Tanner Roark pitches a gem and the Nats win 7th straight at home: Postgame

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

The Nats scored their 2 runs in the 1st inning and Roark and the relievers threw an 18 K combined strikeout which is a Nationals record for most team strikeouts in a game. It was also the 3rd team shutout of the year. The Nats record after this win is 13-4 which ties the Cubs at the moment for the best record in the Majors. The 13-4 mark also matches the 2012 Washington Nationals for the best starts in team history. Continue reading →

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Game #17 with lineup changes and which Roark will we see?: Game Thread

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

Today’s 1:05pm start features Phil Hughes and Tanner Roark as starting pitchers and Daniel Murphy gets a day off for the first time this year and Michael Taylor gets another observation day. Chris Heisey will play CF and lead-off in this game, and Stephen Drew will get the start at 2nd base.

The Nats will face righty Phil Hughes who was a 1st round draft pick of the NY Yankees in 2004 and was a top prospect. In 2010, Hughes made the All Star team and finished that season with a very pedestrian 4.19 ERA. Hughes will always be that pitcher who the Yankees thought was their answer and became a pitcher who they had a chance to “sell high” on and he never did become their #1. Hughes finished his Yankees career with a 4.53 ERA over 182 games.
Continue reading →

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Gio Gonzalez pitched like an Ace tonight & Werth saves a HR and then hits #201: Postgame

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Gio Gonzalez with 2 earned runs over 6 full innings in a well pitched game and Gio was helped by Jayson Werth‘s Web Gem stealing a HR from Byron Buxton. The bullpen came in a finished up the remaining 3 innings and the Nats won 8-4.

Nats have a 6 game winning streak now at Nats Park and improve their record to 12-4 matching the team best start which the Nats also accomplished in 2012.

The Nats got 2 hits each from Rendon, Murphy, Espinosa and Lobaton. Jayson Werth added a solo HR for #201 of his career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpnRnpHqGF0

And here is a picture taken by DonH at the game that shows Gio’s plant spot. He very carefully marked the area and hit it right on the nose throughout the game – perhaps the Maddux Effect.GioPlantSpot

And now lets take a couple more looks at Werth stealing that Home Run from Buxton.

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Game #16 Gio Gonzalez in inter-league game vs Twins: Game Thread

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Today we get Gio Gonzalez pitching in the friendly confines of Nats Park against the Twins and Kyle Gibson for a scheduled 7:05pm first pitch. Weather could be a factor today we have been told and of note the Harrisburg Senators and Lucas Gioltio are scheduled to play in Bowie against the Baysox in Double-A action which could also be affected by the DC weather.

This Nats/Twins matchup will bring in many old-timer Nats fans who kept an allegiance to that 1960’s team that the Griffith family relocated to Minnesota as the real “Senators” team that featured Harmon Killebrew, Bobby Allison, Jim Lemon, Billy Gardner, Jim Kaat and Camilo Pasqual as well as others.

This 2016 version of the old Senators features a Twins team that is young and has an improved Joe Mauer as well as old friend Kurt Suzuki (batting .167). Top prospect Byron Buxton continues to struggle as he is batting .162. Miguel Sano is one to watch as he tries to get on track.

The scouting report on the righty Kyle Gibson is that he is a sinkerballer that the hitters will see 42% of the time and 18% 4-seamers at 92-93mph. He will mix in a slider as his main breaking pitch and the occassional changeup and a few curveballs. Note to lefty batters is Gibson changes his mix and throws 25% changeups to the lefty batters and only 10% sliders. Harper and Murphy will see mostly fastballs and changeups and a couple of sliders.

Here are the Nats stats vs Kyle Gibson which is very limited:

Here are the Twins against Gio Gonzalez:

Line-up (Subject to change without notice):

  1. Michael Taylor CF
  2. Anthony Rendon 3B
  3. Bryce Harper RF
  4. Ryan Zimmerman 1B
  5. Daniel Murphy 2B
  6. Jayson Werth LF
  7. Danny Espinosa SS
  8. Jose Lobaton C
  9. Gio Gonzalez LHP
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Around the #Nats Minor Leagues

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Kevin Brown, the radio voice of the Syracuse Chiefs, was kind enough to give us an update on some of the Syracuse Chiefs’ players who we haven’t seen in a while. We all know what Trea Turner (.377 BA) is doing in Triple-A, but what about this ‘hot’ start from Brian Goodwin? We also wanted to know how AJ Cole and reliever Trevor Gott are doing.

TN: Brian Goodwin so far is getting hits (.362 BA) with a much higher success rate, what has he changed?

Kevin: “Brian Goodwin seems to be a little shorter [with his swing]. He’s doing a better job of putting good pitches in play rather than fouling them off. He’s flashed some great speed and good outfield defense as well. There’s definitely more visible confidence than there was in 2014.”

TN: What are you seeing with AJ Cole (7.71 ERA)? Continue reading →

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Scherzer falters as does most of the #Nats offense: Postgame

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Andrew Lang

This game started off with a bang as Bryce Harper did what Bryce Harper does to Tom Koehler as he smashed the 1st pitch from Koehler for his MLB leading 8th HR of the season in 15 games. It’s Bryce’s 6th career HR against Koehler which is the most against any pitcher that Harper has faced. Continue reading →

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Game #15 Scherzer and Koehler in day game in Miami: Game Thread

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Nationals complete this 4 game set here in Miami today with a 1:10pm first pitch. The roof could be open for this game which features Max Scherzer and Tom Koehler as the starters today. Of note, Giancarlo Stanton is not in the starting line-up. Continue reading →

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New TV Show is a must see! Sports Detectives on the Smithsonian Channel

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Andrew Lang

The Smithsonian Channel premieres a new show on Sunday titled Sports Detectives, and it is a groundbreaking original show as the hosts of the show hunt down the truth behind what happened with some of the most iconic memorabilia in American sports history. These are historic objects from indelible moments in sports that have seemingly gone missing from the public eye or are in dispute. Continue reading →

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Nats improve to 11-3 on a bullpen win and some clutch hits. Papelbon with big Save: Recap

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Jonathan Papelbon gets a nailbiter save and strikes out Stanton to end the game. Joe Ross had to leave the game after 2 innings with a blister and the bullpen was nails. Yusmeiro Petit, Oliver Perez, Blake Treinen, and Papelbon combine for 7 innings and 1 run given up. Continue reading →

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Game #14, Joe Ross takes on the new Marlin Wei Yin Chen: Game Thread

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

You can watch a baseball game, and see things that you have never seen before. Last night was case and point with 4 HRs in one inning and 2 sets of back-to-back HRs. We saw a 200 HR milestone HR by Jayson Werth and a Bryce Harper grand slam and solos by Wilson Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman. Not be lost in it all, Stephen Strasburg pitched a masterful gem.

Today we get Joe Ross and Wei-Yin Chen facing off at 7:10pm in Miami. You might remember Chen as the ex-Oriole who left as a Free Agency this past off-season. The Nats have faced him before. Joe Ross is coming off of a brilliant start on Friday versus the Phillies and hopes to repeat on his new and improved repertoire. Continue reading →

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