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
In the first game of this three game series in Philadelphia, the Nationals took advantage of multiple Phillies mistakes to put this one in the win column and move back to .500 on the season. Stephen Strasburg pitched 6 innings of 2-run baseball to earn the win. Strasburg appeared to pace himself early and was throwing free and easy. He threw 99 pitches on the evening and his highest velo was in the 4th and 5th innings. Continue reading
Last Wednesday, Ryan Zimmerman shocked the city of Philadelphia with a come-from-behind 2-run walk-off home run off of Phillies’ closer Seranthony Dominguez. That game was started by Zach Eflin for the Phillies and Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals, and they will start this game in the same pairing to duel tonight in Citizens Bank Ballpark. Continue reading
Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
Yesterday marked one more week off the schedule ending the overriding feeling of “running in place” for this Washington Nationals team. The Nats complete another .500 week as does their main opposition, and the chance on Thursday to getting a winning streak going never materialized. The tragic number is down to 24 in both the division and the wild card standings, and only a spectacular ending (something like 25 – 6) coupled with a near collapse by the teams ahead of them will prevent 2018 from going down as a colossal failure. Continue reading
For those trying to grasp the impact of the 14-times the Washington Nationals have been shutout this season, we created a chart for you (below) to analyze what has been a complicated relationship between how well the Nationals have pitched in those games compared to what this team could have scored. For instance, there is no shame in being shutout by an ace and Cy Young candidate like Aaron Nola; however, the Nationals never should have been shutout by Jason Vargas and probably should not have lost that game. Much of the blame also falls on the bullpen as Gio Gonzalez only gave up 1 run over 7 innings, and the Nats lost 3-0. There are not many 1-0 shutouts because strategy changes in games with one run deficits. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals scoreless drought ended, and it was like a flood of runs after that. Trea Turner led off the 6th inning with what looked like a home run and ruled a double off of the top of the leftfield wall. Turner eventually scored on a soft grounder by Juan Soto. The game really broke open in the 8th inning with bases loaded in a 2-0 game when Bryce Harper pinch-hit for the struggling Michael Taylor. Mets manager Mickey Callaway stuck with his struggling pitcher and Harper cleared the bases with a double for his 82-83-84th RBIs of the season. Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez pitched a 2-hitter through 6 innings of shutout baseball. The only major downside in this game was an apparent foot/ankle/Achilles injury by Kelvin Herrera. Manager Dave Martinez said after the game that Herrera was getting an x-ray on his upper foot, but he would not elaborate on the injury. Continue reading
When MASN’s Dan Kolko reported during yesterday’s Washington Nationals broadcast that Juan Soto “might” get today’s day-off, it turned out that it is Bryce Harper getting the day-off. Soto is a career 3-for-5 against Steven Matz “MATZY” who is pitching today for the Mets. Even in the midst of a 3-game scoring drought, manager Dave Martinez decided to sit the player who is supposed to be the team’s best hitter today. Michael A. Taylor will take Harper’s spot in the outfield. What has Taylor done lately? He has not had a hit since August 15th and is recently 0-7 with 5 strikeouts. Maybe Taylor has dominated Matz? Well, he’s batting .222 head-to-head with a home run in 18 at-bats. One of the more curious non-moves is that Mark Reynolds who has the second best stats (.364 BA) is not starting while Ryan Zimmerman (.143 BA) is at first base today. Continue reading
The Washington Nationals have now set a team record — the type you do not want. They have been shutout now in 3 straight games. These streaks took an ominous turn into the deep abyss of a scoring drought which has now reached 27 consecutive innings and 3 straight losses when their starting pitchers gave up 2 runs on Thursday and only 1 run on Friday and Saturday. The issue clearly is not the starting pitching. This is the 13th time this season that the Nationals have been shutout. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
This afternoon “T-RO” and “WHEELS” are on the mound for their respective teams. For the Washington Nationals, their streaks took an ominous turn into the deep abyss of a scoring drought of 18 innings and 2 straight losses when their starting pitchers gave up 2 runs on Thursday and only 1 run on Friday. The two game losing streak certainly comes at a time when the Nationals looked like they were primed for a long winning streak. Continue reading
If you look at the results, Gio Gonzalez did great in this game as he went 7.0 innings of 1 run baseball, but the same can’t be said for his offense or bullpen. The offense got shutout and the bullpen gave up 2-runs in 1 inning of work. An embarrassing 3-0 loss. The Nats had such low energy you just cannot believe some of the swings and misses at the plate. Continue reading
Photo by Kathy Willens/AP
This weekend the casual baseball fan will need a guide to know who is who on the field, but even the most ardent fans wouldn’t know some of the Mets regardless if they were wearing their regular uniforms with their last names or their “Player’s Weekend” nickname jerseys. The Mets have guys named Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith, Daniel Zamora, Jack Reinheimer, Dominic Smith, and Jeff McNeil in their lineup. If you saw the keystone cops in action. Smith who is not a leftfielder was playing leftfield earlier this week and collided with his shortstop which resulted in a loss. Keep your eye on the lefty infielder McNeil though as he has had a quick start to his MLB career. Continue reading
