Tracking the Nats’ historic chase of the ’62 Mets

Current Record: 16-28 (.363, 12.5 GB)

Projected Record: 59-103

Cumulative Weight of Nats’ Pitching Staff Yesterday: 1048 lbs.

Cumulative Weight of Baltimore’s Crew: 808

Parsing the Win: Nats 4, Baltimore 3. It’s pretty weird to try to start a rivalry with a neighboring team, especially when a real one is taking shape in Cincinnati. (Can’t you just see it? Hard Times renames one of its chilis? Indie-rock boys writing wistful songs about Jan Smithers refer to her marriage to James Brolin rather than her most famous role?)

Thomas Boswell Explanation of the Nats’ Cult Appeal of the Day: “they have become a kind of baseball Foreign Legion, underdogs raised to a higher power.”