by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nats needed an ace performance by Gio Gonzalez and he bent early but did not break until the 5th inning where Gio had a 3-run lead and Gio served up a grand slam to Carlos Santana. The Nationals then got that run back on a pinch-hit single by Andrew Stevenson, but lost it in the bullpen. It was a disheartening loss as the Nationals gave Gio Gonzalez sufficient run support knocking out Jake Arrieta after 3-innings. Continue reading
If you believe that the one-run performance Gio Gonzalez posted up 5-days ago in 7.0 innings of work against the Mets is an indication that Gio is primed to finish up his tenure with the Nationals as an ace then tonight should be a good time for Gio to pitch his best. In that game against the Mets, the Nationals could not score a run against Jason Vargas, and the scoring droughts when Gio Gonzalez is on the mound is all too familiar while he is in the game. Continue reading
Each team had a TOOTBLAN on the basepaths tonight — but the one committed by the Phillies ended the game as pinch-runner Vince Velasquez who subbed in for Wilson Ramos tagged up with 2-outs in the 9th inning but left early. The Nationals win this game 5-4 for a nice comeback one-run win. The Nationals got Max Scherzer off the hook and Aaron Nola was deprived of his 16th win of the season while tagging a blown-save-loss on Pat Neshek who gave up a 2-run game changing 9th inning home run to Anthony Rendon. Continue reading
On Thursday, we were able to witness a pitcher’s duel with two of the three Cy Young frontrunners on the same mound. Aaron Nola of the Phillies and Max Scherzer of the Nationals squared off on the Nationals Park mound while Jacob deGrom pitched on that same day in his pursuit of the Cy Young crown. Tonight, all three pitchers are showcasing for the NL Cy Young voters, and Nola and Scherzer will once again face each other. The weather conditions should be different as it will be warmer and there won’t be Half Street wind blowing in from leftfield like we saw last Thursday. Juan Soto put two “A” swings on Nola pitches where the wind robbed him of a 2-run home run and a double. For his effort, Nola pitched a shutout, and Scherzer was victimized by one cutter that was hit for a 2-run homer to rightfield by the Phillies lefty Odubel Herrera in the seventh inning of what was a scoreless game. Continue reading
In the first game of this three game series in Philadelphia, the Nationals took advantage of multiple Phillies mistakes to put this one in the win column and move back to .500 on the season. Stephen Strasburg pitched 6 innings of 2-run baseball to earn the win. Strasburg appeared to pace himself early and was throwing free and easy. He threw 99 pitches on the evening and his highest velo was in the 4th and 5th innings. Continue reading
Last Wednesday, Ryan Zimmerman shocked the city of Philadelphia with a come-from-behind 2-run walk-off home run off of Phillies’ closer Seranthony Dominguez. That game was started by Zach Eflin for the Phillies and Stephen Strasburg for the Nationals, and they will start this game in the same pairing to duel tonight in Citizens Bank Ballpark. Continue reading
Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
Yesterday marked one more week off the schedule ending the overriding feeling of “running in place” for this Washington Nationals team. The Nats complete another .500 week as does their main opposition, and the chance on Thursday to getting a winning streak going never materialized. The tragic number is down to 24 in both the division and the wild card standings, and only a spectacular ending (something like 25 – 6) coupled with a near collapse by the teams ahead of them will prevent 2018 from going down as a colossal failure. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals scoreless drought ended, and it was like a flood of runs after that. Trea Turner led off the 6th inning with what looked like a home run and ruled a double off of the top of the leftfield wall. Turner eventually scored on a soft grounder by Juan Soto. The game really broke open in the 8th inning with bases loaded in a 2-0 game when Bryce Harper pinch-hit for the struggling Michael Taylor. Mets manager Mickey Callaway stuck with his struggling pitcher and Harper cleared the bases with a double for his 82-83-84th RBIs of the season. Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez pitched a 2-hitter through 6 innings of shutout baseball. The only major downside in this game was an apparent foot/ankle/Achilles injury by Kelvin Herrera. Manager Dave Martinez said after the game that Herrera was getting an x-ray on his upper foot, but he would not elaborate on the injury. Continue reading
When MASN’s Dan Kolko reported during yesterday’s Washington Nationals broadcast that Juan Soto “might” get today’s day-off, it turned out that it is Bryce Harper getting the day-off. Soto is a career 3-for-5 against Steven Matz “MATZY” who is pitching today for the Mets. Even in the midst of a 3-game scoring drought, manager Dave Martinez decided to sit the player who is supposed to be the team’s best hitter today. Michael A. Taylor will take Harper’s spot in the outfield. What has Taylor done lately? He has not had a hit since August 15th and is recently 0-7 with 5 strikeouts. Maybe Taylor has dominated Matz? Well, he’s batting .222 head-to-head with a home run in 18 at-bats. One of the more curious non-moves is that Mark Reynolds who has the second best stats (.364 BA) is not starting while Ryan Zimmerman (.143 BA) is at first base today. Continue reading
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