Bergmann's return

Not that there's anything terribly exciting to expect with the return of Jason Bergmann, but for Nationals fans and Manny Acta, its a bright light in a dark year.

Bergmann has been great this year and in his return on Monday night he was solid again as he pitched four innings and allowed only one run but still took the loss. Brian McCann accounted for all four Atlanta runs, including a 3 run homer, as the Braves took the first game of the series 4-1.

The three run homer came off Billy Traber after Bergmann had left, which put the Braves ahead for good. Traber has been decent this year for Washington but McCann had a quality game, busting out of an 0 for 14 slump he'd been in.

While Bergmann did well for the Nats, it was Tim Hudson who got the win for the Braves, going 7 strong and striking out 9, in a dominant performance. Hudson has been decent all year but has been lacking consistency over the past month with some very erratic performances mixed in with his solid outing like Monday's night effort.

Now, if the Nats can get Shawn Hill back in the fold and Micah Bowie continues his strong pitching as of late, they might actually be able to finish with 80 wins, which would be a step in the right direction for this moribund franchise.