Max Scherzer had an unusual inning that gave the Cardinals the win: Postgame

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Cardinals scored 5 runs in the 3rd inning in a 6-2 game highlighted by Stephen Piscotty who hit a grand slam in a situation where Max Scherzer needed a doubleplay ball. That was the difference in the game in just 1 swing.

The 3rd inning started off innocent enough with a single by the pitcher Jaime Garcia followed by a walk which was followed by a single to load the bases and then Scherzer had Matt Holliday in an 0-2 count and then ended up walking him to score the 1st run of the game. Piscotty followed that up with a grand slam and that is all the Cardinals needed.

The Nats had big chances to chip away and scored 1 run off of a home run by Danny Espinosa and the big opportunity came in the 6th inning when Bryce Harper led off with a single and was followed by wild pitch and then Daniel Murphy singled to put runners at the corners. Ryan Zimmerman smoked a grounder that turned into a doubleplay as Harper scored and that snuffed out the Nats chance at a big inning.

Back at it tomorrow.

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Game #49 Max Scherzer for the #Nats: Game Thread

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Game 2 of the 4 game series with the St. Louis Cardinals will feature Max Scherzer and lefty Jaime Garcia. The Nats have faced Garcia before and St. Louis native Max Scherzer will once again face his hometown team.

Dusty Baker will set his lineup for the lefty and expect Daniel Murphy to be in there against Garcia.

Here are the Nats stats against Jaime Garcia:

Here is Max Scherzer’s stats against the Cardinals:

Note that Matt Carpenter was not included in the stats since he was on the inactive list yesterday. Matt Carpenter  was batting .500 against Scherzer with a 1.200 OPS in 10 at-bats.

Line-ups (subject to change without notice):

  1. Ben Revere CF
  2. Jayson Werth LF
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Daniel Murphy 2B
  5. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
  6. Anthony Rendon 3B
  7. Wilson Ramos C
  8. Danny Espinosa SS
  9. Max Scherzer RHP
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Dusty Baker wins #1700 and Joe ‘Cool’ Ross gets a well earned Win with Harp/Espi HRs

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nats pitching just shutdown the Cardinals team and held them to 1 run as this same Cards team just bashed around Jake Arrieta yesterday and scored 8 runs off of the Cubs.

Joe Ross made some clutch pitches when he had to and worked out of a huge jam in the top of the 7th with 2 on and no outs and struck out Yadier Molina. In strange coincidences the Cardinals had this exact scenario in yesterday’s game against the Cubs with men on 2nd and 1st and no outs and Yadier Molina at the plate and he struck out. Continue reading →

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Game #48 in the first game of the 4 game series against the Cardinals: Game Thread

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The schedule makers put the 2 Cardinals series for the regular season within the first 2 months of this season which will make this the final regular season series against the Cardinals. The Nationals swept the Cardinals in a 3 game series in St. Louis, and did it without Ben Revere and tonight the starting line-up will be without Daniel Murphy who gets the night off. The Cardinals will be playing without Matt Carpenter who is on the paternity leave list for at least today and most likely tomorrow also.

The projected starters for each team during this 4 game series are:

Game 1 (tonight): Mike Leake and Joe Ross
Game 2 (Friday): Jaime Garcia and Max Scherzer
Game 3 (Saturday): Adam Wainwright and Gio Gonzalez
Game 4 (Sunday): Michael Wacha and Stephen Strasburg

Mike Leake pitches tonight for the Cardinals and has thrown 55 1/3 innings with a 4.07 ERA and in a strange coincidence when he was traded last year to the Giants, he pitched for them 55 1/3 innings with a 4.07 ERA.

Leake was a starter against Strasburg in St. Louis in the first game of that series also and took the loss for the Cardinals.

Here are your Nats stats against Mike Leake:

Here is Joe Ross‘ stats against the Cardinals:

Line-ups (subject to change without notice):

  1. Ben Revere CF
  2. Jayson Werth LF
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
  5. Anthony Rendon 3B
  6. Wilson Ramos C
  7. Stephen Drew 2B
  8. Danny Espinosa SS
  9. Joe Ross RHP
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In an alternate universe you wouldn’t think 2 teams could have the same 9th inning

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Cardinals flew into Washington DC late last night after an emotional loss to their bitter rival Chicago Cubs.

The Nationals and Cardinals both had similar fates to end their games yesterday as both teams had the beginnings of promising 9th innings with walk-off possibilities in an incredible coincidence of 9th inning situations.   Both teams had the exact same outcomes with their 1st 3 hitters against the other team’s closer as both the Nationals and Cardinals opened the bottom of the 9th inning with back-to-back singles to put runners at 2nd and 1st with no outs.

The Cardinals were behind the Cubs in a thriller trailing 9-8. They had the right man up in Yadier Molina just like the Nats did in Ryan Zimmerman. Yadier Molina would strike out just like Ryan Zimmerman did in huge spots that seemed to suck the air out of their respective stadiums. You could say those strikeouts were the beginnings of the end.

Yadier Molina has no walk-off home runs in his career, and Ryan Zimmerman has 10 which is why Cardinal fans thought Molina was due yesterday just like Nats fans dreamed of walk-off #11 for their Mr. Walk-off. Both veteran players would fail where they weren’t even able to create a productive out to move up the runners.

ryan zimmerman yadier molina and Zim hits 3 run HR

Continue reading →

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Nats lose in a pitcher’s duel 2-0. Nats had 2 on with no outs in the 9th: Postgame

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Tanner Roark was almost as effective as Steven Matz was in this game as Roark’s outing had him giving up 2 runs of which only 1 was an earned run. The Nats failed to score any runs on offense off of Matz, but the game was there to be won by the Nats in the 9th inning. Continue reading →

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Game #47 Series tied 1-1 Roark and Matz: Game Thread

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This is the early edition 1:05pm ‘getaway’ start time which is usually for teams to get away as they head on a plane for another destination although in this case there was no accommodation needed as the visiting Mets don’t even have a game tomorrow and welcome in the Dodgers to CitiField on Friday.

The Nats get to look forward to a 4 game series starting tomorrow with the St. Louis Cardinals. Continue reading →

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Stephen Strasburg and his team beats Matt Harvey again: Postgame

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Tonight, Stephen Strasburg was the star of the game, and Felipe Rivero got the big Hold in the 7th inning to propel the Nats as the bats came alive. Home runs by Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, Ben Revere, and Wilson Ramos.

Every Nats batter got a hit except Bryce Harper; however, Bryce had some nice contact including a long Sac Fly.

While Matt Harvey pitched better tonight, he became predictable and the Nats pounced and knocked him out early as he struggled to get through the 5th inning. Continue reading →

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Game #46 Harvey and Strasburg Part Deux!: Game Thread

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

These head-to-head matchups between NL East teams are big, and when you are playing the team that many had as the favorite to win the NL East the game becomes a little more important because you have an opportunity to swing the standings by 1 full game each time so these are not like playing a NL Central opponent. Continue reading →

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This is why they play the games. Nats get blown out 7-1: Postgame

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The good news is a 7-1 loss doesn’t count any differently as a loss in the standings and the Nats remain in 1st place by a 1/2 game over the Mets. Continue reading →

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