Sorry about the lack of activity here. Big changes are coming here soon, in about a week or so. Stay tuned.

[Just as the Nats return to town, I will be out west for several days, so updates here will be limited.]

• For a week that started so promising—the walk-off homer by Ryan Zimmerman in the Nationals Park opener, the two wins that followed in Philly—it ended with a thud. John Lannan, called up to pitch Sunday, did a reasonable job: other than Rick Ankiel (RBI double and homer) he kept the Cards in check for 6.2 innings. Problem was, though, that Kyle Lohse and the St. Louis bullpen kept the Nats off the scoreboard entirely. "We've got to go home and play well," Paul Lo Duca said. "We're a better ballclub than we played here, and we know that. Including myself, we need to pick it up." Cards complete the three-game sweep, winning 3-0 Sunday. (Box score)
• Lannan's outing may have been wasted because of the Nats' anemic bats, but it didn't go unnoticed by the team. "That kid's going to be a good pitcher in this league for a long time if he throws like that," said Lo Duca. "He's not scared."
• Jesus Colome will work on his mechanics after encountering difficulty finding the strike zone so far this season. One possible case: Colome's arm angle is "a lot lower" than last year, according to pitching coach Randy St. Claire.
• Jesus Flores and bench coach Pat Corrales were scheduled to have a session today "about the art of catching". While the team is pleased with Flores' bat, his mechanics behind the plate aren't very good, according to Corrales. Flores will get an opportunity to work on that more when he's sent down to Double-A to be the everyday catcher when Johnny Estrada comes off the DL this month.
• Comcast SportsNet has a relationship with the Post, so it's no surprise that MASN has inked a deal with the Times that will include "some live talent" as well as sharing sports coverage.

• "Take your pick of costly mistakes, because there is no shortage from which to choose," Barry Svrluga writes in his assessment of Saturday's game. Bad pitches, poor throws, missed opportunities on the bases, and more plagued the Nats yesterday. The biggest was the passed ball charged to Jesus Flores after Jesus Colome and Ray King walked the bases loaded in the eighth, allowing a run to score; the run came the difference when Flores hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Cards beat the Nats, 5-4, bringing the Nats back down to .500 after a 3-0 start. (Box score)
• The pitcher entrusted with breaking that losing streak is John Lannan, called up from Triple-A to keep the pitching staff on regular rest while Shawn Hill continues his rehab. "Just another opportunity," Lannan said about the opportunity.
• Hill, meanwhile, is still scheduled to pitch next Sunday after making a rehab start Tuesday for high-A Potomac. The team, those, is keeping its options open depending on how Hill feels after that start. "He has to show us that he's fine, that he's healthy, all of the above," said manager Manny Acta.
• Chad Cordero is feeling better, feeling no pain after a bullpen session on Saturday. He'll have another pen session on Monday, and hopes to come off the DL on Friday. Also: Dmitri Young, back in Washington, had a cortisone shot Saturday to deal with back pain. He hopes to be ready to play Monday night when the Nats host the Marlins.

• For the fourth time in five games this season, the Nats had a one-run game, prompting this advice from Mark Zuckerman: "The Nationals, though, might want to try the more conventional route of taking an early lead and holding onto it for a change." The Nats fell behind the Cardinals 5-1 but rallied late, scoring three in the seventh and putting the tying and go-ahead runs on in the ninth before Ronnie Belliard and Felipe Lopez struck out. Nats lose to the Cards, 5-4. (Box score)
• Chad Cordero went on the 15-day DL Friday, retroactive to March 27, because of his right shoulder tendinitis. "We really don't want to rush him back. He will be able to throw his side sessions and get him ready" to come off the DL on April 11, said manager Manny Acta. John Lannan was called up to take his roster spot; Lannan is scheduled to start Sunday.
• "Dmitri Young could be joining him [Cordero] soon" on the DL, the Times warns. Young was sent back to Washington to have his lower back examined. However, MLB.com reports, "there is no talk" of Young going on the DL despite his back pain. Young will not be available for the Nats for the rest of the Cards series.
• Felipe Lopez played in left again last night, and will remain there for the foreseeable future, which means reserve outfielder Rob Mackowiak will remain on the bench. "He was hurt in Spring Training and he didn't have a very good Spring Training," Acta said. Mackowiak concurs: "I haven't done a lot to prove that I deserve [to play left field]."
• Elijah Dukes is scheduled to make another court appearance this month because of a "probation issue" dealing with a drug possession charge last year. The issue was actually resolved when he was in court last week on another matter "but a procedural matter extended the case," according to the Post. The hearing is scheduled for April 24, when the Nats host the Mets.
• The team will offer parking passes for individual games in several lots, an option previously available only to season ticket holders. Parking prices range from $15 to $40.

