Saturday, June 2, 2012

Game 51 (Take 2): Braves at Nats

File photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
Stephen Strasburg faces Brandon Beachy today at Nationals Park.
What a difference a day makes. Gone are the menacing clouds, the rain and the tornado threats. In are blue skies, cool temperatures and no threat whatsoever of delays.

So, let's try this again. Stephen Strasburg is on the mound. Michael Morse is in right field. Jesus Flores is behind the plate. There are a couple of changes to Davey Johnson's lineup: Because the Braves decided to skip left-hander Mike Minor's turn in the rotation and keep right-hander Brandon Beachy on schedule, Steve Lombardozzi returns to left field and the leadoff spot. Also, Morse and Adam LaRoche have been flip-flopped, so LaRoche is now hitting cleanup with Morse fifth.

The biggest change of the day, however, involves the postgame concert. Dierks Bentley had to cancel due to a family emergency, so Big and Rich will now be performing. Adjust accordingly.

I'm actually off today, but Rich Dubroff will have full coverage on CSNwashington.com, and I'll be sure to link to his articles here. I'll be back at the park for tomorrow's abbreviated series finale against the Braves...

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 183
Weather: Mostly sunny, 76 degrees, Wind 12 mph LF to RF
NATIONALS (29-21)
LF Steve Lombardozzi
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Michael Morse
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
C Jesus Flores
RHP Stephen Strasburg

BRAVES (28-24)
CF Michael Bourn
3B Martin Prado
C Brian McCann
2B Dan Uggla
1B Freddie Freeman
RF Jason Heyward
SS Andrelton Simmons
RHP Brandon Beachy
LF Jose Constanza

UMPIRES
HP Derryl Cousins (cc), 1B Ron Kulpa, 2B D.J. Reyburn, 3B Jim Wolf

85 comments:

Scooter said...

Y'know, I feel for this Bentley guy, and I hope things are okay, but man, after seeing his name 18,000,000 times this season it cracks me up that he ain't coming. Jeez.

peric said...

Uh Mark have to agree with your Freudian faux pas ... but I suspect you might wish to put Bryce Harper in CF.

peric said...

Yeah, FP was really pushing Dierks Bentley ... now what's he going to say. Aqua or Agua in bocca FP.

Bote Man said...

If Dierks Bentley is a no-show, why even bother going???

TimDz said...

There was supposed to be a ruling in the MASN dispute...
Anyone hear anything?

Drew said...

Does this mean the concert features Big and Rich Dubroff?

NatsLady said...

Some notes:

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets plan to push back Johan Santana ''a day or two'' for his next start.
Santana threw a career-high 134 pitches in his no-hitter Friday, a huge number for someone coming off major shoulder surgery, so Mets manager Terry Collins wants to give him some extra rest. This would all seem to indicate that Miguel Batista (back) will be activated from the disabled list to start next week.


MLB suspended RHP Josh Wilkie 50-games for violating the league's policy against banned substances.
Wilkie told MASN.com's Byron Kerr that he was suspended for a spice in a type of flavored tobacco. The spice is legal, but apparently not permissible according to the banned substance guidelines. Wilkie, 27, is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in 18 games this season with Triple-A Syracuse. He'll begin serving the suspension immediately.

Syracuse infielder Josh Johnson has been placed on the restricted list.

NatsLady said...

TimDZ, the only ruling I heard about was a ruling that the local company in North Carolina does NOT have to carry MASN. Bad luck for Nats (and O's) fans, because MLB.tv considers NC to be part of the Nats area, so they have no way to watch games (except satellite).

NatsLady said...

That should be ...local CABLE company....

djinFl. said...

TimDz
Just keep your eye to the north. There should be a head exploding off a cable owner's body when the ruling is delivered today.

Unknown said...

I don't know anything about Dierks Bentley or whatever, but I'm excited about featuring THE BEST lineup we have featured this year. First time this season with 1-8 all players that are legit MLB starting caliber players (when they are right), and of course Stras (future silver slugger award winner) bringing up the bottom.

