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US Presswire photo One of the Nats' split squads will face the Tigers today at Joker Marchant Stadium. |
A couple of important debuts in the home game: Adam LaRoche is in the lineup and at first base for the first time after dealing with an ankle spring. And Chien-Ming Wang faces a big-league lineup for the first time after tossing two innings against minor leaguers earlier in the week.
As for the road game ... John Lannan will face a mighty challenge, going up against most of Detroit's "A" lineup (including Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera). You'll also notice Danny Espinosa is starting at shortstop; Davey Johnson has been planning to give him a couple games over there all along, just to prepare him in case Ian Desmond got hurt at some point.
Both games will be broadcast by the opposition's radio crews, so enjoy an afternoon spent flipping back and forth between the two. And as always, enjoy the ongoing conversation here...
NEW YORK METS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS (ss)
Where: Space Coast Stadium, Viera
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: Mets radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, Wind 13 out to RF
STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS (ss)
SS Ian Desmond
2B Mark DeRosa
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Jayson Werth
DH Wilson Ramos
LF Jason Michaels
CF Brett Carroll
C Sandy Leon
(P Chien-Ming Wang)
METS
CF Andres Torres
2B Justin Turner
LF Jason Bay
1B Ike Davis
3B Zach Lutz
RF Mike Baxter
DH Josh Satin
C Rob Johnson
2B Omar Quintanilla
(P R.A. Dickey)
WASHINGTON NATIONALS (ss) vs. DETROIT TIGERS
Where: Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland
Gametime: 1:05 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: Tigers radio via MLB Gameday Audio
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, Wind 9 in from RF
STARTING LINEUPS
NATIONALS (ss)
LF Roger Bernadina
2B Steve Lombardozzi
SS Danny Espinosa
1B Chad Tracy
DH Jesus Flores
3B Mark Teahen
RF Corey Brown
C Jhonatan Solano
CF Eury Perez
(P John Lannan)
TIGERS
CF Austin Jackson
2B Brandon Inge
3B Miguel Cabrera
1B Prince Fielder
DH Delmon Young
RF Brandon Boesch
SS Jhonny Peralta
C Alex Avila
LF Justin Henry
(P Justin Verlander)
132 comments:
Is Justin Verlander pitching for both the Tigers and Nats? A mighty man, indeed.
Think of our starting five with Verlander....nice!
I want to complain about the lack of TV coverage. But it looks like Yankees - Braves also has no telecast. Giants - Brewers no TV. 18 games today, 8 with TV, 10 with no TV.
But it seems odd that with the away game we have only their radio, and with the home game we also have only their radio.
Ah, whatever.
Go John Boy.
B24GN and Harper will join you in a month.
Is Harper playing? Or is he still out with a leg injury?
Over/under on LaRoche leaving with an injury: 3-1/2 innings.
I wonder how many radio and TV coverage complaints each of us has posted over the last 7 years. It would be many, and any one of them could be posted now and still be timely.
I guess that this year will be the real test. If the Nats contend, then we should see more coverage next spring. MASN will have to actually get viewership in spite of itself for this to work.
Hang in, pals.
+1/2St.
And CMW starts of with a groundout by Torres, Desmond to LaRoche.
Turner groundsout to short, Jason Bay flies out, clean inning for CMW.
I think it's awesome that Verlander is competing for that 5th spot. ;)
As far as tv coverage, I hate not being able to see these spring games.
I guess I'll just follow the score online while watching MLB network's Miami vs. St. Louis.
Btw, Strasburg apparently topped 100 mph several times last night, topping out at 103(!).
Even if the radar gun wasn't accurate, if anyone can throw that hard it's Strasburg and maybe 2 other pitchers in all of baseball.
I think it's awesome that Verlander is competing for that 5th spot.
I dunno, looks kind of desperate to me, pitching for both sides and all...
And the Nats put of 3 on RA Dickey, Zimm, LaRoche and Werth with bats hits bringing in one, Ramos doubling home two more. 3 - 0 Nats over Mets.