• Little, if anything, about yesterday's game could be described as "perfect". There were the five runs the Phillies gave up in the top of the first, as well as the four errors they committed during the course of the game. But there was also the Nats pitching breakdown in the sixth, allowing six runs, and then the tenth, when Jimmy Rollins, who reached third (!) on a sac bunt after hitting a leadoff single, followed by two intentional walks and then one unintentional walk. Phillies beat the Nats, 8-7 in 10, handing the Nats their first loss of the 2008 season. (Box score)
• Felipe Lopez made his debut in left on Thursday and did reasonably well, playing all 10 innings there. "It was better than I expected. I thought it would be a lot [of adjustments]," Lopez said.
• Chad Cordero could pitch by Sunday after experiencing no discomfort playing catch on Thursday. Also: Shawn Hill pitched four innings in an extended spring training game in Florida on Thursday, and his fastball was clocked at 86-89 mph.
• A tight back kept Dmitri Young on the bench Thursday, keeping him from pinch-hitting. Young had an MRI on his back, the results of which will be studied in St. Louis, the team's next stop. Also: Jason Bergmann found that his changeup was particularly effective against the Phillies lineup through five innings, before he (and the bullpen) faltered in the sixth.
• "Interesting? I would say so," Thom Loverro writes in regards to Thursday's game. Dmitri Young's tight back and his unwillingness to talk to the media after the game? "That was interesting." A 4-0 start to the season "would have been very interesting."
• Good news: according to folks at Mens Fitness.com (?!), Nationals Park is one of 10 major league ballparks worth visiting this season. "[T]he Nationals left no stone unturned when it came to building their new home," the brief assessment of the park notes.

• Well, maybe not, but it's hard not to be impressed with the Nationals three games into the 2008 season (particularly compared to their 1-8 start last season). Last night it was Tim Redding, who pitched 7+ innings of one-hit ball, and Ryan Zimmerman, who hit a solo homer, who powered the Nats to a speedy victory in Philly. But lest you get carried away, the Post advises: "first place in April is akin to winning the Iowa caucuses. Hello, Gov. Huckabee." Nats beat the Phillies 1-0. (Box score)
• Now starting in left field: Felipe Lopez? Yes, Lopez is expected to get the start in left to give the benched infielder some playing time, especially given the injuries to regular outfielders Wily Mo Peña and Elijah Dukes. "He's got a great attitude, and saying he has no problem with it," said Manny Acta. "I think it will be good for him to get those at-bats."
• John Lannan could be called up to start Sunday's game in St. Louis. The team, operating on a four-man rotation for now, decided not to have Tim Redding and Jason Bergmann pitch on three days' rest. Lannan would likely go back down after the start unless Shawn Hill suffers a setback in his rehab in Florida.
• Chad Cordero said his right shoulder is improving and plans to play catch on Thursday as he recovers from tendinitis. Also: Johnny Estrada went 1-for-3 in an extended spring training game in Florida and appears on track to return in mid-April.
• Paul Lo Duca is used to getting razzed by Phillie fans who have booed him consistently, except when he was hit by a pitch Monday—then he was cheered. "They wore me out pretty good, but it was fun. It's part of the competition of the game."
• WTOP radio had this breathless exclusive this morning: the Nats schedule magnets to be given away at April 10th's game could demagnetize your Metro farecard. " The potential magnet mix-up has concerned Metro so much, the agency will put up a special banner in the Navy Yard Station before the game next Thursday that reads, 'Your farecard and magnets don't mix.'" Question: the Nats have given away schedule magnets in past years; was this a problem then?

