After waiting out a massive storm that included tornado sirens in the area around Busch Stadium, the Cardinals finally postponed tonight's game against the Nationals and scheduled a day-night doubleheader for tomorrow.
The two teams will play the makeup game at 2:15 p.m. EDT. The nightcap will begin as originally scheduled at 8:15 EDT.
John Lannan, tonight's scheduled starter, will pitch the opener against Jake Westbrook. Jordan Zimmermann faces Jaime Garcia in Game 2.
This will be the Nationals' second consecutive doubleheader. After Saturday's game against the Brewers was rained out, they swept Milwaukee Sunday afternoon.
This makes no sense. If the weather forecast was this bad, why did they not just cancel the game beforehand?
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to get another doubleheader tomorrow. Washington senators were not good at away doubleheaders at all (at least in last few years). Let us see if Nationals can reverse the trend and make it five in a row. Go Nats!!!
Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteDoubleheaders, extra innings, good pitching, a sweep,homers from pudge.
Who ARE these guys?
I'm loving the show.
1.5 games behind the Phillies. Brewers tattooed Halladay tonight.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but 1.5 games above Atlanta and 4 above the Mets. That's some nice cushion between the Nats and the basement!!
ReplyDeleteAt 4:00 PM in STL, they knew they not only had big thunderstorms coming, but they were under a tornado watch. And yet MLB decides it is important to get families to travel to the ballpark during those weather conditions. Priorities are skewed.
ReplyDeleteIt's why I rarely buy tickets in advance any more.
Great!... a lite day at the office, watching a Nats/Cards game and commenting like crazy!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that they put all those people at risk when they knew how bad things were going to be. Chicago canceled way early in the day. Don't they have team lawyers? What a supreme waste of time for everyone who just sat out there.
ReplyDeleteNatsJack......would that be "a lite day at the office" or more "....give me a Lite, I'm at my other office"? :)
ReplyDeleteKnoxville Nat.... I wish!... today is a lite WORK day at the office.... now tomorrow is "Beer Thursday" at the office (4:30 PM for the beer)so I get to start a little early.
ReplyDeleteDay baseball for two days running, and my workload is also light - yes! (virtual fist pump)
ReplyDeleteHere is a homework assignment for the Nats: Watch a replay of the 4/19/2011 Philles/Brewers game. It will show you how to win against the top of the Phillies rotation like the Brewers beat Halladay.
ReplyDeleteGreat starting pitching, stellar defense like the plays Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun made, and go in with a mindset as a batter that Halladay can be beat.
A 9-0 shutout by the team the Nationals swept the series before. Who would have thunk it?
3 things -
ReplyDeleteFirst - I blame Jim "Double Header" Riggleman for the postponement! ;-)
Second - Halladay was not looking so fresh after those 123 pitches he threw in the cold against the Nats! I hope we eat up the Cards' SPs as well, making them throw tons of pitches.
Third - We sweep the Brewers, then they take a series off the Phillies, spanking the Phillies ace? Crazy game.
Who do we get to see pitch on Sunday, since I doubt that they will let anyone pitch on three days rest?
ReplyDeletenatsfan1a.... great! we can have a running commentary!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous8... (I respond because the "8" actually identifies you)... great comment... Why we can approach Josh Johnson like that but not Halliday is beyond me. But when thinking about it, we battled Halliday at the end, just took way too many pitches early.
And Lee was filthy. Our only chance against him was to go the other way and even then, he would have probably still shut us out.
Tcosant.... My guess would be Gaudin on Sunday...the primary reason we kept him was for the spot start and long relief even though we haven't needed long relief (as he frantically looks for some wood to knock on).
ReplyDeleteI like our chances in the doubleheader today just because were going up against Jake Westbrook game 1. He's been terrible this year, it should get us into their bullpen early, and put the Cards in the whole a bit for game 2.
ReplyDeleteAnon8, I like Riggleman except I was tiring from those Post-game interviews last year when he was constantly complimenting the opposing pitchers after a shutout.
ReplyDeleteI know Eckstein is a video guy and I like the idea of the team watching video of last nights Phillies for film study like the NFL teams do.
NatsJack,
ReplyDeleteIt's probably Gaudin on Sunday but I would prefer Broderick. Gaudin really annoyed me on Sunday when he came in with a big lead but still forced us to use Clippard; that should have been an off game for the big 3.
Wait why are we talking about a spot start? is it because Lannan is pitching today instead of yesterday? If we have to give Lannan extra rest, might as well call up Detwiler and see how he does.
ReplyDeleteFS said...
ReplyDelete"Wait why are we talking about a spot start? is it because Lannan is pitching today instead of yesterday? If we have to give Lannan extra rest, might as well call up Detwiler and see how he does."
Who do we send down?
We don't have anyone with options who could be sent down for a day or two? Doesn't Balester have options?
ReplyDeleteFS... the only guy on our staff capable of short rest starts is Livo and he's pitching Saturday. Lannan would be pitching on 4 days.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. we could possibly option Balester for somebody but I believe Detwiler's pitching tonite so he would be in the same boat as Lannan.
I'm sticking with Gaudin.
For Sunday's start, the guy at Syracuse who matches up is Maya, and he's not been impressive enough (IMO) to bring up for the start. JD Martin threw Monday, and he got lit up pretty good too. So it seems like we really don't have good choices from Syracuse for a spot start on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Maya though. Be interesting to see if they have that much faith in Maya. I'm betting that they don't want Maya going up and down, that he's stays in Syracuse until both he has earned a spot and there is a spot for him.
