Stephen Strasburg pitches the best game for the Nats in 2019; Zim/Dozier provide the offense!

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

The Nationals needed a salvage win today to avoid being swept and that would take a good pitching performance from Stephen Strasburg. Both were accomplished and Strasburg did not have a good pitching performance — he had a great pitching performance. He threw an 8 inning shutout while receiving 5 runs in support with two home runs from Ryan Zimmerman and one by Brian Dozier. The ninth inning got a little stressful with 2 outs but that is the Nats we have come to know. The game was closed out by Kyle Barraclough and one out from Sean Doolittle in this 5-0 win.  The Nats are back to .500 and now fly to Colorado for a 3 game series. Continue reading →

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Game #20 Nats can only hope to salvage this series against the Marlins

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lynn G for TalkNats

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Game #19 Nationals want to get going with Max Scherzer!

Posted on April 20, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andy Ward for TalkNats

The Nationals have their ace of aces pitching this evening in Miami in the second game of this series. With Max Scherzer on the mound, Nats fans can usually feel good about things, but this year even with Scherzer pitching well he has not received the requisite run support to turn the losses into wins. The Washington Nationals are 1-and-3 in Scherzer starts so far this season, and if those numbers were just reversed, it would be the Nationals in first place in the Nationals League eastern division. If, only if, and Scherzer has pitched well enough to be 3-and-1 or even 4-and-0. His ERA is 3.33 and the one game that the Nationals won was his worst start when he gave up 4-runs in a game. Go figure. That’s baseball. Continue reading →

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Around the ballpark happenings with the opening of Walter’s Sports Bar & Homewood Suites baseball packages!

Posted on April 20, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The ballpark district in the Navy Yard boasts so many fine bars, restaurants, and hotels that we have talked about, but if you consider the experience — you have to check out the newly opened Walter’s Sports Bar and the once-in-a-lifetime Nats packages and experiences from the Homewood Suites by Hilton Washington D.C. Capitol – Navy Yard. Maybe you do both in one trip. Continue reading →

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The Nats had their chances and suffer another one-run loss!

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

When you go 1-for-7 in RISP spots, that is not a good sign for the Nationals who entered the game batting a very strong .299 on the season in those situations. But the real golden opportunity is when you have a runner on third base with less than two outs and the middle of the order up or a man on second base with no outs and the Nationals had both of those situations in different innings and could not cash in. The Nationals lost this game 3-2 and one of the Nationals runs came from a solo home run from the struggling Brian Dozier who surpassed Ryan Zimmerman for an instant in batting average and now they are both tied at .188. This is part of the problem with this team.  Continue reading →

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Game #18 First series this season with the Marlins brings new hope!

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

(Photo by Steve Mears for TalkNats)

If you have been to Marlins Park before, you might not recognize it now as it has been through some major renovations beyond the outfield walls. That should please those who constantly complained about the animatronic “home run” sculpture which was removed from behind the centerfield walls. That sculpture had a few dents in it from Nats players including Jayson Werth who hit “Homer” with his 200th career home run exactly 3 years ago. That area has been replaced by a new multi-level standing-room-only deck called the “Center Field Zone” — a “three-tier millennial park,” as majority owner  Bruce Sherman nicknamed it. That renovation seemed to finally change the interior look from former-owner Jeffrey Loria to the Jeter/Sherman era. There will be two standing-room only areas in the outfield for the 2019 season. The other will be located in right field. Tickets for these areas will be sold for a little as $8 per game. Will it increase attendance? We will see because Marlins ownership seems to be concentrating more on the fan experience than winning. Continue reading →

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Corbin’s gem secures another series win and move above .500!

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Navy Yard Nats for TalkNats

Today, Patrick Corbin’s 7 2/3 innings of near perfection was enough to coverup for the little things that were not executed by his offense. Corbin pitched a 2-hitter of one-run baseball and was relieved by Kyle Barraclough who had to face Buster Posey to finish his line. ‘Bear Claw” got Posey, stranding his first inherited runner since 2017, to get out of the 8th inning keeping the margin at 4-1. Sean Doolittle got the save while getting into a jam in the 9th, but was good enough to perserve the Nats 4-2 win to get back over .500. Continue reading →

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Game #17 Nats have Corbin on a warm April day in the rubber game in this series!

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nationals have won two of their previous three series and have a chance to win another series in this afternoon’s game at Nationals Park with the San Francisco Giants. On this “getaway day” both teams are pitching lefties which most likely will create tweaked line-ups for both teams. The game temperatures could reach 80°F today which could assist some balls in the air gain some distance.  Continue reading →

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New lineup sparks big offense! Bullpen makes it interesting in the end!

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The outfield did it tonight with their bats, gloves and arms to get the Nats going tonight as the team returned to .500 on the season at 8-and-8 in what should have been considered a trouncing of the Giants and MLB’s number one bullpen. The Nats got to Giants starter Jeff Samardzija early with a Juan Soto two-run bomb and a Howie Kendrick  home run and an Adam Eaton RISP single. Continue reading →

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Game #16 Nats now look to get back to .500

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

With last night’s loss, the Nationals fell a game below .500 as they watched manager Dave Martinez get ejected for the first time this season. With Chip Hale given the keys to the kingdom he made several moves that worked like inserting Matt Adams as a pinch-hitter and he promptly rewarded Hale with a home run. Hale removed Stephen Strasburg from the game before he fatigued himself, and he replaced Brian Dozier with Howie Kendrick. Whatever is going on with Brian Dozier is not good. Whatever is going on with Ryan Zimmerman though has been analytically there along with the eye test for a long time. To have two almost automatic outs in the #2 and #5 spot in your lineup is a rally killer. Continue reading →

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