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.

Jason Marquis was masterful on Friday night against the San Francisco Giants, pitching a five hit complete game shutout of the McCoveys — as Washington blanked the Giants, 3-0 at Nationals Park. The victory may have marked the most satisfying win for the Nationals all year: the victory featured stellar starting pitching, timely hitting, and good defense. Washington’s three runs were provided by a two run homer from left fielder Laynce Nix and a single from Marquis. Ian Desmond went 3-3.

After the victory, Marquis downplayed the game as a duel between him and Lincecum: “I never worry about the opposing pitcher other than when I step in the box,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Cy Young or the fifth starter on any team; you still have to make pitches to keep your team in the game. I have to be on top of my game and not worry about what anybody else is doing.” Even so, Marquis was the better pitcher at Nationals Park on Friday — he threw 96 pitches, 64 of them for strikes and he’s now 3-0 on the year.

The Nationals scoring against Lincecum came on a hefty home run shot into the right field seats by Laynce Nix, who was 2-3. Nix raised his season average to .314. “That was the first time I faced Tim and I was fortunate to get a pitch over the plate I could handle,” Nix said. “He’s a great pitcher, no question about that. He’s got great stuff that is tough to pick up. He had good stuff tonight.”

Book ‘Em, Danno: Pale Hose manager Ozzie Guillen was suspended for two games and fined by Major League Baseball for violating the league’s “social media policy and other regulations regarding the use of electronic equipment during the course of a game.” Guillen was thrown out of Wednesday’s game at Yankee Stadium. When he returned to the clubhouse he tweeted about the incident: “This one going to cost me a lot money this is patetic (sic),” Guillen tweeted. A second tweet followed: “Today a tough guy show up a yankee stadium.” Guillen put a good spin on his suspension: “I hope the [White Sox] players play better without me, because with me, they aren’t playing too good.”

Say hello to my little friend: This is going to be ugly. Major League Baseball has placed Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell on administrative leave and is investigating charges that he made homophobic comments to fans prior to the Atlanta-San Francisco game at AT&T park last Saturday. The allegations were made by fan Justin Quinn, who participated in a press conference on McDowell’s actions; standing with his wife and two daughters, Quinn said he saw McDowell making obscene gestures during batting practice. After McDowell made the comments and gestures, Quinn said that he told him he shouldn’t say those things in front of his children. According to Quinn, McDowell then picked up a bat and threatened him: “How much are your teeth worth?” McDowell also allegedly told the fan that “kids don’t belong at the f —king ballpark.” Nice.

They call it a ‘Royale’ with cheese: Cincinnati Reds’ pitcher Mike Leake pleaded guilty on Friday to a reduced charge of “unauthorized use of property,” after being arrested for shoplifting at a local Macy’s department store on April 18. Leake held an in-dugout press conference on Friday to explain his actions, which stemmed from a mix-up when he attempted to exchange shirts he had purchased from the store. “It was a serious lapse in judgment,” Leake told the press. Cincinnati fans have been predictably supportive of Leake during this troubled time: a sign at Cincinnati’s Great American ballpark read — “we gave you the bunt sign, Mike, not the steal sign.”

The Chicago White Sox will announce tomorrow that they have signed free agent Adam Dunn. The Washington Nationals’ first baseman has made it clear that he does not want to DH, but his signing with the Pale Hose indicates that he is open to the possibility. His signing leaves the Washington Nationals with a void at first base. The current speculation is that the Nationals will now step up their pursuit of Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena, or perhaps D-Back Adam LaRoche. Of course, it’s always possible that the Nats will decide to use Josh Willingham as their first baseman, or perhaps even Michael Morris — no matter how unlikely those two possibilities may now seem. The departure of Dunn brings an end to the Nationals’ front office debate on whether to keep Dunn because of his bat, or to let him walk because of his defensive liabilities. The Nats chose defense.

