Martin Prado’s bases loaded home run in the bottom of the 7th inning tied the game at 5 — and the Atlanta Braves went on to win, 6-5 in ten innings against the Nationals in Atlanta. The Prado blast came against reliever Sean Burnett, but the game might have gone the other way: a check swing on a 2-2 count should have put Prado back on the bench and preserved the Nationals’ lead, but the call gave Prado a second life. The loss in Atlanta prevented the Nationals from notching a sweep of the Braves, and a victory that would have provided a positive end to a tough N.L. East road trip.

Prado’s ten pitch at bat, and the check swing, remained the topic of conversation after the game. “I think Burnett got the non-benefit — or whatever the terminology is — on a couple of check swings,” Nats’ manager Jim Riggleman said after the loss. “That irritates the heck out of me, those check swings. He’s got to end up throwing a pitch to Prado with the bases loaded, when maybe that wouldn’t have been the case.” The might-have-been loss squandered a good outing from Nats’s starter Jordan Zimmermann, who threw 6.1 solid innings. This was the kind of outing the Nats were looking for from Zimmermann, who struck out 11 and walked just one.

Once again, the Nationals seemed unable to loosen up their bats. The team registered just five hits against Atlanta’s very average Derek Lowe and a gaggle of relievers. Lowe struggled through six, but Craig Kimbrel — the goat on Thursday — gave the Braves a badly needed three-up-three-down 10th inning. Kimbrel struck out Ian Desmond, Jayson Werth and Laynce Nix to pitch a perfect frame. “That might have been the best outing he’s had all year,” Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said after the Atlanta win. The Nationals are at home tonight, where they will face off against the Florida Marlins.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The most exciting game on Thursday night took place just up the highway in Baltimore — and featured one of the best pitchers’ duels of the 2011 campaign. The Orioles, as inconsistent as any team in baseball in the early going, pulled out a 1-0 walk-off win in the 12th inning, but the story of the night was the pitching of O’s rookie Zach Britton and Mariners’ semi-veteran Jason Vargas. Both hurlers threw the best games of their career.

Britton, a 6-3 California lefty, was the odds-on early season favorite for Rookie of the Year honors — and last night’s performance confirmed that judgment. Britton’s nine inning stint was a thing of beauty: three hits, no runs, no walks and five strikeouts. Vargas matched him pitch-for-pitch — nine innings, four hits, no runs, one walk and four strikeouts. Baltimore won the game in the extra frames on a single from just-returned shortstop J.J. Hardy. The victory notched an Orioles’ sweep of the Mariners. “We wanted to win in the ninth for Zach,” Hardy said. “Once we were down, we definitely didn’t give up. That was a big win for us. I know everybody in the lineup wants to go out and score runs for a pitcher who does that. You want to give him the win.”

The Orioles are a fascinating team to watch, the first time anything like that could be said in, oh, about ten years. Their off-season moves included a swap with Minnesota of two relievers for Hardy, the signing of on-his-last-legs Vlad Guerrero to a one year $8 million deal and former North Side Drama Queens first sacker Derek Lee (one year $7.25 million). The Orioles completed the overhaul of their infield by trading for Showboats’ third baseman Mark Reynolds and signed sometime closer Kevin Gregg (for $10 million over two years with an option). The only real head-scratcher in all of that was the trade for Reynolds, a strikeout and long-ball machine who — when he’s not stroking the ball out of the park — can’t hit worth a lick.

But the story of the O’s is their young starting pitching. In addition to Britton, the Birds of Baltimore feature Chris Tillman (don’t laugh, he turned in a long-awaited gem against the Mariners on Thursday), and righty sleeper Jake Arrieta (who’s 4-1 so far this year), to go along with Jeremy Guthrie who, on odd occasions (mostly against Minnesota), pitches like Jim Palmer. Waiting in the wings is uber youngster Brian Matusz, who’s just about to return from a torn intercostal muscle. Matusz’s return will be welcome, as it will nudge struggling wannabe Brad Bergesen back to where he belongs: as a sometime starter who has yet to learn command.

The Orioles could use another pitcher (or two), but a rotation of Guthrie, Britton, Matusz, Arrieta and Tillman not only isn’t bad, it’s damn good. If the Birds can get that done, they’ll be more than halfway to respectability — which hasn’t happened in Birdland for an awfully long time. The only thing left then, will be for Buck Showalter to tell Reynolds there’s a place for him on the pines, counsel Nick “big-hat-no-cattle” Markakis that it’s time to become the star everyone thinks he is, and find a place for Cubs castoff Felix Pie — dumped by the North Side Drama Queens because . . . because that’s what they do. But nevermind, the story (as proved last night by Britton), is that there’s finally a team worth watching in Baltimore, and it’s chock full of young arms.

