Friday, July 19, 2013

Game 96: Dodgers at Nats

Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
It's been a long four days without baseball, but at last the Nationals are back on the field tonight, determined to open the second half of their season on a positive note. The challenge right out of the blocks isn't easy: the Dodgers have MLB's best record since June 22 at 17-5, and they send Ricky Nolasco (career 11-7, 3.66 ERA vs. the Nats) to the mound for the opener.

Stephen Strasburg gets the start for the Nationals, coming off the worst start of his career and also dealing with some oppressive heat and humidity tonight. As I type this, the heat index in Washington stands at 110, with the dew point an insane 78. We've seen Strasburg struggle with heat in the past; it'll be interesting to see how he deals with this tonight.

If you've got tickets to the game, please be prepared yourself for the conditions and plan to drink lots of water. If you're staying home to watch in the comfort of central air conditioning, you're in luck. I'll be sweating it out here and will have updates and analysis throughout...

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 184
Weather: Humid, 92 degrees, Wind 9 mph out to CF
NATIONALS (48-47)
CF Denard Span
2B Anthony Rendon
3B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Bryce Harper
RF Jayson Werth
SS Ian Desmond
1B Chad Tracy
C Wilson Ramos
RHP Stephen Strasburg

DODGERS (47-47)
LF Carl Crawford
RF Yasiel Puig
1B Adrian Gonzalez
SS Hanley Ramirez
CF Andre Ethier
C A.J. Ellis
3B Juan Uribe
2B Mark Ellis
RHP Ricky Nolasco

UMPIRES
HP Paul Schrieber
1B Chad Fairchild
2B Jeff Kellogg (cc)
3B Eric Cooper

7:08 p.m. — We are underway. Stephen Strasburg's first pitch (94 mph) actually topped the gametime temperature (92 degrees) but barely. The heat index at 7 p.m.: 105.

7:16 p.m. — And already we've seen the conditions have an effect on Strasburg, who lost his grip on a 90-mph changeup to Hanley Ramirez and threw it behind the cleanup hitter's head. No intent there, just a sweaty right hand. Strasburg immediately went to the rosin bag, and he bounced back to get Ramirez to pop-up on a nice curveball. Jayson Werth also made a nifty catch in foul territory, reaching over the wall to snag Yasiel Puig's foul pop. Overall, 17 pitches (11 strikes) for Strasburg in a scoreless top of the first.

7:24 p.m. — The good news: Denard Span drew a walk in the bottom of the first, the third straight game he's done that when leading off. The bad news: Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman each grounded out to second, with Rendon's grounder turning into a 4-6-3 double play. Scoreless after one.

7:33 p.m. — Strasburg has put four men on base through two innings, but he's managed to limit the damage to three singles and a walk and got help with a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the second. He's at 32 pitches (19 strikes) through two scoreless.

7:47 p.m. — Wow, lots of stuff going on in the bottom of the second. It began with Bryce Harper's leadoff double, making him 6-for-7 with two doubles and two homers this season against Nolasco, not too shabby. Harper then took third base on Jayson Werth's flyball to right, though by no fault of Puig, who fired a perfect strike on the fly to third and actually appeared to get Harper just in time. Umpire Eric Cooper called him safe, and that proved significant when Nolasco uncorked a wild pitch to bring Harper home with the first run of the night. But that throw by Puig ... wow. The ballpark was buzzing after that. Nats lead 1-0 after two.

7:56 p.m. — Just when it looked like Strasburg was finding his groove — he struck out Crawford and Puig back-to-back to begin the third inning — he gave it back with a two-out rally. Gonzalez singled up the middle. Ramirez then crushed the very next pitch to right-center for a two-run homer. It wasn't a terrible pitch by Strasburg: 95 mph on the outside corner, but Ramirez is certainly capable of doing damage on pitches like that. So just like that, the Dodgers are up 2-1 in the third.

8:13 p.m. — Strasburg has been walking a tightrope all night. He's allowed seven hits and a walk through four innings, but so far Ramirez's homer is the only actual damage. The right-hander is already at 67 pitches, though, and under these conditions you've got to wonder how far Davey will let him go tonight. Still 2-1 Dodgers heading to the bottom of the fourth.

