Tuesday's 8-3 win over the visiting San Diego Padres was the fifth victory in seven games for the Washington Nationals. Still, over that span, the second-place Nats have managed to fall one game further behind the New York Mets in the NL East standings (from 4.5 to 5.5 GB). Heading into Game 2 of Washington's current six-game home stand (Gio Gonzalez vs. Tyson Ross), here's some Nationals numerology to keep the ole' cerebral cortex humming right along:
1 -- Number of games in which the Nationals have fielded their projected Opening Day lineup. That game was yesterday's series-opening win against the Padres. Manager Matt Williams will use the same lineup on Wednesday.
2 -- Number of triples hit this season by Michael Taylor, Ian Desmond, and Dan Uggla, all of whom are tied for the team lead. For the season, the Nationals have 13 triples. Among MLB teams, only the Blue Jays (11) and Mets (10) have hit fewer three-baggers.
3 -- Number of home runs hit this year by Jayson Werth in 221 at-bats, a rate of one homer every 74 ABs. Prior to this season, Werth had a career rate of one bomb every 27 at bats.
4 -- Number of consecutive starts in which Max Scherzer has failed to pitch more than six innings, his longest such streak since the 2012 season.
5 -- Number of times this season in which Bryce Harper has drawn three or more walks in a game. Harper, whose 91 free passes are 3rd most in the majors, had just one game of three or more walks in first three seasons combined.
6 -- Spot in the batting order where Ryan Zimmerman has been the most productive during his career. Batting sixth, he has a lifetime OPS of .949, by far his highest mark at any slot (minimum 30 starts). Hitting from the 6-hole yesterday, just his fourth start there this year, Zimmerman hit his fifth career grand slam. He's hitting 6th again tonight.
7 -- Where Gio Gonzalez ranks among MLB pitchers in ground ball percentage. His rate of 56.3 percent is a career high and nearly 10 percent more than his mark from last season (47.2 percent).
8 -- Number of games, since August 1st, in which the Nationals have drawn at least five walks. For the month, Washington ranks first in MLB with a 10.4 percent walk rate.
9 -- Number of consecutive scoreless appearances by reliever Blake Treinen since returning from Triple-A Syracuse in early August. Over that time, the 27-year old righty has a K:BB ratio of 10:2 and a 0.47 WHIP.
10 -- Number of games the Nationals have lost in the NL East standings relative to the Mets in the past seven weeks. After leading New York by 4.5 games on July 5th, Washington enters play Wednesday trailing the Mets by 5.5 games.