Chicago’s signing of Dunn is not a complete surprise. The White Sox have always been interested in the slugger, and the Nationals and Pale Hose were involved in intense discussions on Dunn prior to this season’s mid-summer trade deadline. Now — with Dunn walking — the Nationals will receive a supplementary first round pick and Chicago’s 23rd overall pick in next year’s draft. Dunn, it is reliably reported, will sign a deal with Chicago far in excess of anything that he was offered with the Nationals: four years and $56 million. The Nats were reportedly only willing to offer him a three year contract. The signing of either Pena or LaRoche would be a step-up defensively for the Nationals, though Pena hit an anemic .196 for the Rays, while LaRoche (good around the bag, and with a quick glove), hit .261 — with 25 home runs. Then too, the Nats have got to be thinking that by letting Dunn go, they will be saving salary — which, if they are to believed, can now be spent on a big time pitcher. We’ll see.

Is there a preference between Pena and LaRoche? While Pena is the kind of player who can put up big numbers (though it seems to happen only every other year), LaRoche is a more steady presence. Then too, Pena seems to invite aches and pains — as a kind of, well, Nick Johnson of Tampa Bay. Critics of this viewpoint claim that Pena is, by far, the better player. Really? He’s spotty, unsteady, often injured and unpredictable. Sure, he has a better glove than Dunn and a bigger bat than LaRoche, but you can’t hit in the mid-.250s with 48 home runs if you’re sitting on the DL.

The best move the Washington Nationals made before the trading deadline was the one they didn’t. As the witching hour struck 4:00 pm, the Nationals front office didn’t budge — and thereby decided that keeping a fan-popular 35-to-40 home runs per year hitter in D.C. was better than moving him to Chicago for a sometimes-very-good and sometimes just so-so righthander. The news that Adam Dunn was staying in D.C. began to circulate 60 minutes before the deadline, with a variety of sports reporters (including SI’s Jayson Stark) saying that Dunn was staying put. Even so, there seems little doubt there was a last minute attempt to land the Nats bopper: the Pale Hose dangled newly acquired righty Edwin Jackson (the Nats wanted Jackson and prospects), while the Giants inquired about Dunn but thought the price (Jonathan Sanchez) was too steep.

Nationals’ G.M. Mike Rizzo was always hesitant to deal Dunn, the centerpiece of a formidable 3-4-5 line-up that features Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham. Even talk of trading Dunn caused consternation, with Zimmerman saying flatly that it would be a mistake to break-up the trio. Apparently team president Stan Kasten agreed. According to the MLB Network, Kasten (a Dunn partisan) met privately with the first baseman on Friday night to reassure the slugger that the Nats were doing everything they could to retain him. One of MLBN’s commentators described Kasten as “tearful” during his one-on-one talk with Dunn. Over at Nationals Daily News, Mike Henderson quotes Mike Rizzo as saying that the Nats “never got a deal that we thought was equal or greater value to Adam Dunn.” Good. There arn’t many every day major leaguers who can hit 35 to 45 home runs each year.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: We here at CFG always attempt to respond to the flood of correspondence we receive from our dedicated readers. A recent missive upbraided us for our lack of coverage on the before game problems of what’s-his-name. “Dear editor:  Three days later, how could CFG not write a single word about the biggest Nats story of the year — Stephen SoreArm?  Are you and your staff covering the team or not?  At least offer a little commentary, or insight, or historical perspective on similar injuries . . . If nothing else, think about your foreign readers and their need-to-know…….. Sincerely, A concerned reader.” Hmmm. Point taken.

Okay, so here goes: we stayed away from “the kid’s” arm issue because, honestly, we don’t have a damn thing to add to what is already being said. Except that, oh yeah, we are attempting to sort through two conflicting views: that with a $15 million investment it’s hard to blame the Nats front office for playing it safe and (second), having said that we know that the very best way to protect “Stephen SoreArm” is not to pitch him at all. Put another way, we couldn’t decide between “phew, good move” and “oh c’mon.” Mmmmmm: whaddawegonnado? There’s an idea abroad in the land of baseball that today’s pitchers just aren’t as tough as the old codgers who used to pitch complete games and go entire careers without a complaint. The Warren Spahn-Juan Marichal game is cited as an example of this toughness.

