The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

It felt like playoff baseball tonight on South Capitol Street, S.E. between the Washington Nationals and the visiting Dodgers of Los Angeles. The Dodgers had their best pitcher of 2019 on the mound in Hyun-Jin Ryu who is perhaps the best in all of baseball, and the Nationals had their #4 pitcher Anibal Sanchez. When Ryu left in the 7th inning, it was a 1-1 game, and Sanchez out-pitched him. In the 8th inning with 2-outs, the Nats bullpen fell apart and gave up 3-runs. Tell us if you have heard that one before, but the Nats offense loaded the bases in the 9th and scored a run to make it 4-2 as Kenley Jansen was struggling, but homeplate umpire Brian O’Nora picked a fine time to gift Jansen two strikes well above the zone to put Howie Kendrick in a hole. Eventually he struck out in front of a crowd of 37,491 who were all on their feet. Continue reading →

Fernando Rodney (Photo by Tom Cicotello @42skidoo for TalkNats)

A great Washington Nationals comeback was wasted after the Nats bullpen gave up 5-runs and a blown save in the 9th inning. We should have been celebrating another great comeback win if the bullpen had more depth. Part of it was yesterday’s doubleheader stressed the bullpen, but manager Dave Martinez did not use Javy Guerra in either game of the twin-bill or in today’s game. Instead he went to five relievers who all pitched yesterday plus the fact that the 42-year-old Fernando Rodney pitched both games of the doubleheader and was the pitcher who blew the 9th inning save and took the loss in this game.

It is hard to place blame on Rodney given his workload, and the fact that the umpire blew a big 3-2 pitch that should have been a strikeout but turned into a walk and the eventual go-ahead winning run loomed as the ultimate difference in the outcome. In back-to-back days, Rodney threw a total of 63 pitches.

As expected, Max Scherzer came off of the 10-day IL, but he only lasted 5.0 innings which was one of the issues. As you would expect after a 19-day layoff, Max was not at his sharpest and finished with 86-pitches and 3-runs over 5.0 innings. From here, we have to see how he feels on Friday. Continue reading →

The Nationals pitching staff combined for a shutout in the night-cap of this doubleheader against the Rockies. With this win, the Nationals put additional pressure on the Braves who were just swept by the Royals, and the Nats are 4.0 games back in the NL East. With this doubleheader sweep, the Nationals have won the first 3-games of this 4-game series. Patrick Corbin pitched a 6.0 inning shutout followed by the bullpen arms of Tanner Rainey, Tony Sipp, Fernando Rodney, and Sean Doolittle who maintained the shutout. Corbin only gave up 3-hits, and pushed his ERA down to 3.25 and went above the 150 strikeout milestone for the season. Continue reading →

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

This was a game that included everything in this 3-2 win for the Nats. Perhaps the most important play was manager Dave Martinez pulling his starter, Erick Fedde, in a 1-0 game with bases loaded and 2-outs in the 4th inning for a pinch-hitter. This time Martinez was not bluffing when he sent Gerardo Parra to the on-deck circle, and sure enough, Parra came up to bat and worked a bases loaded walk to tie the game. Later, Adam Eaton hit a home run but then had a misread on a Yonder Alonso liner that tied the game — again. The game needed a big play to finish the game and Anthony Rendon obliged as he led-off in the 7th inning and on the first pitch he saw he smashed a home run into the “Red Porch” seats in centerfield for the game winner. Continue reading →

The day-off from the rain-out yesterday seemed to energize Trea Turner who began the night with a Nats record 9th lead-off home run, and then he added a single, triple and capped it off with a RISP double to complete his second career cycle which has victimized the Colorado Rockies both times. The first Turner cycle came on April 25th of 2017 in Colorado, and this is the first cycle the Rockies have ever given up on the road. Turner became only the 26th player in MLB history to have multiple cycles, and he is only the third player to do it against the same team. Add the rarity that Turner did this against a team he only faces two series per year. The early run support was all Stephen Strasburg needed as he went 6.0 innings of shutout baseball with eight strikeouts and only three hits.  Strasburg lowered his ERA to 3.37 and increased his win total to a league best 13 W’s. Continue reading →