• "One thing appears to be certain: The Nationals are not going to have a stagnant offense," MLB.com notes after Monday's game. After blowing a 6-2 lead in the middle innings, the Nats rallied in the ninth, scoring five runs off Tom Gordon (whose ERA, one game into the season, is 135.00). "It's good to score a lot of runs in one inning and show people that we can hit -- and that we're not going to put up with not scoring runs," says Lastings Milledge. Nats beat the Phillies, 11-6. (Box score)
• Chad Cordero is not heading to the DL - yet as he suffers from tendinitis in his shoulder. Cordero won't throw before Wednesday.
• However, there is no schedule for Elijah Duke's return from a right hamstring strain. The Nats considered calling up Justin Maxwell from Double-A when Dukes went on the DL, but the Nats decided they needed extra help in the bullpen in the form of Chris Schroder with Cordero ailing.
• Lastings Milledge is making, yes, a lasting impression with the Nats two games into the season, including a home run Monday.
• Stan Kasten is pleased with the feedback from opening night at Nationals Park. He said the organization is dealing with a few problems, including "long lines at some concession stands". "They are all too minor to talk about," Kasten said.

• Last night's game was not so much about the play on the field as in the facility that hosted the game: $611-million Nationals Park. (Now that's it's built and opened, perhaps we won't need to always prepend the stadium's price to its name any more.) "The senses were overloaded and overwhelmed on an Opening Night unlike any ever witnessed in these parts", the Post reports. The stadium got a presidential endorsement: "Beautiful park," Bush said on ESPN. "I'm real proud for the city. This is going to be great for Washington."
• "I tell you, I don't have any words to describe it," Mark Lerner told the Times. "I really don't. It's amazing."
• Nationals Park completes the return of baseball to Washington, MLB.com's Mike Bauman writes. "[I]t became vividly clear on Sunday night that the Washington Nationals now have a home that is worth calling a home." By comparison, old RFK "was to Major League ballparks what the Bates Motel was to quality lodging."
• "My job description does not include enjoying things," team president Stan Kasten told MLB.com on Opening Night. "But I'm enjoying it nonetheless, kind of on my own."
• Commissioner Bud Selig raved about the park as well. "When I use the word 'cathedral,' I only use it when the park deserves it," he said. "And this is a fabulous stadium." (And it literally will be a cathedral on April 17). As for the trials and tribulations of securing the new ballpark: "Look, nobody ever said that life is easy. Nobody ever said that some of these processes were ever easy. You can look back in retrospect and say there were a lot of difficulties, but here we are."
• While Selig loves the ballpark, he said DC will have to wait its turn to host an All-Star Game. "We have enormous interest in cities wanting all-star games. They're lined up for years to come."
• Broadcaster Jon Miller likens Nationals Park to the famous Italian opera house La Scala. Really. "And, as you know, in opera, there are tragedies, there's redemption, there's great happiness. All of these things happen, and, of course, that is also what could happen here in Washington at this beautiful new yard. From tragic circumstances, losing streaks to redemption to an ultimate championship, it will all play out here. Opera, in the big ballpark along the Anacostia."
• Both the Post and the Times get the fans' reactions, which are generally positive. The articles gloss over, though, some serious problems with concessions that left a lot of people grumbling about long lines and poor quality.
• Even the visiting Atlanta Braves like the park. Mark Kotsay described the visitors clubhouse as "almost as nice as our home clubhouse in Atlanta."
• "The clock started again for baseball in Washington last night," Tom Boswell writes. For the first time since the 1930s, "Washington finds itself with a franchise that has a fighting chance at a future. Thanks to a District-paid ballpark that already has exceeded most expectations, the Nats have the financial foundation necessary to be competitive. If a winning team is built -- far from a certainty -- the Nationals boast a facility that can please fans, gush cash and create credibility."
• "This was a happy, nearly delirious crowd," Marc Fisher concluded. About the only people he found complaining were the media, consigned to a press box high above the field.
• Even Metro worked better than expected (although that may simply be from low expectations).
• So, does anyone not like the ballpark? The Post's architectural critic turns his nose up at the stadium, whining about the stadium's bland exterior and how the process of designing major league baseball stadiums "precludes first-rate, daring and exhilarating architectural form." While Nationals Park provides a better "experience", he believes that RFK is "a better building". Also: "Nationals Park might be a better experience than RFK, but it fails to say anything larger to the city, or the world." (Nevermind that, to the average fan, a "better experience" is far more important that "daring and exhilarating architectural form".)