This wasn’t suppose to happen. When Baltimore Orioles’ owner Peter Angelos cast the sole dissenting vote against moving the Montreal franchise to Washington, D.C. — on December 3, 2004 –he was confident the new Nats would be as incompetently run as the old Expos. He had reason to be optimistic. The Nats of 2005 looked like an impoverished third world trustee: poor, and destined to stay that way. Not only had the Expos’ farm system been looted by MLB’s appointed overseers, the Nats’ new owners were a Selig-annointed tight-fisted bunch of bean counters who knew nothing about baseball. Selig’s strategy was clear: the last thing baseball needed was a winning franchise in Washington to muck-up baseball’s New York-Boston license-to-print-money axis of television revenues. As for Bud’s pal Peter — well, he could be paid off and then (pockets bulging with dough) praised for being one of MLB’s self-sacrificing boys. In that order. Angelos was only too happy to comply, imposing “the worst TV deal in all of sports” on the Lerners that was the equivalent of the requirements imposed by the IMF on a debt-ridden South American state. I swear. By the time the Nats took the field at RFK, the team looked like an Angelos step-child, to be brought out on occasion as proof of his all-American sacrifice, but never successful enough to be bragged about.

So, how’s Peter doing?

The Orioles are mired in one of their worst seasons ever, their fans are staying away in increasing numbers, Angelos has picked a fight with franchise legend Cal Ripken and the truce between the team owner and former Baltimore Sun beat writer Ken Rosenthal has broken down. Let’s start at the top. The O’s are 5-18 and sinking fast. Their best infielder (Brian Roberts) is injured, rising young star (Felix Pie) is out until at least June, the team has one (count ‘em, one) young good starter (Brian Matusz) and free agent starter Kevin Millwood is a bust. The bullpen is a disaster (expensive closer-to-be Mike Gonzalez is injured), and manager Dave Trembley’s post-game appearances are now watched by masochists who get their kicks by seeing middle aged men break into tears. The savior was supposed to be Andy MacPhail, who Angelos hired to be the O’s head of baseball operations, but the otherwise talented MacPhail is now apparently on the hot-seat, the result of the O’s April meltdown. “When a team continues to founder like this,” one Baltimore Sun beat writer opined, “eventually the mobs with the pitchforks and flaming torches show up at the front office and demand change.”

Ah . . .  well . . . “the mobs” are already there. Savvy Birds Watcher and influential Birds’ Blogger Nestor Aparicio, who led a 2006 fan-based “Free The Birds” movement (complete with black t-shirts and a walk-out of an O’s game), implies that while good ball clubs are “strong up the middle,” good franchises are strong at the top. Which is to say: the problems with the Orioles start not on the field, but in the front office — with Peter Angelos. “It’s hard to argue with the promise of Matt Wieters and Brian Matusz,” Aparicio recently wrote, “but virtually every other facet of the organization is still inflicted with the cancer of Peter Angelos and his values, strong will and old-world vindictiveness and deceit regarding everything from the banning of free speech in the media to jacking up ticket prices to taking away scalp-free zones to shunning the legends of the team’s heritage and brand.” Many, many others agree. B-More Birds Nest defines Angelos [pee-ter ~ ann-gel-ose] as “1) to ruin baseball, to make it uninteresting, 2) a lawyer who should be sued for false advertising, and 3) a d–che bag.”

For Nationals fans, the spiraling failure of one of baseball’s proudest franchises brings some odd solace, as well as a sense that the arc of the universe does (though rarely) bend towards justice. The Nats are no longer the mid-Atlantic’s orphans, the O’s no longer dominate the “we’ll show you how it’s done” tone of MASN “Battle of the Beltways” broadcasts and (compared to Angelos), the Lerners look absolutely enlightened. From top-to-bottom, the Nationals are the more competently run and better franchise. While O’s fans are busy plotting ways to walk away from baseball in Baltimore, the Nats are anticipating sell-outs for a revived team that has better pitching, hitting, speed and defense — and a closer who’s not on the DL. Think of it: five years after baseball’s step-child showed up at RFK, the premier baseball franchise in the region is not the Baltimore Orioles, it’s the Washington Nationals. But Nats’ fans shouldn’t be too proud, or too happy. Not only were we once the worst team in baseball, but the MASN deal means that Nats’ fans are actually subsidizing this mess.

