Odalis Perez takes the mound again tonight for the Nationals, which means two things:

1. Perez will almost certainly pitch well enough to give his team a chance to win.

2. He almost certainly won't earn the win himself.

Is their a harder-luck pitcher in baseball right now? I mean, Perez has a 3.18 ERA in seven starts. He's allowed two or fewer runs in six of those outings. He's produced four straight quality starts. And his record is 0-3.

It's pretty remarkable when you think about it. Even on a bad-hitting team, you'd expect a pitcher to get lucky once and earn the W. Not so for Perez, who to his credit refuses to complain about the big zero that follows his name every time he's listed as the starting pitcher.

"Everyone is trying hard," he said following his last start, a 3-2 loss to the Pirates. "I'm happy to go out there every five days and go six, seven innings. If I don't get the win, if I pitch good, I feel good."

Perhaps tonight will finally be the night, though Perez and the Nats certainly face a daunting challenge. Not only does he need to pitch well against an Astros lineup that is tearing it up (see: Berkman, Lance) but he also needs his teammates to make a dent into a guy named Roy Oswalt. Oswalt's career numbers against the Washington franchise: 3-1, 2.45 ERA in 6 starts, 39 total baserunners allowed in 47 2/3 innings.

Anyone heard of the "Reverse Lock" theory?