Tonight’s hero came via the Walk-Off: Mark Reynolds

Mark Reynolds just walked-off with a moon-shot home run to win the game for the Nationals off of the reigning reliever of the month Kyle Barraclough. It was a game of inches the entire night in a tied game at 2-to-2 as the Nats loaded the bases with no-outs in the 8th inning and could not score. Once again, manager Dave Martinez went with a hunch and pulled Michael A. Taylor back and instead pinch-hit for Sean Doolittle with Reynolds. That is how you make your manager look good when Reynolds delivered the game-winner. Continue reading

Posted in Recap | Leave a comment

Game #87 Gio likes pitching against the Marlins

How quickly the mood changes based on a Washington Nationals win. Manager Dave Martinez can relax a little bit, and he took this opportunity to mix up his line-up to put his best defensive infield in place for tonight while loading up on lefty batters in the outfield against righty Dan Straily. Continue reading

Posted in InGame | Leave a comment

Maybe the tables have Turner’d; Hustle & walks quietly won this game!

You must be a TalkNats Subscriber to access this content. Subscribers have access to exclusive content on the TalkNats website and can engage in discussions with other Nats fans.

Click here to become a subscriber.

First two weeks are free and then you will be billed $3.99/month. Cancel anytime. Secure payments using Stripe.

If you are already a subscriber, simply log in using the form below.

Posted in Analysis | Leave a comment

Trea Turner leads his team in this historical win from 9 runs down!

The Washington Nationals had their backs up against the wall early with a 9-0 deficit and then Trea Turner hit a solo home run to make the score 9-1. It seemed like an insurmountable score, but then the Nats got the score to 9-6 with bases loaded and Trea Turner cracked a grand slam. He tied an MLB record of 8 RBIs for a lead-off man, and he was the catalyst in this game. Continue reading

Posted in Recap | Leave a comment

Game #86 Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

You can’t change the past — but you can change the future making this the first day of the rest of your life. The Nationals enter tonight’s game at one game under .500 and facing a Miami Marlins team that has low expectations. After the National had a team meeting last night, you hope this is a more inspired Nationals team that shows up for the 85th game of this season. Continue reading

Posted in InGame | Leave a comment

An Odd Profession

The legendary Manager Connie Mack 53 Years of managing the Pirates and the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack made his playing debut as a Catcher with the Washington Nationals in 1886.

We look at the various professions across the landscape with a mixture of acknowledgement and respect.  A Physician papers the walls with certificates and diplomas.  That age-old practice isn’t there for the Doc’s ego.  It’s to impress upon you that this is someone who knows what they are saying.  No certificate display is needed by the Welder high up in the air joining beams on the construction site.  Using electricity to melt metal together is a skill and knowledge set possessed by a tiny portion of the population.  Even the die-hard DIY warrior will eventually run into a job beyond their comfort zone.  It’s time to then call in the Licensed Master Plumber or Electrician.  The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills these various professionals have accumulated grants them “Expert” status with all the attendant respect.  The odd profession of Major League Baseball Manager is another story altogether.  If his team is under-performing he will be widely considered to be as dim-witted and unschooled as a barnyard duck. Continue reading

Posted in DaveMartinez, Feature | Leave a comment

A great effort by Matt Grace spoiled by the “Little Things”; Nats fall below .500

This was a team loss, and you will never win a game when you are shut-out so immediately you have to wonder why the Nationals could not score on Eduardo Rodriguez who entered the game with a medicore 4.11 ERA. The game started off in disastrous fashion as Erick Fedde was pulled with no outs in the 2nd inning with right shoulder stiffness. America’s birthday party scored a sweep for the Red Sox as the Nationals fell below .500 with a 42-43 record with this loss. Continue reading

Posted in Recap | Leave a comment

Game #85 on Independence Day seems fitting for a team looking for direction!

Happy July 4th to everyone on this Independence Day. This day has been greeted with happiness since 1776 for Americans, and it is fitting that MLB has the Washington Nationals kick-off this special day with a mid-day classic. There is always the question of who goes home happy today as there is only one team that wins in these games of skill. The Washington Nationals have their backs against the wall and will need to come close to a 48-30 finish to the season for any legitimate chance to winning the NL East. It’s possible, but highly improbable if they keep playing like they have recently. Continue reading

Posted in InGame | Leave a comment

How can a pitcher tell you “All my stuff was down” when it’s just not true?

They say that the key to a bad game is having a “short memory.” Tanner Roark has mastered that well as he exited “stage right” after the show last night. He stuck around for the post-game interview and stood up to the microphones, and gave one of his classic Tanner Roark post-game speeches after bombing out in another game. He didn’t say he felt fine — he actually said:

“It’s the best I’ve felt in a long time.”

He actually continued in the interview and said, “all my stuff was down”. Maybe we have a different definition of “down” and “up”. We can play with semantics here or we can play with reality. The pitches that were put in play — and there were many of them — were up. Continue reading

Tagged | Leave a comment

Game #84 Will this be the night the real #Nats show up?

We have all been waiting for the pretenders to leave so the contenders can appear. It has been a month of some of the worst baseball that Nats fans have seen since the NLDS. Everyone has an opinion and those who want to place blame can find many to blame. Last night, Tom Boswell at the Washington Post was at the post-game presser, and he asked the question as to how this team has lost exactly 2/3rds of their one-run games. It is remarkable because if the Nationals had won 2/3rds of the one-run games they would be in first place. Continue reading

Posted in InGame | Leave a comment