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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER Livan Hernandez faces Kyle McClellan tonight at Nationals Park. |
Livan Hernandez takes the mound for the Nats, hoping to bounce back from a rare off-night in San Diego. The big guy has struggled in recent years against St. Louis, posting a 7.13 ERA in his last three head-to-head encounters.
Livo will be opposed by right-hander Kyle McClellan (just activated off the DL today), who will face a lineup that again has Jayson Werth leading off and the pitcher batting eighth. Roger Bernadina is the No. 2 hitter this evening. Ian Desmond has the honor of batting ninth, behind Livo.
Updates to come...
CARDINALS at NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 186
Weather: Sunny, 79 degrees, Wind 6 mph out to RF
STARTING LINEUPS7:08 p.m. -- And we're underway with a ball from Livan Hernandez to Ryan Theriot. I thought I had posted a news update here earlier, but it appears to have disappeared. The gist of it: Tom Gorzelanny will come off the DL and start Sunday against the Orioles. Yunesky Maya has been optioned to Class AAA Syracuse, and Collin Balester has been recalled, giving the Nats a seven-man bullpen again.
NATIONALS (31-36)
RF Jayson Werth
CF Roger Bernadina
3B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Laynce Nix
1B Michael Morse
2B Danny Espinosa
C Ivan Rodriguez
P Livan Hernandez
SS Ian Desmond
CARDINALS (38-30)
SS Ryan Theriot
CF Colby Rasmus
3B Albert Pujols
1B Lance Berkman
RF Anthony Brown
LF Jon Jay
C Yadier Molina
2B Skip Schumaker
P Kyle McClellan
7:16 p.m. -- A very quick bottom of the first for Kyle McClellan. He needed only seven pitches to retire the side, striking out Jayson Werth on three pitches (the last one a curveball), getting Roger Bernadina to line out to right and Ryan Zimmerman to fly out to center. Scoreless here after one.
7:28 p.m. -- Your new club leader in home runs is ... Michael Morse. Crushed a 3-1 fastball from McClellan into the left-field bullpen for his 11th homer of the season (one better than Danny Espinosa). Nats take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
7:36 p.m. -- Nine St. Louis batters up, nine St. Louis batters down. Very smooth start to this game for Livo, who has allowed only two balls to leave the infield. Thirty-three pitches, 21 strikes so far.
7:48 p.m. -- Ryan Zimmerman delivers. Two-out base hit up the middle scores Werth (who had reached earlier on Pujols' throwing error). So Zim now has six RBI in 10 games, as many as Alex Cora has in 47 games and only three fewer than Rick Ankiel and Roger Bernadina, who have between four and five times as many at-bats this season! Nats lead 2-0 after three.
7:56 p.m. -- Another fine throw by Ivan Rodriguez to nail Theriot trying to steal second. Pudge and Wilson Ramos have now combined to gun down 20 of 42 would-be basestealers, the best percentage in the majors.
8:12 p.m. -- You can't stop the Nats lineup, you can only hope to contain it. Four innings down, and they've opened up a 5-0 lead. Doubles from Morse and Espinosa, followed by an RBI single from Pudge and then Pujols' second error of the night at third base. (Remind me again why he's playing over there?) Morse, by the way, continues his torrid pace at the plate. Over his last 35-plus games, he's now batting .371 with 10 homers, 29 RBI and a .690 slugging percentage. Either this is one really long hot streak, or this guy is just legit. Bernadina adds a bloop RBI double of his own, and the Nats are just on fire right now. They've now scored 13 runs in 12 innings against the Cards after scoring a total of 12 runs their previous six games combined.
8:31 p.m. -- Six innings in the book for Livo, only two hits allowed. Four strikeouts, too. Just cruising along. Nats lead 5-0.
8:42 p.m. -- Make it 6-0 Nats after Pudge strokes a double to right-center, takes third on a perfect sac bunt by Livo (who got a real nice ovation from the crowd for it) and then scores on Desmond's sharp single up the middle. It's truly remarkable how crisp this lineup has looked the last two nights. You hate to say this all the effect of Zimmerman's return, but it certainly hasn't hurt.
