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If chicks dig the long ball, then the last few nights at Nationals' Park have been ladies' night. Ryan Zimmerman brought the house down with his walk-off home run on Tuesday, only to be immediately one-upped by Adam Dunn and his three home runs Wednesday.
I hate to rain on the home run parade, but if the Nationals want to win consistently, they will need to do a lot more than just hit the long ball. Zimmerman's walk-off Tuesday, and three of the four home runs hit Wednesday (Ian Desmond had the fourth) were of the solo variety. As exciting as those home runs are, they are only good for one run. The Nationals actually got out-hit by the Padres last night 13-9, but were able to salvage the win with a few big shots.
Like in basketball, you can try to live by the three-pointer, but you have to be ready to die by it to. If for some reason the Nationals suddenly stop swinging the big bat, their offense will disappear entirely. Home runs are fun for a little while, but the Nationals need to hit more consistently to win games.
Today's must-reads from around the SB Nation network:
-The Redskins are kind of old. Hogs Haven breaks it down, and explains why that might not be such a big deal.
-Federal Baseball takes a look at where Adam Dunn's three home run game puts him in Montreal Expos history, because apparently that still exists.
-Lebron James D-Day is happening today, if you can stomach it, SB Nation.com has complete coverage.
-Terrapin Times lists their all-time favorite Maryland athletes. Any list with Steve Suter, Len Bias, and Byron Mouton is instantly worth some of your time.
On tap at SB Nation DC today: Jake Whitacre questions if Washington really wants all these top-ten picks, and Chris Needham analyzes how the Nationals organization has performed under the Lerner Family and Stan Kasten.