Photo by MarkFD for TalkNats
The last two nights just seemed so familiar with this Washington Nationals’ team lately. Watching the 35th blown save of the season not only set a record in the Majors since “save” records were first kept in 1969, but it just shows how good this team would have been if they had a competent bullpen.
The Reds pulled their starter at the 2 2/3 innings point of the game because it was a “must win” for them while Nats’ manager Dave Martinez allowed Erick Fedde to give up two runs in the fifth inning which has been the blowup inning for Fedde all year. We wrote in the pre-game that he had a 5th inning ERA of 7.91 runs, and of course that is over 8.00 runs now. Yesterday with the stats we have, it should have been no surprise, but the Nats bullpen is so bad, you just trade one disaster for another.
The meltdown by Fedde was as expected as the almost certainty that the Nats bullpen would blow it. That bullpen needing to get the job done for the final four innings was going to be like dodging bullets in a shootout and you knew it would end ugly. Two walk-offs in a row for the Reds. Continue reading
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