8:29 p.m. — Yikes, if you wanted to encapsulate the 2013 Nationals into a single half-inning, that was it just now. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth ... and came away with nothing. Desmond grounded out weakly to third on a check-swing. Tracy lofted a shallow fly ball to left field, and though Harper decided to test Crawford's admittedly weak arm, he pulled up after 20 feet ... only to watch as Crawford's throw sailed way up the first base line. He would've scored easily. So now it was up to Ramos, to grounded out to the pitcher. You don't usually hear very many boos directed at the home team in this ballpark, but there were plenty at the end of that fiasco. It's still 2-1 after four.

9:10 p.m. — Well, on the bright side, the Nats have tied the game. Singles by Zimmerman, Werth and Desmond produced a run in the bottom of the sixth and knocked Nolasco out. But with a chance to take the lead, Tracy took the first pitch from reliever Jose Dominguez and grounded into a 6-3, inning-ending double play. I think it's about time we add "veteran, left-handed bench bat" to Mike Rizzo's July 31st shopping list. It's 2-2 after six.

9:16 p.m. — Nice job by Strasburg. On this sweltering night, he battled and has retired 11 in a row since the fourth inning. He's now through the seventh, having allowed just the two runs on Ramirez's homer. Nice job by the right-hander in really tough conditions. Still 2-2 at the stretch.

9:30 p.m. — Man, this Yasiel Puig kid is something in the field. There's obviously the arm, but he also just made a remarkable catch down the right-field line, slamming into the wall to rob Rendon and end the bottom of the seventh. Just remarkable. Still 2-2 as we go to the eighth and Tyler Clippard enters.

9:39 p.m. — A dominant eighth inning from Clippard. He struck out Puig on a changeup, got Gonzalez to hit a weak flyball to left field and struck out Ramirez on a fastball. Good stuff from the righty. Now it's up to the Nats lineup to get the go-ahead runner across the plate in the bottom of the eighth.

9:49 p.m. — And we go to the ninth inning, the game still tied. And here's a head-scratcher: Rafael Soriano is now in, even though Davey had double-switched out Rendon earlier, ostensibly so Clippard could pitch two innings. I'm not quite understanding this one.

9:56 p.m. — And Soriano serves up a go-ahead homer to Ethier to lead off the ninth. It wasn't a bad pitch from the Nats closer - a slider way down in the zone - but Ethier managed to golf it off the top of the fence in right field. So now the Nats trail 3-2 and are down to their last three outs.

10:07 p.m. — That'll do it. The second half of the season begins with a 3-2 loss that sure felt a lot like plenty of losses from the first half of the season. The Nats are back at .500 and, with the Phillies cruising in New York, are about to fall into third place in the NL East.

279 comments:

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David Proctor said...

Swinging bunt. Span is better at that than actual bunts.

Unknown said...

FWIW, I like Carp and FP or maybe I am just used to them but do prefer Charlie & Dave on the radio...would not be surprised to see FP move on to bigger and better things when his contract allows...do think he has some excellent insight.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Rendon needs to drop one in the gap here.

BigCat said...

Wasn't it Honeycutt who was caught scuffing the bdll?

Secret wasian man said...

Anthony doing his Chad Tracy impression tonight.

jeffwx said...

Actually rumor mill has Jaegler moving up to the national stage soon.

BigCat said...

Puig is a stud no doubt. But let's just wait n see till he goes around the league again

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

FP really ticked me off last Saturday on the national FOX broadcast. He was quite neutral as you need to be on a national broadcast then he had a chance on that 6th inning K of Harper and didn't say a word about the ump blowing it. That was disappointing. I don't think anyone would have criticized him for telling it the way it was.

David Proctor said...

Tyler Clippard has been so great this year.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

K-lip does a great job again!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Isn't Paco Rodriguez a cologne?

Unknown said...

Puig reminds me of Bo Jackson...body type, speed, strength, arm, etc...know its too early but man, just watching him in tonight's highlights reminded me of Bo even the way he was walking.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

RISP 1 FOR 9

Span 0-0
Rendon 0-1
Zim 0-0
Harper 0-0
Werth 0-1
Desmond. 1-2
Tracy 0-3
Ramos 0-2
9 hole 0-0

Secret wasian man said...

Bad ab by Bryce.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Corey Brown hit 2 HRs. Hmmmmmm

MrsB loves the Nats said...

