In the aftermath of Chien-Ming Wang’s steady and powerful outing against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, Davey Johnson faced the Washington baseball press. In light of Wang’s performance against the Braves, he was asked, would he recommend that the righty be offered a contract for 2012? Johnson didn’t hesitate: “No doubt about it,” he said, and then repeated it. “No doubt about it.”

Washington fans might rise to applaud this statement, particularly in light of Wang’s recent outings. The righty, signed by Mike Rizzo while still recovering from a blown out shoulder, has proven to be a good gamble. Wang has pitched no fewer than five innings in each of his last ten starts, and has pitched six complete in his last two — which includes today’s four hit 4-1 spectacular against Atlanta.

Johnson made it clear — he would have left Wang in to complete the game, but the bullpen needed work, and performed to their usual standards, with Gorzelanny, Clippard and Storen combining to hold the Braves to two hits in three complete innings of work. Drew Storen notched his 41st save on the season, and it’s probably not his last.

Wang made it look ho-hum-easy. He threw 85 pitches, 51 of them for strikes. His sinker looked as good as, or even better than, normal — a fact mentioned by Johnson, who said that the more Wang’s pitched, the more progress he’s made. His teammates in the infield agree. “He works quickly and he knows what he is going to do,” second sacker Danny Espinosa said. “When he has such a good plan like that, you stay active in case a ground ball [comes your way]. It keeps you in the game.”

Wang was even able to help his own cause at the plate. In the bottom of the 4th, he singled past first base into right field — scoring Espinosa. It was his first hit as a National, and his first in the majors. The crowd stood and roared its approval. “I had a bad record before,” Wang said of his hit. “All I wanted to do was just swing the bat, make contact, and I was kind of lucky. It was a line drive.

In notching their 77th win of the season, the Nationals put the Tomahawks in a squeeze — the Bravos needed a victory in their race for the Wild Card, and are now just two games ahead of the Musials. “We’ve got to win ballgames,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. “It’s nice to watch the scoreboard and all of that. But we’ve got to win the games that are in front of us.”

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: There was an ovation for Chien-Ming Wang among the section’s regulars — and for Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, who might have been making his last start (or his last appearance) in a Nationals uniform. That fact was not lost on Davey Johnson, who noted that the Hall-of-Fame bound catcher has remained a positive force in the clubhouse. “He’s just fun to watch,” a section-mate added . . .

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Just a little over one year from Tommy John surgery, Stephen Strasburg returned to the mound in Washington, threw five complete innings — and left the game with the Nationals in the lead, 3-0. It almost looked as if the young righty had picked up from where he left off: he threw 56 pitches (40 of them for strikes), while giving up just two hits and striking out four.

Unfortunately for Strasburg, who was in line for the win, the Nationals’ bullpen could not hold the 3-0 lead, and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to outslug and outscore the Nationals, 7-3. Despite the loss, Strasburg was the story. His fastball topped out at 99 mph, and he seemed in control and comfortable on the mound.

The Nationals had to be pleased with Strasburg’s outing, as it was right on schedule after one year of rehab. The righty will now follow the agenda laid out for Jordan Zimmermann (who also underwent Tommy John surgery), that Nats’ fans are familiar with: four starts to finish the season, an off-season of rest, followed by a closely monitored innings count for the 2012 campaign.

Despite this, tonight’s outing charted a way back, and now sets up a Nationals’ rotation with Strasburg as the number one starter, followed by Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan. The Nationals actually have a lot to choose from, as Davey Johnson tests out the young arms this September. Brad Peacock made his major league debut in relief of Strasburg tonight, throwing a serviceable 1.1 innings — but Johnson is also taking a good look at Chien-Ming Wang, who has looked impressive and Ross Detwiler.

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Thursday night’s 5-2 loss in Atlanta to the Braves was, in many ways, a typical game for the 2011 Nationals. The Nationals received good pitching from starting righty Chien-Ming Wang, hit well enough in the middle of the order to win the game and played solid if unspectacular defense — but came up short. Same old, same old.

Which is to say: the Nationals have put a good (but not very good team) on the field, and one that needs just a tad more of everything: better pitching, better hitting and a little more seasoning for its group of you-never-know, they-just-might-be . . . youngsters. Nats’ fans should feel good. This is not the dead-last, no-hope Nationals of 2010, and it’s certainly a better team than 2009.