8:49 p.m. -- Smooth and easy as ever, Livo just continues to cruise along. Seven innings are in the books, and he's still allowed only the two hits. He's only faced one more than the minimum. Seventy-six pitches, 52 strikes. Nats lead 6-0 at the stretch.
8:57 p.m. -- Man, I gotta update those Morse numbers again. He just destroyed a pitch from Ryan Franklin for his second homer of the night, this one scoring a pair of runs. Morse now has 12 homers on the season, and the Nats now have an 8-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
9:02 p.m. -- 9-0 as Espinosa goes back-to-back with a second-deck shot to right. Good lord, where did this come from?
9:15 p.m. -- Eight innings in the books, and not a creature is stirring in the Nationals bullpen. Livo's at 90 pitches and showing no signs of tiring. Up nine runs, he'll get a shot to record the 50th complete game of his career.
9:20 p.m. -- Ryan Zimmerman, before yesterday's game: "Me coming back is not going to make us score 10 runs every night." I suppose Zim is technically correct. But in two games since his return, the Nats have now scored 19 runs. Werth just homered to make it 10-0 here tonight.
9:31 p.m. -- That's your ballgame. And what a ballgame it was. Nats win 10-0 in one of the most complete performances by this team I can remember over the last 6 1/2 seasons. Speaking of complete ... Livo goes the distance for his 50th career complete game. Only one other active pitcher has recorded more: Roy Halladay, with 62.
108 comments:
Wow.. I wonder how Desi is going to like this?
Was that lineup drawn from a hat?! Or maybe LaRussa helped? We'll see.
If the point of this sabermetric line-up was to put the better hitter 9th, then why did Riggleman put Livan 8th?
Anon 3:54.....did you just crawl out from under a rock or what? Riggleman has used this type of lineup for about 4 games now and the Nats have managed to win all 4. Given the players involved and using the pitcher to bat 8th, what lineup would you suggest he use?
9th is where Desi should be when the pitcher's in the 8th spot...he is not producing at the plate
I'm fine with this line up.
Riggleman apparently wants to run for a while with Werth in lead-off and the pitcher batting eighth, and I don't see the harm in either.
No, Werth isn't a proper lead-off hitter, but neither really is anyone else on the roster. Desi's low offense and OBP don't merit batting him near the top of the order.
Werth as lead-off is silly. He was hired to hit 70 extra-baggers and knock in 90 runs. Desmond should hit second, Werth third, and Zimmerman fourth.
This lineup is a great deal closer to the optimal sabermetrics lineup for this roster. Moving Desmond to bat ninth in front of Werth. Bernadina appears to be getting hot so perhaps that improves his "meh" .321 OBP. Its better than Desmond. Zimmerman, Nix, and Morse follow. It does look pretty good.
Werth as lead-off is silly. He was hired to hit 70 extra-baggers and knock in 90 runs. Desmond should hit second, Werth third, and Zimmerman fourth.
Again, this is a sabermetrics-based lineup. With Desmond batting ninth instead of the pitcher he could find men on base for RBI opportunities. Plus because Werth is at the top of the order he gets the most at bats and the Nats can take advantage of his high OBP for the hitters that follow.
It worked last night and before. He is seeing more situations with men on base. He is getting on base. He is getting every chance to earn the big pay check he received in the off season.
What's wrong with that?
As much as I like Nix, I'd prefer "Beast Mode" to bat clean up.
Tim
Batting someone other than the pitcher 9th increases the likelihood that Werth will come to the plate with someone on base, and he hasn't really demonstrated the power this year that would justify putting him in one of the more traditional slugging slots in the line-up.
This isn't a optimized lineup. Werth at leadoff is, and Livo/Desmond, but nothing else is really where it should be.
1. Werth
2. Zimmerman
3. Bernadina
4. Morse
5. Nix
6. Espinosa
7. Pudge
8. Livo
9. Desmond
That's sabremetrically optimized.
I think the Nats are gonna break out tonight with a bang. 10 maybe 12 runs. Zim has sparked them. Sad Man = All Star "PLAY BALL!!"
