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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER After another wild win last night, the Nats are back at U.S. Cellular Field today. |
So John McLaren is once again at the helm this afternoon, and he's put together a lineup that includes Ryan Zimmerman as DH, Jerry Hairston at third base and Brian Bixler (one of last night's heroes) in left field. Tom Gorzelanny gets the start against fellow lefty John Danks.
Remember, today's game is on Fox, so no MASN coverage before, during or after the game. Check back here for all of your updates, and check out CSN later for video...
NATIONALS at WHITE SOX
Where: U.S. Cellular Field
Gametime: 4:10 p.m.
TV: Fox
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 180
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, Wind 6 mph in fromt LF
STARTING LINEUPS3:43 p.m. -- Pregame news update: There is no news. At least not about the manager. We thought the announcement would come pregame, but that's not happening. Could come during the game, or maybe even after it. But it will come today.
NATIONALS (39-37)
RF Jayson Werth
SS Ian Desmond
DH Ryan Zimmerman
1B Michael Morse
2B Danny Espinosa
3B Jerry Hairston
C Ivan Rodriguez
LF Brian Bixler
CF Roger Bernadina
(P Tom Gorzelanny)
WHITE SOX (37-40)
RF Brent Lillibridge
3B Brent Morel
RF Carlos Quentin
DH Paul Konerko
SS Alexei Ramirez
1B Adam Dunn
CF Alex Rios
C Ramon Castro
2B Gordon Beckham
(P John Danks)
3:46 p.m. -- In actual baseball news ... Some of you already heard that Drew Storen's maternal grandmother passed away yesterday. He's staying with the team through the weekend, though, then will drive home to Indiana with his father, who happens to be here for this series. Storen will miss Monday's game in Anaheim while attending the funeral, then plans to rejoin the club Tuesday. ... As for Ryan Zimmerman DH'ing today, John McLaren said he wanted to give Zim a break after having thrown as much as he has (both pregame and in-game) since coming off the DL. No injury, just a break. ... As for the bullpen's availability today, McLaren said he really hoped Tyler Clippard wouldn't pitch last night. Once he did, that left him completely unavailable for today's game. McLaren stressed the need for Tom Gorzelanny to provide some significant innings this afternoon.
4:11 p.m. -- We're underway with a strike from John Danks to Jayson Werth.
4:15 p.m. -- Quick top of the first for Danks. He struck out both Werth and Zimmerman and got Ian Desmond to line out to center. Chicagoland native Tom Gorzelanny now taking the mound for the Nats.
4:30 p.m. -- Not a great first inning for Gorzelanny. He allowed back-to-back singles to Brent Lillibridge and Brent Morel to open the inning, then a sac fly to Carlos Quentin that scored Lillibridge. Gorzelanny got out of it without allowing anything else, but the White Sox have taken a 1-0 lead after one.
4:39 p.m. -- Wow, major development here in the top of the second. John Danks has been lifted after appearing to strain something in his side/ribcage. He's done, and suddenly Ozzie Guillen has to go to his bullpen in the second inning after a 14-inning game last night. Brian Bruney will now pitch for Chicago.
4:57 p.m. -- Well this is turning into a strange game already. Gorzelanny just navigated his way through a bizarre bottom of the second that included a balk and a batter reaching on a strikeout/passed ball. Amazingly, no one scored and Gorzelanny wound up recording three strikeouts during the inning.
5:10 p.m. -- You may have seen reports out there about John McLaren intending to resign as bench coach once Davey Johnson officially becomes manager. I haven't been able to confirm that myself yet, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise. McLaren was close to Jim Riggleman. He probably also understands that Johnson deserves to have a right-hand man he's comfortable with. Who might that be? One name to keep in mind is Pat Corrales, who has been the Nats bench coach before, remains in the organization and is very close to Davey. The two spent nearly every day at spring training together, driving around from practice field to practice field in a golf cart together. I have no first-hand knowledge Corrales will be the guy, just a name that comes to mind.
5:34 p.m. -- Four innings in the books now, the White Sox still leading 1-0. Gorzelanny has been in trouble all afternoon but escaped major damage. The Nats, meanwhile, did nothing against Bruney (a shocker, I know) and now are about to face Jake Peavy, who is making the first relief appearance of his career.