Will Gameday audio allow me to flip between the two broadcasts? Awesome, if so, though I don't know about my multitasking skills. Guess I'll start off with the Tigers.
Sec 3- Yeah, but I'm guessing that Verlander is pitching for both sides in the hope of just making any team. Perhaps the Orioles will be impressed and sign him to a minor league contract.
Lannan strikes out the side in the first, but wraps those around a solo homer (Inge) a walk and two singles, Nats 0, Tigers 2 after 1 full.
hard to imagine why angelos would invest in ST coverage for a team he doesn't care about (ours) or one that sucks (his). we'll just have to convince him there's a market that's more interested in games than espn or repeats of old shows. no way he'll ever respond to anything but $ though. he clearly values it over a quality team in b'more. i pity them more than us. at least we'll have a team worth watching during the real season.
meanwhile, after reading more about how my daughter is likely to not be able to concentrate on life as a result of all the media, facebook, texts, etc., i'm watching 2 gamedays, listening to mlb at bat, and trying to get some work done.
gotta remain the good example for the next generation of nats fans....
gyfng!
What the? Now it won't play for me. Maybe I need to tweak a media player setting. Later.
Great RISP, two out hitting by LaRoche, Werth and Ramos, and Zim still locked in. Desmond's bone headed running probably didn't cost anything as DeRosa's groundout would have been a DP.
Ah, got it. (Tigers)
Sorry, did you say something? I wasn't paying attention (and I'm only listening to one game). :-)
waddu eye no said...
meanwhile, after reading more about how my daughter is likely to not be able to concentrate on life as a result of all the media, facebook, texts, etc., i'm watching 2 gamedays, listening to mlb at bat, and trying to get some work done.
gotta remain the good example for the next generation of nats fans....
gyfng!
March 10, 2012 1:38 PM
Tigers broadcast team talking about how many pitches the Tigers batters are making LannEn throw. Still 0 Nats, 2 Tigers.
Wang really got victimized in the first by a misplay of a DP ball that won't showupin the box score. Would have gotten him out of the first unscathed.
But because DeRosa got the out at first it's not an error.
Shows we really need Lombo as the backup infielder.
And Wang gives up a couple of runs in the 2nd, single, single, walk, runs scoring GO, single. 3 -2 Nats over Mets after 1 1/2.
These guys are using the "Eury" pronunciation I've heard before, as in "Yuri Zhivago," unlike the team the other day. Who was it? The Astros, I think. "A-you-ree" or something like that.
Lannan 56 pitches in first two innings per Tigers broadcasters.
And Zimmerman gets the 2 runs back doubling home Lean (single) and DeRosa (walk). 5- 2 Nats over Mets after 2 full.
Nats get another hit, but that's all, so the score stands. Crowd was excited that Cabrera had a fielding chance at third. :-)
Lean, who are these guys? Oh, Leon (after looking.)
Now they're LOLing at Bibens-Dirkx's name as he enters for LannEn in the third.
Bibby (you got a better moniker?) faces Cabrera (K), Fielder (1-3) and Young (F8) for a quick half-inning.
Good inning for Stammen vs Mets. It is good to him do well.
Wang is done as well, replaced by Stammen for the 3rd inning. Both guys only go 2. Stammen gives up a hit, K's 2, and the Nats coming to bat.
That would be: to see him do well....
I just hate Ian Desmond's game. I so hope they go in another direction. Cut the losses, literally, his presence at SS and at lead off is gonna kill the club. Other than baserunning blunders, errors every other day, and the constant inability to hit or lay off a slider in the dirt, ever, he's really something great to watch out there.
Dang for the top of the fourth. Lombo F8, Espi 1B (though Cabrera didn't charge the ball and then bobbled it - the announcers thought it could have been scored an error), Tracy K's, then Espi is caught stealing. Verlander had thrown only 35 pitches going into the fourth. He's done now.
Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...
Over/under on LaRoche leaving with an injury: 3-1/2 innings.
March 10, 2012 12:49
*******************
Tyler Moore replaces LaRoche to start the 4th. No word at this point as to whether LaRoche is ailing.
In other news, they're talking about David Price's freak injury. Injured himself while toweling off (somehow it caught his neck and jerked it in an unusual way).
Sorry, I got distracted while they were reminiscing about freak injuries through the years. Bibby's second inning: HR, K, 1-3, 4-3.
Lannan's line: 2IP, 4H, 2R (both earned), 1BB, 4K, 1 HR
2nd good inning for Stammen
re: LaRoche
rooting against your own players (and thus your team): nice touch
Nothing doing against Casey Crosby in the 5th: Flores 5-3, Teahen K, Brown F8.
They're trying to figure out which 29 is coming in for the Nats. Rosenbaum or Maya. Uh-oh, it's Maya.
Well, since he didn't get into that lounge in the MLB 2012 video game commercial, I think he's getting carried away.
His disguise was pretty lame, though. :-)
Wait, you did mean Verlander?
Yunesky Maya has entered the game... How long til he goes to minor league camp?
Well, he walked the leadoff batter and is at 3-2 with Inge.
Sunshine -- it's LaRoche's first game back. No surprise to pull him after three, and no sign in his performance of any clear compensation for discomfort. He Also made a nice pick of a wide throw by Desi.
And Rendion goes sweetly into the hole to take a single away from Turner in the top of the 5th.
Uh-oh, another walk and Solano out to the mound for a little chit-chat.
Wow! When did the Nationals pickup Verlander?
Big, big week-end for Washington teams with the football trade and now the Nationals getting Verlander.
RENDON. Stupid auto correct. What was it correcting TO?
Solano:"Yunesky, do you know how to throw strikes?
Maya: "I guess I'll try to learn that in Syracuse, or maybe Harrisburg"
Verlander really deserved that Cy Young Award if he can pitch for two opposing teams on the same day...
Looks like another famous yunesky hanging curveball...
Well, that could have been worse.
Maya: Jackson BB, Inge BB, Cabrera 5-4 FC with Inge being FO, Fielder P5, Young RBI 2B (scoring Young, who pinch-ran for Jackson), Boesch F8.
Now it's 5 runs for the Tigers (Nats still hunting their first one).
Make that 4 runs.
On another note, must say that I'm really liking the Tigers broadcast team.
Natsfan1a: it still could get worse -- they could leave him in for another inning
Could be. We're still in the Nats half, and things are getting interesting.
Crosby: Solano 3-1, Perez BB, Hood BB, Lombo E3, Espi 1B, Tracy 1B. Throw in a WP (or PB depending who's scoring) and some fielding miscues and it's Tigers 4, Nats 3. More after the new pitcher reports to the mound for the Tigers. Oh, they also mentioned a miscue in yesterday's game, by Ballester?
Gotta say it, Stammen - 3 scoreless innings, 4ks
Dang. With one out and two still on, Flores flies to right, and then Espi is thrown out on one-hopper. But, hey, the Nats scored 3, with a little help from the Tigers. :-)
I love the play by play here. I am going to watch an actual spring training game on WGN.
I think MASN is showing some College Classic, so not even a live game.. sigh...
Evidently it was a heck of a throw to third from Diaz.
For the M&M batter (Maya and Moldonado): Diaz lines it to right, where Brown lays out for a nice snag (according to the Tigers team), it's F8 for Brantly, and Henry grounds out to end the inning (somebody whose name/position I didn't catch)-1. :-)
Make that "battery" not "batter."
Papa Grande time in the top of the 7th.
We'll expect a scouting report, MicheleS (that is, if it's the Cubs).
And a Corey Brown dinger ties it up to lead off the inning. Yay!.
Mets Game- apparently Rizzo has a lavender-striped shirt you can see from Space Coast to space.
And, a Miss Iowa sighting.
