Friday, July 6, 2012

Instant Analysis: Rockies 5, Nationals 1

Rockies 5, Nationals 1

Game in a nutshell: Stephen Strasburg took the mound on another hot and humid day and the result was an overall rough outing. He ended up with another quality start after allowing just two earned runs, but eight Rockies hits and 107 pitches through six innings told a different story. Tyler Colvin hit his 12th and 13th homers of the year off Strasburg and also hit a single in the sixth. Dexter Fowler added another solo shot, this time off Tom Gorzelanny, to make it a four-run game in the seventh inning. Rockies pitcher Drew Pomeranz dominated through 6.1 with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts. The Nationals mounted a small rally in the ninth inning, but it was too little, too late.

Hitting highlight:
Bryce Harper had a decent game with a bloop single in the fourth inning and a walk in the sixth, but the offensive highlight of the night was a ninth inning solo home run by Ryan Zimmerman. Zimm took a 1-1 pitch nearly to the Red Porch in left field to score the team’s lone run and cut the Rockies’ lead to 5-1.

Pitching lowlight:
Strasburg could not keep Tyler Colvin in check as the Rockies’ first baseman hit a solo homer in the second inning and a two-run shot in the fourth. He also added a single off Strasburg in the sixth.

Key stat: Tyler Colvin is now 10 for 17 vs. the Nationals this season with three home runs and nine RBI.

Up next: The Nationals continue their three-game series against the Rockies as All-Star Gio Gonzalez takes the mound at 4:05 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

31 comments:

mick said...

One of those games. I have no problem with it. My only negative comment pertains to Gorzo... he ALWAYS gives up a run. I hope he is the one Storen replaces.. i know he is a lefty, but i would rather have Stammen and perhaps HRod as the middle relief

Kevin Rusch said...

I disagree - a lot of times, you'll need 2+ or 3 innings and would gladly exchange 1 run for that. He's not great, but he's what that bullpen needs.

baseballswami said...

Mick - agreed about Gorzo. He either gives one up himself, or lets an inherited run score. The pitcher really did appear to have good stuff. Strassi had to deal with two defensive misplays in the first. Two earned in 6 should not have been a problem. At least the box score doesn't look as bad as it could have.

mick said...

agreed swami

The Real Feel Wood. Accept no substitutes. said...

Davey shooting Kilgore down in the postgame presser. Nice.

Anonymous said...

Morse+Moore = worst outfield range ever? Seems like Stras is wearing down. Makes 160 innings seem even more appropriate. The good news is the team has been winning despite 3 straight un-Stras like outings which makes me think losing him in Sept won't have as much impact as the pundits think.

JaneB said...

I take the two-three innings Gorzo gives us. I'm not sure who I'd cut to make room for Storen. I still cringe when I see HRod, but at the same to e I root for him to GET IT and become his spring training pretty freaking bueno self once more.

Lookimg forward to Gio. Bringing cooler packs tomorrow, but for us.

baseballswami said...

I have listened to the so-called experts bloviate about the Stras situation . I think he will be toast by then. They think the other guys can't possibly win without him. I have more faith in them than that. I also think he is one of 25, who has a role. He is one person and no one on this team is indispensable. One of the things I love about the team is that it is a team, not the supporting cast for one person.

Drew said...

Harrisburg wins 3-0 on a three-run jack by Zach Walters.

In 18 games with the Senators he's hitting .338 with four homers and 10 RBIs.

Holden Baroque said...

I'm with Swami. If this game doesn't end the discussion on "must extend Strasburg past 160!1!", I will ...

start posting Robert Service poems.

That'll show 'em.

Tcostant said...

Hopefully Straa won't cost us home series in the WS? But calm down people this is just a good team having a bad night....

Holden Baroque said...

Whoa. ouch.

Font changed on Mark's post again. Don't Like It.

I shot the serif.

Bigfish said...

"I shot the serif." Love it.

sjm308 said...

Personally, worst game ever! Over 3 hours to get to the park because of the metro issues. I won't rant here but absolutely no communication on busing us to Ft. Toten and then to top it off our bus rams into a car on the way! Left for the park at 4:30 and got there in the middle of the 2nd at around 7:30.

Thought Strass was struggling with the heat once again although he was still hitting 95/96. Pitch count was rough, especially when their kid was honestly about 30 pitches less in the 5th inning.

To top it off, we had an idiot in the next aisle who wanted everyone shipped back to the minors ASAP. People in front of him finally had enough and turned to remind him this was a first place team. He actually blamed Harper on the ball crushed off Gorzellany and the whole row turned on him and he left after that.

At least tomorrow I am in Stars & Stripes and I am betting my spousal equivalent will not even come out to her seat but stay in the air conditioning.

Go Nats!!

NatsLady said...

Remember how I said Davey sometimes "concedes one" in order to save resources for the next few. Well, this wasn't it. Davey didn't want to lose this one, that's for sure. No chance, though.

Waddu--started off with lots of organ music, it ws nice, but they gradually turned the "entertainment" back on. By the 8th they had the "Noise Meter," etc., just like the day before yesterday. The crowd (what was left of it) livened up for Zim's homer and Morse's double. But when Desi came up with nada, we knew there was no miracle tonight.

NatsNutty said...

Hey NatsLady. I, too, was at the game last night, and the only thing missing from all the 1924 organ music was the monkey! How many times can I say "youza, youza, youza" and "twenty-three skidoo?" Keep the game and the entertainment in the 21st Century!!!