It don't matter how you arrange this bunch of banjo hitters, they ain't gonna score doodily squat
Grandstander & Pete
Riggs also appears to be going for R-L-R-L at the top of the order, which could account for the variation from your lineup, Grandstander, and for Nix in the 4-hole.
C'mon Nats!
Even the Pirates have a .500 winning pct. now!
I'm thinking that this may be closer Hanrahan's one-and-only career type year.
I'm hoping? that the Nats bats continue breaking out, like last night, and following up on those line drives that didn't drop in, out in Padre land.
As much as I like Nix, I'd prefer "Beast Mode" to bat clean up.
Tru dat!
Also, Werth has about 19 more years left on his contract to hit two-baggers and drive in runs.
HHover: Werth also has not had Zimmerman or a healthy LaRoche batting behind hims all season. Morse didn't hit for the first month of the season. With the much stronger line-up that the Nats have now, I would expect Werth's power numbers to improve.
Anonymous: Mathematics is not baseball and Sabermetrics is baseball for dorks. Baseball is about men at a ballpark playing baseball, not some computer geek pounding a keyboard.
best lineup i've seen all year.
-longterm
Lets take this series tonight boys.
@Tim the enchanter, long after the Nats win or lose this game you have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that you had before you woke up today. You have the same personal problems.
Also, Bernadina is a much better bunter than Desmond. Imagine a first inning where Werth gets on and then you can attempt to steal second and then bunt him over to third with one out, or you have Bernadina drag for a hit and move the runner, worse case you have Weth at second with 1 out and Zimmerman and Nix (would prefer Morse here as well) with opportunities to drive him in.
I don't need mathematics to tell me Morse is slugging better than Werth. But they are helpful because it's an objective way to measure player performance.
The beauty of sabermetrics is the way it eliminates all the BS, hunches, "gut feelings" emotionalism and favortism. Those things are all great as fans to "manage" the team and pontificate on what we would or would not do in certain situations. But I'd like the people paid to create and run my team to use statistical evidence when making decisions and not playing favorites (Ankiel, Stairs, etc.)
Computer geek or not, you can't deny the success the implementation of sabermetrics has had at the major league level WRT roster development. It only makes sense to extend that to lineups and game management.
I'm not a sabremetrics person but I respect it. I don't understand the difference between batting Werth 1 and Desmond 9 versus batting Desmond 1 and Werth 2, etc. with the pitcher in teh 9 spot. Why is it to the team's advantage to save a hitter until the 9 spot the first time around? It seems like after the first time through the lineup you pretty much have a regular batting order with a weak leadoff hitter. I'm not being facetious. Can someone explain or give a link? Thanks.
In an earlier thread, it was mentioned that the Nats have a $1 Internet promotion for next Thursday's game. I couldn't find it on nationals.com. Can someone post the link, please?
But I'd like the people paid to create and run my team to use statistical evidence when making decisions and not playing favorites (Ankiel, Stairs, etc.)
TRUE DAT! AMEN Grandstander!
The advantage comes from having a decent hitter batting in front of the top of the lineup. If you stack your lineup sabermetrically, you'd have your best OBP guy leading off, and your all-around best hitter after him. The theory would be that Desmond could get on at a better rate than the pitcher, and do more on the base paths than the pitcher, which would set up the front of the lineup for RBI opportunities.
The $1 Internet promotion is for seniors and is on nationals.com/specials
@Poorly Edumacated. Let's drop the BA which isn't the best indicator of production without the two other stats in the 3 slash stat markers.