I was so excited I threw in extra punctuation. :-)
Yay!.
Rendon gets a double. Keep it up, kid.
+1/2St.
Oops, I also forgot the first batter.
For Papa Grande: Rivero 4-3, Brown HR, Moldonado BB, Perez K (on an angry fastball, according to the guys in the booth), Hood K (but not before a WP moved Moldonado to 2nd - how wild was it? According to (Price?), it would have hit a left-handed batter in the butt. :-) 4-4 after the stretch. And Clip's coming in.
Happiest words I've read today: Tyler Clippard replaces Yunesky Maya
Against the Mets, Tyler Moore followed Rendon's double with another double off Miss Iowa. Another run on a passed ball, and the Nats are up 8-2.
+1/2St.
Easy inning for Clippard: Young K, Santiago 4-3, Ciriaco 4-3. Fielder, who has stayed in the game, is denied the at-bat as we head to the 8th.
The Tigers booth has good things to say about Clip and our 'pen. They're in good form, although they did refer to the Nats as the Phillies a couple times in the late innings. I guess we can take that as a compliment. I think they're facing the Phillies tomorrow. :-)
Benoit takes the mound (presumably with no band-aid on his face).
Blanco, the second hitter, hits a HR to put the visiting team up. The Phillies, um, Nats fans in the crowd cheer.
SWEET! Glad to see we are winning both games now. Cubs vs Brewers today, not a lot going on in that game yet, so no scouting report yet
Okay, so for Benoit it's: Kobernus 4-3, Blanco HR, Bloxom 1B, Flores F7, Rivero F8. Fielder stayed in the game so I guess he's batting to lead off the bottom of the inning. 5-4 Nats.
Won't show up in the box score, but Tyler Moore's double to score Rendon was beyond crushed -- it hit about 25 feet up the batter's eye in dead center, 404 feet from home.
Would have been a dinger in almost, maybe every ballpark in MLB.
Thanks, Eddie. Nice to have eyes on the ground (as it were).
Nats pitchers struck out 14 Mets. Detroit game is tied now. Martin gave up two doubles after getting two out.
Some two-out drama in the bottom of the 9th, for Martin: Fielder 4-3, Holaday F9, Garcia 2B, Diaz RBI 2B, Brantly G6. All knotted up at 5-5 going into the 9th. Extras not likely as the Tigers have a split squad tomorrow (according to the booth).
We are tied with Detroit, but have apparently beaten the Mets.
+1/2St.
So, I guess Half St. and I owe NatsLady cokes. :-)
It would be my pleasure.
Why am I getting Cokes? Sorry, been working.
You called the Detroit tie before us.
Nats tried to get something going against Dotel in top of 9th, but came up short. Brown 4-3, Maldonado BB*, Perez 1B, Hood F9 (not deep enough for runners to advance), Kobernus hit to CF, but Maldonado gunned down at the plate to end the inning. Still tied up.
*Booth and Tigers faithful expressed some skepticism about the HP ump's zone.
NatsLady said...
Why am I getting Cokes? Sorry, been working.
ahhhh, work. the curse of the drinking class
Still 5-5 after 9. For Martin: Henry 1-3, Young BB, Santiago (sneaky power sez the booth) F7, Ciriaco F0.
It seems they are going 10. Good to get some others more work.
+1/2St.
Hmmm, extra inning (s). Is anyone playing that we have ever heard of?
Yeah, work. OTOH, my student didn't TOTALLY butcher the Chopin Mazurka.
Flores is still in.
Looks like they going 10 innings. Just wish I knew who was playing...
Ahhh...I'm so confused..oh wait..there's Flores...I'm OK now...
NatsFan05
Except that he just K'd against Luke Putkonen. Blanco 4-3, Bloxom 4-3, Flores K.
To the bottom of the 10th and then over no matter what happens, sez the booth.
Here comes ex-Tiger Ryan Perry.
Go Ryan...2 more outs.