But polemicists for this viewpoint fail to add that the era before rotator cuff surgery and bone chip removal is littered with the bodies of young hurlers who blew out their arms and had no recourse to bone marrow scoops or ligament replacement surgery. We here at CFG know one, for sure — who (designated as a power arm in the Kansas City A’s  rotation of 1959) blew out his arm and ended up coaching high school football. He had no choice. The reason we didn’t hear much about arm trouble in the good old days is that once you had arm trouble you had two choices — you could wait it out, or you could quit. Most times, you were simply finished. Which is to say: arm toughness isn’t the rule, it’s the exception and if there’s anything that can be done to save a young pitcher’s young arm early in his career, why then that ought to be done. The Nats are doing that and will continue to do that. But with this caveat: while the Nats have made an investment in Stephen Strasburg, they’ve also made an investment in winning baseball in D.C. Weighing the two is the challenge.

The biggest Nats news on Thursday was not the welcome pitching performance of Nats starter Scott Olsen, but the departure of Nats closer Matt Capps — who packed his bags for Minneapolis, where he will join the perennially in-the-hunt Twinkies. The sad-but-true baseball news cycle is likely to remain that way for at least the next 24 hours, as teams jockey to land needed pitching and hitting help before the coming of the trade deadline. Poor Scott: his more than modest triumph over the Braves (giving the Nats a series win, and a boost in confidence) was shoved down the Nats’ homepage after the announcement that Capps was no longer the Nats closer — and shoved further down the page by the appearance of an article extolling the virtues of Wilson Ramos, a Twins catching prospect with “a positive upside.” Capps was not surprised by the trade and praised the Nationals’ organization. “The Washington Nationals and everyone involved have been absolutely phenomenal,” he said. “It’s something that I will remember for a long time. I certainly enjoyed my time. Now, I have to focus on moving forward and helping the Minnesota Twins.”

Scott Olsen is not likely to be the last Nats shoved down the page by bigger news — the Nats are reported to be interested in acquiring D-Backs starter Edwin Jackson, which would necessitate a trade of Nats power hitter Adam Dunn to the White Sox, who are willing to deal prospects to Arizona to make Jackson available. In truth, that deal may be finalized by the end of the day, as it was just reported that the Pale Hose have finalized their trade for Jackson. Which could mean, of course, that Nats starter Craig Stammen, and his appearance opposite newly acquired pony starter Roy Oswalt, would be today’s second story. The line-up for the Stammen-Oswalt tilt would give Nats fans something to talk about besides who will replace Capps (it’s going to be a committee or relievers, apparently), as Jim Riggleman would begin to shift players (like Michael Morse) into positions that would reflect how the team views its last 62 games. Bottom line? The sad-but-true events of Thursday are now likely to be followed by the even sadder departure of fan favorite Dunn — and the break-up of the 3-4-5 slots in a formidable Nats batting order.

Adam Dunn hates to talk about trades, hates to even think about them. He’s made it clear — he’s happy in Washington and would like to stay with the Nationals. And Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo agrees: Adam is good for the team, good at the plate, good in the clubhouse and is a plus, plus, plus all the way around. But it’s hard to deny the rumors that the Chicago White Sox are bidding for Dunn and would love to bring him aboard, though at a price they dictate. Rizzo doesn’t deny this. He simply says that the Nationals must be overwhelmed by any offer, which could or would or might include Pale Hose second sacker Gordon Beckham and right fielder home run hitter Carlos Quentin. Or both. The White Sox have recoiled from this, knowing that Beckham is a long term talent and that Quentin is one of the guys that led their surge into contention in the A.L. Central. They would like Rizzo to focus, instead, on accepting a much more modest package that would, could or might include young righty Daniel Hudson (above) and heavy hitting youngster Dayan Viciedo.