We'll use Grandstander's optimized sabermetrics lineup to demonstrate:
1. Jason Werth .348 OBP .750 OPS 5 GiDP 9SB 2CS
2. Ryan Zimmerman .452 OBP .968 OPS 2 GiDP 0SB 0CS
3. Roger Bernadina .321 OBP .649 OPS 2 GiDP 9SB 0CS
4. Michael Morse .347 OBP .865 OPS 4 GiDP 2SB 3CS
5. Laynce Nix .335 OBP .881 OPS 0 GiDP 2SB 1CS
6. Danny Espinosa .313 OBP .734 OPS 7 GiDP 10SB 5CS
7. Ivan Rodriguez .273 OBP .595 OPS 5 GiDP 0SB 0CS
8. PITCHER
9. Ian Desmond .273 OBP .612 OPS 4 GiDp 18SB 3CS
I'm not sure about batting Bernadina third I assume its the alternating lefty righty which follows him? But you can see how the Best OBP is closer to the top followed by better OBP and higher OPS. Note the stolen base stats for the ninth batter and first batter.
If you follow the link above, in addition to the special for seniors that I mentioned in an earlier thread, there is a kids' day special on June 23. It says that one can buy up to four $1 tix for kids aged 3-12 with the purchase of one full-priced adult ticket.
The other thing this odd order can do...not guaranteed, but since the Cards are my third team, I've been watching Tony play 'em this way for a while... is that the pitcher isn't a rally killing third out as often. I don't keep track and would not know how to verify my anecdotal evidence, but I know I've moaned a bunch of times about how "this time" we'd be so much better off if (any pitcher but Jayson) was in the 8th slot, instead of the 9th. And I don't think you treat Jayson like any old pitcher, frankly. I think you should treat him like a hitter.
And yet last night, there were two situations (bottom of the second and bottom of the fourth) where Maya struck out to end the inning with men on base (two on in the second, one on in the fourth). With a competent hitter in that slot, there's a greater chance that runners advance and that at least one additional run scores. In later innings, including the seventh, there were pinch hitters in the eighth slot. So maybe the run-scoring happened in spite of the unorthodox lineup, rather than because of it.
You don't f' with a winning streak. The lineup stays until they lose at the very least.
Alan,
Whether you base your line-up on sabremetrics or traditional theory, the test isn't any single game, series, or even month -- the test is a 162-game season. Yes, the Nats pitcher last night ended up batting twice with men on base, striking out both times. But using the traditional approach of having your second-best slugger batter fourth, St. Louis saw Berkman ground out to end the game with the tying run on base. Does that one AB negate the value of putting a slugger in the clean-up spot? Of course not. In a game where even the very best hitters don't get a base hit more than 3.5 times out of 10, you can't draw conclusions from a single game.
Livo is so awesome. I know he has pitched only two innings but the way he goes about his business is just magnificent. I have seen Roy Halladay worried with bad counts and stuff. Livo never shows those emotions. Love it!!!
HoneyDo list:
1) Hack gorse...... check!
Sabermetrics based lineup: STILL WORKING.
And I don't think you treat Jayson like any old pitcher, frankly. I think you should treat him like a hitter.
Observe JZimmnn at the plate. I think he's a lot better ... oh is he!
@Eugene in Oregon -
Fair enough. Though I might argue that over time, the number 4 hitter will produce more often in that situation, while a chronically weak hitter like a pitcher will conform more to Maya's performance.
More to the point - why do you think a Sabremetric lineup, especially one involving the pitcher out of traditional order, isn't in more use? Am not trying for upsmanship here - it's a genuine question.
Who needs the Norse gods when you've got the Gorse Nats?
Strategy for tonight - hit it to Pujols
Livo's scratchin' his head..... Tryna remember how to pitch with a 5 run lead...
Three straight Cards have hit the ball hard...
That was some tag, on the CS by that "defensive liability" Desi...
Just sayin'
A Morse is a Gorse of course, of course
and no one can pitch to a Gorse of course ...
that is of course unless the Gorse
splinters his cudgel into shards.
Tim
You apparently think that Werth's problem this year is that he hasn't been "protected" in the lineup. I'd point out that sabremetricians think the idea of "protection" is largely bunk, but I know that such pointy-headed nonsense doesn't fly with a grind it out, dirt under the fingernails, spit in your eye, rootin' tootin' type such as yourself.
So let me just put it this way - right now, I'm lovin' this line up.
So let me just put it this way - right now, I'm lovin' this line up.
Concur. It seems, the old, respect the game, respect the veterans old school manager Jim Riggleman does learn new tricks. Its helping him win ball games! Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah!
