Talk about a team that needed a win, the Nats were in a situation where they had to win not only to keep pace in the standings, but to get mentally right and calm the factions of the Nats fanbase who were showing their best imitations of being frontrunners jumping off the bandwagon.
MLB.com still projects the Nats have over a 20% chance of making the 2015 postseason, and FanGraphs has the Nats at almost 33% of making the 2015 postseason. All the Nats can do to help themselves is keep #WINNING!
Jayson Werth in the leadoff was effective, and showed some nifty defense on a catch in the gap. Maybe Jayson has some more left in the tank and a full day off on Monday was what he needed.
The offense sans Ramos padded their stats in different categories. Bryce Harper might have gone 0-2; however, he scored 4 runs and had 4 walks for a .667 OBP last night.
Jordan Zimmermann only gave up 4 earned runs last night, and the bullpen gave up zero. Drew Storen gave up a weak bloop single to leadoff the 8th and a double, but he stuck with it and made some pitches and came out of the game with a smile and no runs scored. The biggest part of the game might have been the Nats 7-6 lead in the 7th inning when Matt Williams in a “Hold” situation went matchup with Rivero for just 1 batter and got his man then Janssen finished the 7th inning holding the Rockies in check.
When was the last time Matt Williams went matchup LOOGY or ROOGY for just 1 batter? It worked, and the Nats got through the 7th and then the Nats offense exploded in the top of the 8th to pad the lead for Drew Storen who had a 5 run lead which he would not lessen.
Have to go back to Jayson Werth who went 2-5 with a walk and 3 runs scored and raised his batting average to .190. If Werth failed last night in the leadoff, MW would have caught much grief.
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
That Twain quote is perfect for the situation. Put the forks away on Jayson and the Nats season, and let’s see what happens tonight, tomorrow, and the day after.
www.DougRichardson.com all rights reserved.