Gaudin seems like the default.
We are facing off against the Pirates, right? I am not trying to be rude or anything, Pirates do have decent offense in Walker, Tabata, and Mccutchen. But that's about it. We could give Maya a try against them. I just don't trust Gaudin enough and I don't want to see a 1 IP from our starter at any point in this season, like last season.
ReplyDeleteLets see what they do with Detwiler's scheduled start tonight. It would be a perfect opportunity for his 2011 MLB debut!
ReplyDeleteSunderland... I used the same logic to come up with Gaudin. He's the only non-starter in the bull pen that pitched extended innings (at least 4) per outing in Spring Training. And he started several times in Florida.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous8.... I doubt they'd hold him back an extra 4 days. He needs to start every 5th day.
ReplyDeleteMaya's a possibility. He didn't pitch that bad last nite.
NJack, not thinking they hold him out just limit him to 2 innings of work or the equivalent of a side session.
ReplyDeleteI just saw the NL RBI leaders and the Nats have a guy with the 3rd most. His name is Danny Espinosa.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think it is tough to get RBIs as a lead-off hitter, Espi 6 Ribbies in the Doubleheader on Sunday!
Some pretty nice ERA's at Syracuse. The bats are another matter. The farm system is improving, but it is a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteI expect the organization would be very hesitant to tinker with the throwing sequence for someone like Detwiler. He's expected to be in our rotation sometime this year but not on a spot type situation.
ReplyDeleteThis is why Gaudin was kept. I don't expect him to finish the season as a Nat, but I do expect him to perform when asked. If not, see ya later.
It's what's nice about having the depth that they've created.
Of course there's another bullpen candidate besides Gaudin, and that is Balester. I'd rather see Detweiler get the start, but I think I'd take Balester over Gaudin.
ReplyDeleteAgree with NJ, it's unlikely they are going to mess with Detwiler. He's throwing great, his turn will come.
ReplyDeleteWith an off day Monday, another reason Sunday might go to the bullpen.
Anon8, yep. Watch what they do with Detwiler tonight as it will be him or Maya and solve the "Beat Writers" first question as to the first new starter to pitch.
ReplyDeleteWhen will they use a sixth starting pitcher for the first time?
ReplyDeleteDave Sheinin -- April 22 at Pirates
Pete Kerzel -- April 23 at Pirates
Adam Kilgore -- April 30 vs. Giants
Craig Heist -- May 1 vs. Giants
Ben Goessling -- May 5 at Phillies
Mark Zuckerman -- May 8 at Marlins
Bill Ladson -- May 15 vs. Marlins
Amanda Comak -- June 1 vs. Phillies
Looks like Kerzel is going to win this one!
Anybody suggesting that Balester gets a start doesn't follow this club too closely.
ReplyDeleteLet's take a look at the upcoming schedule & rotation...
ReplyDelete4/20 @StL(1) - Lannan; last pitched on 4/13.
4/20 @StL(2) - JZimm; last pitched on 4/14.
4/21 @StL - Gorzelanny; last pitched on 4/15.
4/22 @PIT - Marquis; last pitched on 4/17.
4/23 @PIT - Livo; last pitched on 4/17.
4/24 @PIT - Lannan (on short rest), or Gaudin/Broderick.
April 25 - off day.
I think Riggleman might go with the bullpen option against PIT, rather than Lannan on short rest. With an off-day before starting a homestand against the Mets, why not?
NatsJack, at least he remembers that Bally was once a starter!
ReplyDeleteStranger things have happened with using several relievers to piece together a start like a Spring Training game and use the off-day to rest them but my money is on Maya with an outside shot at Detwiler if they decide to limit his innings today with Syracuse.
Kerzel is hoping they don't use Lannan on short-rest!
No way they make a roster move for 1 start IMHO; I,m 99% sure it's Gaudin but I would still go with Broderick. We pretty much know what Gaudin brings; it would be nice to give Broderick a shot.
ReplyDeleteJD, it is a spot start opportunity so Balaster is optioned for 1 day.
ReplyDeleteCoffey is able to come off the DL on April 24th as the last day he pitched was April 8th so Blaster could get optioned and replaced by Maya or Detwiler and replaced on the 24th by Coffey.
ReplyDelete"JD, it is a spot start opportunity so Balaster is optioned for 1 day."
ReplyDeleteUnless it's an injury replacement, I believe there's a minimum time (like 10 days or so) that they have to leave a player down after they option him before they can bring him back up.
Lannan's a veteran pitcher, a soft-tosser rather than a flamethrower, and it's early in the season so he should still be fresh. I see no reason barring an excessively large pitch count today that they wouldn't bring him back on not-all-that-short rest on Sunday. Maybe with a five inning limit, which is all they'd get from having a reliever like Gaudin start anyway. Maya seems to be the minor league starter whose turn lines up on Sunday, but he's not throwing all that well so there's nothing to be gained from calling him up for a spot start.
ReplyDeleteAnon @12:26, I think you are right and Mark'd corrected his statement about optioning Balester aka Blaster and replacing him with Coffey.
ReplyDeleteI overlooked that Marquis would also be coming off short rest on the 22nd. Riggleman & McCatty could go with either Gaudin or Broderick there as well. Either way, I still think they'll go with a spot start at some point in PIT.
ReplyDelete