Desi has actually been kind of amazing. He started the year exactly the same as his entire career and then .... A light went on and he is Mr. Reliable.
It has been great to see.
Although, I must admit, if Jose Reyes came knocking in the offseason, I wouldn't say no.
For those that wondered why they walked Pudge last night. I present tonight!
Put em on,
Move em over,
Bring em home!
Go Nats!!!!
I don't want to go to sleep 'cause this is more fun than my dreams!!
I'd say Desi is doing juuuuust fine batting in the 9 hole!
Unkyd, you're cracking me up.
And yes, AIN'T IT NICE to see Desi getting it!
Aye, that's some All-Star hackage ladies and gents.
Two orders of hacked gorse, please!
Gonna be no gorse left at this rate!
Only thing I don't like about this one is that I'm watching from home, not from the park.
No. It's Iowa.
nats 9. cardinals & anonymous doodly squat.
Alan @ 7:57
I agree completely that the #4 will produce more in that situation. No question about that. I was only saying that you can't generalize from a small sample. And on the pitcher-batting-eighth scenario I also agree that in most cases the pitcher will strike out (or otherwise not drive in the run). But the fact that Maya came up twice with runners in scoring position and two outs was pretty much just a random event -- it could have happened with him batting ninth (or even seventh). What you're trying to do by batting the pitcher eighth is NOT have him come up just in front of your number one hitter.
On the question of why more managers don't use it, two responses: (a) managers are generally risk averse. No GM (or newspaper columnist) will criticize his manager for batting the pitcher ninth, so why open yourself up to such criticism; and (b) even the advocates will tell you that the pitcher-batting-eighth scheme will only net you a few extra runs over the course of a full season, so it's not something that calls out for you to do (as a manager).
Nope, that Michael Morse guy definitely isn't an everyday player, and oh by the way, Danny Espinosa can't hit from the left side of the plate. Everybody's an expert, eh? Loving me some Pudge tonight, too!
Big Cat 4:29
"I think the Nats are gonna break out tonight with a bang. 10 maybe 12 runs."
Can I borrow your crystal ball?
Wow are the Nats on fire or what?
Looks like another good crowd as well. With most schools letting out for the Summer I imagine the attendance will go up.
Wish I was there...
Go Nats!
It IS Iowa! :-)
@ Joe Seamhead 9:04
I got so sick of reading last season and this season's spring training that the Nats' brass didn't see Morse as an every day player because "they think he would have trouble with opponents' best pitchers..."
Keep proving 'em wrong, Michael!
Mark said that Morse is just really hot or he's legit.
Michael Morse is very close to a career .300 hitter. I think April was just an anomily (sp?). The guy can plain hit... curve balls, fast balls, left field, up the middle, it doesn't matter. #1 starter, converted reliever, it really doesn't matter.
I wanna see Werth get hot.
Gotta say that FP has won me over...
his homey (in a non gang related way...) and aw shucks (in a non Andy Griffiths way) is refreshing and fun...
what say you Nats Nauon?
Nation....
@Eugene -
Points taken.
I have to admit I'm finding it hard to argue with the results...
Far more interesting and in-depth insight into the game and the players. I've heard a lot of the color guys around the league at this point and I think he may just be the best ... however, I still like Mike Flanagan. It was nice to see them both together with FP defending the Nats turf within MASN. That one event was more than enough to convince me that he was a keeper.
@TimDZ -
Agree.
He's low-key but really smart - and does actual reporting, too, unlike a certain ex-color guy I can think of.
TimDz- I like FP too.
Carpenter occasionally says dumb things, but I like him overall as well.
Complete game from Livan? I bet he wishes he could put some of those runs in the bank and withdraw them later. Oh, and no walks tonight? Oneout Togo!
Awesome win!!!!!!!!!
Wow!
Go Nats!
Livooooooooooooooooooooo!
Wow! Just got home in time for the top of the 9th. Can't wait to go back and see what happened!!!
livin, lovin...
he's just a LIVO
FP - I like him too, but he has an uncomfortable obsession with the X Mo camera. As my 10 year old daughter would say .... AWKWARD.