There are problems here: Beckham is a young guy who would solve Washington’s problem at second base for years to come, but he’s having a lousy year at the plate (.237, 4 HRs), while Quentin, after a breakout year in 2009 (21 HRs., albeit without a MLB standard BA), is having trouble finding his groove (.244 BA, .344 OBP). But shifting away from Beckham or Quentin also presents problems. Daniel Hudson has a lot of promise, but it’s really only promise and while the young righty’s “upside” (gag) seems good, the Nats know all about “upside.” They need a proven pitcher (right now) who can fill the second (or third, if you count Livan) slot behind “the kid.” Hudson would look good in that spot, or he might end up being John Lannan’s roomy in Harrisburg. Mr. Dayan Perez Viciedo has his own set of challanges: he is a freeswinging Pablo Sandoval (or “kung fu house cat” as one of our readers opined) in the making. This guy couldn’t hit the water if he fell out of a boat. Well, okay — Viciedo is a good hitter and potentially a great hitter and when he does hit it it goes a long, long ways. Translation: Dayan can really hit the ball, but he strikes out a lot. Still . . . still. The simple and blunt truth is that the more that you study Hudson and Viciedo, the more tempting they become.

The White Sox end of this, at least according to Chicago Sun-Times baseball guru Mike Cowley, is that Rizzo is asking for way too much — he’s dangling Dunn like he’s Ryan Howard. The White Sox are hesitant. They’re willing to pay a good price for Dunn, but Chicago G.M. Kenny Williams is simply not willing to part with a package of top prospects and major pieces. He is countering with a package of minor leaguers (probably Hudson and Viciedo), that would keep Beckham and Quentin in Chicago. Pale Hose partisans apparently agree with this strategy, as does the White Sox clubhouse. Williams is just unwilling to trade away parts of a surging squad that has put together one of the more astonishing June and July winning streaks in recent memory. And Rizzo’s attitude? Well, Mike seems to be standing firm. In truth, he’d like to have them all — and much as we love Adam Dunn, we have to agree. We would love to have them all too. But let’s be realistic. A package that would include Hudson, Viciedo and just one of Beckham (which would be our preference) or Quentin is tempting. Very tempting.

If there was any thought that somehow the Washington Nationals could get along without Adam Dunn, the hefty lefty must have put them to rest on Wednesday night. Dunn hit three dingers against a formidable San Diego pitching staff, solidifying his obvious importance as a run producer inside the 3-4-5 Nats batting order. It’s odd how things work (or seem to work): just as talk was heating up about how tough an out Joey Votto has been, Ryan Zimmerman nearly single handedly demolished the Friars on Tuesday — and thereby, we assume, made his own case for why he (and not Votto) should be an All Star. Now, on Wednesday, after hearing endless rumors about where he might be going in the weeks ahead, Dunn made the clearest statement possible for staying right where he is.

But the rumors continue. The most recent is that the Nats have asked the White Sox to pony up for Dunn, giving up a mix of hitters and prospects that would (or so the argument goes) strengthen the Nats defensively, but without subtracting any power. The most recent whisper is that the Nats will ask the Pale Hose to part with second sacker Gordon Beckham, apparently because of his slick glove and implied power. It must be implied, because Beckham is currently hitting an anemic .208, with two home runs. If the report is true (and we’ll just bet it is), the Nats will trade a proven slugger for a questionable starter that will plug a hole that doesn’t need plugging. Which is to say: the Nats solution at second base is not in Chicago — he’s in the dugout. Of course the hope here is that Dunn’s pyrotechnics last night might have, and should have, put this to rest. And if they didn’t, then perhaps what Ryan Zimmerman told the Post this morning will: “It’s really, really hard to find a 3-4-5.”