessed that? Then too, don’t we have enough pitching prospects? I know, let’s try Danny Cabrera. In fact, the only positive thing we could really gain from such a trade is an end to that obnoxious public address announcer and his “now batting for your Washington Nationals …. Adaaaam Dunnnnnn.” Hey, on second thought . . .

The Austin Kearns revival continues in Cleveland, as the former Nat and sometime slugger belted out two home runs in leading the Indians to a 7-2 victory over the Washington Nine at Progressive Field. Kearns, who was hobbled by injuries during his time in Washington, is now leading the Naps in BA — and anchoring an otherwise punchless front nine that is having difficulty competing in the AL Central. Kearns’ success is one of the bright spots for first year Tribe manager Manny Acta, who helped bring Kearns to Cleveland and then watched him win a spot in the regular line-up. “Austin is the ultimate pro, a throwback,” Acta said after the Cleveland win. “He’s a professional who never gives away an at-bat. He went into Spring Training fighting for a spot, waited for his opportunity and has taken advantage of it.  He’s a coach’s dream.”

Kearns’ victim was Washington rookie pitcher Luis Atilano, who allowed three runs in the first, and never seemed to settle down. Atilano threw five innings of seven hit ball, but never mastered the Naps front nine. “I wasn’t commanding my sinker to the righties,” Atilano said of his outing. “I was more outside — middle in a little bit.” Tyler Walker was also shaky in pitching two complete innings of relief, giving up two hits and a run in facing nine batters. Doug Slaten finished the game for the Nats. The indifferent mound work and the inability of the Nats to feed off of their long-ball heroics against the Pirates, ended the Anacostia Nine’s three game winning streak, sending the team to two games under .500. The Nats face off against the Indians on Saturday, with Washington youngster J.D. Martin set to start against Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona.

The Riggleman Order: Nats skipper Jim Riggleman shook up the batting order for the first game against the Tribe, hitting Ivan Rodriguez in the second spot, starting Willie Harris in left and slotting Josh Willingham as the DH. There were apparently good reasons for this; then too, Riggleman constantly massages his batting order — this isn’t the first time that Pudge has batted second. And the 38-year-old continues to hit, no matter where he bats. That’s not true for Willie Harris, whose time on the roster is increasingly cause for concern (he hitting a whopping .168) — but Rigs keeps running him out there. Maybe he’s a long lost cousin or something . . . There must be a good reason why Alberto Gonzalez continues to wear a hole in the bench. With Kennedy and Guzman switching off at second and Ryan Zimmerman healthy, there isn’t much room to play Gonzo, but running him out to the on-deck circle as a PH and then pulling him back — to be replaced by Harris — is puzzling. Is Willie Harris really a better hitter? . . .

Some of the glitter has worn off Adam Kennedy, who booted a ball against the Tribe. Rigs says that that’s the result of not having steady playing time, a good enough (and probably accurate) explanation. Kennedy was a steady-as-she-goes fielder in both Anaheim and St. Louis, though no one would ever confuse him with a gold glover. We suspect that this leaves Riggleman in a kind of quandry: the team needs Guzman’s bat, but he’s a deficit at both second and (even more so) in right, while Kennedy has yet to hit his stride in the batter’s box . . .I keep coming back to Harris. While it’s true that Harris will never “find his stroke” by sitting the bench, how likely is it that (after 52 games and 95 at bats) Willie will suddenly become Lou Gehrig? Or Alberto Gonzalez? Or even Mario Mendoza? Harris has never hit over .270 in a season, and that was three years ago in Atlanta. Maybe it’s time for Rigs to rethink his role . . .