Don't mess with sabermatricians ... you might end up in a Galois twisted pretzel.
I'll say this for Morse, he is the happiest guy I have ever seen on these post game interviews. Almost no matter what, he just seems thrilled to be in the majors.
Seems like a nice guy.
Wally, I agree. I just sat there and grinned watching him. And I think he may have blushed when Ray started complimenting him on his numbers. I love it!
Watching from the highlights, it seems like Desmond missed the tag. FP was funny when they were showing replay of that tag.
Anyways, another great win. No complaints here.
Two of the most enjoyable games I've watched in a long time. I love this team and it's promising future,including it's near future! Go Nats!!!
FS... FrI'm the rear angle, no doubt-great tag!
Farm report:
Harper played for Hagerstown and knocked in two in the nightcap.
Looks like Gaudin started at Potomac and left the game after retiring the first three batters in order. Don't know if that means an injury or just a rain delay.
I think that this is the best last place team that I've ever seen.
Oh yeah I forgot to make a suggestion. Can we please change the way "W" is written? On my way home, there are two Walgreens and I always feel like we copied their style. Introduce "N" as well or something else? But please do.
Amen, Joe Seamhead.
Hey, has anybody seen my gorses? There were four of them, and now I can't find a one. Oh well.
Oh, and LIVO!!! Loved his cagey dodging of the pie in the face. Then, after the interview, he removed his hat and surrendered to it. How could a man of such accomplishment never have experienced that before? Because he's wily. Uh huh.
On another note, I'm liking FP, too (and I was a Dibble fan). Did anybody else hear FP's call into the Riggins show today? I just happened to turn it on and he was so enthused about the game yesterday. It was kinda endearing, I must say.
Morse making his case to be on the all star team.
Clippard and Morse which ever goes will have earned it.
Oh, and now I understand about Beast Mode (watched the postgame tonight but not last night).
I'm liking FP Santangelo more every game I watch on TV. He's a knowledgeable baseball guy who doesn't talk down to you. Bob and FP are probably my favorite TV booth combo so far.
I'm also liking the Nats' offense coming alive. Last night was electric at the ballpark, and on TV it looked like tonight was too.
And FS, the curly W is here to stay. Don't know whether Walgreen's had it before the expansion Senators, but it's been on Washington baseball uniforms since the 1960s. And after six and a half years of the new Nats it's started to become iconic. Even people who don't follow baseball wear it.
Big Cat said: "I think the Nats are gonna break out tonight with a bang. 10 maybe 12 runs. "
Big Cat, a few hours ago, I would have offered you pretty good odds against that. Now, however, I just want to know if you have any recommendations on the stock exchange. :-)
Interesting crowd tonight. Not the super buzz that people were talking about yesterday. Tonight, what I sensed was quiet confidence. Fans that expect to win help produce a team that expects to win. Go Nats!!
Thanks Dave. Actually on careful observation, they are slightly different.
Anonymous said...
It don't matter how you arrange this bunch of banjo hitters, they ain't gonna score doodily squat
I guess he was talking about the Cards, eh?
@ FS:
You aren't the only one who thinks that the Nats' Curly W looks too much like the Walgreens' symbol. Walgreens has been threatening to take the Lerners and MLB to court if the Nats don't change the way that W looks or write a big, fat check to soothe their feelings.
Buster Olney of ESPN has an interesting video blog about whether -- and if so, when -- the Rays should trade cf B.J. Upton. Scroll down to Buster's blog.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634
The crowd last night mainly kept the buzzing to the big comeback 7th inning and then the bottom of the ninth. Crowds will be louder in bigger situations and with the game kinda outta reach by the 5th inning the way Livo was pitching, understandable there was more restraint today.
What to say that hasn't been said?
It was this exact time last year that the wheels came off and the team drained down the pipe to oblivion. Starting with that Houston series (and the Berkman check swing none of us will probably ever forget) and continuing through the interleague play that followed the next two weeks, we starting losing more than winning. After a devastating sweep at Baltimore, we were 10 under .500 and the season seemed all but lost.
