Scherzer had his worst start of the season; Offense made it close until bullpen blows up!

This is one game that Nats fans should not watch again. It was bad in most facets of the game, and Max Scherzer melted down on the mound in a pool of sweat in the Atlanta humidity. He was pulled after the 4th inning giving up 6 earned runs. Six days ago, Scherzer threw a complete game that he labored through on 111-pitches and whether or not there was residual effect — only Scherzer would know. This loss against the Braves sent the Nats back to the .500 mark on the season, and the Braves piled on some runs at the end to make the final score 10-5. Continue reading

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Game #148 Three games in Atlanta; Today is #Scherzday!

It’s Scherzday, so you know what that means as Max Scherzer takes the mound tonight to keep the success of the past week moving forward. This is the last series of the season in Atlanta, and the Braves seem to be headed towards their first NL East crown since 2013 when they had a brief stay at the top. Before that, you would have to go back to the Bobby Cox years and 2005 and prior when they dominated the NL East. What Braves fans don’t want to tell you is that they only advanced one time past the NLDS in their last 9-trips to the post-season. Sure, they razz Nats fans all the time about the Nats lack of success in the post-season, but the Braves track record is worse. Since the Braves arrived in Atlanta 52-years ago, they have only one World Series title to show for it and a whole lot of failure.  Continue reading

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2019 Preview – Adam Eaton #Nats

Photo by Jim Osborn for TalkNats

People tend to form an opinion and then they try to interpret facts to match their opinions. In fact, there is very little objective analysis when it comes to opinions on players who play on team we root for. When it comes to the Adam Eaton trade words like ‘overpaid’, ‘fleeced’ etc are commonly used so I decided to look at a straight comparison. In 2017 and 2018, Eaton has generated 1.8 WAR, while two of the players he was traded for, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez, combined have amounted to 2.0 WAR together over these 2 years. It could be that in 10 years when the trade is looked at by objective analysts that it’ll look worse from a Nats perspective, but I think the best that can be said about this trade now is that the jury hasn’t even started deliberating. Continue reading

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Defense falters at the end resulting in the end of the winning streak!

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nationals 5-game winning streak came to a screeching halt with this extra innings loss against the Cubs. The Nationals came back and tied this game twice behind some clutch RBIs by Victor Robles and Trea Turner to go with the earlier home run by Spencer Kieboom and a nifty hit-and-run pinch-hit by Andrew Stevenson, but unfortunately in the top of the 10th inning, the Nationals defense did not make a play in the field allowing a single to turn into a double, then a Wilmer Difo error happened, and all of that was followed by a squeeze bunt in the air that Ryan Zimmerman could not reach which all led to the winning run scoring and a tough one-run loss. Continue reading

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Game #147 The #Nats go for 2nd Place today + take the Season Series crown from the Cubs!

There is some respectability on the line this afternoon for the Washington Nationals as they go for the trifecta today with a win against the Cubs. If the Nationals win they would match their longest winning streak this season at 6-games while also grabbing a share of 2nd Place in the NL East standings plus the winner of today’s game would win the season series 4-3 between the Nats and Cubs. This is a rescheduled game today from Sunday’s rain postponement.  Continue reading

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The Two Worlds of Baseball

The post-season was once a simple affair.

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series.

Baseball changed irrevocably in 1969.  Prior to that year the two leagues were comprised of ten or less teams apiece.  At the end of the year the team with the best record in each league advanced to a single seven-game World Series to decide the game’s champion.  From a design standpoint it was at once elegantly simple and incredibly effective.  For the 48 years prior to 1969 only 14 times had a second-place team in one league ended the season with more wins than the World Series representative from the opposite league (29%).  In 1969 the leagues added 2 teams apiece, split into Divisions, and instituted a second tier of playoff series.    In the 48-years since at least one World Series representative has had an inferior record within its league some 40 times.  And, in 15 instances the World Series was contested where neither team had the best record in their league.  The Playoffs simply introduced a new and alternate world to baseball. Continue reading

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The #Nats leave Philly at 1/2 game from 2nd Place in the NL East!

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nationals are closing in on their longest winning streak since the team won 6-games in a row in May. The Nats now have 5 consecutive wins and tonight they scored 3-runs in the 1st inning off of Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola. In all, they scored 4-runs off of Nola and knocked him out in the 5th inning on their way to a 5-1 victory behind a 7-inning gem from Stephen Strasburg. The big blow in this game was a mammoth two-run home run from Bryce Harper which was all the Nationals needed. Those 2-RBIs that Harper collected gave him 94 on the season which is 6 away from his goal of reaching the century mark. Continue reading

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Game #146 With a win tonight, #Nats could move to 1/2 game from 2nd Place!

The Washington Nationals are on a roll….finally. Yesterday’s momentum meets today’s starting pitcher for the Phillies in Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola. If the Nats find a way to win this game like they did the last time they faced Nola, the Washington Nationals would move to within a ½ game of the Phillies for 2nd Place in the NL East. For the Nats tonight, they send Stephen Strasburg to the mound.  Continue reading

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Comeback kids sweep back-to-back doubleheaders with 2 HRs from Juan Soto!

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nationals are closing in on their longest winning streak since the team won 6-games in a row in May. The Nats now have 4 consecutive wins via two back-to-back doubleheader sweeps, and they once again won in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. The Nationals were losing by 3-runs in the 9th inning, and they tied it up on a bases loaded walk by Trea Turner who had to battle back in the count after an egregious strike 2 call by the homeplate ump. With the score tied at 6-runs, Juan Soto cranked his second home run of the game for the game winner.  Continue reading

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Game #145 Roark needs to replicate Fedde’s effort in nightcap of doubleheader!

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

The Nationals have the rare opportunity to sweep back-to-back doubleheaders as they have a modest 3-game win streak going with a chance for a win tonight in the nightcap of this doubleheader to move back over the .500 mark. In the afternoon first half of this doubleheader, Erick Fedde threw a 2-hit shutout over 5 2/3 innings with 9 strikeouts. The Nationals won the game 3-1 to move to .500.  Continue reading

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