The Nationals came up with one run in the 9th inning to beat the Mariners 1-0 at Nationals Park — and sweep Seattle in their three game series. Jason Marquis, who had to settle for a no-decision, pitched beautifully, outmatching Seattle fireballer Michael Pineda. Marquis held the Mariners to three hits through eight innings of work, inducing fourteen ground ball outs. Marquis was superb and while he did not get the win, he has established himself as the Nationals’ pitching ace — and put himself in contention for an All Star berth. Marquis threw 108 pitches, 70 of them for strikes.

The Nationals sealed the victory in the 9th inning: Michael Morse singled, Danny Espinosa reached first on a bunt, and Ivan Rodriguez got on base on a sacrifice bunt. Jerry Hairston came to the plate with the bases jammed, but hit a grounder that allowed the Mariners to get a force out of Morse at home. The next batter, Laynce Nix, on an 0-1 count, hit a short sacrifice fly into left field that scored Danny Espinosa from third. The Nationals finished the homestand at 8-1 and have won 11 of their last twelve starts. The Nationals now head to the south side of Chicago to take on the White Sox.

By now, you’d think, baseball pundits would stop talking about how John Lannan has “arrived,” and finally admit that the lefty is actually a veteran — and with enough command of the strike zone (and his own pitches) to be seen as a savvy and wily hurler who can provide key victories in key situations. In that sense, at least, what Lannan did with Seattle hitters on Wednesday is not a surprise: Lannan tamed the Seattle line-up into the 6th inning, giving his teammates (and bullpen stalwarts Henry Rodriguez, Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard and saves-ace Drew Storen) just enough breathing room to lock down a 2-1 victory and bring the Nationals back to .500 at 37-37.

Lannan (now 5-5 with a plunging ERA), was the key to the win, as was the Nationals’ bullpen, which MLB Network commentator Ron Gant told viewers was “electric.” He’s not the only one who noticed. The Nationals, 9-1 in their last ten, are the talk of baseball, though not only because of the Tuesday heroics of Wilson Ramos. The Nats are now seen as more than just a team with a few accidental wins. They’re young, tough, fast and . . . winners.

The Anacostia Nine has one of the best bullpens in the game, and an up-the-middle defense that is strong enough to spur commenters to wonder whether, in fact, the sky is the limit. And it’s no longer news that the Nationals, recipients of a Seattle error on Wednesday (that made the difference in the game), can take advantage of opponents’ miscues and hold on to win the games that, in reality, they shouldn’t. Wednesday was a case in point: Eric Bedard struck out ten Nationals, and it didn’t matter.

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The Washington Nationals authored one of the great walk-off wins in the majors this season — coming from a four run deficit in the 9th inning to score five and beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5. The rally was capped by a three run walk-off home run from Wilson Ramos on a change-up from Mariners’ relief pitcher David Pauley. “I was waiting on that pitch in that situation,” Ramos said following the victory. “I hit that ball pretty good. … I was very excited after I hit that ball for a home run. That was my first walk-off home run. So when I saw my teammates waiting for me at home plate, I was very excited.”

The victory came after a brilliant pitching performance from Mariners’ starter Doug Fister, who shut down the Anacostia Nine through eight innings. Fister was at the top of his form, allowing Washington just three hits through eight complete innings — with three strikeouts and just one walk. The Mariners, meanwhile, beat up on Washington starter Livan Hernandez, who couldn’t make it out of the 5th. But the Nationals’ bullpen did great work in keeping the Nats in the game, with Ryan Mattheus, Collin Balester and Todd Coffey holding the Mariners to no runs through five innings of work.

But the 9th inning will long be remembered by Nationals’ fans. The inning started with Jayson Werth reaching base on a Justin Smoak error, which was followed by a Roger Bernadina walk. With nobody out, Ryan Zimmerman grounded into a double play (his third of the game), putting Werth on third. With two outs, Jerry Hairston and Michael Morse singled, which put the Nats down 5-2.