5:55 p.m. -- That's eight baserunners allowed now by Gorzelanny through five innings, yet only the game's first one has scored. Chicago leads 1-0 through five.
6:14 p.m. -- Adam Dunn: 0-for-3, three strikeouts. And the crowd here really lets him have it. It occurs to me, the last time I saw Dunn in person, he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. And got a standing ovation! (In his Nationals Park finale.)
6:21 p.m. -- The Nats have come up to bat seven innings against three different pitchers, and they've managed two singles and a hit batter. Nine strikeouts. Hasn't exactly been a banner day for the lineup. Then again, they only trail 1-0. And as we've seen in the last week, they're certainly capable of some late-inning magic...
6:35 p.m. -- No magic in the top of the eighth. Only another 1-2-3 inning and two more K's by Peavy. That's 11 total strikeouts now between the three Chicago pitchers. It's still 1-0, with Henry Rodriguez entering to pitch the bottom of the eighth.
6:52 p.m. -- So much for the low-scoring, tight ballgame. Rodriguez has opened the floodgates. Three singles, two walks and a wild pitch later, the White Sox have taken a 3-0 lead and loaded the bases. It'll be up to Ryan Mattheus to clean up this mess.
6:56 p.m. -- Credit to Mattheus. He cleaned it up. Helped that Lillibridge couldn't get a suicide squeeze down, leaving Rios hanging out to dry. So it's 3-0 going to the ninth. Top of the order due up for the Nats.
7:05 p.m. -- Well, emotion and adrenaline can only carry you for so long. The Nats simply were overwhelmed by the White Sox pitching staff today. Final score: 3-0. Gorzelanny takes a very hard-luck loss. They're back to one game over .500, heading into tomorrow's series finale.
148 comments:
Tho his #s this season are against it, here's hoping Gorzy can go deep into the game and give the bullpen some rest after last night.
Well, McLaren definitely follows Riggleman's insistence on R/L matchups. But Hairston's been hot and Bixler had his career game last night, so this makes sense to me. My only question is why not put Bixler at the hot corner and Hairston in LF? Aren't those their more natural positions? Or better yet keep Zimmerman at 3rd and let Bixler DH.
Seems kind of weird to take your gold glove 3rd baseman out of the game.
These starters will go at least 7 innings, regardless of the score, so hold on to your rally caps, there could be numbers, if one or both of them isn't "on"
GYFNG!!!!!
Might be resting Zimmerman. He has not exactly looked gold glove since return, has he? I am just guessing.
Bixler is rewarded rightfully. We won last night, thanks to him.
Hoping Pudge can get a better game out of Gorzo and win us some more ballgames.
Kilgore tweeted that Davey was not an easy sell to ownership. Mark or anyone else - any thoughts on why?
Wally said...
Kilgore tweeted that Davey was not an easy sell to ownership. Mark or anyone else - any thoughts on why?
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Nobody will be pushing Davey around. That might have made it a hard sell... He's prolly got 2+ years guaranteed-and not cheap. Rizzo may have swallowed some ego, to make this happen, as well... Just guessing... I don't know doody.
Broadcast station duly noted. Rally cap, check. Supply of Tums and throat lozenges at the ready. Put me in, coach! (and let's go NATS!!)
Maybe not an easy sell, but ultimately the Lerners got on board and that's what counts.
I'm not crazy about the Fox broadcast booth. Tim McCarver annoys me for some reason.
Wish MASN would at least do a post-game show.
Come on Nats, another sweep perhaps? I think so :)
Go Nats!
Oh, and limbering up thumb for mute button activation as needed.
Another thing: as long as the team doesn't fall into absolute disaster and chaos, he's more or less untouchable, due to the fallout from recent events. Yep, as long as he's winning, I figger Davey's more or less the Boss
Last 4 starts for Gorzelanny: 1-3 7.65 ERA. 20 IP, 34(!) hits, but a pretty good 19/8 K/BB rate.
Time for him to keep some runs off the board.
Go Gorzo!
Me thinks that between now and Monday, the inmates are running the asylum!
I am assuming HRod, Burnett, or Mattheus will be first to come out of pen.
I am not hoping for 8 innings from Gorzo, but I hope he keeps the team in the game.
