The Mets take the 1st one. Nats fall 2-0 on 2 solo HRs: Postgame

The Nats lost this game in a true pitcher’s duel by a final score of 2-0 as the Nats actually out-hit the Mets 5 to 4, and the difference was that 2 of the Mets 4 hits were solo HRs.

The Nats plan called for small ball, and they had their chances. The Nats best chance in the game was wiped out in the 2nd inning on a 4-6-3 doubleplay ball with men on the corners and 1 out. That was the Nats best chance of the night to try for the hit and run or run and hit or straight steal with Rendon on 1st base as Syndergaard is considered the easiest pitcher to steal on. Ben Revere did attempt a steal later in the game and was called out on a bang bang play.

Curtis Granderson ambushed a fastball he pulled off Max Scherzer on his 1st pitch of the game for a home run and that was all Noah Syndergaard needed in run support. Two innings later Michael Conforto hit out a mistake pitch for the final tally in a 2-0 game.

Syndergaard was as advertised. Absolutely filthy with his repertoire that begins with a 97 to 100 mph heater with a slider and changeup that stayed out of the zone for swing and miss pitches. He made few mistakes and was deadly in 2 strike counts.

It was a cleanly played game and the homeplate ump Mr. Joyce was flawless. The Nats problem was swinging on pitches out of the zone.

In a key Harper AB with Werth on 1st with 2 outs, Ray Knight said that pitch #4 to Bryce Harper was out of the strikezone on the 3-0 pitch and it was not:
syndergaard on harper

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Game #39 Nats return to CitiField and Scherzer returns to the scene of NH#2

The Nationals meet the Mets for their first head-to-head games of the season, and tonight is a heavyweight bout between Max Scherzer and Noah Syndergaard. This game will also be a second chance for Dusty Baker to out-manage the person in the opposite dugout as Joe Maddon pulled and pushed all the right buttons in Chicago 2 weekends ago. As we saw last year, Terry Collins played each Nats game like it was a playoff game. The atmosphere will be electric. Here’s hoping Dusty Baker will be victorious!

The last time Max Scherzer pitched in CitiField, he pitched his 2nd career no-hitter:
wilson ramos getty

The last time, Syndergaard pitched against the Giants, which was 2 weeks ago, he experienced pain in his throwing arm. He had an MRI and it showed no structural damage.

Syndergaard’s velocity has fluctuated, and there is no telling if he is still feeling pain. Syndergaard gave up 2 HRs in his last start versus the Dodgers and 2 earned in the start before that, and 4 earned in 5 2/3rds against the Giants.

Syndergaard will get his strikeouts, but he will also make mistake pitches and if you can barrel them up, he is supplying the power in an E=MC² type of way.

Here are the Nats stats against Syndergaard:

Here are Max Scherzer’s stats against the Mets:

Lineups (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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Bryce Harper: Man of the people. Campaign slogan: Make Baseball Fun Again (MBFA 2016)

Bryce Harper has been making the rounds lately, and in the past week has been seen shooting Under Armour commercials out in the Double-A stadium in Bowie Maryland to appearing on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while literally rubbing elbows with a Victoria Secret super model Gigi Hadid to appearing on ESPN’s media and advertiser’s showcase this morning, Bryce has been a busy man.

Bryce has already appeared as a model himself with Nina Agdal in a New Era advertisement and commercial so take that Gigi “Super Model” Hadid.

Bryce played a game of  Catchphrase with  Fallon as his teammate as they went up against the duo of model Gigi Hadid and actor/comedian Andy Samberg. Bryce had words and phrases like “Eager Beaver” and Craig Stammen‘s “Eye of the Tiger” and “S’mores” “Bubble Wrap” which is perfect for wrapping trophies, and let’s just say Bryce batted about .200 in that game per the rules and maybe .800 since no umpire called him out, and he hit a Home Run for entertaining everyone.

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Wilson Ramos is set to become a Free Agent. #Buffalo watch

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Chess, checkers, and NL East domination. Game on between Dusty Baker & Terry Collins

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The Second 18 — 9-9 is OK

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A 0-0 game changes as the sun monster changes the direction: Postgame

You just never know in sports what will happen on any given Sunday.  Joe Ross was ready to put up a zero when the sun shined in Stephen Drew’s eyes to score 2 runs on what would have been the 3rd out on a routine infield pop-up. That made the score 2-0.
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Game #38 Joe Ross and Jose Fernandez face-off: Game Thread

Joe Ross will be making his 7th start of the season and is sporting a 2.29 ERA that is 7th best in the NL, and Joe Cool will have to pitch great today as the Marlins have a guy named Jose Fernandez who can bring it. Fernandez has had his struggles this year and has a 3.54 ERA while slightly worse on the road at 3.71. This game will come down to making pitches when you have to.
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Nats split the doubleheader and will get ready for tomorrow: Postgame

The Nats put out a roster that resembled quite a few Spring Training line-ups. Nats lose 7-1 and the game was never really close, and while the Nationals had some chances to score, Tanner Roark dug a hole giving up 7 earned runs. Sammy Solis was very good in 3 innings of scoreless relief.

Joe Ross will pitch tomorrow against Jose Fernandez, and then the Nats will get an day off on Monday before they head to New York for their first games against the Mets.

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Game #37 Bryce Harper drops appeal of suspension, Ramos doing an Ernie Banks: Game Thread

As expected, Bryce Harper has dropped his appeal of his suspension from MLB for an incident with umpire Brian Knight earlier in the week, and Harper will serve the suspension in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader. The risk if Bryce had his appeal heard and lost his appeal, he would have been suspended in one of the games against the Mets which was a risk not worth taking.
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