So here’s the question: how can the Washington Nationals — so toothless against an also-ran and struggling team like the Chicago Cubs — play so well against the St. Louis doom-machine Cardinals? It could be (of course) that the Nats simply play better against stiffer competition (a notion belied by their record against good teams), or it could be (as it seemed on Saturday night) that the team was just due. Whatever the reason, the Washington Nationals finally broke loose against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, plating fourteen runs on sixteen hits, to clobber the Cardinals, who seem suddenly mediocre against struggling teams. The difference on Saturday was Adam Dunn. The left handed swinging behemoth, mired in a month-long slump, provided the impetus for the Nats to break out of their doldrums: Dunn was 2-3 with five RBIs, hitting a towering fly in the 5th for his 32nd home run. “I hit the home run really good,” Dunn said after the win. “I just knew the ball was really high. At this park, you really never know.”

But Dunn was not the only one on fire on Saturday. Michael Morse also had a hot hand, going 4-4 and scoring two runs, while Adam Kennedy, Roger Bernadina, Ryan Zimmerman and Ivan Rodriguez had two hits each. Over the last two games, the Nationals (whose offense has been positively anemic through much of August) have scored 25 runs on 25 hits, a symmetry rarely equaled through the last five months. While the Nationals might seem to have little to play for (they are nearly 20 games out in the race for the N.L. East Division crown), the same cannot be said of the Cardinals — who need every win they can get to keep pace with the surging Cincinnati Reds, who retain a four game lead over the Cardinals in the N.L. Central. The Cardinals are now faced with a chilling end-of-August reality: unless they start playing better against teams like the Nationals, they will cap a very good season without a shot at the playoffs. For the final game of this four game series, the Nationals will send John Lannan against Albert Pujols & Company on Sunday at Nationals Park.

Scoring The Nationals: Each game — and every year — provides its own scoring rarities. Two occurred on Saturday night that I have never seen before, or scored before. While “keeping a book” is always a challenge, the application of little-known rules to in-game situations can be discomforting. When Ian Desmond was called out for running outside the baseline in the third inning (how often, really, do you see that?) MASN play-by-play host Bob Carpenter helped me along: “That’s scored 3u,” he said — first base putout, unassisted. But the play demanded an asterisk — an outside-the-tradition personal tic that I use to note a rarity (some scorers use an asterisk to denoted a stellar defensive play, I prefer an exclamation point). There was a second asterisk (it’s important to limit their use) that I used in Saturday’s game. It came in the 8th inning, when Nyjer Morgan was called out at home plate (or, more pertinently, behind it), after being touched by a Nationals’ player. Once again Carpenter helped: “That scored 2u,” he said.

The problem with using an asterisk is that it always demands an explanation: which I give in a sentence at the bottom of my score sheet. The July 9 Strasburg beauty against the Giants (6 innings, 3 hits, 1 ER), for instance, included this asterisk in the first inning: “Cain throws it into the ground.” The asterisk was enough for me to recall a memorable moment in the 2010 season — when Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain lost his grip on the ball, which led to Roger Bernadina scoring the Nationals’ first run from second base. The official scoring, I claim, provided only a limited (and even puzzling) explanation that doesn’t really tell the story: “E: Cain (1, pickoff).” There are some events, however, that drive me back to paging through the best best resource on scoring, Paul Dickson’s “The Joy of Keeping Score” (it ought to be called “The Agony of Keeping Score”) which includes one scorer’s “WW” notation — “wasn’t watching.” That happens.

Of course, and as Dickson himself will readily admit, there are some events that happen on the field that simply can’t be scored — though they are fascinating. For instance: I was mightily confused with an event in Philadelphia, when Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz was stopped by umpires from visiting the mound after heading into the clubhouse for a new glove. Why was he stopped and sent back behind the plate? Why, why, why, why, why? I didn’t get it, and the announcers seemed as puzzled — finally just dropping the subject. The puzzle was finally answered (after much thought) by a family member (here he is) who provided this explanation: “If the catcher goes into the clubhouse and then emerges from the dugout to go to the mound, it constitutes a visit,” he said. “The umpires told him — and he decided against it.” Fascinating — and correct. But it has to be remembered; it can’t be scored.

(above: Adam Dunn photo by AP/Susan Walsh; below: Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack used his scorecard to give signals)

Author and friend Paul Dickson — the arbiter of authorities, the wizard of wordsmiths, the emir of ERAs, the sultan of slang — has dispatched an apparently tongue-in-cheek email entitled: ”Entry which will appear in the 2019 4th Edition of the Dickson Baseball Dictionary — The Frank Robby Curse.” Dickson, the author of The Paul Dickson Baseball Dictionary then explained: ”A condition which bedeviled the hapless Washington Nationals from the date they dismissed manager Frank Robinson and which lasted though two catastrophic seasons in 2008 and 2009. When the team finally became aware of the curse it staged a Frank Robinson night in April 2010 during which they named the concession concourse at  Blackwater Field (formerly Nationals Park) in his honor. The team won that night and went on to play one game over .500 for the season. The rest is history making  the NLCS in 2011, winning the NLCS in 2012 but losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series and finally the World Championship in 2014 when a new curse named for a long-forgotten manager named Manny Acta came into play. See also; curse of the Bambino, Bill Goat Curse.”

Dickson’s futuristic entry is more than plausible. My only quibble is with the phrase ”When the team became aware of the curse . . .” If they’re not aware of it now, they never will be. Dickson speaks the truth: it would be appropriate for the Lerner’s to keep their promise to honor Frank and it would please the fans, who remember that Robinson is a baseball legend whose understanding of the game is not in question. Robinson is missed, particularly by the younger guys on the club (and most especially by Ryan Zimmerman), who could use his wisdom just now. It would be interesting to hear what the Hall of Famer has to say about the club ownership; and interesting to know whether he would have put up with some of the deals (and the stripping of the ballclub) of the last two years. Nice touch though: “Blackwater Stadium.” Getaload of these charm school graduates. Oh, yeah – one more thing: I am on record with my baseball buddies — “me droogs” (here they are, if you’ve forgotten) – that the Washington Nationals will win the World Series before the Chicago Cubs (see, “Merkle’s Boner“), curse or no curse.

Down On Half Street: It’s possible to say something positive about the Nats, despite their Monday night loss to the Mets — and despite sinking to forty games under .500. While J.D. Martin’s first start in the majors resulted in a Mets’ pummeling, Nats’ reliever Tyler Clippard should now be added to the team’s list of “untouchables.” Clippard faced nine batters over three complete innings and struck out five of them. He looked unhittable (and he was), pumping in his fastball at 94 mph and fooling hitters with a sharp-breaking 12-to-6 curve. “This kid looks like he wants to stay,” MASN commentator Rob Dibble said . . . Logan Kensing gave up a home run to Jeff Franceour (don’t you just hate to see that), but his stuff is better now after his stint in Syracuse. He looked confident. So that’s Clippard, Kensing, Beimel, Burnett, Bergman and (maybe) MacDougal in the rebuilt Nats’ bullpen. It’s better, especially now that ”Coo Coo” Tavarez is gone, but it’s still baseball’s worst (5.54 ERA) and really, it’s not even close . . .