Could have made a roster move seeing as Storen will miss a game or two and Stairs is not even sniffing the field in AL parks....Wake Up Rizzo....stop patting yourself on the back for braking a marginal manager....this team needs a pitcher now.
Can we get our 9 runs in the first inning? A blowout would be nice and relaxing.
RZimm not up to par, a rest from fielding is a good idea, and letting him DH should help him get his hitting eye back.
Bixler deserves to start, clearly. The man is pure hustle. Guess you can't have two people at 3B (Hairston and Bixler). Maybe they flipped a coin.
This is only Gorzy's 2nd start after coming off the DL, so I assume McCatty will not let him be overworked. Temp is 77 in Chi right not, so not intolerably hot or cool. Nice day for a ballgame. GO NATS!
Fl. gets the Fox Mets game!!!!
Not even carried on Extra Innings
OK Bud you get some more of my money.
I am not missing this game after last night.
Ozzie is going to have to do something to out manage McLearn. It ought to be good.
Stairs not dh-ing again? I like this new regime! I agree that RZ needs a breather - he had major abdominal surgery not that long ago. Did Matheus pitch at all last night? Seems like HRod and Burnett can go if they need to.It would be so nice to have a calm win tonight. Wish we had pre and post-game, though. I really hate Fox. GYFNG!
Swami, yep:
Rodriguez, 2/3
Burnett, 1/3
Storen, 1
Coffey, 2
Mattheus, 1
Clippard, 1
Balester, 2
Matheus pitched an inning. He was just fine.
Correction, 1 for Coffey (and could I ever use a cup right now):
Swami, yep:
Rodriguez, 2/3
Burnett, 1/3
Storen, 1
Coffey, 1
Mattheus, 1
Clippard, 1
Balester(W, 1-0)
As we assiduously avoid chores before the game...
I'm thrilled about the Nats' haul in the draft, but here's a good reminder that we should be wary of superlatives. Check out the Expos' 2000 draft:
3rd round Grady Sizemore
4th round Some guy named Cliff
6th round Shawn Hill
7th round Wes Littleton (reliever for Texas, M's)
22nd round Jason Bay
45th round Jeff Karstens (Pirates pitcher)
Not to reopen the Omar gnashing, but my goodness.
Ozzie's postgame interview yesterday implied that his bullpen is exhausted so I hope the boys can knock Danks out early.
Werth needs a few days off. His head's not in the game - it's been in a place where the sun doesn't shine.
Hey Insiders, looking for some advice: Need a recommendation for a baseball book to share with my book club - all non baseball fans. Not stategy or history, but more like baseball as a microcosm of life. Any ideas?
GYFNG!
Hit/score early and often.
GYFNG!
whynat: moneyball might be a good one, michael lewis (also of blindside fame) really weaves stories well, and with the movie coming out soon it may pique the interest of everyone
Whynat, consider Doug Glanville's book, I think it's called something like The Game From Where I Stand. Ivy League grad who had an okay career and now contributes to NY Times.
For novels (although some may be difficult to find), maybe Shoeless Joe; Bang the Drum Slowly; You Know Me, Al. A player-penned bio could work as well.
WhyNat:
Back in 1997 Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote "Wait Till Next Year," a lovely memoir of growing up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan.
It's a breezy 257 pages and it's as much an evocation of 1950s Brooklyn and of the game's inheritance -- passed here from father to daughter -- as it is the story of Jackie, Pee Wee, Gil and the Duke.
She recalls how fans' loyalties were sharply divided among the Dodgers, Giants and Yanks and "corner stores were the scenes of fierce and affectionate rivalries."
I guarantee your group would enjoy it.
On the bio front, Veeck--As In Wreck is a hoot.
Speaking of women writing on baseball, one of my all-time faves is an anthology, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.
WhyNat- Good question.
I read "Shoeless Joe" (the movie Field of Dreams is based on it) in 8th grade in four days :)
Just an incredible fictional novel. I highly recommend it.
Shoeless Joe is a book that would be a hit for your book club :)
Drew Storen's grandmother passed away yesterday. I am assuming he knew before he pitched last night, and it could be his concentration wasn't 100%, and the 3 run homer was a result. Who am I to guess.
However, I know he will not be with the team tomorrow. Seems that I would go ahead and place him on bereavement list till tomorrow, and bring up someone for two days in the bullpen.
