The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Get used to seeing these guys for a while. (Photo by Tom Cicotello for TalkNats)

The youngsters came through to win a game that was all but lost. The Nationals fell behind 6-to-1 and chipped away to get the score to 6-to-5 in the 9th inning. It was up to the rookie, Victor Robles, in a 2 strike count with 2 outs, and Robles smashed a home run to tie the game. Manager Dave Martinez brought in his closer in this tie game to hold the game and give the Nats a chance in the top of the 10th inning and that is what happened. Juan Soto crushed a 3-run home run over rightfield foul pole for the game winner. Continue reading →

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

There were so many highlights in this game, but too many lowlights including some bad fielding plays, a questionable “send”, a non-hustle play on a groundout by Juan Soto, and some bad situational hitting. The star of the game was Kurt Suzuki who crushed a two-run home run, and Brian Dozier hit a 9th inning blast to centerfield to get off the schneid. Anibal Sanchez pitched well enough to win this one giving up 3-runs in 5 2/3 innings. The bullpen was good in spots until Justin Miller gave up a home run in the 8th inning which is the team’s 18th run they have given up in the 8th inning. Continue reading →

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

The Nationals won a game they needed to win and won the series, but it was not pretty. You could describe it as pretty ugly the way it ended. Entering the bottom of the 7th inning, the Nats were up by a score of 12-to-1. However in this blowout game, manager Dave Martinez left Max Scherzer in the game, and he hit the wall quickly and unfortunately gave up 3 hits to begin the 7th inning and then before you knew it Matt Grace was in the game and the score was 12-6. Scherzer’s final line was 6 1/3 innings with 4 earned runs and 100 pitches thrown.

Trevor Rosenthal got to start the 8th inning, but he hit the first batter he faced then threw two wild pitches and a walk and was pulled. Rosenthal gave any baseball fans who are old enough a flashback to when Rick Ankiel’s career as a pitcher ended when he could no longer find the plate. Sometimes the game becomes all about the mental side. Luckily Wander Suero got 3 outs with no runs scoring. Joe ROss got the 9th inning but he gave up a 3-run home run to Michael Conforto and was replaced by Sean Doolittle who had to close out a 12-9 win. Continue reading →

The Nationals had a 5-3 lead in the 8th inning after Anthony Rendon homered and Wilmer Difo crushed a 2-run home run into the upper deck in Citifield, but then the Nats bullpen in the bottom of the 8th inning self-destructed. Justin Miller got no help from the umpire and gave up 2 solo home runs and Tony Sipp never retired a batter leading to the winning run and a disappointing 6-5 loss. Continue reading →

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nats were never behind in this game, and they cruised to a victory on the arm of Stephen Strasburg who threw a 6 2/3 inning shutout gem that finished at a 4-to-0 game to spoil the Mets home opener. The Nats scored their first run on some small ball without a hit as Wilmer Difo safety squeezed Juan Soto across the plate as Soto walked to lead-off the second inning. The Nats did not have a hit until the 6th inning when Victor Robles homered off of Mets starter Noah Syndergaard. The Nats played good baseball except for two unforced errors. One was by Strasburg on a late dash to cover first base and Ryan Zimmerman threw behind him, but Strasburg quickly got a doubleplay on Robinson Cano to not expend any extra pitches until Anthony Rendon booted a tailor-made doubleplay grounder that cost Strasburg to face three more batters and stretch his pitch count which was 93 pitches in the 6th inning. Continue reading →