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While Nats bloggers have been going back-and forth about whether the team needs another bat or another arm, Mike Rizzo seems to have made up his mind. They need both. Yeah, okay — that’s the right answer. But if Rizzo was pressed (and trade bait was short), what do you think he’d really want? Given John Lannan’s continued troubles and the uncertainty surrounding the return of any number of potential starters, the answer should be obvious: not only can you can always play Roger Bernadina in right field, but you absolutely need to; we’re never going to find out whether this kid can hit unless we put him in the line-up every day. Which means that the Nats should be looking for a pitcher to supplement their front (and only) two hurlers — Stephen Strasburg and Livan Hernandez. Let’s be honest. You never know what you’re going to get with Atilano and Martin, Olsen is just too tweaky too often to be counted as a stalwart, pitching messiah Jordan Zimmermann is a ways away from rehabbing and Ross Detwiler is still an unknown. That leaves Chien-Ming Wang (who won’t be here until July) and Jason Marquis — who has yet to show the team anything. So . . .

So who’s out there?

There’s Cliff Lee, who will be available once the cratering Navigators figure out that doling out $91 million in salaries for a last place team isn’t going to cut it. Lee is in the last months of a four year deal, and the Nats would have to look to sign him longer term, but our guess is that the Mariners will happily take good prospects for him — including Triple-A pitchers and Double-A position players that have a future. The Nats have either, and both. In exchange, the Nats would get a veteran fastball pitcher who could mentor Strasburg and an absolutely lights out number two starter (number one anywhere else), who can rack up some badly needed wins. The folks in Seattle say they won’t part with Lee without getting a big time power hitter in return, but that sounds like wishful thinking. Lee isn’t going to stay in Seattle after this year, especially to anchor what promises to be a development team of young prospects and remaining big contracts. It’s an ugly but pertinent truth: the Mariners will take prospects — or they can keep Lee and try to catch the fast disappearing Belinskys, White Elephants and Whatchamacallits. They’ll make the trade — maybe Mike will too.

Then there’s Roy Oswalt, but his contract is a nightmare: just over $9 million over the rest of this season, $16 million in 2011, and $16 million in 2012 with a club option buyout of $2 million. The Nats say they have money to up their salary ceiling, but Oswalt’s price might be a little high — particularly if (as expected), the Nats would have to pick up most if not all of the salary and throw in prospects. Bottom line: he won’t be cheap. But then, there’s always Jake Peavy. Don’t laugh: the former Friar has struggled with the Pale Hose and it appears he’s losing patience with wheeling-and-dealing Kenny Williams and the perpetually enraged Ozzie the G. He recently told a reporter that he would rather be traded than go through a rebuilding process in Chicago. Translation? “Get me the hell out of here.”

It’s hard to blame him: Peavy was a part of a rebuilding process in San Diego — and the team only started to rebuild when he left. Then too, the ChiSox probably look at the Peavy trade with some remorse; they dealt prospects to San Diego, one of whom (Clayton Richard) has turned into a front line pitcher — 4-3, 2.71 ERA. That’s a damn sight better than Peavy (5-5, 5.62 ERA). Ugh. The White Sox might try the same magic, trading Peavy for pitching prospects in the hopes of striking gold. The Nats could help. Of course, Peavy sports a huge contract ($52 million, three years), a teensy bit bigger than Oswalt’s which (for paperclip counter Mark Lerner) is always a problem. But in the end (and if you carefully weigh this out), the Nats could find a rental (like Lee) for some front line prospects or they could take the longer view (which is probably what Rizzo wants) and pony up some prospects and some cash. In either case, while none of these pitchers are going to come cheap, bringing any one of them aboard right now (or in the very near future) will probably mean the difference between a club that will continue its slow-but-certain downward spiral and one that might be able to contend — and fill the seats.