Just a thought.
Also read Ryan is not playing third today as McClaren said he has been working real hard on his throws after the operation, and could use the day off in the field.
Needless to say a win today and we win another series.
The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America. Joe Posnanski (sportswriter for SI) spent a year on the road with Buck O'Neil, a Negro league player and manager. They meet fans and go old stomping grounds, etc. Slice of life.
condolences to Drew Storen for his loss. Sorry to hear that.
On another note, I hope you guys have been voting Nationals in All Star ballots. I am using all the IDs available to me through my university account. I must have used at least 10 IDs by now to maximum. Oh and please include Ichiro in your votes if you can. I do not want to see his streak end at 10 ASG starts.
Whynat said...
Hey Insiders, looking for some advice: Need a recommendation for a baseball book to share with my book club - all non baseball fans. Not stategy or history, but more like baseball as a microcosm of life. Any ideas?
GYFNG!
June 25, 2011 3:03 PM
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"Praying For Gil Hodges" by Tom Oliphant is "A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers." It's a terrific read about life in the 1950's, and the central role that the Dodgers played in the lives of the author's family and of countless others.
Gametime.... =^D
Everyone brace for the parade of stupidity marching out of the mouths of these Fox announcers.
While the Goodwin book is my pick for the general audience, here are some other enjoyable reads for the baseball diehards.
Posnanski, mentioned by Wally above, wrote a delightful book on the great 1975 Reds, entitled "The Machine."
It's filled with wonderful stories. Joe Morgan tells of how how he once booted a ball and dreaded the reaction by the team's three other greats. He walked into a silent locker room -- and found his glove in a trash can.
Another good read is "The Long Ball" Tom Adelman's take on baseball's 1975 season, culminating in the memorable Sox-Reds Series.
Aside from the many fine biographies, there's "Only the Ball Was White," Robert Peterson's excellent study of Negro League baseball.
Wow. How terrible is this announce team for Fox?
Let's see, GS. McCarver is not in the booth on this one, and Sean Casey is. Maybe Fox's broadcast won't be completely imbecilic today. Let's hope.
Rosenthal saying that McLaren will resign as soon as Davey takes over, due to loyalty to Riggleman and frustration over the 'Nationals situation'.
....oboy....
This is the same ump that was at first last night. It's insane how wide the zone was for Danks and how tight it is for Gorzo. This one won't be pretty.
Don't know if I can watch this. Gorzelanny serving up gopher balls and this dreadful broadcast team. They are unaware that zim had surgery, they have obviously not looked at werth's stats for the year. Sean Casey can barely speak the english language. sheeesh.
Okay, maybe y'all are right. I was giving the Fox guys a pass for doling out info that the rest of the country wouldn't know about the Nats.
But no, they do sound pretty doltish.
Last night Sox crew made it worth paying for the Nats radio crew today. They were just horrible and I knew I could not take three games of "the Hawk".
Werth and Zim have picked it up right where they left off last night. You would think our vets could participate in this effort. If Zim is still hurting he needs to get well before playing.
Wow. Say hello to our old friend Brian Bruney...
Oh, thank you, gods of baseball!
Danks is out with an injury. Bruney is in. It's a happy day!
Danks injured.. and we are already into the bullpen....!!
WOW hope Danks is okay. He took a bullet last time out to his head.
Hopefully Bruney will be kind and allow multiple run scoring hits while Gorzo holds the fort down.
Back on the book front, can't believe no one has mentioned my favorite - Men at Work by George Will. It's a little more "inside baseball" (a phrase that has almost lost its meaning after being highjacked by politicos in DC) but it has a bunch of great anecdotes and will give those who read it a great appreciation of the game.
Arggg. I thought Pudge was getting an RBI.
Almost feel sorry for Dunn...
Might be too basebally for your group but Ball Four by Jim Bouton is an all time great.
I'm in stupid Fox blackout zone here in Nebraska watching the Indians/Giants so keep me updated board.
"Rizzo's gonna join us..."
Is this a regular feature, now?
No matter what happens next, this is shaping up to be one of the oddest series we've played all season.
All of a sudden Bruney= Cy Young. Tired of hearing Rizzo, but he's an improvement over the guy who can't pronounce Bernadina.