After game 68 last season, the club was 31-37. Tonight, at the same point, we are 32-36.
There have been a lot of comparisons between last year's hot start and this year's slow start, but I'll put this to you. Coming off that West Coast road, and specifically that 3 of 4 series against the Pads, this feels like a team that is suddenly headed in a totally opposite direction.
Winning games will always make you look good and feel good about the team, but I think there is a genuine reason to believe in these guys as they put these outings together.
And what do you know, another series against the O's coming up...
Great win today. I was also a big Dibble fan, but I must say FP has also won me over. I really like him.
Five game winning streak and we have extended our string of errorless innings to new heights.
Go Nats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
... as folks have been saying: when Zim comes back, it's like landing a star free agent for free. Playing decently during his absence (despite atrocious hitting) is really paying off now.
Defense has been outstanding. Pitching has been great (in particular I love the way reduced number of walks) for starters and for relievers. All along, all we needed was some hitting. And maybe we're finally getting some of that now, too. I have no idea if "hitting is contagious", but a couple of guys breaking out of their slump at the same time that Zim returns is terrific timing.
(And 27K+ attendance two nights in a row)
Great game, perfect weather, excellent seats, magnificent full moon, Livo CG shutout, and a big sack o' taters. Man, it just doesn't get any better.
OK, the line at Shake Shack was way too long, but then, they were having happy hour.
(And I forgot to add my near-weekly post that goes like this):
Pudge to DC fans: I still ain't dead yet.
FS - The Walgreen's logo bothered me too, and I looked it up - they revised their logo in 2008, three years after the Nats brought back the curly W. Walgreen's claims it is based on a logo they used in the 1930's, but the only images I found of their old logo had the "tail" hanging off the right side of the W, not the left side like the Nats. I am amazed the Nats did not sue. Ironically, Walgreens sued Wegmans a year or two ago when they also started using a W, but it was not nearly as close a copy of Walgreens as the Walgreens W was a copy of the Nats W.
I think I will look on line tomorrow for articles or blogs about the game written by the St Louis folks. I am willing to bet that this is one of their most horrible games ever - not as many runs against them as that meltdown against Philadelphia a couple of years ago (which was 17 or 18 as I recall) but I think they actually scored in that game, were not shut out like this one.
Yesterday and today were such terrific games for us! AND, (we are still errorless, but I don't want the gods to get angry.)
and Morse's second, the moon shot, had to be 12-15 rows deep past the bullpen--430 feet, easy, and as high as the top deck seats. That same ball right down the line would be onto the pavilion.
And Espinosa's shot rang off the facade of the second deck and rebounded all the way back to the tarp on the first base side by section 131.
Farid made a very good point at MLBTR under a story about who might be available if the Nats become sellers.
In essence, he said, this could work out beautifully.
1. LaRoche is healthy by ST.
2. Morse begins 2012 in left field.
3. At the trade deadline, the Nats deal LaRoche, move Morse back to first and bring up Harper, to man the OF with Werth and either Bernie or Upton.
You get more prospects, Morse is under team control until 2014 and you keep on rolling.
And that's not to mention Strasburg, Rendon, Cole, Ray, Meyer, Goodwin...
There's quite a glare in here. I gotta wear shades.
Traveller, the Cardinals fans sitting by us were ironically amused -- "Double plays and double switches--that's Tony's game." "Tony must really *hate* this pitcher, he's leaving him in."
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Joe Seamhead said...
I think that this is the best last place team that I've ever seen.
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But at least we're not the 5th place team -- if you check the standings you'll see we're now tied for 4th in the NL East (after Florida dropped two to the Phillies).
... and just 1-1/2 games out of third place! ;-)
Sec3, if you're interested Morse's HR was actually 445 feet, Espinosa's 419.
Hit Tracker Online is a great site that compiles info on all the HRs hit, as well as their distance and links to the video. You can even pull up spray charts of each player's HRs on the year.
Oh, I've been thinking about one more thing:
How long is that franchise-record errorless streak now?
Will, thanks. Espinosa should get credit for the 200 feet of ricochet.
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