That was a horrible at bat by Bryce... Swung at 2 balls...

Knoxville Nat said...

Pbrandt,

Let me see him go 70 yards off tackle, untouched, and I"ll let you know.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Mattingly managing like Game 6 and Davey doesn't pull Span for Hairston. I thought Davey was a numbers guy?

jeffwx said...

yup, MNF.
along with the classic bases loaded, no out and no runs score

on the bright side, our RISP % will be better against Kershaw as we'll lkely have less chances.

If you aint got a bench, you aint got nothin

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Puig out of the game????

Secret wasian man said...

Poor inning thought we would win it there. Too many stranded runners. Not good

David Proctor said...

That breaking ball was hanging. Werth just got under it.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Mrs B according to the pitch track I follow all 3 pitches were balls. Why he swings at those sweeping pitches is be yond me. As he is never hit them with any authority. Just let hem go.

That is what Eck should be coaching.

Unknown said...

Knoxville, ok, fair enough, did not mean in a Raiders uniform and agree its a small sample size, point taken though.

jeffwx said...

bring him up...all the players being DFA'd half of them are beter than our the Tracy/Bernadina thing

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Bo Jackson has a Heisman Trophy too.

MrsB loves the Nats said...

Idk MnF - it's hard for me with the whole Eck thing... Becuz I see both sides..

On hand I saw screw it, fire him, things can't get any worse.... But on the other hand, I realize Eck isn't the one holding the bat.... How do we know, this stuff we say, they aren't working on (ie Span pulling his bat, situational hitting)

jeffwx said...

yeah...their 4th outfielder is Ethier.
see what a fair cable contract gets you. Maybe they should give 85% of it to the Angels

Secret wasian man said...

Davey is lost. A lot of losses this year lie at his feet. Really be glad when he is gone.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

BTW, Strasburg's night ended nicely. I loved those bashing him early. Hanley got a hold of one and credit to Hanley. Outside heat that was called outside and low and it was outside middle. Still, Hanley is en fuego so I can't blame Stras too much. He gave the Nats a chance to win.

jeffwx said...

speaking of Ethier...what a bench...no Tracy there

David Proctor said...

Ouch. That wasn't a bad pitch.

Knoxville Nat said...

Well that sucks.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Soriano is supposed to bounce the slider and doesn't. Bam...........

MrsB loves the Nats said...

I was just typing... Abad should have gone in... Terrible..

David Proctor said...

That pitch was still way down. Not anywhere near the zone. But yeah, he probably meant to bounce it and didn't. Hurts.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Soriano 2 of the last 3 games cant throw a pitch away and he gives up a homer.

Do we lack that much focus?

jeffwx said...

If nothing changes, nothing changes
Re: Nats offense

Unknown said...

MrsB, agree why the heck is Soriano throwing to Ethier in that situation? makes no sense, would have even preferred Krol.

jeffwx said...

Having the bases loaded and nobody out and nobody scores, hurts more.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

If you are gouing yo ygrow it in the dirt, then dont leave it up, an easy golf shot.

David Proctor said...

That's not an "easy golf shot." That was a good pitch. It was't as low as Soriano would've liked it, but it was well below the zone.

Knoxville Nat said...

Seeing Ellis up at bat wearing # 14 makes me think of Gil Hodges. I've never understood why the Dodgers haven't retired his number.

jeffwx said...

Agreed. He had to go way down to get it.

MrsB loves the Nats said...

Yeah Paul - I said on the other blog... I didnt agree with puttin Sori in now... I would have put in Abad... But I digress..

If we lose this game, 1-9 for RISP is a huge reason... Also, Chad Tracy...

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

To a righty a good pitch to a lefty a terrible pitch.

Unknown said...

oh cool, Tracy is batting this inning!! we got this.

Get Your Re(n)d On said...

"Ghost Of Steve M. said...

FP really ticked me off last Saturday on the national FOX broadcast. He was quite neutral as you need to be on a national broadcast then he had a chance on that 6th inning K of Harper and didn't say a word about the ump blowing it."

The ump didn't blow it. In the absence of a pitch track box on the screen, that pitch looked like it was on the black, and FP said as much.

jeffwx said...

Well, the Mets retired it.