Yadda yadda yadda....
Rizzo doesn't even bitch about the bad CS call! I I me me
Sorry... I'm done, now
GYFNG!!!
Rizzo said they'll do a manager search after THIS season. What happened to 2012 and 2013 for Johnson?
Looked Like Bernadena was safe. Oh well. 5 straight hits for him now.
How on earth did Bruney get through an inning and we didn't score. That never happened an inning he pitched for us. Concentrate guys.
Not to belabor the point, but this has to be the worst broadcast of a professional sporting event I've ever seen. The announcers are talking about everything BUT the game. Is someone even calling the play-by-play?
But what's most annoying is whomever is directing this thing must have ADD. Weird sudden cuts into the dugout, almost no replays, they keep putting up the divisional standings for seemingly no reason at all.
Yikes.
Is it my imagination or has rizzo turned into an egomaniac this week? He was not even watching his team's pretty tame -looking playing and the caught stealing. Time for the Nats to stop waiting until the ninth inning. They are looking a little off today. The crazy week catching up with them? Gorzo - just keep it close.
The last few weeks, Desi has looked as bad at the plate as I have ever seen him. I know he had the 10 game or so hitting streak, but he just looks bad, to my eye. His pitch selection is worse than usual, he looks very stiff and he doesn't seem balanced in his swing.
I don't think he is this bad, and will get straightened out somehow. Maybe he'll by Davey's special project.
I may have to think about changing my blog name - this broadcast team is making the masn guys look at little better. Are they even watching the game?
Not sure exactly what Rizzo's supposed to say when the TV networks pull him in to talk about the status of the team. I'm tired of hearing his voice, too, but he seems to be saying the appropriate things.
There might have been a bit more PBP in the top of the 3rd if Rizzo had commented on that missed CS call at second, but that's not what he was there to do.
Grandstander, I quite agree about whoever is calling the camera shots in the truck. Some truly bizarre choices are being made.
Sean Casey's laugh is truly annoying.
I understand Unkyd, it hurts bitting the tongue.
All these apperances drives home the need for a president of operations.
Much as I disliked Stan, things would not have reached this point. He would have overseen a conversation and if Riggleman still wanted to quit, he would have had it done in a professional maner with minimum drama, and probably during winter meetings or spring training when it started.
Took Fox about two and a half minutes to cue up Gorzelanny's balk and re-lay it. MASN would've had it in 20 seconds.
I think Fox sent the B-team to cover this game today.
Re-play it. Duh. And I'm typing from the laptop.
I do think it's probably getting to be time to move past the Riggleman vs. Rizzo debate. GYFNG and all that.
Fox is doing 4 games so this may be the D crew.
so far this is looking more like the pre-winning Nats. Making Bruney look like Cy Bruney. They should have lit him up like a Christmas tree. Come on boys concentrate. You just made a marginal picture look like a great one.
Swami: not imagining. If they announce today or tomorrow that Davey is here, at least through next year, then why the smIke screen? So much I'm not understanding....
whynat -
praying for duke snider - tom oliphant - his reminiscence of living in bklyn when they won the series. lots about money, race, etc in that time.
crazy 08 ( think ) about the 1908 NL pennant race. lots about how crazy the game was. nothing real technical.
take me out - richard greenberg (play) - about a baseball player who comes out of the closet. social commentary ensues.
I loved "Men at Work." Maybe worth a look, especially in light of last night's shocking overturn of a solid call, not to mention today's erroneous caught stealing, is the book, "As They See 'em." it's about how guys come up as umpires. Some good parallels drawn to Real Life, too.
Will order Praying for Gil Hodges now...
Adjective of the day " unbelievable" - Sean Casey for broadcaster of the year. Let's get some hits, boys. Lillebridge robbed us of what should have been a run, let's get it back going.
GYFNG!
Fox Josh: "Do not adjust your set. This is Jake Peavy."
"Do not adjust your set"? Really? Is this his first day on-camera?
I would think the team was a bit wound up and late getting to bed this morning. If MicheleS could send some of that red bull to the dugout maybe we could get going.
jane b -
gil or duke? one or the other. but i know it was oliphant.
i was 2 in bklyn for that series, but i grew up with so many dodger names and stories from my parents, i lose track. waddu eye no.
met a dodgers fan from that time and mentioned to him that my uncle never forgave omalley. that if they ever ran into each other in heaven, uncle jerry would let him have it.
fan: won't happen - o'malley's not in heaven.
