by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Andrew Lang
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stan4Nats
There is some respectability on the line this afternoon for the Washington Nationals as they go for the trifecta today with a win against the Cubs. If the Nationals win they would match their longest winning streak this season at 6-games while also grabbing a share of 2nd Place in the NL East standings plus the winner of today’s game would win the season series 4-3 between the Nats and Cubs. This is a rescheduled game today from Sunday’s rain postponement. Continue reading
The post-season was once a simple affair.
This is Part 1 of a 2-part series.
Baseball changed irrevocably in 1969. Prior to that year the two leagues were comprised of ten or less teams apiece. At the end of the year the team with the best record in each league advanced to a single seven-game World Series to decide the game’s champion. From a design standpoint it was at once elegantly simple and incredibly effective. For the 48 years prior to 1969 only 14 times had a second-place team in one league ended the season with more wins than the World Series representative from the opposite league (29%). In 1969 the leagues added 2 teams apiece, split into Divisions, and instituted a second tier of playoff series. In the 48-years since at least one World Series representative has had an inferior record within its league some 40 times. And, in 15 instances the World Series was contested where neither team had the best record in their league. The Playoffs simply introduced a new and alternate world to baseball. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals are closing in on their longest winning streak since the team won 6-games in a row in May. The Nats now have 5 consecutive wins and tonight they scored 3-runs in the 1st inning off of Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola. In all, they scored 4-runs off of Nola and knocked him out in the 5th inning on their way to a 5-1 victory behind a 7-inning gem from Stephen Strasburg. The big blow in this game was a mammoth two-run home run from Bryce Harper which was all the Nationals needed. Those 2-RBIs that Harper collected gave him 94 on the season which is 6 away from his goal of reaching the century mark. Continue reading
The Washington Nationals are on a roll….finally. Yesterday’s momentum meets today’s starting pitcher for the Phillies in Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola. If the Nats find a way to win this game like they did the last time they faced Nola, the Washington Nationals would move to within a ½ game of the Phillies for 2nd Place in the NL East. For the Nats tonight, they send Stephen Strasburg to the mound. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals are closing in on their longest winning streak since the team won 6-games in a row in May. The Nats now have 4 consecutive wins via two back-to-back doubleheader sweeps, and they once again won in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The Nationals were losing by 3-runs in the 9th inning, and they tied it up on a bases loaded walk by Trea Turner who had to battle back in the count after an egregious strike 2 call by the homeplate ump. With the score tied at 6-runs, Juan Soto cranked his second home run of the game for the game winner. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals have the rare opportunity to sweep back-to-back doubleheaders as they have a modest 3-game win streak going with a chance for a win tonight in the nightcap of this doubleheader to move back over the .500 mark. In the afternoon first half of this doubleheader, Erick Fedde threw a 2-hit shutout over 5 2/3 innings with 9 strikeouts. The Nationals won the game 3-1 to move to .500. Continue reading
Erick Fedde with Derek Lilliquist looking on; Photo by Luis Albisu for TalkNats
The rain will be around the east coast for several more days as Hurricane Florence moves up the coast. The Nationals will be on the east coast for the rest of the week between Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta before heading indoors in Miami. There is always a possibility of a change of venue to the west coast to play these games. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
Yesterday, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper appeared on MLB Network with Alexa Datt and they had a chat about his 2018 season. Harper was asked this question, “Right now you’re playing alongside what the Nationals would consider the ‘Dream Team’ out in the outfield alongside Juan Soto and Victor Robles. What’s it like playing alongside these guys especially seeing what Juan Soto has done this year?” Harper started off his answer complimenting what Juan Soto has meant to the team then talking about Victor Robles, and finally Bryce Harper finished his answer with an unsolicited statement about himself. Continue reading
Soto, Harper, Robles Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
It’s really hard to believe what the season could have looked like on August 12th when the Nationals were a pitch away from a 3-0 shutout and a 61-57 record. Reliever Ryan Madson got himself in trouble closing out that ESPN Sunday Night game against the Cubs. The Nationals shutdown closer, Sean Doolittle, was on the disabled list. In the first half of the season, the Nationals bullpen only lost 10-games in the bullpen. Since then, the team has lost 12-games in the bullpen. Some think the Nationals fate changed on August 7th when Kelvin Herrera lost a game against the Braves. It would have pulled the Nationals to within 5.0 games of 1st place. In less than a week from August 7th to August 13th, the Nats lost 4-games in the bullpen. It included that Herrera loss, a Sammy Solis loss against the Cubs, the Madson loss against the Cubs on ESPN, and the next night in St. Louis a walk-off loss with Koda Glover on the mound. If the Nats won those 4-games, and that’s a big “if” they would have been 3-games out of 1st place on August 13th. Continue reading
The Cubs “L” for loss fan is hoisted —- Photo by Michael Daalder for TalkNats
Back at Wrigley Field, the “L” flag is flying at the Cubs’ home stadium. Here in Washington, D.C. at Nationals Park, the rain is flying. Major League Baseball and the commissioner’s office have jurisdiction over whether or not this game will be played due to the rainy weather, and here we are in another rain delay. So far, the Nationals have won 2-of-the-3 games so far in this 4-game series which has tied the season series at 3-t0-3. Continue reading