Jason Marquis couldn’t find the strike zone in his first regular season outing, and when he did the Phillies took full advantage. The Phillies chased the free agent righthander after just four innings and went on to an easy 8-4 victory over the Nats. The Nationals have now begun their season 0-2, and probably can’t wait to for the Phillies to leave town. “The whole Phillies lineup is dangerous, but they all can be pitched to,” Marquis said after the game. “They have holes in their swing, you just have to make pitches against this lineup. There is no letup. I wasn’t able to make as many pitches as I wanted to.” What Marquis meant was: I wasn’t able to make as many good pitches as I wanted to. There’s no desperation just yet (heck, it’s only the second game of the season), but to hold their home fans, the Nats cannot afford another 0-7 start — and are growing anxious to notch their first win.(Well, I suppose if it gets really bad, Stan could bus in some people from Phillie or New York.)

If there’s good news, it’s that shortstop newbie Ian Desmond is hitting the ball — if inconsistently. The rookie stroked a beautiful line-drive home run into straight away center field and a double down the left field line. But the good news is more than balanced by the bad: Desmond notched three strike outs (one looking). The kid can hit fastballs (hell, I can hit fastballs), but he needs a tune-up on anything moving over the plate. The other piece of good news is that Josh Willingham seems in mid-season form: he was 3-5 last night with a walk and he looks tough at the plate. Willingham is hitting .571 to start the season. For Nats fans, the post-game was nearly as interesting as watching Cole Hamels (who wasn’t sharp) wrack up his first win. Callers to the “Nats Talk Live” post game show on WFED were in their football mode, telling Phil Wood that it was time to “blow up the team” and “send a message” to guys like Marquis and reliever Matt Capps. “I don’t buy this ‘the season is 162 games and there’s a long way to go,’” an angry caller told Wood. “We need to do something now.” Yeah, like what? It’s not like the Nats can trade a couple of draft picks for a celebrated slinger, then hold a reassuring press conference to sooth their fans. This isn’t that game.

It’ll be okay. The Nats head to New York to face the already-struggling Mets this weekend and there’s no reason to panic. The team that’s on the field at Nats Park (that is, the home team, not the Phillies) is galactically better than last year’s edition: Adam Kennedy and Pudge Rodriguez will make a significant difference, the Nats are finally playing their young players, and the bullpen is not nearly as shaky as it was a year ago (Matt Capps threw well last night, and would have been out of the ninth if it weren’t for an Ian Desmond error). It’s only a matter of time before Lannan and Marquis hit their stride and the quartet of Zimmerman, Dunn, Willingham and Rodriguez put some numbers on the board. Which is to say: the season is 162 games and there’s a long way to go.

In The Land of the White Elephants: The modern version of the double header is to leave Nats Park right after the game (at about 10:45) and arrive at home in time to watch MLB Network’s west coast feed. Without extra innings or fireworks, it’s possible — and rewarding. Then too, you can flip between the west coast game and the thirty minute version of Baseball Tonight and, if the semi-goofy Bobby Valentine isn’t the featured BBT analyst, the games and comments are as entertaining as anything on television (maybe that’s not saying much). Even so, last night’s Navigators vs. White Elephants tilt was a barnburner, a classic match-up between two teams that don’t like each other even a little bit. This is the west coast version of the Boston-New York rivalry and, when the A’s are good (which they’re not, not really) it’s something to see.

While BBT’s on-set announcers go on (and on) about how crucial the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is to the future of humanity, the A’s versus Mariners games have been as entertaining. The two have played two walk-off last-at-bat games in as many nights, with last night’s 5-4 bottom-of-the-ninth victory a model of west coast junior circuit baseball. The hero was Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki, who came up to face Seattle fireballer Mark Lowe with newly acquired Kevin Kouzmanoff (who, honest, played like Brooks Robinson) on first. Suzuki promptly lofted a Lowe fast ball into the left field darkness which, for all the world, looked like it would clear the fence. As Suzuki did his Carlton Fisk routine down the first base line and Seattle outfielder Milton Bradley maneuvered vainly to snag a circus catch, Kouzmanoff (head down) circled the bases for the winning run. Suzuki’s shot hit just above Bradley’s glove and the celebration was on. I swear: even with the ninth inning meltdown of the emotionally impaired Jonathan Papelbon in Boston (it came against the Yankees, after all), the A’s dunking of the Navs in Oakland was the most entertaining game of the night.