Secret wasian man said...

There's your trade bait. Soriano for a good hitter. Let clip close. Another disgusting loss. Hes got 1 job and he fails.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Lets see if our hitters have heart or are quitters.

David Proctor said...

That was not a good AB by Desmond. At all.

DJB said...

I think this season is over. I would consider being a seller by the trade deadline.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Ian didn't bother . Tracy at least hit tge ball.

Knoxville Nat said...

FP just nailed it. Bases loaded, nobody out and you don't score, that was the ball game.

Secret wasian man said...

That was a strike. Pathetic Desmond. No waybwe should have lost this game. Just a terrible team now 7 games back. And yet nothing will change. Nothing. Fans deserve better. Davey is a complete Moron. What a bunch of losers.

Unknown said...

Disgusting. This team has zero heart.

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

If we are going to sell first I would dump Eck

DJB said...

I look at the mannerisms of the batters and I can see they have given up. I think there is something rotten in the clubhouse.

mick said...


Not a very start or sign to second half of season. Almost 40,000 at the park tonight and in reality, the Nats only scored 1 run. Umpire's bad call helped the Nats.

Stras and Clip the only positives tonight, period. This was the one game in this series that Nats should have won. 5th inning said it all tonight an was a synopsis of the 2013 Nats... One day, when Stars has decent hitters around him, he will win a game like this easily. No words to describe SORRYiano, do not care about his saves, this is a game that really mattered and he choked. Just like that, third place and falling. Nats will not see 2nd place the rest of the season. There is no spin tonight. Harper swinging like cave man

ObsessedNatsFan said...

Same old Nats. They start second half with another bad loss. Game was obviously lost when they came up with a big fat 0 with bases juiced and 0 outs. Unfnreal!

jeffwx said...

Should a listened to Mick back in March.

David Proctor said...

Well now we have to beat Clayton Kershaw.

Good luck to us.

jeffwx said...

If nothing changes, nothing changes

Unknown said...

pathetic offensive outing...just awful!

Manassas Nats' Fan said...

Desi doesnt swing at a strike to strike, Ramos swings at curve taling out to strike out.

We need some eye sights checked.

I have called for that all season too.

Soriano pitch according to knight was pitched to eithiers strength.

Secret wasian man said...

Booooooooooooooooloooooooo. Go soak your heads. Now below the phillies. Forget it. Now time for the sugar coating post game. I cant even look at Daveys post game. What a putz

mick said...

1 run tonight in reality, if Nats could not beat this guy, they won't come close to scoring verse any other pitcher this weekend...Nats are 3rd or 4th place club period

Knoxville Nat said...

Mick, as I recall Zim did have two hits tonight. Stars and Klip were great but let's not sell RZ short tonight.

mick said...

Secret wasian man

what a bust of a season....

DJB said...

My gut tells me the problem is Ryan Zimm. He's not a "Rah-Rah" guy he says. Package him, buy out his contract, give him extra money if need be, but the problem is him. Re-build for the 2015-2016 seasons.

jeffwx said...

What do you expect Ray,
comparing our bench to LA, Atl
Bernadina strikes out on that pitch. Ethier hits it out.

mick said...

Knoxville Nat

your right, the good news tonight was Stras...he will be something when he gets good players around him... look this team is very over rated with a lot of dead weight...unacceptable tonight... bases loaded zero outs with your top hitters up and not scoring a run says it all...that is not one of those things, that is crap!!!

Secret wasian man said...

Move clip to closer. Dump sorry on ohhhhhh. He doesn't care. Hes just a mercenary. Trade him tor a guy who can hit 250. What stinks in the dugout is Davey. If this guy cared he would quit. And Desmond you shouldn't get a paycheck for that last ab

mick said...

you read it here first... Nats will not see 2nd place again in 2013, Phillies will be battling for the East...Nats will be just an embarrassing group trying not to finish 4th.

mick said...

Secret wasian man

well said on SORRYiano

Secret wasian man said...

Your right MICK. This team needs an enema

Secret wasian man said...

All soriano cares about is untuxking his stupid shirt
Hes not a national. Hes a paycheck. Clip has earned it. Let him close. Stink stank stunk.

Unknown said...

Rizzo a jackass,the stinking marlins will finish ahead of us bank it

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