The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

Once again, Stephen Strasburg was the “stopper” for the Washington Nationals and led them to a victory with a gem while putting an end to a three-game losing streak. His manager, Dave Martinez, and starting rightfielder, Adam Eaton, both had to watch the game from the clubhouse after they were ejected in the first inning. All the offense Stras would need was Brian Dozier‘s 2-run oppo home run, and for good measure, Strasburg once again swung the bat and added a RISP RBI hit to help his own cause. Sure, the Dodgers added some meaningless runs in the 9th inning in this 11-4 Nats blow-out win, but they were stymied all day by Strasburg who was throwing a perfect game until midway in the 5th inning. His final line was 7.0 IP 1 ER 2 H 0 BB 9 K for his 14th win of the season which leads the Majors, and his ERA is now 3.26.  Continue reading →

The Nationals just stumbled into a three game losing streak and the 5th starter spot continues to be a black hole along with a few key players who are scuffling at the plate. The game started with Matt Grace as the “opener” and he threw a two-inning shutout, and Joe Ross entered in the third inning and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced en route to a 6 earned run outing to push the game out of reach in a game that ended with a 9-3 loss. Continue reading →

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 →