Photo by Lee Heiman for Talknats
Click here to watch Nats win #8 on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #8 is in the 16th game in the season, and the Nats took a 7-8 record into this game with a chance to move to .500 with a Curly W!
It was brought up yesterday that the Nats were hovering around .500 into mid-April, and to get from 8-8 to 19-31 the math says they would fall into they abyss and go 11-23 after this game. That gives us eleven more wins after tonight to take us to the magical day of May 24th.
In this game, it was Jeremy Hellickson on the mound for another Nats winner. Yes, he earned his World Series ring that he will receive — eventually. Hellickson would soon join the injured list and be a non-factor for the remainder of the season, but for now he has kept the Nats in games.
For this game, the Nats sat Brian Dozier and moved Anthony Rendon to the two-hole, and also inserted Matt Adams in Ryan Zimmerman’s spot. Dozier was batting .170 overall and Zim was batting .184. With the Trea Turner injury, the Nats had to play Wilmer Difo and he was batting .200. It is tough winning games with starters batting like that and Matt Adams was hovering just over .200 but showing big power. What you started seeing was two-out pitch arounds of both Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto. This would prove lethal soon enough in the following week when Rendon suffered an elbow contusion.
In the game that preceded this one, Dave Martinez was ejected for the first time during the 2019 season — and as we know, it would not be the last time!
San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
Line-ups:
Adam Eaton RF
Anthony Rendon 3B
Juan Soto LF
Matt Adams 1B
Howie Kendrick 2B
Kurt Suzuki C
Wilmer Difo SS
Jeremy Hellickson RHP
Victor Robles CF