If we ever had a chance to put up some runs on the NL ERA leader, this is the lineup to do it.

JaneB said...

I agree with Christopher! GYFNG!

SpingfieldNatsFan1 said...

Barely made it in the stadium. Sold out except for standing room and Lexus. When did standing room go to $20????? Looking forward to a great game with Stras And Morse. Great weather, what's not to like? Go Nats!!!!!

Section 222 said...

Dierks did his job: He sold the place out. Hope they give him some piece of the action even though he's a no show.

Great day for Mickey Morse's Opening Day. Go Nats!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

NatsLady, thanks for the link on Santana. 130 pitches these days is to 100 pitches "call it a day" almost like pitching 33% beyond their norm. Roy Halladay had been the exception to the rule.

natsfan1a said...

Scooter, my husband had a similar reaction when I told him about it this a.m. (we didn't have tix for today, anyway). :-)

No disrespect to Mr. Bentley, but I wonder whether buzz about the Nats and their winning ways may be a factor in attendance as well. When I looked at tix for tomorrow on the team site, there weren't many sections showing up there, either.

On MASN, I've been wondering, too, Tim. I believe the panel decision was supposed to come on June 1, but crickets so far.

Last but not least: Go, Stephen! Go, NATS!!

Joe Seamhead said...

Trying not to expect too much on MM's opening day!

Tim said...

Who needs Dirks Bentley? Last night we had 500 musical mobile lightning rods, or as the next poster said, Electric Light Orchestra!

Welcome back Michael Morse. Show everyone that you were born to hit!

GYFNG!

natsfan1a said...

Oh, and happy Opening Day to Mikey Morse. :-)

Faraz Shaikh said...

3 swinging strikeouts?

sm13 said...

The Strasburg dead-arm era may officially be over! 3
KS, 99 MPH fastballs. PFB!

Faraz Shaikh said...

PFB?

Faraz Shaikh said...

is everyone at the game except me?

UnkyD said...

Pretty Frickin' Bueno!

NatsLady said...

Um, and me? Working..... (sigh)

Faraz Shaikh said...

same here NatsLady.

thanks Unkyd.

Faraz Shaikh said...

btw do they have backups umpires in case one goes down on the field?

sm13 said...

No backup umps. They just switch to a 3 man crew .

SCNatsFan said...

well I have to give Danny credit it wasn't exactly down the middle, it was an inch or two off

sm13 said...

Wish I was at the game. Just tried to look for tix for Sunday and there are mostly just singles left. Glad to see us draw one folks.

sm13 said...

Some folks....

SCNatsFan said...

Great to see Morse out there. You know he is amped up today.

Faraz Shaikh said...

Just noticed that pitcher is hitting eighth for Braves.

SCNatsFan said...

There is nothing worse then listening to the Braves announcers; I don't know if there is any team of announcers that are more homers then they are.

UnkyD said...

I'm on radio duty, today, whole the ribs smoke... Never done ribs, before...

SCNatsFan said...

An 8 and a 12 pitch AB by harper. Impressive.

Gonat said...

That would have been another doubleplay on Zim if there weren't 2 outs.

sm13 said...

I'll put the White Sox announcers and John Sterling of the Yankees at the bottom of the pile.

Gonat said...

Bryce Harper puts up a great AB to see Zim go down on the 1st pitch.

phil dunton said...

Espinosa is hopeless and pathetic from the left side of the plate.

rogieshan said...

Re: Espinosa. He has his glove, memory of his first half rookie season, and an uncle named Davey to thank.

djinFl. said...

Well we can send the extra catcher back.
Flores is getting the swing back he had in winter ball.

I agree on the Braves announcers. I watched one game with out any sound last week they had shoved me so far over the edge.

Gonat said...

Strasburg owns Uggla today!!!

Gonat said...

Espinosa with a gift walk. We will take it!

Faraz Shaikh said...

honestly I would let SS hit instead of Bernie even if SS is not pitching the next inning.

rogieshan said...

Team can't afford to use Nady as a right-handed DH option going into the inter-league games.

Gonat said...

