The Nats have finally returned to the .500 mark and did so in emphatic fashion. Mark & Al dive into the Nationals 13-3 pummeling of the Orioles on Saturday afternoon in front of another sell out crowd in D.C. The fans were not only treated to a win, but also received Alex Ovechkin Bobbleheads.

(08:00) Keibert Ruiz had a monster afternoon as he homered, knocked in five runs, stole a base, and even won an ABS challenge. Ruiz's OPS is up .715 and has climbed over .200 points in the month of May.

(15:00) Brady House did not start on Saturday, but he still ended up doubling and homering late in the rout.

(21:00) Cade Cavalli lasted until the 7th and struck out eight O's along the way. Cavalli was throwing a shutout through six innings (79 pitches), but he allowed a pair of homers in the top of the 7th to mar his final pitching line.

(28:10) This victory ends a shocking streak of 15 consecutive defeats for Washington when entering the game at 1 game under .500.

(31:15) A great shoutout that mentions Nationals Fantasy Camp. If you are interested in a shoutout to be read on air, send us an email at natschatpodcast@gmail.com.

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The Nats edged the Orioles 3-2 on Friday night in front of a sold out crowd in Navy Yard. Al & Mark praise the nearly 39,000 fans in attendance who packed the house for the well received promotion of "Hot Dog Day".

(08:00) Zack Littell tossed five shutout innings before handing the ball off to Andrew Alvarez. This was the first scoreless outing of the season for Littell in his 9th appearance. Blake Butera showed confidence in Littell in allowing him the opportunity to wriggle out of a jam in the top of the 5th.

(14:45) Andrew Alvarez had a strong performance after returning from Rochester. Alvarez tossed three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the top of the 9th. Alvarez was relieved by Gus Varland with no outs and then Richard Lovelady came in to nail down the final Orioles out.

(24:00) Daylen Lile homered for 4th time this week to put Washington up 3-0. Lile had three of the team's hits in the victory and his OPS is now at .798; making him the clear 3rd best hitter in the lineup.

(29:15) Cade Cavalli will take the mound on Saturday afternoon as the team looks to finally get back to .500. Thursday's loss was the 15th consecutive one for Washington when entering the affair at one game below .500.

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The Nats entered Thursday one game below .500 and for the 15th consecutive (15th!!!!) time they lost when trying to reach that level. Mark (From Cincinnati) & Al recap recap the 15-1 thrashing at the hands of the Reds.

(04:15) Blake Butera is not hung up on necessarily reaching .500 right now.

(07:00) Foster Griffin had by far his worst start of the season by allowing nine runs in under five innings of work. Griffin issued three walks and gave up a pair of homers against the Cincinnati offense. The outing went so poorly, that his ERA went from 2.12 to up to 3.53 in the process.

(15:00) Washington's starting pitching was rough all series despite the two victories. The bullpen was needed a lot this week even though the team is in the midst of a 16 games in 16 days stretch.

(17:20) The offense was no match for Reds starter Chase Burns,, who struck out seven hitters in six innings. The Nats only mustered three hits, but Nasim Nuñez did steal his MLB leading 18th base.

(21:30) The Nationals welcome Baltimore on Friday to begin their two series/ seven game home stand. The Orioles thus far are four games below .500.

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