The Nats must have one of the toughest early schedules in the major leagues: Phillies, Mets, Phillies (that’s six games against the Phillies in the first month), then the Brewers, Rockies, Dodgers and Cubs. With the exception of the Mets — and a single end-of-month game against the Marlins — the Nats will face-off against a top team every single day until May. Of course (as some fans will note), when you finish with 103 losses, every team looks tough. Even so. There’s two ways to look at this: Nats fans can say it’s “not fair” (a phrase popularized by four-year-olds), or we can look at these games as tests of just how good the Nats are against the league’s best. In the case of the Phillies, at least, the results seem clear. It’s not simply that the Nats are not as good as the Phillies (that’s obvious), to complete with them the Nats will need more pitching — and lots of it.

The Nats fell to the Ponies in Philadelphia yesterday and played them even, until “the killer P’s” unloosed their hitters. For Jason Marquis, who must have come up short when the staff drew straws before heading north, the second outing against the Phillies was only marginally better than his first. Frankly, it’s doubtful that Livan, who dominated the Mets on Sunday, could have done much better. The line-up of Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth and Ibanez constitutes a latter-day murders’ row of lumber that would be daunting for an elite team — let alone the Nats. Even so, as a guy like Jim Riggleman will tell you, a competitive squad should be expected to play the Phillies tough. But so far that hasn’t happened. The lesson seems to be that once you have your boot on their neck, you don’t dare give in. “They are a balanced lineup,” Nats reliever Walker said. “They have some free swingers and have guys that will grind it out. The balance is what gets you, because they are going to be consistent every day. You give them an inch, they are going to take a mile. You give them an extra out, that’s when they really gear up. They know they can break your back.”

Andy MacPhail’s renovation project in Baltimore is making progress, though the pieces he’s added over the winter (signing Garrett Atkins was a great idea) aren’t likely to make a difference for the Orioles in the standings. At least not this year. It doesn’t help that steady-as-she-goes second sacker Brian Roberts pulled an abdominal muscle last night — and will be out for the next fifteen days. But the Orioles are coming back, if slowly, in part because MacPhail has cobbled together one of the best outfields in baseball: Adam Jones might be the best centerfielder in the game, Nolan Reimold is a surprise addition in left and Nick Markakis is becoming an established star. Even Felix Pie (above), the Cubs cast-off (you could say the same about MacPhail, come to think of it), is starting to hit, though his dinger last night against the Tampa Bay Whatevers didn’t keep the Orioles from losing — or falling to1-6 on the season.

“Overall, our pitching is doing a great job,” Markakis said after last night’s tilt. Really? You could have fooled me.The starting four of Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Guthrie, Brad Bergesen and Brian Matusz are just so-so, and closer Michael Gonzalez (brought in from the Braves as the real deal) looks terrified on the mound. The Orioles’ front office is hoping that semi-rookie Brian Matusz is the answer to the Orioles’ annual pitching woes, but he’s inexperienced. Matusz was an elite college pitcher (at the University of San Diego) with good velocity, and his trip through the minors was impressive. Signed by the Orioles in the same year that Washington failed to land Aaron Crow, Matusz is Baltimore’s  hope for the future, even if the future has yet to arrive. If there’s any good news at all, it’s not only that Matusz is unlikely to fail, but that rotation-mate Brad Bergesen has been a surprise. Drafted in the fourth round in 2004, Bergesen was 7-5 last year with a stellar 3.43 ERA. That’s two solid pitchers for the future. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the future will come only after Baltimore gets past a season with the savvy, but aging Millwood, and a bound-to-be-average Jeremy Guthrie.

None of this is cause to despair. While the future might take several years to arrive, Markakis, Jones, Reimold and Pie are fun to watch. If only they could pitch.

Garrett Mock and Adam Wainwright threw a classic pitchers’ duel at Busch Stadium on Sunday, but the Nats fell to the Redbirds, 2-1 to drop the third game of a three game set. Mock and Wainwright traded pitch-for-pitch through six complete, until Mock left a 3-2 pitch up in the strike zone against Albert Pujols, which turned out to be the difference in the game. Pujols stroked the mistake into centerfield, ending the deadlock and giving the Cards the win. Both bullpens closed out the game in near-perfection, as Nats’ bats could not provide an answer against a trio of Cards’ pitchers. The Nats accounted for only four hits in the game: one each by Willingham, Dukes, Orr and Bard. It was a tough series for D.C. hitters — but a particularly tough last game, as they faced one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, and arguably one of the contenders for the Cy Young Award. The masterful Wainwright had only one shaky inning and is now 16-7 on the year. 