Can somebody please tell them that BerNadina has a N in it? Can somebody please hit the ball?
Whynat - I grew up going to Griffith Stadium so I had high hopes for "The Last Boy" by Jane Leavy which is a biography on Mickey Mantle. She does a nice job but it is not all baseball and she touches on Mantle's difficulties outside the lines.
This broadcast team has brought me back to Dave and Charlie where I am more comfortable anyway.
Like seeing Bixler starting and am fine with Zimm having a day at dh (although I heard a stat that he is 1-15 in that role). We are now in the 5th and Gorzo seems to be ok. I am going to be interested if its a save situation, seeing who McLaren goes with.
Go Nats!!
Josh and Sean: making my head lumpy.
Or maybe it's from banging it on the coffee table?
I wouldn't worry about a save situation the way this offense is going.
I do not mind Casey he is pretty good on MLB Network but this broadcast has a very Chicago centric but not over blown tone.
I am down in the Shenandoah Valley and the Fox station out of Roanoke, Virginia is carrying the Indians-Giants game. Been nice to have it on with the sound down. It's a little surprising as the sports guys on the Roanoke/Lynchburg stations do treat the Nats as the "local" team.
Oh Adam I bet you would like to remember the last day in DC when you struck out 4 times and got standing cheer ...just saying
Hat trick for Zim. Struck out against a different pitcher each of the three times. Come on be the leader .
You can see that Zim does not like the DH any better then Dunn
On a positive note, Gorzo is looking pretty good working under pressure. 6 innings of 1 run ball, can't ask for much more than that from him. Lots of little bloopers dropping in too.
Hopefully he's coming back into form, but I'd to start him at CBP with all those warning track flies.
Gorzo is a tough guy, today...nice job.
Who knew Gorzy would be our bright spot thru 6.
Suck up a little caffine boys and lets get going.
Broadcaster just said Harper would be catching for the Nats! This is hilarious!Do they not have a research staff?
Did he really just say "When Bryce Harper comes up...CATCHING?!"
Yes he did ....he really did .....and Casey should have corrected him
Does anyone else feel like this game is just strange in a lot of ways? Gorzo doesn't look great but they've only scored 1, we can't hit our way out of a paper bag, the Dunn situation is just sad, the broadcasters are.... whatever, the time of game is odd, they played 5 hours last night. It's just kind of surreal.
Anyone else not too worried even though we have barely hit the ball all day? Just seems to me that lately the Juggernats have been coming up with runs just in the nick of time...
He should not have even needed a research staff, or any previous knowledge at all. Rizzo spoke about how they moved Harper away from catcher barely an hour ago. Unbelievable, as Casey would say...
Yeah, very solid pitching by Gorzelanny. Good job.
Now for the hitting...
Come on Nats!
Baseballswami- Yes! Very surreal.
Peavey is filthy.
Cy Young lives again. This is just like before they started winning. Hitters looking clueless. WHo is going to be the hitting coach under Davey. Hopefully someone who is more aggressive about teaching the strike zone than Eck is. We can't hit sliders (and we really shouldn't bother swinging at them) as most of the times they are not strikes. .
I went away for about 4 innings to do some other stuff. I have to say, I'm delighted to see it still at 1-0.
The Fox/Chicago team of Josh and Sean are talking about which Chicago pitcher is going to get the win. The game's not over yet, boys.
They must not've heard very much about recent Nationals Games.
Having been a Met fan during the 80's, there is no one better than Davey fir this team. Give him whatever he wants!
We've got them right where we want them!
Well, you can't win 'em all. The way things have been going offensively, it felt out of reach even at 1-0.
Oh well, get 'em tomorrow boys!
OOOOOPS ... HRod has lost the strike zone again.
I think that our boys are just exhausted from last night and the weird couple of days.
Well, 3-0 into the 9th was not insurmountable last night, but...
Even if we can take the series from the Sox, that'll be great.
But the game's not over yet, folks!
Top of the order due up in the 9th. It's over. I think every rally for the last 2 weeks has started midway though the order.
What are Werth's numbers like for the month of June? He seems to have been pretty non-existent at the plate in my memory of the last couple weeks.
