Game #113 With 50-games remaining in the regular season, Aces on the mound!

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lee Heiman for TalkNats

This is the second game of the doubleheader, and features two dueling aces on the mound. Max Scherzer pitches for the Nationals and lefty Sean Newcomb for the Braves. The last time Newcomb pitched he was at 133-pitches and 1-out away from a no-hitter. The 134th pitch of his outing was a single. The Braves gave Newcomb an extra 4-days of rest after that astronomical workload, and here we are in the nightcap of this doubleheader. The Nationals took the first game decisively. Continue reading →

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JRod gets it done with his arm and bat and some help from his friends!

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

In this doubleheader, manager Dave Martinez needed a starter for today’s first game. They called up Jefry Rodriguez for the critical Game 1 start. JRod didn’t disappoint. He went 5-innings of one-run baseball and probably could have gone deeper in this one as he earned his first MLB win in this 8-3 game. Rodriguez on the season now has gone 9 2/3 innings against the Braves and given up only one-run.

This was a huge win for the Nationals with two innings where they scored four-runs. Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman each had 3-hits a piece and Bryce Harper and Juan Soto had 2-hits each. Soto added 3-walks for a perfect day at the plate while reaching all 5 times. Continue reading →

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Game #112 First game of a crucial doubleheader!

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This afternoon game with the Braves is the first half of this day-night doubleheader. This game is also the first of this four game series. At the conclusion of this game, there will only be 50-ganes remaining in the regular season.

Continue reading →

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“Bryce Harper is not going anywhere”….for now!

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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General Manager Mike Rizzo was kind enough to send a 10-word press statement on Tuesday:

“Bryce is not going anywhere. I believe in this team.”

That statement from Rizzo was in response to trade rumors. While the statement was brief, we should not expect it to denote that Bryce Harper will be a Washington Nationals player in perpetuity. As of now, Bryce Harper’s Nationals employment will end shortly after the season ends — unless an extension is completed which does not seem likely now. In free agency, maybe Rizzo does re-sign Harper, who knows? It takes two to tango which is a constant response from Rizzo regarding re-signing players. Continue reading →

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To Be Or Not To Be…

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Jacob Diament

To be or not to be… This is the week when we start getting the final answers on the 2018 season.

* By winning 3 of 4 from the Reds the Nats did the absolute minimum they had to do to remain on the fringes of the NL East race. As feared, the Phills and Braves had little trouble with the Marlins and Mets respectively.

* The Nats have to find a way to win 3 of 4 from the Braves, anything less and Rizzo should really admit that it’s not happening this year and try hard to get under the luxury tax threshold. Continue reading →

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August 4 visit to the Nationals’ control room

Posted on August 6, 2018 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles


We cashed in some Red Carpet Reward points for a visit to the control rooms. It’s actually four separate rooms, not counting a few offices. The large room has about a dozen people and forty video screens. The tasks are very carefully subdivided. There is a specific person capturing plays to be used for the “highlights of the game” video, another person running the ribbon boards (i.e. the clapping video), another updating the statistics each time there’s a run or an at-bat to update the video board, another doing the closed captioning. The huge board at the end of the room shows all the feeds from all the cameras so the director can choose what’s on the big video screen. Continue reading →

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Nats win a one-run game to take the series; Move 3 games over .500

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

When the Nationals needed a win from Tanner Roark, he delivered with a 1-run performance in 7.0 innings as Ryan Madson and Kelvin Herrera closed out this game with no drama. The Nationals RBIs came from Matt Wieters with a solo home run, and Bryce Harper hit an opposite RBI double. Continue reading →

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Game #111 Winning is better than losing!

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

When the Nationals lost the first game of the doubleheader yesterday, it pushed the Nationals back to a 6.0 game deficit in the NL East behind the Phillies. Fortunately, the offense that could not score runs Saturday afternoon — exploded for a half-dozen runs in the nightcap of the doubleheader. Anthony Rendon who was hit-less in the afternoon knocked in 2-runs on 3-hits in the evening. It was like two different teams from afternoon to evening. Juan Soto was consistent in both ends of the doubleheader with 2-hits in each game which tied a teenager record, but the difference is that he scored 3-runs in the nightcap. Continue reading →

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#Nats salvage the day behind Jeremy Hellickson and the offense!

Posted on August 4, 2018 by SaoMagnifico

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

After dropping the matinée to the Cincinnati Reds in a game in which they could push across only one score, the Washington Nationals badly needed a win in the evening game, and that’s what they got.

An offensive unit that was almost completely inept in the first game of the day-night doubleheader roared back to life this evening, plating at least one run in each of the first five innings. The Nats won this one 6-2, with starter Jeremy Hellickson netting his fifth win of the year and Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, and Matt Adams furnishing some sock in the lineup.

Continue reading →

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Game #110 Nats go for the doubleheader split!

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo By Andrew Lang for TalkNats

The second game of doubleheaders have added pressure for the team that lost the first game of the doubleheader, and it is the Nationals in just that spot as the team that lost the front end of the doubleheader. The added pressure comes from losing ground in the pennant race. Another game off of the calendar and it feels like the Nats keep digging a hole for themselves. Continue reading →

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