Garrett Mock dueled Adam Wainwright in St. Louis (AP/Tom Gannam)

Sunday’s game was one of the best of the year by Mock, who was spotting his breaking stuff nearly perfectly. But the pitch to Pujols, Mock said, will probably keep him awake: ”The pitch that’s going to cost me some sleep tonight is the one that he got a hit on that scored the second run,” Mock said. “I wasn’t trying to throw the ball there, obviously — not trying to throw the ball anywhere where he could hit it. I feel like I did do a good job of executing my pitches today, but that particular pitch, I’ve got to be better than that.” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa had praise for Washington’s starter. ”I just called Jim Riggleman and said, ‘Whoever decided to put Mock in the rotation, it was a good decision,’” La Russa said. “Boy, he was very good.”

After the game, the franchise announced the departure of Ronnie Belliard for the sunny climes of L.A., where he will find service with the Trolleys. Ronnie’s gotta be as pleased as punch to be headed to a contender, after riding the pines for most of the season behind Anderson Hernandez, now riding the pines for the Chokes, and Adrian Gonzalez. Not surprisingly, Belliard was of two minds on the trade: “I’m happy because I’m going to L.A. and that team is in first place,” he said. “But I’m sad because I am going to leave a lot of friends. I’ve been here for the last three years and I made a lot of friends.” Belliard had been playing well since the All Star break, hitting .325 with five home runs and 22 RBIs. He’d been getting more playing time. The Nats received minor league righthander Luis Garcia and a player to be named in the swap.

 

The Orioles might, truly, be one of the forgotten teams of baseball. Fated to play in the A.L. East, the little orange birds are mired in last place, 28 games behind the Yankees — and only eight wins better than the Nats. But there’s hope in Birdland, and not simply because the O’s have won six of their last 11. The team arguably now has one of the best outfields in all of baseball, a clear contender for the rookier of the year award, and perhaps one of the league’s premier young pitchers. All of this was on display on Sunday, when the O’s took on the Naps in Baltimore and coasted to an easy win behind the power arm of rookie Brian Matusz. All of 22, the former first round (fourth overall) pick in the 2008 draft, is the thinking man’s pitcher, who studies game-day videos of himself to determine how best to spot his killer curve, then adjusts his arm slot accordingly. Matusz threw 97 pitches yesterday, 67 of them for strikes. He held the Indians to four hits over seven innings.

Matusz isn’t a surprise: he’s a can’t miss pitcher who won’t miss. The surprise is Felix Pie — a former Cubbie who has now, shockingly, set down roots in left field after going through nearly three years of trying to figure out how to hit major league pitching. Pie has been on a tear, raising his average over the last two months to a respectable .272 and showing some power; he now has seven home runs (a laughable total, we suppose, except that the punch-and-judy Dominican wasn’t supposed to have any at all). Pie weighed in to help Matusz on Sunday, jacking a two run homer in the third. He’s hitting .383 since August 14.

Pie is a nice addition in the outfield, completing a trio that includes Adam Jones in center and Nick Markakis in right. If Jones was playing in New York or Boston, we venture to guess, people would be describing him for what he is: the best young outfielder in all of baseball. The Pie-Jones-Markakis trio has kicked Noland Reimold, a contender for rookie of the year, into the D.H. spot. Reimold’s hot bat has been a surprise for the MacPhail’s this year: the 25-year-old climbed his way, hand-over-hand through the Baltimore system, before the front office gave him a grudging look. He was a prospect that was once ranked near the bottom in the O’s system. But he’s produced and it looks like he’s in Baltimore to stay.

Okay: things aren’t all that great in Baltimore and the fans are restless. How can they be otherwise. The team is in last place. They’re certainly not going to win a pennant next year, or maybe even the year after. But the MacPhail plan is on track — and if the outfield of Pie, Jones and Markakis ever hit together, the Baltimore Orioles could become one of the most formidable teams in all of baseball and a challenger to “the nation” and the evil empire. With Matusz they have the beginnings of a young staff, the only other ingredient they need. And so, after an era of irrational interference from a know-it-all owner, the Orioles are finally on the right track. If they only had a little more pitching.

Felix Pie (left) is congratulated by Melvin Mora after homering against the Indians