• It's that old, tired line: a story with a Hollywood ending, or a story with an ending that even Hollywood would consider unrealistic. (Although with the writers still rusty after their strike, they might at least consider it.) But admit it: when Ryan Zimmerman came up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-2 game (that the Braves tied in the top of the inning on a passed ball), you thought to yourself, "wouldn't it be great it he hit it out?" Well, he did, and it was. "I couldn't have written the script any better," manager Manny Acta said. Nats beat the Braves, 3-2, in the 2008 season opener and the inaugural regular season game at Nationals Park. (Box score)
• "Nothing could spoil last night for the Washington Nationals," writes Dan Daly. "I'm pretty sure Congress passed legislation to that effect last week."
• Well, it wasn't exactly a perfect night: the team put Elijah Dukes on the DL after the game after he aggravated his right hamstring during the game; he left after the fifth inning. His roster spot will be taken by pitcher Chris Schroder, called up from Triple-A.
• Chad Cordero was unavailable to close last night because of tendinitis in his right shoulder; he reported feeling a "sharp pain" playing catch before the game. Jon Rauch, who came on in the ninth and suffered the blown save, will close until Cordero healthy, which he hopes will be only a couple of days.
• Nick Johnson made his return last night, picking up an RBI double (the first RBI in regular season Nats Park history) in his first at bat since breaking his leg in September 2006. "It was great. It was pretty cool," Johnson said. "There was a lot of fun out there. Great time."

More on the ballpark opening itself in a later post.

• On the field, the Nats easily handled the Orioles in their final tuneup before the regular season. Jason Bergmann pitched five innings of one-hit baseball (albeit with four walks) while Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns, and Paul Lo Duca all picked up RBIs off O's starter Adam Loewen. Nats beat the O's, 3-0 in their final matchup of the spring.
• The game itself, though, was of less significance than the ballpark itself, which generally met with rave reviews. "The night was great," Nationals President Stan Kasten said. "I know that because fan after fan kept telling me that." Some, though, complained about concessions glitches, from long lines to cold food.
• There were also—surprise!—transportation problems, particularly with Metro. While traffic flowed smoothly around the ballpark, trains were crowded (compounded earlier in the day by the Cherry Blossom Festival); at one point after the game entrances to the Navy Yard metro station by the park were closed because the platform was overcrowded.
• The players are pretty happy with Nationals Park as well. Manny Acta noted that the fans are closer to the field than at RFK, making it seem more crowded than the 25,000 or so who actually went through the turnstiles last night. Bergmann: "It was only half-full, but it was pretty loud out there."
• However, the players are still figuring out how the park will play. The dimensions are smaller than RFK, but in some places the fences are higher. "The popular answer: We don't know, and we won't for some time," writes Barry Svrluga. "The answer might be quite different on a cool March night as opposed to a muggy August afternoon."
• Among the columnists:
  • Dick Heller raves: "You have to see it. You have to feel it." (emphasis in original)
  • Thom Loverro noted the park was definitely filled with baseball fans: "They were flying the colors yesterday, from Senators to Nationals – so much so that I walked around the ballpark for an hour until I saw someone wearing anything to do with the Washington Redskins."
  • Tom Boswell writes that Nationals Park is probably not in the top 10 of MLB parks, but that it's still a fine park for Nats fans. "On Opening Night, or your first trip to Nationals Park, don't bother to grade, just gape. And enjoy."
  • Now that the Nats have a "top notch" ballpark, it's time for the team to follow suit, writes George Solomon.
• On the field, the Nats have put together their lineup for tonight, with Cristian Guzman leading off, rather than Lastings Milledge, and Paul Lo Duca batting sixth. Acta said he put Lo Duca there to provide protection between two players, Austin Kearns and Elijah Dukes, who strike out often.
• As anticipated, Nick Johnson will start at first and Ronnie Belliard at second. Neither Felipe Lopez nor Dmitri Young, who will sit on the bench, are asking for a trade at this time, although the team was shopping Lopez earlier this month.
• The team also signed infielder Olmedo Saenz to a minor league contract. He'll report to Triple-A and be an "insurance policy" for Ryan Zimmerman and Aaron Boone.