Huge mistake by Flores baserunning. What are you tagging for with one out?

Faraz Shaikh said...

wait if nady doubled why didn't flores scored from 2nd?

Steady Eddie said...

FS -- maybe, if you're only looking at how we would perform at the plate. But you do NOT want to risk having anything happening to him running on the bases. So, no, it was wise to take him out if you're not going to run him out there for the next inning (and pulling him does conserve his innings).

And then... Nady!

Faraz Shaikh said...

Steady Eddie, my point was that I think we have given enough chances to bernie.

Gonat said...

Darn, Flores cost the Nats an easy run there. Lombo fails on the bunt--twice

Gonat said...

Steady, he was trying to tag up and should have been halfway and would have walked home. It was a double

SCNatsFan said...

Just saw the highlight on MLB. C'mon Jesus get yer head in the game.

Steady Eddie said...

Burnett!

Gonat said...

Getting Bourn was the biggest out of the game. That probably helps the Nats having that lefty out of the way for the 9th.

Steady Eddie said...

Gonat, I was responding to FS's earlier comment about not hitting for Stras.

Steady Eddie said...

FS -- re Shark, while I agree in general about enough chances, he actually hasn't done too badly pinch hitting lately. But that's no reason not to pinch hit for Stras -- we have all kinds of pinch hitters rather than Shark -- because you don't gratuitously risk injury to Stras on the basepaths.

Faraz Shaikh said...

awesome pitch, Clip!

Gonat said...

WoW. Kardiac Kids do it again!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

A signature Win!!!!

Gonat said...

That was an uncomfortable interview between KAkra and Stras.

sm13 said...

Stras just defined what a "stopper" is. Great game and a clutch performance.

Gonat said...

Lots of credit to Nady. That was huge. I bust on the guy a lot but nice to see that.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

How's about Klip reminding us how to close out a 9th!!!

Drew said...

The Big Metro shuts down the Braves.

(Is there an escalator clause in his contract?)

Hey Atlanta: "Doors are closing!"

SCNatsFan said...

Gonat, I agree... I have trouble seeing Nady as being part of a winning team but he did the job today. Credit where credit is due. I'll go back to complaining about him tomorrow lol.

MicheleS said...

WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! !!!!
at the game and Stas eas AWESOME!!!!

natsfan1a said...

Wooooo Hoooooo!! Nice win. btw, could there be a new Goon Squad Sheriff in town? :-) Hope McCann is okay. That did not look (or sound) good at all.

sm13, maybe some of those national pundits should eat a little crow. Doubt that they will, though.


sm13 said...

The Strasburg dead-arm era may officially be over! 3
KS, 99 MPH fastballs. PFB!
June 02, 2012 4:15 PM

Cwj said...

Awesome!
As usual, Strasburg comes back strong after his little "slump".
I absolutely love it when the Nats win by low scores :-)
Interesting fact about Clippard: he has been absolutely dominant over his last 14 outings (in case no one noticed :-)
13.2 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 walks and 19 Ks.
Very impressive!!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Stras was Verlander-esque today. When he needed the extra heat for a K he reached back from 96 to 98 a few times. I read someone said 99. If he did, impressive.

Gonat said...

Steve, good point. Smart use of going into 4th gear. Have to leave something in the tank.

Perfect use of Ankiel, 9th inning defensive replacement!

Joe Seamhead said...

Joe Seamhead is a happy man, sitting around the shanty with a good buzz on. Bluegrass musicians playing guitar and mandolin, with terrific harmonies in the dining room, all celebrating your Washington Nationals! Great win! GYFNG!!!

Doc said...

So who were we going to trade JFlo for???

Anonymous said...

Was pleased to be there for a very nice game. I was in Section 133 on the third base side, so the sun was on us all afternoon. But no matter, Stras was pitching well and it was nice to see Flores back in the lineup. His homer really charged the crow.

They did not announce the attendance at the park but it turned out to be a good crowd. Because traffic was so awful in general and on the beltway especially, the crowd was thin at the opening pitch and people were arriving as late as the 5th inning.

