The Washington Nationals take the first seed in the Wild Card race & 2nd place in the NL East

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The landscape of the top teams just changed in the National League, and for today, the Washington Nationals now own the best record in the Wild Card race, the second best record in the NL East, and now have the third best record of all teams in the National League. On the morning of May 24th, the Nationals were 12-games under .500, and the Philadelphia Phillies were in first place. Exactly six weeks later, the Nationals are the hottest team in Major League Baseball with a 26-10 record and a .722 winning percentage since May 24th, and the Nationals have leapfrogged the Phillies in the standings. Continue reading →

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Nats win with four-of-a-kind and Bang — Zoom Go the Fireworks!

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nationals extended their winning streak to four games in a row with a sweep of the Marlins by a final score of 5-2. This game started off with Anibal Sanchez on the ropes, but he only gave up one run after a laborious first three innings of work as Sanchez threw 56 pitches through those frames. Fortunately Sanchez settled down and only was charged with one earned run and exited with a 3-2 lead thanks to home runs by Kurt Suzuki and Anthony Rendon. Sanchez finished his six innings and handed it over to the bullpen that had a 3-run lead thanks to a 2-RBI double by Gerardo Parra. Continue reading →

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Game #86 Anibal Sanchez takes on his old team!

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

It is birth and rebirth in Washington, D.C. There is so much going on today in Washington, D.C. as the city gets ready for America’s 243rd birthday, and Max Scherzer and his wife Erica are experiencing the birth today of their second daughter, and the Washington Nationals are having an historic rebirth when they were left for a “lost season” six weeks ago. Continue reading →

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A Strasburg gem; Blasts from Dozier/Adams; Rodney hold; Doo saves!

Posted on July 3, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

As they say, winning baseball games is never easy. In the boxscore, it looks like an easy 3-1 win, but in reality, the game was a nailbiter in the 8th and 9th innings. Stephen Strasburg went 7 1/3 innings of shutout baseball with 14 strikeouts and an “immaculate inning” in an electric outing for Stras. He exited with two runners on-base, and manager Dave Martinez went to bullpen. Continue reading →

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Game #85 Stephen Strasburg’s on the mound for his final start before the All-Star break!

Posted on July 3, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

In Miami last week, Stephen Strasburg earned the win over the Marlins in the same match-up the team has today against the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara. The Nationals came from behind to win that game after Matt Adams crushed a 3-run home run off Alcantara followed by the game winning two-run home run from Victor Robles in the 5-run sixth inning.  Adams is starting today even though manager Dave Martinez made it clear yesterday that Zimmerman is his starter despite his struggles with men on-base (.125) but also Zim’s lack of success against right-handed pitchers continues with a .164 batting average. We will see as the rest of the week goes if Martinez is backing off of his proclamation yesterday. Continue reading →

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Trea Turner with the walk-off double with a Patrick Corbin gem!

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

It was an emotional night for Patrick Corbin who lost his good friend Tyler Skaggs and wore his former teammates’ jersey number 45 tonight. Through a rain delay that went over an hour and a quarter, Corbin came back out to pitch and went seven strong innings and departed with a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Wander Suero blew the save in the 8th inning, and the game went tied to the bottom of the 8th inning when the Nationals loaded the bases, but Ryan Zimmerman grounded out pushing the game to the 9th inning tied. The right guy at the right time came up to the plate in Trea Turner who knocked in Yan Gomes via a walk-off double. This was the third walk-off of this season for Turner which includes two walk-off home runs. Continue reading →

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Game #84 Nats start the 6-game homestand tonight!

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Navy Yard Nats for TalkNats

There are six games remaining for the Nationals before the All-Star break, and tonight is the first game in this six game homestand. Patrick Corbin is on the mound to face the Marlins who he just faced last week in Miami in this same matchup. The Nationals had a much needed day-off yesterday which certainly gave at least two days of rest to every reliever except for Sean Doolittle who was the only bullpen arm needed in Max Scherzer‘s win in Detroit on Sunday. Continue reading →

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The trade deadline is coming up quickly!

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

With the new MLB rules that have limited teams to only one trade deadline on July 31st this year, general managers will be at the ready to make deals sooner than later. Last year, Nationals’ general manager was the early bird when he acquired Kelvin Herrera in mid-June from the Royals. What is Mike Rizzo waiting for? The Nationals have a greater need than they did last year for bullpen help as they are still last in the Majors at a 6.30 ERA.  Continue reading →

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Max Scherzer’s month of June was vintage Max in charge! What changed?

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Forget the broken nose and the black eye, the June transformation of Max Scherzer went from a disappointing losing record through May to a legend in June. The team was an horrific 2-10 in Scherzer starts through the end of May, and in June, Scherzer has controlled his own fate as much as a pitcher can — and he has now factored into every decision in June going a perfect 6-0. Continue reading →

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The All-Stars for the Nationals are Anthony Rendon/Max Scherzer!

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The All-Star Selection show did their dramatic reveal of the pitchers and reserves who will be part of the 2019 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on Tuesday July 9th in Cleveland. The Nationals ended up with just two players on the team including first-timer Anthony Rendon and of course Max Scherzer made the team for the seventh time in his career. Unfortunately, Juan Soto who is 11th in OPS in the National League is an All-Star snub at the moment. He could still be added as players drop-out due to injuries and other reasons. Not an obvious snub, but Howie Kendrick had the numbers to impress but is still considered by many as a platoon player.  This season, you noticed the new selection process with an initial fan vote followed by a runoff vote from the top three players at each infield, catcher and designated hitter position, and the top nine for the outfield to determine the starters. Continue reading →

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