Second day in a row the bullpen is ineefective as a whole.
Going into the weekend I think the ERA of the starters was much higher than the relievers. I plan on doing the figures after the game.
What is with our hitters do we all need eye exams. Swings at bad pitches or pitches that are over the plate but not near the bat. (this was definitely like pre streaking batting.)
I think the interim, interim manager needs to declare and early bedtime for the boys tonight. One story, one drink of water and lights out! Sweet dreams of a win tomorrow.
Rally cap on......
GYFNG!!!!!!
My favorite goof was when Lewin quoted Pudge as saying that in his first major league game he threw out Alex Rios.
Uh, make that Alex Cora.
As for the game -- OK, stuff happens and we've had our share of good fortune. But I don't understand several of Mac's choices today.
1. Danks is out of the game after 26 pitches and is replaced by Bruney. Why don't you get Nix in the game immediately?
2. You need to manufacture a run. Adam Dunn is a weak fielder. Why aren't you bunting on him again and again and again and again?
I would do it until he proves he can make the play.
Our TV just died in the middle of the play that resulted in the two extra runs scoring. I'm not taking this as a good sign for the Nats.
WOW went to play tennis, just got back to see Nats losing 0-3. Well Gorzo did good. Do we have any magic left for a comeback in the ninth?
I thought he said Alex Cora, but in actuality it was Joey Cora, Alex's brother who is now bench coach for the White Sox.
On a more positive note(maybe?) - Jayson Werth, although he makes more money than Adam Dunn, is not quite as bad, either. Almost, but not quite.
One more out. Two Ks this inning for Santos.
Rest up, fellas..... We'll get 'em tomorrow...
Ballgame, 3-0 Sox.
Team is still over .500, and tomorrow's another day. Let's hope we get good Livo tomorrow. (We did seem to have pretty-good Gorzelanny today.)
Whaddya eye.... Just bought "praying for Gil Hodges" for the kindle app. I thought it was odd that they would be praying for some other player. I'm looking forward to reading it.
Oh well. Wait till tomorrow. Isn't that much nicer than, " wait'll next year"?
Sleep well boys. Then GYFNG.
Well, a combined 2 -hitter. That was definitely underwhelming. Gorzy hung in there,but no luck in natstown today.Until tomorrow.....
Start another streak tomorrow. But lets start hitting the ball regularly. 30 K's in 2 games is pathetic.
In case anyone cares,I hate the word certification thing. The letters are hare to read on my computer, and I miss it half the time
Just looked it up. Going into today only 2 teams San Diego and the nats have more strike outs than hits. Sand Diego 630 K and 604 Hm and Nats 605 K and 603 Hits. No one else is real close. If I am Johnson that is the first thing I approach and fix.
Wow, I'm sorry, but Fox did the Nats game horribly. They appear to know nothing about the Nats and it was embarrassing to watch. At least pronounce Bernadina correctly, sheesh.
Ugh, bad game and bad broadcasters made this a very weird loss.
The whole "feel" of the game was strange.
The Nats' MASN team (including pre and post game) is actually pretty good. I missed them today.
Werth and R zimm are really letting the team down with the bats. Zimm with 3 Ksss. Open your eyes man. I guess its Rigglemans fault.
I just did the numbers
Starters 469 IP 192 ER 3.68 ERA
Relievers 224.2 IP 77 ER 3.08 ERA
Total 692.2 IP 269 ER 3.49 ERA
BTW: Zimmermann is up to 7th in the league in ERA.
Those are very good numbers Manassas.
Top 5 in the NL probably?
5th best ERA in the NL overall, 6th for starters, and 4th best for the bullpen.
Ignore that second sentence.
I looked it up after typing it and forgot to delete it :)
Going into today overall 5th
Random grab bag catch-up post time:
Condolences to the Storen family.
Shutouts are frustrating. Get Good Livo tomorrow and maybe we can take the series. Gorzo pitched much better than I anticipated. Bruney, too. :-(
I didn't mind the Fox team that much, but I missed Bob and FP. I'd rather have listened to these guys than McCarver and Buck, who wouldn't have been any more knowledgeable about the team if past broadcasts are any indicator. I actually kind of like Casey (have seen him on MLB Network quite a bit). He is a bit of a chatterbox, but then again, they didn't call him The Mayor for nothing. I did feel that the buzz around the team was more positive than on previous national broadcasts, and I think that's a plus. I was glad Rizzo opted not to indulge in a he said/he said session, which is what the Fox team seemed to want.
