Don't Look Now but the Nationals are Playing .500

This may not seem like a cause worth celebrating to many teams, but when you're the Washington Nationals, it's a pretty big deal.

After their 10th win in 11 games in which they beat the (also-.500) Seattle Mariners 2-1 Wednesday, the Nationals have found themselves at a nice even .500 record on the season.

Considering they were nine games under the mark just two weeks ago, and the fact that they haven't broken even this late since back in 2005 when they finished 81-81 in their inaugural season, we're kind of proud of them. We especially love second baseman Danny Espinosa's recent quote:

"Coming back from where we were, people probably said, ‘Another Nationals year, they’re going to flop...’ Whatever. This team’s not like that. We’re not going to accept losing."

Heading into Thursday's finale against the Mariners, the Nats have a chance to complete their second sweep of the homestand. However, a bitter reality check will show that they are still just one of 17 teams that are .500 or better and remain 9.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.

It's going to be a tough hill to climb, but after many years of rebuilding and hogging the first draft pick, the end of their perpetual suckiness may be closer than the average fan would think. Maybe. We're super optimistic people.

[Washington Times]