The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nationals have not been in a 3-game losing streak since the end of May before the team got red-hot. The combination of bad pitching and “cold” bats has been rearing its ugly heads again. With Joe Ross technically in yesterday’s game as a reliever, the Nationals lost their last three games in the bullpen, but most of the poor pitching seemed highly predictable due to pitching on exhaustion (Fernando Rodney), levels of not doing their job (Tony Sipp and Kyle Barraclough) and a pitcher who is lost (Ross). But the lack of hitting also needs to be exposed, and it is three of the Nats best players: Juan Soto, Victor Robles and Howie Kendrick. In the last two weeks, Soto is batting .186 (8-43), Robles .178 (8-45), and Kendrick .042 (1-24). The good news is that the Nationals are in a three-way tie for the Wild Card with the Cubs and the Brewers. The other good news is that Stephen Strasburg is starting this afternoon for the Nationals. Continue reading →

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Yesterday, the strategy to beat an ace like Hyun-Jin Ryu was to “small ball”  him and wear him down, and the Nationals did that to knock him out of the game at 6 2/3 innings in a 1-1 tie. The Nationals hit into some tough luck, and Alex Verdugo had two Web Gems yesterday as the Nationals hit into some tough defense too. The Dodgers are one of the worst fielding teams, and we made a point of putting balls in play to stress their defense and eventually it worked as Justin Turner booted a ball and Corey Seager could not make a play. It worked for the most part although it is still a head-scratcher why Howie Kendrick earlier in the game was trying to bunt with two men on-base and no outs. Kendrick popped-up a bunt essentially killing that potential rally. Ryu was fortunate to exit the game tied at 1-1. Anibal Sanchez did go toe-to-toe with Ryu and out-pitched him. Some people hate to hear it, but it was another time that an umpire (Brian O’Nora) blew some big calls in a game with playoff implications. Continue reading →

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

The Vegas line has the Dodgers as overwhelming favorites tonight as Hyun-Jin Ryu goes for the visitors versus Anibal Sanchez. It is Ryu who owns the lowest ERA in baseball as he averages one run per start. There is one tried and true strategy for beating a pitcher like that, and Anibal Sanchez has to go toe-to-toe with him and give up less runs which in this case is a shutout. Easier said than done, and this is why we play the games. Continue reading →

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The last time we saw Max Scherzer on a mound was on July 6th in an Expos uniform as he masterfully pitched a 7.0 inning shutout with 11 strikeouts. Little did we know, he was suffering from back pain which he thought he could pitch through, and it got worse.  He likened the pain to running with a rock in your shoe. After the corrected diagnosis of scapulothoracic bursitis was revealed, Scherzer received a cortisone shot ten days ago that needed six days to take effect. On Monday, the Nats ace threw a bullpen session and declared himself at 100 percent ready to go. Continue reading →

Photo by Navy Yard Nats for TalkNats

In the second game of this doubleheader, manager Dave Martinez said he hoped that Patrick Corbin could give him 21 outs (7 innings) tonight. That would certainly help a bullpen that covered 5.0 innings this afternoon in the first game of this doubleheader. The Nationals bullpen arms were encouraged to take a nap, and we will see what Martinez comes up with for a line-up to face the lefty Kyle Freeland. Continue reading →