Evening star., 1928-04-27
RY JOHN n. KELLER,

~ OUR games. four defeats and two
Of them ShutcutS. That's the
record of the Washington club
this week up to today. And there
is no reliet in sight UnNl the
Nationals realize Chat base ball game
Is something TO be considered seriously
and plav accordmgly they are not going
"a get anywhere.
licked by the Athletics yesterday
10 10 @, the Nationals longest losing
streak Of the campaign now equals IT'S
longest winning streak in numoer OF
ssrnes-five. And while getting thelt
second coat OF whltewaSh this season
the Nationals showed no more fght
than IN previous encounters IN the los
ing string Not even during the dis
sstrous final swing around the WeS'
last wear. when il was 6rubbed IL times
IN a row. was the club SO pitiful looking
as ii is now.
The Nationals are consistent in their
efforts. but the wrong way. Not SO
long aeo they fell into batting slump
went awry afield and their pitchers lost
their cunning. These conditions have
prevailed since And what can be eX-
pected Of club under such cireum-
stances? You said it-nothng.
Good Material at Hand,
Yet. with the material at hand. Wash
tnrton ought to have far better CLUB
in the field. True couple of regu-
lars have weak throwing wings at pres
ent and a sore foot keeps the manager
from his berth at the second sack.
Nevertheless, the club is much stronger
potentially than its recent performances
indicate. II has several pitchers Of much
promise, fielders who are capable OF do
Ing much better than they have done.
batters who. by past records, ought to
bat harder than they have, and they
have an abundance of speed.
or the pitching staff that was so
promising during the training days at
Tampa. only one member has done well
70 date Horace Lisenbee in his vic
tory over the Athletics and in his loss
to the Yankees toiled manfully. Had
the Nationals displayed any batting
strength against the world champs Liz
might have copied in New York instead
Of suffering defeat.
The other pitchers though have been
somewhat disappointing. Milton Gas
ton. expected 70 be q big help 10 the
club before the campaign got under
way. has vet TO reveal winning form:
Fred Marberry. although he has two
wins to his credit. has not been con-
sistently impressive and Tom Zachary
has not proved he Is capable of going
a full route. or the relief hurlers only
Garland Braxton has appeared to ad-
vantage The others employed have
not shown their wares until the Ma
tionals we're all but hopelessly beaten.
Batting at .235 Clip.
In the past five engagements the bat
ting has been miserable During the
losing streak the Nationals have hit
only at 237 clip, getting bat 30
safeiies. and have averaged less than
three runs per game While their field
ing percentage for the string OF losses
is e77. their defense really has not
been that good. Slnggishness in the
inner Gordon and In the pastures has
been quite noticeable and several times
this slow-footed play has aided the op-
position materially. While the Ma
tionals should be feet on the runway.
their baserunning has been lacking in
speed and intelligence s @
Wl1y the players. who naturally are
fast afoot. do not make more use OF
their speed Is something of mystery