WASHINGTON -- Nationals manager Davey Johnson got what he wanted, a second consecutive rainout to give his battered team an extra day to heal. Maybe the mental break will turn out to be the catalyst the Nationals have been seeking. Certainly, nothing else has worked so far. The preseason NL East favourite remained one game below .500 Friday, when a series opener against the Minnesota Twins was postponed as rain from Tropical Storm Andrea moved north. The game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday. The Nationals Thursday night game against the New York Mets also was washed out, and Johnson said afterward that "even one more rainout would be better." "With the number of guys we have on the DL, this is a welcome call," Johnson said. Young marquee stars Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper head a disabled list that also includes another starting pitcher (Ross Detwiler) and two other position players who started on opening day, catcher Wilson Ramos and second baseman Danny Espinosa. If nothing else, the rainouts mean the Nationals wont have to promote a pitcher from the minors to take Strasburgs turn in the rotation this weekend. But the Nationals woes go beyond the injuries. Theyre hitting .230 with a major league-worst .287 on-base percentage. Harper has missed 25 games, yet he leads the team in homers (12) and runs (29) and is second in walks (25). Ryan Zimmerman is the only regular in the current lineup hitting better than .270. Bench players who contributed so well last season when starters were out now look like they belong on the bench: Roger Bernadina (.165), Tyler Moore (.149) and Chad Tracy (.145). But theres another stat that shows just how much the Nationals will be fighting history if they want to make a championship run: Theyre getting clobbered a lot. Theyve already lost nine games -- thats nearly one-third of their losses -- by six or more runs, including Wednesdays 10-1 defeat to the Mets. Traditionally, top teams dont get beat that badly that often. Those nine blowout losses already match the entire regular-season total of four of the last six World Series champions. The 2009 New York Yankees had 15, but even that number pales compared to Washingtons current pace of 25. Last years Nationals, who finished with the best record in baseball, had only eight. The Nationals woke up Friday trailing the first-place Atlanta Braves by 7 1/2 games. However, there remain more 100 games to play. Johnson and his players have stressed the need for patience over panic to the point that the words sound rote, as in when Johnson repeated the message Thursday. "Its a long season. Weve gone through some injuries," the manager said. "I think were going to come out of it all right. We got the guys here to do it. We need to get on with it." Cheapest Adidas Basketball Shoes .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Adidas Nmd Cheap Ireland . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. http://www.cheapnmdsneakersireland.com/ . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Adidas Nmd Ireland . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Wholesale Adidas Nmd Mens . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Paul Gallen claims all-in scuffles are a worse look for the NRL than two players punching, and offenders should be condemned to the sin bin.The veteran forward expressed the strong opinion after he was involved in a major scuffle during Cronullas physical 37-12 win over the Sydney Roosters on Saturday.Roosters captain Jake Friend slapped Gallen on the back of the head, then stood over him, after the Sharks skipper had turned the ball over in a testy first half.Gallen took exception to the goading, getting up and slamming Friend to the ground, which instigated yet another all-in melee that has plagued the competition since punching resulted in an automatic sin-bin in the wake of the former NSW skippers haymaker on Queenslands Nate Myles during the 2013 State of Origin series.His comments come in the same week teammate Andrew Fifita said he would gladly cop a punch to the chin if it meant he could coax a jab from an opposition player.Gallen said it wasnt the niggle that has beccome a blight on the game, but the amount of players rushing in afterwards that caused a bigger stain on the on-field product.ddddddddddddIts a worse look ... players coming in pushing and shoving, than a couple of blokes throwing punches. I think those who want to run in from 20-30 metres away should be sent to the sin bin, he said.Eventually penalised for his act of retribution on Saturday night, Gallen also conceded that he should have kept his cool and not retaliated against the Roosters hooker.He stood over me like he was seven-foot tall. Ive never taken a backward step and neither has he. Its frustrating because we all know we cant do anything about it anymore, he said.But Ive probably got to keep my head a little bit more there. Its a bit hard because Ive never a backward step and I dont intend to. But we got the win, thats all that matters. ' ' '