I second Wally on the Posnanski book, which I'd almost mentioned earlier.
I *did* feel sorry for Dunn. Hope that his bat warms up *after* the series ends.
Is it just me, or does Lillbridge look like a daggone Hobbit?
Lillibridge.
Tough loss today but we can't win em all boys. Hopefully, we will see good Livo tommorow(whoever is behind the plate needs to a have a rather big strike zone). Gonna watch the O's game and hopefuly they can beat the Reds. GYFNG
Flat game today - I guess things were bound to catch up with them. I hope tomorrow is a better game - no offense today. It's the last game I will see in a few days due to the 10 pm starts. Storen is having a tough time these last few days.Multiple stresses. Sometimes we forget just how young some of these guys are. Most of the bullpen should be available again tomorrow - but I hope they are not needed and Livo rights the ship.
Me, too, on the 10 p.m. starts.
Re. the strike zone, at one point after what seemed like a pretty good pitch, I asked rhetorically "What was wrong with that?" My husband quickly replied, "It was thrown by a Nats pitcher." Heh.
At least the Fox guys knew about Beast Mode. ;-)
Best baseball book I ever read was "My Turn at Bat" Biography of Ted Williams
Boy, our hitting has just been pitiful. Just frickin horrendous! Is Werth ok? There is something the matter with him. He hits like he can't see. He has no clue where that little white thing is. Takes pitches down the middle and then hacking blindly at anything close to the plate. Personally, I think he should give some of his paychecks back. He has been clueless.
I think we should nominate Adam Dunn and Jayson Werth for the All Star Game Home Run Derby. Maybe the practice swings will help them both get it together.Once again, on the broadcast, rizzo talked about how valuable Werth is to the club -- I think he will be in the future, but it's hard to see it right now. His swing looks very awkward.
Big Cat- Pitiful? Today yes. Not so much the previous 14 games (12-2 record, scoring 6+ runs 6 times).
Lets not get carried away after they actually lose a game.
If they play .500 baseball the rest of the season, most people's pre-season predictions would be surpassed.
In the mean time Go Nats!!
Just able to read the comments. Kind of a good way to recap the game. Not much good to remember from this game, but thanks for the great summer reading list everyone.
Thanks for all the book ideas - I got my full summer reading list as well!
@ Cwj
I acgree with Big Cat. Sure they have hit better, but in this 12 game win streak, they have an number of 2 run wins and 1 run win.
They are winning despite over poor hitting. Still 15th in the league in hitting. They need learn to swing at strikes, and not at balls. I said it earlier they now have 605 hits and 619 Ks. Only one other team has more Ks than H. That is poor eyesight.
Two other classics that any baseball fan would enjoy are "The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence S. Ritter and "The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn.
Ritter's book was first published in 1966. He took a reel-to-reel tape machine and recorded indelible stories from old-time ballplayers. Each chapter is a spoken take-you-there narrative across the mists of time, told by ballplayers such as Rube Marquard, "Wahoo" Sam Crawford and Smokey Joe Wood.
The title comes from Ecclesiastes: "All these were honored in their generation and were the glory of their times."
Kahn's "The Boys of Summer", published in 1972, is the story of those halcyon days when he was a reporter covering Brooklyn's beloved Bums. Kahn hooks you with his very first line:
"At a point in life when one is through with boyhood, but has not yet discovered how to be a man, it was my fortune to travel with the most marvelously appealing of teams."
This doesn't necessarily fit the book club criteria but on the fan reading list front, I'll repeat my post from last spring:
In other news, I just finished reading "Spring Training," by William Zinsser. The book features a behind-the-scenes look at Spring Training with the 1988 Pirates of GM Syd Thrift and skipper Jim Leyland. Very interesting read about one team's approach to teaching fundamentals in Spring Training. I really enjoyed the book, and it whetted my appetite for my first ever visit to Viera.
Well, you can't win them all. But the boys will be back tomorrow to win the series and start another winning streak!
GYFNG!!!
Test.
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