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US Presswire photo Ivan Rodriguez is too late to tag Mark Teahen at the plate in the eighth inning. |
Easier said than done. John McLaren, serving as interim manager for the weekend until Davey Johnson takes over Monday night in Anaheim, tried to give his players a break and let them report to the ballpark late and bypass batting practice.
Then the Nationals slogged their way through a 3-0 loss to the White Sox that bore little resemblance to the 12 games they had won in the previous two weeks.
Was it tough to bring the same level of energy to the ballpark less than 12 hours after leaving it after the most-emotional win of the season?
"The answer's yes. Let's be honest about it," McLaren said. "We wanted to win. We tried to do something different by not hitting today
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19 comments:
Ran into a buzzsaw with Old Man Peavy. That and the emotional fallout from the Riggs-Rizzo death match did the fellows in. Get 'em on Sunday and send Johnny Mac out a winner. Maybe he'll throw another tantrum like Friday. Memo to Johnny Mac: pretend the home plate umpire is Rizzo, and just go medieval on his ass.
Don't give up :) They are 17-7 over last 24 games.
Nothing to sneeze at.
Every team, even hot ones like the Nats, will lose a game every now and then.
They'll get them tomorrow.
Go Nats!
Seems like the last few years went by pretty uneventfully,( well, except for the short-lived strassie time). Now - this year - boom! Almost all new players on the field, winning streaks, coaching dramas - sounds like a lot of our coaching staff will be changing. This last drama left a very bad taste in my mouth - LOVE the winning ways on the field, but things have become a real roller coaster.
Get a good night's sleep, then win the series tomorrow.
GYFNG!
They can still win the series. However would like the K's to cut down a lot. I hope that is one of Johnson's missions. It appears to me that everyone on the team could use a good eye exam, to verify they are seeing well, as several appear not to be.
Man, if I were McLaren and on the way out, I'd bench Jayson Werth.
It's the Curse of Riggleman I tell you.
This team has a realistic chance at the wildcard, but they are going to need Werth and Zimmerman to get there. Although the offense has been marginally better during the winning streak, overall it's still the pitching that has been doing their job. Other than two or three exciting offensive bursts, the team has still had to win too many 2-1, 1-0 games. Morse and Nix have been good. Espy and Bernadina are solid. The catching is respectable (terrific defensively, contributing offensively).
So it's back to the big boys who are contributing very little--two gold glovers who are not even doing that well defensively. The season is almost halfway so that's a heck of a long slump for Werth, and I'm suspicious that Zimm is still hurting, because he generally always hits.
That being said, I still think the Nats will give the wildcard a run and my early season prediction of 86 wins (or more) is still a possibility. Be healthy Zimm. And Werth, it is time to begin that second half breakthrough that you are noted for.
I agree about Zimm, with him all needing to rest and stuff. He is still not 100%. If him and Werth can produce to their standards, we might have a legitimate shot at Wild Card this season. We will need pitching help later on, when Zmann reaches his limit. Let's hope by that time, we can call up Peacock and Strasburg. I don't have much faith in Maya or Detwiler right now.
About last night, Peavy always owned us, sorta. Last year also he threw CG SO. Surprised that Guillen went with him. Had he gone with others in bullpen, we might have made a game out of this one.
Anyways, good luck today and hope we win some ballgames.
Werth needs to give the diva act up and play baseball. He surely has to notice he is hitting .235 with less power than the rookie 2nd baseman. I never thought he was worth close to $18M but this is even worse than I could have imagined. It's the halfway mark-too long to chalk it up as a little slump. There are many accounts of him being divisive in the lockerroom. It starting to feel like this will end badly.
There are many accounts of him being divisive in the lockerroom.
So describe these divisve actions of which you speak (make up).
An off-topic comment, but maybe useful to some readers: If you are planning to take advantage of the $2 deal for the doubleheader on Saturday, get your tickets immediately.
We first saw the deal on Thursday, but by the time we ordered our tickets yesterday, some of the available sections had been sold out. Get 'em today, or get left out.
BTW, the Washington Post this morning has coupons good for two hotdogs, two beers, or two Cokes for the price of one for the Saturday games.
Ok ok......just checked Werth's stats with the Phillies. These strike outs of his and then that blank "stoned" look about him were killing me. Turns out in his last 2 years in Philly he k'd 156 times and 146 times. At almost the halfway mark here, he has 68. Of course, last year he hit .296 and with 90 something ribbies. Soooo....he is who we thought he is....or something like that. So Jason....go on and flail.....but try and get some hits too
New day, new game. Sad Man is gone. Davey is comin tomorrow. Things could be a whole lot worse. Lets kick a little Sox butt today!
@Big Cat
Stuck with Phillie announcers during our first trip there this year, they commented on our surprise at Jason taking strike three. They said we would get used to it, that is Jason.
Sounds more like a challenge for Davey.
K's are part of the game. But, I get so sick and tired of our guys swinging at balls bouncing a foot in front of the plate. And not once or twice a game either. Was either last game or the one before, I counted at least 7. With Carlton or Guidry or The Big Unit.....understandable, but some of these guys we are facing are bums and we make them out to be hall of famers
Well said, Big Cat. Our swing selection has been awful all year, even against the most mundane of pitchers. Werth, Desmond and Zimm are the worst, but hardly alone. If I were pitching, I would never throw a breaking pitch for a strike; you don't have to. Washington Nationals swinging at breaking pitches in the dirt: Expect it.
Having said that, GYFNG. End the Johnny Mac Era in style.
Test.
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