Click to Read an Important Member Update Regarding Our Comment System
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.
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This is the game many have been waiting for as the heavyweight rematch of the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs. As mentioned, no matter who wins these games, both teams will be in 1st place in their respective divisions after the conclusion of Wednesday’s game; however, the Nationals still want to win and quiet the doubters.
Tonight’s match-up is Max Scherzer and Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks is coming off of a short outing and a loss in Philadelphia where his sinker wasn’t sinking well enough and his curveball wasn’t curving enough. Hendricks is a 3 pitch pitcher with a repertoire of fastball, change-up, and curveball. His fastball sits at around 88mph, and he is a finesse pitcher who lives on movement and location. Every once in a while Hendricks will hit 90 on the radar gun. Continue reading →
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A walk-off win, and the Nationals show what they are made of. The Nats finally win a game after the the Dream Foundation Gala and break an 8 year losing streak, and do it via a come-from-behind Jayson Werth 2-RBI single with bases loaded and 2 outs in the 9th inning.
Jonathan Papelbon gave up a lead-off HR to start the top of the 9th to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Phillies. The Nationals started off the bottom of the 9th with a Rendon out and Dusty Baker went to his secret weapon Bryce Harper as a pinch-hitter.
Harper worked the count and hit a grounder into the shift, and Bryce hustled down the line and the 1st baseman could not come down on the base and Bryce beat it out. There was a manager’s challenge on the play and the call stood “safe”.
With Bryce on 1st base, Danny Espinosa tried to hit the walk-off, but fouled off 2 pitches and in a 2 strike count did something you have never seen from Espinosa—-he shortened up his swing and poked a single over the shortstop’s head. With runners on 2nd and 1st, Clint Robinson pinch-hit for Michael Taylor and CRob worked a walk. Werth came up with the bases loaded and in a 2 strike count singled up the middle to drive in 2 runs and win the game.
The Nats move to a season’s best 15 games over .500 and now are 4 1/2 games ahead of the New York Mets for the largest margin between the 2 teams this season since April 16th when the Nats held a 5.0 game lead for one day.
Talk about the small things. BRYCE to ESPINOSA to CRob to WERTH. None of the Werth walk-off heroics happen if Bryce doesn’t hustle to 1st base, Espinosa does not get his hit or Clint Robinson strikes out. The game would have ended before Werth had a chance. It is the little things we keep referring to that add up to big things.
HUSTLE, short swing, take a walk and a 2 run walk-off single added up to big things.
Danny Espinosa talked about his 9th inning approach, “Trying to be patient. Trying not to do too much. Stay within myself. Keep the inning moving and get the next guy up.”
“Danny’s been working on that. We keep stressing to him that when you get in a hole, you’ve got to put it in play,” Baker said about Espinosa’s 9th inning clutch single. “And if you put it in play, anything can happen.”
Jayson Werth said it all, “We got ’em.” Werth continued, “Oh man, I’m just trying to go brain-dead up there, that’s about it…That’s what dreams are made of.”
“Man, you got battered out there,” MASN’s Dan Kolko said to Werth in the post-game interview referring to the walk-off celebration as Werth’s teammates ran after him. “What type of damage did they do to you in the outfield?”
“Well, I knew I was in trouble when I saw The Strangler coming at me,” Werth responded back to Kolko.
“Who’s The Strangler?” Kolko asked.
“You know, the D.C. Strangler,” Werth answered.
We will see where that leads in the days and weeks ahead.
1. Bryce IF single (can't knock the hustle) 2. Espi single 3. Clint Robinson PH walk 4. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? pic.twitter.com/G9JfyBcmM0
Danny Espinosa’s 9th inning single came off of a pitch that was about 12 inches off of the plate and he served it into the opposite field for a single. Espinosa was in ‘protect’ mode and shortened up his swing.
The Bryce Harper hustle single got the bottom of the 9th inning started.
Today is the series finale in this 3 game set with the Phillies, and the Nationals have won the first 2 games and looking for a sweep ahead of the series with the Cubs. The Nationals send Joe Ross to the mound, and he will face lefty Adam Morgan who the Nats faced 2 weeks ago.
The Nationals are 1st in the NL and 2nd in the Majors in OPS versus left-handed pitchers with a .822 OPS. With Adam Morgan on the mound for the Phillies, we will see what Dusty Baker has today with Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper, and Wilson Ramos needing a day-off. Continue reading →
The 2016 amateur Draft is complete. Over 1,200 players were chosen in 40 rounds, and the Washington Nationals had 41 players chosen which included 2 in the 1st round. Here is the list of all 41 players the Nationals chose here.
