The root of our problems

It's pretty obvious that the Nats have an awful offense right now. They've scored 2 runs or less in 9 of their last 14 games and 1 or less in 6 of their last 7.

What continues to baffle me is Manny Acta's misuse of the batting order. He finally (and I'm thinking reluctantly) moved Lopez out of the #1 and #2 spots in game 2 of the doubleheader yesterday. But he's still got Lastings Milledge hitting 3rd. The same Lastings Milledge who is hitting .241/.307/.342. That's pretty awful. In the meantime, he's got Jesus Flores, the team's best and hottest hitter, hitting 5th and 6th.

Here's what the lineup should look like:
Guzman-SS
Milledge-CF
Flores-C
Boone-1B
Dukes-RF
Casto-3B
Pena-LF
Lopez-2B

I've gone over why Guzman and Milledge should be 1 and 2 before. I'm not sure what else is debatable. Between Pena and Lopez, we might as well put the guy who is capable of hitting it very far if he makes contact up there instead of the guy who hits grounders and pop ups and strikeouts galore.

And I'm getting angry by the media tonight (also heard it on Channel 4 news). THE BULLPEN DID NOT BLOW THE GAME! AYALA BLEW THE GAME! DO NOT INCRIMINATE THE INNOCENT (namely Hanrahan, who pitched, but also the ones who didn't pitch like Colome, Manning, Sanches, Rivera and Rauch)!