It was said that one of the main reasons that Manny Acta was fired was because the players were not being held accountable.  I wrote in another post that I didn’t think that grown men needed to be held accountable.  Apparently, I was wrong and Jim Riggleman is meeting with the players daily and is pointing out the good and the bad.  As a matter of fact, after Josh Willingham hit those two grand-slams on Monday, Riggleman’s focus in the meeting was the excellent fielding of Adam Dunn.  Whenever Dunn has a good day fielding the ball, that certainly should take precedence over 2 grand-slams, basically because it is almost as rare.  We are seeing a different Nats team.  We are seeing a team that is hustling, making fewer errors, and is doing the fundamentals (laying down bunts, advancing on wild pitches, hitting the cut-off man, etc.).  A large part of that has to do with the trade that brought Nyjer Morgan to the Nats, but I believe that the attitude of a team does come from the top.

I was going to write about the bullpen’s 3-0 record since the All-Star break, but as I type this at 10:10 in the East, Clippard can’t seem to find the plate.  A 2 out walk and balls in the dirt.  And now, he just gave up a 2 run homer and the Brewers have now taken the lead.  So much for a decent game from Mock.

On a unrelated note, it is being reported that Jose Rijo, who was fired by the Nationals for questions about his baseball academy, is now running for mayor in his hometown of San Cristobal.  Insert your own joke here about politicians.