Carter Kieboom became the Nationals #1 pick of the draft, and he has a college commitment to Clemson which he now appears to be ready to pass on and sign with the Nationals. Carter Kieboom’s older brother Spencer Kieboom is a catcher with the Nationals Double-A affiliate Harrisburg Senators. Continue reading →
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Nats completed an 8-0 shutout over Aaron Nola and improved to a season’s best 14 games over .500, and the Washington Nationals offense has now scored 49 runs over the last 6 games which is 8.2 runs per game. The Nats scored 8 runs today with no home runs.
Tanner Roark pitched a great game in a 7 inning shutout with 7 strikeouts and improved his ERA to 2.93 on a 6 hitter in which contact was weak for most of the day.
Michael Taylor, Clint Robinson, and Stephen Drew all started today in place of Werth, Zimmerman and Espinosa respectively, and the trio did great combining for 7 hits in 11 at-bats. Chris Heisey came off the bench for a pinch-hit and stroked a double to improve The Wolfpackto an 8-12 day. Did Trea Turner have anything to do with ‘The Wolfpack’ nickname for the bench guys as an NC State alumni or was it an homage to Jayson ‘Werewolf’ Werth?
On top of the offense from the bench bats, Ben Revere got 2 hits to finish this game over .200, and Harper, Rendon and Murphy all had big hits. Tanner Roark had a safety squeeze that scored Anthony Rendon which was a key in the 2nd inning.
Not to be lost in a boxscore, Wilson Ramos beat out a groundball that could have been a doubleplay and Clint Robinson in the next at-bat beat out an infield single. Those 2 plays turned the 5th inning into a 3 run frame due to the hustle.
The Nats defense turned to nice Web Gems from Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy. The Nats turned in a great effort today in every facet of the game from pitching to hitting to defense to baserunning.
After today’s game, we can start counting down the regular season from 100 games remaining. Sample sizes are getting to a significant size. Tanner Roark’s sample size is difficult to assess because he has had some great starts and a few that have not been good. Roark has a 3.21 ERA and 6 of his 12 starts have been shutouts or 1 run games. Tanner has to turn the page from his 3.0 inning thumping in Cincinnati, and show that was a fluke.
The last time Roark faced the Phillies in Nationals Park was on April 28th, and Roark threw a 7.0 inning shutout gem. Roark also faced the Phillies a week and 1/2 ago in Philadelphia and pitched a great game picking up a win.
The Nats will face Aaron Nola for the 4th time this year. At this point, everyone is well acquainted with each other.
Here is the Nats stats against Aaron Nola:
Here is Tanner Roark’s stats against the Phillies:
Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, DC 1st Pitch: 12:05pm EDT TV: MASN, WUSA9, CSN-Philadelphia, MLB.tv
1: Number of doubleplays that Daniel Murphy has hit into
The Nats effort on defense was tremendous tonight. Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth had Web Gems behind Stephen Strasburg tonight, and the Nationals Bomb Squad did it again with home runs by Wilson Ramos, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa.
Revere had 2 hits and more importantly scored 2 runs. Daniel Murphy had 2 hits and 3 RBIs. Danny Espinosa had 3 hits with his home run. Jayson Werth had a double which drove in 2 runs and collected 2 walks. Stephen Drew had 2 hits with his home run.
The Nationals hitters combined for only 3 strikeouts on the night as contact was the name of the game tonight.
Home sweet home some would say. Bryce Harper sent out a ‘tweet’ at 5:16AM “Nothing like getting back to DC when the sun is coming up!” Maybe the Nats players got to bed by 6:30am if they were lucky. Ryan Zimmerman might have gone home to the sweet cries of his newborn baby daughter, and Jayson Werth hopefully drove the speed limit back to his lair off of Georgetown Pike where he falls asleep to peace and serenity and the faint sound of the Potomac River going over the falls. F.P. Santangelo reminded us once again of the reality sleep deprivation and of baseball life. Get-away days can be tough and especially when you lose those games.
The good news for Stephen Strasburg was that he was back in bed early in his Virginia residence as is customary he caught an earlier flight back to Washington DC and Strasburg says his calf is better. Stephen Strasburg once again, and for the 4th time since May 24th, must be a stopper after a Nats loss following Gio Gonzalez in the rotation. Continue reading →
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.