NatsFan05
NatsLady said...
Yeah, work. OTOH, my student didn't TOTALLY butcher the Chopin Mazurka.
hmmm. another music teacher, eh? voice myself. always glad there's crossover between sports and music.
Tigers booth has good things to say about Perry: nice guy, lots to work with if it clicks for him, maybe a new voice (McCatty) will help, even if telling him the same things. They're pulling for him. So for Perry: Strieby 6-3, Holaday K (backwards), Garcia F8. 5-5 tie. The end.
Actually I am a voice teacher. Just fill out the card with piano students...
Well, one win and one tie...It was a good day!
Go Nat!
NatsFans05
Agreed, 05. :-)
Was at the local Starbucks wearing my NatsInsider shirt. And so that's how I got to meet one of the Anonymi here. I love that there are so many women who post here.
And we have TWO guys who can throw 103, when we count HRod. Speaking of whom...why haven't we heard about him? Or have I missed something? I hope not.
And we have TWO guys who can throw 103, when we count HRod. Speaking of whom...why haven't we heard about him? Or have I missed something? I hope not.
Actually 3 if you count Alex Meyer. Storen pushes 98 on his fast ball now. What's more important are lefties who can get up past 95.
Desmond should be worried. Kobernus has put on quite a show as has Anthony Rendon. Not sure where Rick Hague is but ... these are all guys who should be in Harrisburg together at some point this year.
Am I the only one worried that things are going according to plan and expectation. WHERE is my preseason angst. I do not know how to act without the feeling of doom and despair. OHH the flagship station could careless about covering baseball ...ahh there is that old familiar feeling ...LOL
HRod pitched an inning the other day. He was fine.
So Fangraphs thinks we should get Ethier? Well, he's another one who got injured lifting boxes.
Ethier
hrod induced 3 grounders in his lone inning. by all accts, he had nasty stuff
Rendon has not in any way "put on a show". He looked lost at the plate up until a couple days ago. He's going down for 100% certain, Potomac is as good a guess as any, he's no threat to Desmond or anyone else this month.
Glad to see the Nats went 1-0-1 today :-)
Go Nats!
I can't help but wonder why Maya is still around.
There are about 15 guys ahead of him on the bullpen list.
We all know what his MLB experience with the Nats has been like (bad but fortunately brief).
CWJ, there are approximately four million reasons why Maya is still around.
From Cot's:
Yunesky Maya rhp
4 years/$8M (2010-13)
4 years/$8M (2011-13)
signed Major League contract with Washington 7/31/10
agent: Bart Hernandez
ML service: 0.070
Natslady and waddu eye no -- that makes three of us!!
Really happy with the play-by-play here. Thanks to all of you.
This is probably rude to comment on NI about articles in NJ, but Kilgore just put up 3 nice articles. Not going in depth but what a difference to have Davey in spring training. He is actively working with Desmond and Espinosa. (I can only assume its because he reads all the negatives on this site and wants to prove them wrong). Those people who keep calling for Desmond to be moved are dreaming. He is one of Davey's projects and will get a very very long rope. Another article talks about Prince Fielder and his belief that Harper is an absolute phenom. You rarely get other players talking like that and its good to see.
CWJ - sofa pretty much nailed it with Maya (4 years/8 million) but we actually do need starters at the AAA level so he is honestly filling a need. Not at the level it was hoped for but he can help in Syracuse. It was not a good signing but at the time, how could you know? I realize that again people here have LannEn gone but when is the last time anyone but the Yankees had two starters in AAA making 9 million bucks. I can think back when our entire starting 5 was right around that total and it wasn't too many years ago. (pre-Marquis).
Roster on 3/24/09 - starting pitchers
Balester-Bergmann-Cabrera-Lannan-Olson-Mock & Martis (ouch, ouch & double ouch) To be honest, we did have this kid named Zimmermann who looked to be decent in the minors.
