Part II: Around the #Nats Minor Leagues: Firsthand look at Giolito, Fedde, Lopez, Stevenson, and more!

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Andrew Lang

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The Nationals come into St. Louis and win the series taking the first 2 games: Postgame

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Andrew Lang

The Washington Nationals go from a point where they couldn’t hit water from a boat to a point where their RISP efficiency today was a nice 3-6 to secure the 6-1 win.

This is the fist series win in St. Louis in 9 years. Of course, Dusty Baker‘s goal is to sweep this series. The Nationals improve to 16-7 and have confidence as the starting pitching continues to be fantastic and the hitting was timely.

The stars of the game were Joe Ross who went 6 innings giving up 1 run, and his first 4 innings were electric with Werth as the offensive star. Sammy Solis had a very good inning of work and earned a Hold since it was only a 3 run lead at that point and he had to work around an error to do it. Felipe Rivero and Shawn Kelley finished off the game with dominance.

Jayson Werth with the hit of the game hitting a 3 run HR to cap a 4 run 1st inning and later had a Sacrifice Fly. Anthony Rendon with 2 hits, and Daniel Murphy with 2 key hits.

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Game #23 Joe Ross is back & waiting on Wilson Ramos to be back: Game Thread

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Andrew Lang

Starting pitcher Joe Ross returns from his blister issue on his throwing hand, and the Nats await Wilson Ramos to return from his bereavement leave in Venezuela. Ben Revere edges closer to his return from the DL, and the calendar is close to turning to May which has the day of May 29th 31st circled with the notation TVT day as Danny Espinosa says “not so fast” as he tries to show his manager he is poised to get above Mendoza and make a positive impact on this team. Espinosa got the Nats the GW RBIs last night on his 1st home run of the season. Continue reading →

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#Nats start the road trip with a come from behind win! Strasburg great comeback!

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Michael Taylor and Danny Espinosa power the Nats to a victory. Forget Strasburg’s 1st inning because he pitched a gem in his next 6 innings.

Defense backed up Strasburg after the 1st inning and Jonathan Papelbon pulls the string again on inducing a nifty 4-6-3 doubleplay to get out of a jam.

Every Nats position player got on base via a hit or a walk. The Nats were efficient in scoring runs and were 1-2 in RISP hitting.

One of the big plays of the game was an apparent stolen base by Anthony Rendon where he was called out and Dusty Baker challenged the call and won on appeal. Ryan Zimmerman earned a walk and with men on 2nd and 1st, Daniel Murphy knocked in Rendon, and Ryan Zimmerman with key baserunning advanced to 3rd. On a Sacrifice Fly by Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman scored.

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Game #22 Strasburg gets the series opener in St. Louis: Game Thread

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This will be a most interesting showdown of starters today with Stephen Strasburg facing off against childhood teammate Mike Leake in an 8:15pm start time in St. Louis. They faced each other last on May 19, 2014 but neither were pitcher’s of record in a marathon game that went 15 innings.

We once wrote about their relationship as teammates on a San Diego travel team and Leake in an interview had unflattering remarks about Strasburg as an 11 year old teammate. Continue reading →

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#Nats News -n- Notes: Revere, Turner, Harper

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Andrew Lang

Ben Revere started his rehab assignment on Thursday with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, and Revere made an immediate impact in the game going 2-3 with a run scored and a RBI. Revere batted lead-off with Trea Turner in the 2-hole. Brian Goodwin in the game went 1-2 with 2 walks. A.J. Cole pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball yielding 3 hits against the Pawtucket Paw Sox.

Here is an add-on to this story from Kevin Brown of the Syracuse Chiefs who did a recap for us from what he saw last night and insight from pitching coach Bob Milacki:

“Ben Revere looked good. Swung the bat aggressively against a tough lefty Eduardo Rodriguez who is on his own rehab assignment form the Red Sox.

Revere put in 5 innings last night and got 3 at-bats.

A.J. Cole located much better last night. His changeup was good and he had better “angle” on his delivery and fastball according to pitching coach Bob Milacki.

Trea Turner made an error last night (3rd of the season), but it was on a bit of a tough play, and he recovered nicely. the range and the arm strength on that play (see video) to nab Chris Marrero were superlative. He’s looked steadier at shortstop this year for sure. I think he’ll continue to improve.”

syracuse chiefs
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Nats get swept by the Phillies: Postgame

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

There is nothing to add to what has been said the past 2 nights. It’s impossible to win a baseball game you don’t score in unless the other team forfeits. There was no surrender from these Phillies.

Great starting pitching from Tanner Roark with good defense behind him and in front of him as Pedro Severino did a fine job of catching.

The Nats head to St. Louis with an offense that is now scoreless in 22 straight innings.

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Game #21 – Dusty Tweaks his Lineup: Game Thread

Posted on April 28, 2016 by DonH

So is Dusty reacting to limited offense? Or is this just his normal tinkering for a late afternoon game after a night game?

Dusty Baker only made a few personnel changes and shifted players in his line-up. Danny Espinosa gets the coveted 2 spot in his start today as Anthony Rendon gets an ‘observation’ day on the bench next to Michael Taylor, and Jose Lobaton who has had some defensive scuffles needed a day off as he hasn’t played 3 consecutive games since August 7, 2014.

Speaking of famous dates in Nats history, 4 years ago today on April 28, 2012 was BHDD. That’s right, Bryce Harper Debut Day. Bryce shared this #TBT with us:

bryce harperScreenshot_2016-04-28-13-24-17

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Dusty Baker’s lineup construction might need some new blueprints

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

When Bryce Harper departed DC after the 2015 season ended, he let Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo know exactly what he expected in the off-season.

“The one thing we definitely need is another lefthanded bat and hopefully a HUGE righthanded bat to hit behind me or in front of me,” Bryce Harper said. “If we can do that, that would definitely help us out and put us up to the top.”

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What can you say that you didn’t see? Game Recap #20

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

The Nats were shut out for the first time in the season losing 3-0 to the Phillies. The Nats batting averages are plummeting and Gio could have pitched a gem and you won’t win a game scoring zero runs.

Dusty continues with this same sleepy batting order and the Nats had opportunities and could not capitalize.

There are 4 position starters in this line-up batting well under the Mendoza line. Taylor drops to .192, Werth to .180, Espinosa .182, and Lobaton .158. Espinosa did get 1 of the 2 hits tonight and that bunt single was the 500th hit of his career.

boxscore 4 27 16

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