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There was an important visitor at Nationals Park this weekend as the White Sox played the Nats.  No, not President Obama or his two daughters, who were there on Friday night for the Stephen Strasburg game.  I'm talking about Jackson Elliott Andrews, my grandson, who attended his first game at the age of just more than two months on Father's Day.  (Jack's mother, my daughter Allison, first made it to a game at the age of five months when the Sox played the Cubs in August, 1981 in the first game, albeit an exhibition, after that season's strike ended.)  Jack, the President, and I saw Sox wins, as did those in attendance on Saturday, as the Sox swept the Nats.  The three wins evened the team's record at 34-34 and extended the season-high winning streak to six games.  The Good Guys have now won 9 of 10 and 11 of the last 13, although they've gone homerless in eight straight contests.

Friday's game was another Strasburg sellout, and the Nats' rookie again lived up to the hype.  Thanks to Alex Kuczkowski, I had the chance to be there.  Before the game began, I was hoping for a brilliant Strasburg performance in a game that the Sox won anyway -- and I got my wish.  Strasburg lasted seven innings before the Nats-imposed pitch/innings count resulted in his departure.  During his time in the game, the Phenom struck out 10, while allowing only four hits and one run and no walks.  The run was a cheapie -- a Juan Pierre grounder to first with Strasburg a bit late on covering the bag; a blooper to right that fell in for an Omar Vizquel double; and an Alex Rios grounder to first that scored Pierre from third.  Fortunately for the Sox, Gavin Floyd was even better, going eight innings while striking out five and permitting only one run on four hits and one walk.  Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz, and Bobby Jenks each held the Nats scoreless for an inning, with Jenks picking up his 14th save.  Alex Rios's infield single in the 11th inning scored pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay, who had singled and advanced on a Pierre sacrifice and Vizquel grounder to first.  Total small ball, and it worked.   (Historical footnote: We noticed a bunch of people turning around and taking photos of someone in a suite and a vendor told us that it was Obama.  Surprising, since other games I've been to where the President has attended, there's been very strict security going in.  This game, nothing.  I guess the element of surprise was the security measure.)

Saturday's game was broadcast nationally by Fox, which apparently thought that Strasburg was going to be pitching when it put the game on the schedule.  He didn't, but there was brilliant pitching nonetheless.  Jake Peavy, threw a complete game shutout and was phenomenal himself while doing it -- three hits, two walks, one of them intentional, and seven strikeouts.  It's a good thing Peavy was on, because the Sox scored only one run themselves.  Carlos Quentin, who was 2 for 4, drove in the sole tally.  A.J. Pierzynski was 3 or 4.  The Sox rarely win games 1-0.  During 2008, it happened only once, in the sudden-death game with the Twins on the strength of Jim Thome's blast, and last September 30, the Sox beat the Indians 1-0, but those are the only other times in the last three seasons (including this one) that the Good Guys came out on top in a game with that score.   (Historical note:  This was the first time that the Sox played in DC since I moved here in 1975 that I wasn't at the game.  Of course, it was only the second game they played here during that period, but still.)

Sunday, I got to spend Father's Day watching the Sox with Allison, son-in-law Chas, Jackson, and wife Judy -- among others -- and enjoyed seeing the Sox complete the sweep of the Nats.  I'll root for D.C.'s team 159 games this year, but not these three.  The story on this day was the hitting, with the Sox banging out 15 hits in the 6-3 win.  Every position player had at least one, and Alex Rios had three, Alexei Ramirez, Paul Konerko, Ramon Castro, and Gordon Beckham each had two.  Steady Freddy Garcia contributed a quality start -- seven innings, three runs on six hits, one walk, and six Ks.  Thornton and Putz each tossed one inning of scoreless ball, with Putz getting his first save.  Jenks had a tender shoulder, so J.J. got the chance and made the most of it.  It was his 13th consecutive scoreless outing.  (Historical note:  Ramon Castro wound up facing Nats' reliever Miguel Batista.  This may have been the first Castro-Batista confrontation since would-be pitcher Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban President Fulgencio Batista in 1959 -- the second most important thing to happen that year.)

The sweep left the Sox 5.5 games behind Minnesota, but more important, the Good Guys have a chance for a winning record with a win over Atlanta at the Cell.  After three games with the Braves, the Cubs invade the South Side.  Two more sweeps would be sweet -- and if the starting pitching keeps going like it has been over the last two weeks, it could happen.  A longshot?  Sure, but so too it seemed was getting back to .500 just a short time ago.  Go Sox!