Americans Never Give Up

Not much more to say other than that headline - though I would add 'Yes We Can' to give our national team and our President a shout out.

What a phenomenal finish.  The U.S. clearly out played Algeria (still weird to think about such small countries as Algeria and Slovenia as rivals) and we deserved to win that game.  

But man was that a nerve-wracking win. And many Washingtonians, at least the ones at The Beer Garden on H St., were literally sweating it out on a sweltering day until the 92nd minute.

Luckily, persistence and effort - yes we can! - almost always win in the end. Yesterday, in South Africa that was personified by Landon Donovan and an exhilarating 1-0 win to send the United States into the knock round of the World Cup.

However

Many in Washington know that effort and persistence can only go so far. Welcome to Washington, Steven Strasburg.

For six innings against Kansas City Strasburg was once again pretty impressive. Not masterful, but still an A+ performance. Unfortunately, due to anemic hitting from the Nats, Strasburg picked up his first loss as a major leaguer, and finished on the losing end of a 0-1 score.

Many will focus on his 9 strikeouts, but I was most impressed by his ability to compete once he ran into trouble.  He fought his way out of multiple jams yesterday.

The shut out versus Kansas City - how embarrassing is that? - underscores the need to shake up the top of the line up. 

I'd bench Morgan and Guzman ASAP, and insert Bernadina in center, Morse in right, and Kennedy at second base.  Doing so would upgrade three positions - in one way or another - and strengthen the line up, too.

Bernadina is hot, and is a great fielder too. Morgan has been neither of late.

Morse is not much of a fielder, but has shown signs of developing into the kind of power hitter a team craves in a corner outfielder.

And unlike Guzman, Kennedy gets on base and would be perfect in the 2 hole of the lineup.

So I'd go: Bernadina, CF; Kennedy, 2nd, Zimmerman-Dunn-Willingham, Morse, RF; Rodriguez, and Desmond, with Morgan getting a start or two a week, maybe more for Guzman at SS and 2nd.  

And for good measure I'd give Landon Donovan some starts, too.