Here’s a pretty good hunch: Mike Morse is a Jim Riggleman favorite, and it was only a matter of time before he got his shot. That hunch might well be confirmed on Wednesday night, as Morse is reportedly slated to take the field against the Phillies, a move that could mark the end of the it-will-never-ever-work one-day platoon experiment in right field. And why not? If you’re going to get beaten 11-1, why not get beaten with your kids on the field? Of course, Mike Morse is hardly a kid. The former Pale Hose draft pick (82nd overall in 2000), Morse was traded to the Mariners, where he became a utility infielder behind the now-faded Yuniesky Betancourt (et.al.). He was up-and-down in Seattle and never quite settled in, though everyone knew he could hit. There were high hopes for Morse, something that usually comes with a hitter who’s 6-5 and 230 pounds.

The high hopes for Morse were sidetracked after a nasty knee injury. And things didn’t get better when he returned. After a short stint as a starter, the Mariners decided Morse wasn’t the answer for them at third base and he was traded to Washington for Ryan Langerhans (who remains in a career long slump). Shipped by the Nats to Triple-A, Morse played in only 32 games for the Nats in 2009, but he showed some power, with three home runs in 55 at bats. Riggleman likes Morse’s work ethic, which he saw up-close when Rigs was managing in Seattle. The hard work has continued in his tenure as a Nat. “Mike is always ready to play,” Riggleman said of Morse during Spring Training. “Mike took about 10 days or two weeks off after the season last year. He started hitting in October, and he’s never stopped hitting. He’s a year-round guy, looking for somebody to throw him batting practice, take swings. He’s dedicated to his profession. He’s in mid-season form.”

The final decision on Morse will apparently be made on Wednesday afternoon, when the Nationals’ brain trust will meet to discuss the right field situation. The platoon of Willie Harris and Willy Taveras was the first option for the Nationals, with the rationale that the team needed defense more than offense. But you don’t lose much with Morse in right and, after the Opening Day fiasco, it’s obvious the team needs a little more at the plate. If Morse is promoted to a starting role, it could also mark the end of Mike Rizzo’s search for a more permanent solution. Most recently, Rizzo has reportedly inquired about a number of available right fielders, including Kosuke Fukudome, Corey Hart and B.J. Upton. The Nats would undoubtedly have to give up some pitching to get any of the three — which is something that Rizzo would find more than a little distasteful.

Sometime this next week, Seattle Mariners’ right fielder Ichiro Suzuki will break William Henry “Wee Willie” Keeler’s record for most consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits. Keeler registered eight consecutive seasons of 200-plus hits from 1894 through 1901 while playing for the Dan Brouthers-John McGraw Baltimore Orioles of the then 12-team National League and American Association. Barring an unexpected injury, Ichiro will eclipse Wee Willie’s record — one of the oldest and most legendary in the game — when he plays this week against the Belinskis in Anaheim. The Mariners, and all of baseball, are aware of the moment: the Mariners’ website features an Ichiro hit counter and the MLB Network (and undoubtedly, “Baseball Tonight”) will tune in to capture the famous moment. Ichiro’s streak began in the first year he was in the majors, in 2001, and comprises a run that includes seasons of 262, 242 and 238 hits.

Baltimore Orioles' stars: (standing) Wee Willie 'hit em where they aint" Keeler and John McGraw and (seated) outfielder Joe Kelley and shortstop Hugh Jennings