Because the all-star break is seen as the halfway point in the season, I'm going to give the Nationals the benefit of the doubt and just forget about the first half. The Nats benefited from a few days of rest (because they aren't all-stars), a new manager, and hopefully a new attitude, so now is as good a time as any to start over. They  may have gone 26-61 in 2009.1, but I have high hopes for 2009.2! Now, on to the news:

Quote of the day, from catcher Josh Bard via Nationals Journal: "We're making stinkin' boatloads of money to go out there and win baseball games." Unfortunately, he didn't continue on to say "but we aren't winning baseball games, so we shouldn't be getting paid stinkin' boatloads of money."

Scott Olsen, originally scheduled to start tonight, has been scratched with arm tightness, so Craig Stammen gets the call. Saturday is still Jordan Zimmerman, and Garrett Mock will be making his first start in the majors on Sunday, after being called up from Syracuse.

Over at FJB, fan confidence is UP! Unbelievable!

Emilie Cole at Nationals Pride has put together a nice retrospective of players' opinions of Manny Acta. Players supported him through his entire tenure here, and, based on what they said, they knew he was doing things right and they were doing things wrong. They just couldn't get it together for him.

Record breaking news after the jump!

Ryan Howard became the fastest player to 200 home runs last night with a solo shot against the Marlins. It took him just 658 games, shattering Ralph Kiner's record of 706 games.