In 2011, the Nationals chose 3 draft picks in the first round, and they were Anthony Rendon, Alex Meyer and Brian Goodwin. On this night, Alex Meyer was the star for the Angels as he went 7.0 full innings giving up only one hit and a walk. Meyer got to face Rendon and Goodwin who were the only baserunners in the entire game, and it was Meyer’s former Hagerstown teammate in 2012 who took away his chance for a no-hitter with 2 outs in the 6th inning. Brian Goodwin pulled a hard grounder down the rightfield line for a double to break up the no-hitter.
Gio Gonzalez tied for his second worse start of the 2017 season going 5 2/3 innings while giving up 4 runs. Gio struggled finding his spots much of the night and seemed fortunate to take a 2-0 deficit into the 6th inning, but he unraveled quickly and departed with his team down 4-0 in the 6th inning. Joe Blanton gave up 3 runs in relief and the final score was 7-0, and only the second time this season that the Nationals were shutout. Technically, this was a series split with the Angels who stopped the Nationals winning streak at 6 games.
The Nationals managed just two baserunners the entire game with the Rendon walk and the Goodwin hit, and Nationals batters who had the advantage of the designated hitter did not help themselves or their pitcher, Gio Gonzalez, who desperately needed some run support that would never arrive. The combined one-hitter by the Angels might seem like a great accomplishment against any MLB team, but Dusty Baker only had 3 regulars in the game and the Angels defense robbed Daniel Murphy of a sure double to end the 1st inning, and that is the type of help you need for a no-hitter. Alex Meyer deserves a lot of credit as he made numerous Nats hitters look bad.
In a humorous moment which sounded like a Yogi Berra comment known as a “Yogism”, Dusty Baker had this to say after the game:
“When you get shut-out, you don’t really have a chance”.
Yes, that is true Dusty because no team has ever won being shut-out in the game of baseball.
The Nationals have a day off on Thursday as they head to Arizona for a weekend series, and they have another day off on Monday. With the scheduling, all pitchers will get an extra rest day as Dusty Baker said they will remain in a 5-man rotation with the addition of Edwin Jackson, and Jackson and Gio Gonzalez will pitch next on two-days extra rest. Max Scherzer, Tanner Roark and Stephen Strasburg will get an extra day’s rest for their starts this weekend as well as their starts next week because of the Monday day off.
