Baker likes his team, but wants them to get a little "meaner"

The Nationals went 16-7 in April and are 13-12 in May with five games remaining before June 1.

Manager Dusty Baker has said in the past if you can win at least 15 games per month, you are on a pace to have a good shot at the postseason.

"It doesn't guarantee you anything, but it puts you in a pretty good position," Baker said. "It gives you some motivation and drive to achieve something. In baseball, if you just always look at the big picture on things ... the big picture seems like it's way down the road."

Baker said as a player, instead of looking at 81 games or 162 games or a six-month season, he always wanted to look at just the three games in front of him.

"We were taught to break it down in series, I want six hits a series," Baker said. "I want so many hits this month. It makes it easier to see a reachable goal at that time. We haven't reached that yet, we are pretty close. I'd like to win that this month, too. That means we got to go these next four days then we start a new month again."

Bur what separates an OK team from a good team from a really good team? Baker looked back at the teams that were very good and what separated them from other squads he played on or managed in the past.

"I think it's a mindset, a never-quit attitude," Baker said. "But never be satisfied at the same time, and also to have that put-your-foot-on-their-throat attitude when you get the lead.

"I'm hoping we get more of that here because I got a pretty nice team. I'd like to see them get a little meaner, to tell you the truth."

How does that "meanness" show itself?

"I'm going to get them some gun powder," Baker smiled.

Former manager Davey Johnson said he toughest teams always got into one brawl with the other team when battling for a division title. Is that what Baker would like to have happen here? Does he want a full-blown Rangers vs. Blue Jays tangle with Rougned Odor punching Jose Bautista in the chin?

"You don't necessarily have to fight," Baker said. "I don't believe in that necessarily, which I have in the past. You got to get that attitude and that swagger. It's hard to describe. You know when you got it and you know when you don't."

But throw out the notion of fights or meanness for a second. The bottom line for Baker is that even though he is managing a first-place team, he expects the Nationals to open it up soon and start taking long series and sweeps.

"Right now, we're in first place and we're kind of treading water," Baker acknowledged. "I'm serious about this. We haven't caught our stride. There's going to be some times where we are going to go two times around the rotation.

"That's what you want. You go two times (around the) rotation everybody pitching good, now you have a chance to win nine out of 10, or 10 out of 10."