Desmond remains hot since returning to team

This has been a pretty good week for Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond. As has been well documented, on Tuesday, his first child Grayson was born. In two games since returning to the ball club, Desmond is 5-for-7 with two doubles, one triple, one homer, three runs, one stolen base and one RBI. Friday, in the 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants, Desmond went 3-for-3. Along with a Laynce Nix two-run homer, the offense provided just enough cushion for Jason Marquis to do his job. Marquis delivered with a five-hit, complete-game shutout of the defending champions. Desmond said it has been satisfying to see the offense finally do something to catch up to the impressive pitching. "I think this goes back to (what) most of us were frustrated about at the beginning of the season," Desmond said. "We knew we were going to have a pitching staff. All off season, people were saying our starting pitching isn't going to cut it. "Really it was our offense that was struggling. It feels good to back them up, finally, in the last two outings. It just goes to show that our pitching staff is a lot better than what people think." Even though it has only been two days, Desmond sees something good happening to his swing too. Desmond is now batting .247 and is second only to Jayson Werth on the team with six doubles (Werth, 7) and 38 total bases (40). He is tied with Werth at 21 base hits, and that is after a horrid start at home at the plate. "I have been trying to grind it out," Desmond said. "I finally started to feel like my swing is really where I want it to be. That is the ups and downs of the season. Hopefully, I can ride this one out for awhile." After Friday's win and his fifth hit in two games, Desmond was asked if he was sorry he waited this long to become a dad. "Trust me, I was trying," Desmond said, laughing.