The return to form of Chien-Ming Wang has to be one of the positives from the season. The Taiwan righty with the killer sinker threw nearly six innings of seven hit baseball, teetering on the edge of very-good all night. A pitch here and there made the difference: a Chipper Jones homer in the second, an Alex Gonzalez single in the sixth. Wang was, arguably, two pitches away from a very good outing, instead of a loss.

Such might-haves now seem standard for the Nationals, who have struggled at the plate all year. That problem was on full display last night in Atlanta. With only one out in the top of the eighth and the bases loaded, the Nationals sent Jesus Flores and Danny Espinosa to the plate. A single from either would have tied the game, but both struck out swinging.

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They call it “The Great American Ball Park,” but in fact it’s only the “Good American Ballpark.” That became clear last night when two light stands at the ballpark went out in the eighth inning — and the game was delayed.

At first, no one in the park understood the delay, and from where we were sitting (CFG is on the road — and in Cincinnati of all places), it didn’t look as if the field had actually lost any light. But then, from the nose bleed section (Section 524), the little men scurrying around attempting to solve the problem (down below us, and in the far distance), were far more exciting than the game itself, unless you were a Redlegs fan.

The Nationals came to Cincinnati hoping to reverse their fortunes after hardly showing up for the Snakes in D.C., but they faced the same problems in the “Queen City” that they faced at home: poor hitting, indifferent pitching and a heart stopping inability to show of their young talent. The result was too predictable — a Reds’ walkoff engineered by the I’m-old-but-I-can-still-play Miguel Cairo in the bottom of the ninth.

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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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Michael Morse was 2-4 with two RBIs (including a home run), Ryan Zimmerman sent a shot into the left field seats — and Chien-Ming Wang pitched into the seventh inning, to give the Nationals a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park on Tuesday. Morse gained nearly all of the headlines: the Nats’ first baseman is now third in N.L. batting average, and has lofted 21 home runs into the seats.

Starter Wang was not nearly so good as his last outing in Chicago, but the still-rehabbing righty was steady through five, and got out of a jam that could have ended his night in the sixth. Wang gave up a double to Joey Votto to start the 6th, but induced ground outs from Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier to preserve Washington’s lead. The Reds had to settle for a single run.

Wang has now established himself as Washington’s fourth starter — and perhaps its third. “I didn’t think he [Wang] had his really good sinker tonight, but he threw a lot of strong innings,” Davey Johnson said of his starter after the victory. “I had a lot of confidence in him, but I had my All-World setup man out there ready pretty much after two hitters in the seventh.”

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: “There sure are a lot of Koreans here,” one of 129′s regulars said before the game. “They’re not from Korea,” a newbie answered, “they’re from Taiwan.” Indeed: while the section wasn’t overflowing with boosters for starter Wang, their cameras were prominent — with the whirring and clicking a subtle backdrop to the righty’s every pitch.

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This was a Hail Mary pass if ever there was one. When Mike Rizzo signed Chien-Ming Wang back in February of 2010, there was absolutely no reason to believe that he would someday once again pitch in the majors. Wang was then rehabbing from right shoulder surgery, but it was worse than that: his shoulder was shredded. It was thought then that he could pitch by May of that year: it took him another fourteen months, an extended rehab assignment in the minors and two lousy outings.

But “the Michael Jordan of Taiwan” (as Rizzo described him then), is apparently now all the way back, though baseball gurus say that his shoulder still hurts when he throws a slider. Never mind: he only needs his sinker, as he proved against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, throwing six complete innings while giving up only a single hit. Wang’s outing (and homers by Michael Morse and Jonny Gomes) allowed the Nats to best the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 3-1.

Wang was the story of the night. The righty threw 81 pitches, 53 of them for strikes. More importantly, his sinker was working. The former Yankee Cy Young candidate registered eleven groundouts, issued only two walks and struck out one. Unlike his first two outings with the Washington Nine, he was never really in danger.

The return of Wang might be the best late-season news the Nationals have ever had — he symbolizes another solid arm in the mix for 2012 (is there really any question he’ll return?), that will include Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan. A Strasburg-Zimmermann-Lannan-Wang rotation (if all are healthy) would give Washington one of the best front fours in the game. The Nationals must be ecstatic: “Real nice job. Outstanding,” pitching coach Steve McCatty said.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The North Side Drama Queens are in the middle of a revival of sorts. Prior to Tuesday’s loss to the Nationals, the Cubs had won seven in a row, including a sweep of the Pirates. Don’t let that fool you, the streak only provided hope where little exists . . .

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