Go Nats
JaneB, to chime in on HRod, he looked in total control in his inning (he closed out the ninth) against the Astros on Thursday. Threw mostly strikes with his usual eye-popping speed and even his few balls looked mostly reasonably located.
He completely overpowered the first two hitters and while Bixler (3rd hitter that inning) seemed to have a plan and fouled a couple back, he ended up tapping a weak roller to Rendon.
Sum -- Actually, I saw Balester's inning against the Phil's yesterday and while he didn't look too bad, there was enough to make me happy we got Perry and his option instead.
Bally gave up a solid single and airmailed a the throw to second way into CF on the next play. Still had to admire his grit in that he buckled down and didn't let the run score. But if we can't even find room for Mattheus let alone Kimball if/when he gets back, we'd have had just to give Balester's away.
Boy that pen looks as good as any in MLB. Four guys who could close for most teams.
SJM308..
Thanks for the recommendation to look at NJ. Until our esteemed leader can return to Viera, we should support any an all coverage - despite any grammatical errors ;-)
I am EXTREMELY HAPPY that Davey is working with Espi and Desi. Apparantly Desi made changes in the off season that Davey isn't happy with. In the words of the esteeemed philospher Crash Davis "Don't think, Meat, it can only hurt the team!"
The fact the DeRo (Mark DeRosa's nickname from listening to the Cubs broadcasts - still can't give the Cubs up - it's Genetic) spent time with Espi on the "Loop" is awesome. This is the kind of insight at Vet can bring to the team. Years of honing your craft and paying it forward to the youngsters is great.
Now if we could only fix the broadcast situation...sigh....
And to recommend some additonal reading tonight. You might remember the poor O's beat writer - Jorge Arangure Jr.- at WaPo during 2005 that had to put up with our jabs (and taste in shoes/music if I remember correctly) and that fact that he wasn't the King of Panera...
It's good to see people and even an O's beat reporter succeed
Been away from the computer all day, so joining the party late. The commentary here was fantastic, especially 1a. You are an awesome play-by-play person and really funny. Thanks everyone for all the updates.
Thanks for the HRod updates, y'all. Today,mour guys played TWO games and didnt't lose one. Extra cookies for the dogs tonight. May they be fat fat fat in October!
I'll be down next Thursday through Monday - happy to provide pithy commentary for the 4 games I'm catching in lieu of actual real coverage.
Awesome job everyone. Nice to get home after golf and a bite to eat and have such extensive coverage by natsinsider team. Who needs MASN.
DEM
Gardner -- yes , please!!!! There is no substitute for an eyeball-witness account from someone who knows the team. We will be standing by waiting for tidbits from you.
nats lady & swami -
tough hood, huh? wonder if we know each other.
Sunderland,
Rendon is probably a major reason why Fielder is not a Nat today and is in Detroit instead. He is something special as you will see. Besides if anyone looks lost its Desmond, and Werth sure isn't inspiring the confidence that Zim. I honestly think Corey Brown would hit better ... both he and La Roche are 30 plus in decline. That is just the way it is.
I'll translate in Klingon for ya. Rendon, Harper, Hague, Zimmerman, Kobernus, and Espinosa are young and strong. Werth and LaRoche are not.
Mark--in Melbourne, trying to decide if I should drive to Jupiter for game. Rain looks bad. Will you post as soon as you can re Nats decision to travel to Jupiter for game?
Thanks
Natty Weather
NW, Nationals PR tweeted a lineup card about 38 minutes ago, fwiw:
http://twitter.com/#!/NationalsPR
And thanks for the kind words, Sonny. :-)
Natty Weather --
What Cocoa/Melbourne are getting now is a band of showers coming from Orlando direction. Jupiter forecast is for 30% chance of rain.
From the Florida Today site, a gamer and some pics from yesterday's game vs. the Mets.
The comment box on these posts comes and goes. Think there's still more than a few glitches with this new system.
^ Um, I didn't post that gamer link. Not sure who did.
wth, I'm in the wrong post.
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