Don't look now

Alfredo Simon celebrates a save in yesterday's 4-3 win, which completed a sweep of the Nationals.

The Orioles have won 4 in a row, their longest winning streak all season, and just swept the Washington Nationals.

It was nice to see the Nationals get a slice of humble pie this weekend, since the DC media has been in a honeymoon period since pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg was called up earlier this season. Strasburg has been the real deal, but since his call up, the Nationals are 6-12. The DC media has also taken this opportunity to kick the O's while they are down.

But after the sweep by the hands of the Orioles, the Nationals are in last place and 10 games below .500 at 33-43.

So, what do you have to say now, DC?

The sweep consisted of 3 1-run wins, and the Orioles came back from deficits of 3 or more in each game, including coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the first game. It was an exciting weekend of baseball in Baltimore for some fans that were in desperate need of something to smile about.

But perhaps the best news of the whole weekend was not the sweep, but the DFA of the Bad Oriole's most hated player in 2010 -- Garrett Atkins.

Atkins has previously said that a release from the Orioles would be a "welcome opportunity". Well, now he's got it. Let's see if another team is dumb enough to pick up a player with a .562 OPS and 4 straight years of steeply declining numbers.

I doubt it.

It was nice knowing you, Atkins.

Maybe I am being too tough on ol' Garrett. After all, it was Andy MacPhail who signed him. It's not Atkins' fault that he agreed to get paid $4.5 million to suck. Anyone would have done the same.

Anyway, getting back to the current Orioles, the O's are 23-52. Still good for the worst record in baseball. But the new motto for the 2010 season should be: "cherish every win" because chances are it won't last.

The Oakland A's come to town next, and the Orioles are historically terrible against them, including a 2-5 record against the A's this year. But if the O's have turned over a new page, they should be able to win this series against the A's, who aren't that good a team themselves (37-40).

Time will tell if the O's can take this streak past the 4-game mark.

I'm still not getting my hopes up.