NatsLady said...

Was undecided Metro/drive when I heard about the Green Line situation, and so I went ahead and drove and paid the $15 parking. Good decision. Crowd had to be 99.99% Nats fans, I didn't see a single Rox jersey. I sure thought there were more than 28K, looked like about 33-35 to me (many late arrivals), maybe there were a lot of comps.

Ratiocinational said...

UnkyD. I'm not acquainted with her, but I'm intrigued. Some Googling suggests she might be a fictional character who's somehow connected to Emerson (whom I love). Is that the Peabody you're talking about?

"Ratiocinational: would you, perchance, be acquainted with Ms. Peabody...?"

Anonymous said...

Talk about 99.99% Nats fans, I can't wait to go to my Phillies game. I looking forward to seeing how the Phil fans react coming in ENTRENCHED in last place. Let's see how proud they are this time around....and how many of them will be here now that they don't have a first place team!!

natsfan1a said...

Thanks for all the posts, Chase.

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel all that bad about this one. They couldn't touch Pomeranz, but Zim saw to it that they weren't shut out, and the hitters showed some life at the end. Plus, Henry looked good. Plus, we get a poetry jam from sec3. Yay. Get 'em tomorrow. Er, today.

Joe Seamhead said...

I went to the park last night and the drive in from Western Montgomery County was the easiest Friday night drive I've ever had getting there. Sorry for all the folks that had Metro problems.
The Nats were very flat, Stras seemed to lose something as soon as Flores dropped the pop foul, which incidently was just horrible form on Jesus' part. Strasburg just seemed somehow out of sorts from that point on. Flores also jogged to first on a routine grounder that ended in error by the Rox. I was disappointed in the lack of hustle there.Morse was bad on his jumps in right as I've ever seen him, and folks Tyler Moore is not an outfielder. He doesn't get good jumps, runs poor routes, and is a serious liability out there. I know, I know, he's only had a few games out there, but he is lost in LF. Harper had one late that went over his head after he took a step in off the sound of the bat, but overall Bryce is showing steady improvement in CF. When Werth comes back I expect to see the "everyday" OF of Werth in RF, Harper in CF, and Morse in LF. I'm not sure where that leaves playing time for Lombo and Moore, much less Tracy, de Rosa, Nady and Ankiel.There will either be a trade, and or some cruel cuts made soon.
On a positive note Davey's easing back in of Henry is so far looking pretty good.
Anyway, we're not going to win them all, but I sure hope that we win this series! GYFNG!!!

baseballswami said...

A rare clunker for the nats offense. Makes you realize how rare they have been. Hope they shake it off and go into the break strong. Strassie is gassed and still has problem when "things" happen. He is still very young and inexperienced.

m20832 said...

Can't win them all. But a rebound will happen even if the temp is supposed to be in the 100's (whew that's going to be hot down on the field!).

GYFNG!!!

Anonymous said...

Especially with Strasburg, after he runs hard to first base the next batter needs to not swing at the first pitch. Please let Stras get to the bench, get a drink and have a seat, especially when its hot and he doesn't recover fast enough. Espinosa made this critical mistake last night and it seems whenever this happens Stras struggles the next inning. He walked the lead off hitter the next inning and it was downhill from there. This is Strasburgs kryptonite.

Secret wasian man said...

If we lose anymore to the rockies then that great giants series was a waste. Good teams don't do that. we will see. Phil wood says nats were 50-31 in 05 at the halfway point. then finished 31-50. Hopes thats not the case this year

Anonymous said...

I'm not confident Flores can take this team deep in the season. His lack of hustle probably reflects the abuse he's taken, so if we aren't going to get another catcher, we need to play Solano more so that Flores doesn;t continue to look as awful as he did yesterday. We really miss Ramos.

natsfan1a said...

SWM, longtime fans are all-too-familiar with that 2005 stat, but this isn't the same team.

Candide said...

Two possibly positive takeaways from last night:

1) We had Good Henry for the second night in a row. When he missed, it was a just-off-the-plate ball (at least it looked that way from our seats - maybe the pitch-track disagrees) instead of an over-the-ump's-head ball. Okay, it wasn't a pressure situation at that point - the game was already lost - but it was good to see.

2) "Every-body clap yo' hands!" was out of the lineup. Maybe it's been DFA'd. We can only hope.

SonnyG10 said...

If we lose anymore to the rockies then that great giants series was a waste. Good teams don't do that.

Secret wasian man, disagree on both points.

SonnyG10 said...

I also noticed Morse did not seem to get good jumps in RF and it looked like he was not running all out to get the fly balls. I wonder if he is trying to protect his hammy. It was bothering him a few games ago.

SFNats said...

Secret wasian man, that 2005 team was destined to collapse by every statistical and reasonable expectation. They got extremely lucky in the first half, as their run differential was, I believe, +2 at the All-Star break. The 2012 Nats are around +60.

Plus, that 2005 team was made of of basically over-the-hill vets that couldn't reasonably be expected to continue on that pace all season. They were bound to run out of gas.

This team is young and talented, and the record they've put up isn't a mirage by any measure. They're good, and they're going to get better. Sure, there may be some regression -- the starting staff wasn't going to hold a sub-3.00 ERA all season. But there's no reason to expect them to play less than .500 ball the rest of the way, which would give them, what 95-96 wins?

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