Nothing like an afternoon game at the ballpark!

Gonat said...

NatsJack, plus when you have your only 3-0 count of the day that the batter (Heyward) swung for an out.

NatsLady said...

Oh, and the Fish (who I hate) beat Colbert (who I hate even more). His only 2 losses are to them and he has like a 6.00 ERA...

How could you doubt that people notice what Clip is doing? Had long dispute a couple of weeks ago with some guy named Dave Nichols who was--needlessly--worried.

Burnett did OK too. Coupla wimpy singles, if I heard properly.

Fox is really annoying. I want to watch the Giants in their retro uni's but am stuck with Yanks-Detroit.

NatsLady said...

Pitching staff ERA is back under 3 (2.95) and K's are tied with Detroit at 438 (but Detroit is still playing). Hitters averaging .222 and WHIP is 1.13.

And we got Gio coming tomorrow. Life is good.

Gonat said...

NatsLady said...
How could you doubt that people notice what Clip is doing? Had long dispute a couple of weeks ago with some guy named Dave Nichols who was--needlessly--worried.
June 02, 2012 9:08 PM
________________________________

Nice to see some Saves that don't get your heart pumping super fast. I think it has helped that Clip is throwing more than just his fastball and changeup as he has added that cutter for a nice addition. Keep 'em guessing Clip!

MicheleS said...

NatsLady .. no bourbon and Maalox with Clipp on the mound!

Drew said...

Here's a reminder of the importance of the MLB draft, which gets under way with the first round on Monday.

Even in the worst years -- and some of the later Montreal drafts were awful -- this franchise finds major leaguers every single year. Here's a look at future major leaguers the franchise drafted in recent years. P.S. They drafted Tyler Moore three times.

2002
Mike O'Connor
Jason Bergmann

2003
Chad Cordero

2004
Bill Bray
Ian Desmond
Colin Balestar

2005
Ryan Zimmerman
Justin Maxwell
John Lannan
Craig Stammen
Tyler Moore (unsigned)

2006
Chris Marrero
Cole Kimball
Tyler Moore (unsigned)
Brad Peacock

2007
Ross Detwiler
Jordan Zimmermann

2008
Aaron Crow (unsigned)
Danny Espinosa
Tom Milone
Tyler Moore
Steve Lombardozzi

2009
Stephen Strasburg
Drew Storen

2010
Bryce Harper

Of course, we're only beginning to see the fruits of the Nats' three most recent drafts. With Goodwin, Burns, Martinson, Skole, Karns, Meyer and Purke we might have a handful of future big-leaguers in Hagerstown alone.

So, we might not know the players picked Monday through Wednesday, but you can bet that several will be future Nats.

A deep talent pool is about to get deeper.

btharner said...

41042. Great crowd. But will still got outdrawn by the Honduras-El Salvador soccer match at RFK (41,790)

Cwj said...

Drew- Cool thanks for posting that info.

Drafts are very important, and this year I'm going to try and pay closer attention to the later rounds.

peric said...

Well we can send the extra catcher back.
Flores is getting the swing back he had in winter ball.


Silly fan central .. ah gee if I am Davey I am looking at defense not offense. That being the case ... I'm carrying 3 catchers at lead through June.

If you don't understand why .. you don't understand baseball .. change your handle to dunce cap central.

peric said...

some guy named Dave Nichols who was--needlessly--worried.

Also worked up into a lather about anonymous posters ... he doesn't know much about baseball ... ignore.

peric said...

Of course, we're only beginning to see the fruits of the Nats' three most recent drafts. With Goodwin, Burns, Martinson, Skole, Karns, Meyer and Purke we might have a handful of future big-leaguers in Hagerstown alone.

Nice post and yup ... its why I was so vehemently anti-Riggleman. You would not being seeing this if Riggleman were still managing. Yes, any managers (including bozo's like Riggleman) requirements and philosophies carry deep into the minors.

No need to do a snoopy happy dance about the record ... Riggleman's voluntary departure is enough to do a Snoopy happy dance for days at a time.

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