The Nationals are not as bad as you think

Everyone is doing a lot of talking about how bad the Nationals are and how important a sweep is for the Pirates in this series. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Nats aren't that bad. At least not of late. Ever since they dropped to 9-25, they're actually 14-9. In those 25 games, they're 5-2 against the NL Central. This is not a team to be taken lightly.

Tonight they send Mike Bacsik to the mound against Shawn Chacon. I have honestly never heard of him before in my life. The required action is to look him up on BRef, then maybe the Cube. Looks like he's been around a while, but not in the majors since 2004. He's been good for the Nats this year. This doesn't necessarily mean that he's good. Same goes for Shawn Chacon. We know all about his last start. He K'd 10 Padres in seven innings, then watched Salomon Torres blow the lead. Still, just because his last start was a good start doesn't mean he's a good starter.

This should be a fun game tonight.