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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER The first-place Nationals host the Reds in the first night home game of the year. |
Since that day nearly seven years ago, the Nationals have spent a total of four days in sole possession of first place. All came during the first week of the 2008 season, when Manny Acta's club stormed out of the gates to a 3-0 start ... before ultimately losing 102 games. All four of those days in first place came on the road.
So that makes for quite a backdrop to tonight's contest at Nationals Park, where the first-place Nats look to make it four in a row. Jordan Zimmermann takes the mound, hoping to duplicate his stellar effort from his season debut (with perhaps a little run support thrown in for a change). Veteran right-hander Bronson Arroyo starts for Cincinnati.
Plenty of updates to come, so please check back...
CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: WFED (1500 AM), WHFS (1580 AM), XM 188
Weather: Clear, 65 degrees, Wind 4 mph LF to RF
NATIONALS (5-2)
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Jayson Werth
LF Mark DeRosa
CF Roger Bernadina
C Wilson Ramos
P Jordan Zimmermann
REDS (3-4)
CF Drew Stubbs
SS Wilson Valdez
1B Joey Votto
3B Scott Rolen
RF Jay Bruce
LF Ryan Ludwick
2B Willie Harris
C Ryan Hanigan
P Bronson Arroyo
UMPIRES
HP Paul Schrieber, 1B Tim Welke (cc), 2B Laz Diaz, 3B Mike Everitt
5:30 p.m. -- As you wait for the start of tonight's game, be sure to read my update on Rick Ankiel, who has been cleared to come off the DL before tomorrow's game.
7:06 p.m. -- And we're underway on a gorgeous, 65-degree night in the nation's capital. The crowd's still filing in; looks like it'll be a nice-sized group tonight.
7:10 p.m. -- It looked like Jordan Zimmermann was going to have a really quick top of the first, but then he issued a two-out walk to Joey Votto. No harm, because he got Scott Rolen to line out to center, ending a 14-pitch (10-strike) inning.
7:17 p.m. -- Nothin' doin' in the bottom of the first. Ian Desmond once again puts the first pitch he sees into play and flies out to left. Danny Espinosa grounds out weakly to first. Ryan Zimmerman sent a flyball to deep right, but not nearly deep enough to do any damage. We go to the top of the second.
7:28 p.m. -- What do you know, we've got another pitchers' duel brewing here. Only one baserunner for the Nats through two innings (Mark DeRosa, who drew a walk). Only one baserunner for the Reds (Votto, who drew a walk). Good stuff from both starters so far.
7:40 p.m. -- The answer is: "Bronson Arroyo." The question: "Who will record the first base hit of this game?" Who figured that would be the case? Arroyo's one-out single to center, though, caused no real trouble for Zimmermann, who has now extended the scoreless innings streak by Nationals starters to 22.
7:45 p.m. -- Another 1-2-3 inning for Arroyo, so it's still scoreless through three.
8:23 p.m. -- We're through five innings now, and the Nats' rotation scoreless streak has come to an end at 23. Old pal Willie Harris led off the fourth with a double to left-center, moved to third on a groundball and then scored on a sac fly by ... Arroyo. Man, that guy has turned into an offensive force. The Nats' offense, meanwhile, has done next-to-nothing against Arroyo. They've got two hits through five. On the bright side, the defense has been spectacular, from Desmond and Zimmerman and LaRoche. So it's 1-0 Reds as we go to the sixth.
8:38 p.m. -- One of these days, the Nationals are going to score a run for Jordan Zimmermann. I mean, the law of averages says it's got to happen eventually, right? Through six innings tonight, it hasn't happened. Despite a leadoff single from Desmond, they couldn't get him home. Kind of a questionable move for Danny Espinosa to sacrifice bunt Desmond over to second. That backfired. We go to the seventh, still a 1-0 Reds lead.
8:49 p.m. -- The Nats' infield defense had been absolutely spectacular through the first six innings of this game, with all four guys making highlight-reel plays. So of course LaRoche and Desmond just committed back-to-back errors with two outs in the seventh. Credit to Zimmermann for getting out of that jam. We're at the stretch, and it's still 1-0 as Arroyo returns to the mound.
8:55 p.m. -- Arroyo is just carving up the Nats lineup tonight. Made Werth and DeRosa look ridiculous in striking out both in the bottom of the seventh. We go to the eighth, and Jordan Zimmermann's night is complete. His final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 100 pitches, 71 strikes. The right-hander also allowed one earned run over seven innings in his season debut. And he will not have a win yet. Unreal.
9:05 p.m. -- Ryan Mattheus completes a scoreless top of the eighth. Arroyo is back out for the bottom of the inning, now six outs from a shutout. It'll be Ramos, a pinch-hitter and Desmond due up for the Nationals, who still trail 1-0.
9:14 p.m. -- Wow, what was Dusty Baker doing? Arroyo was absolutely cruising, sitting on 94 pitches, and the Reds manager yanked him in favor of left-hander (and former Nats first-rounder) Bill Bray to face pinch-hitter Chad Tracy. So Davey Johnson countered with Xavier Nady, and guess what happened? Solo home run into the left-field bullpen, Nady's first with the Nats. We're tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, folks.
9:25 p.m. -- A 1-2-3 top of the ninth for Henry Rodriguez. We go to the bottom of the ninth, and Ryan Zimmerman will lead off for the Nats.
9:36 p.m. -- Big chance for Bernadina to be the hero after Werth and DeRosa deliver two-out singles. But after working the count full against Logan Ondrusek, Bernadina struck out with a mighty swing. So for the second straight day, we're going to extra innings on South Capitol Street.
9:45 p.m. -- Nice to see Brad Lidge rebound from his blown save yesterday. Just mowed through the Reds in the top of the 10th, retiring the side and striking out Drew Stubbs to give the Nats another chance to win on a walk-off. But they'll have to do it against flamethrower Aroldis Chapman.
9:52 p.m. -- Nothin' doin' against Chapman, who pretty much overwhelmed Ramos, Brett Carroll and Desmond. We go to the 11th, and it'll be Tom Gorzelanny on the mound.
10:03 p.m. -- Five Nationals pitchers have held the Reds to three hits in 11 innings tonight. I mean, seriously, if this lineup can't scratch out just one more run and reward them for their effort...
10:18 p.m. -- Who's up for 12 innings on a Friday night!
10:30 p.m. -- A couple of big-time strikeouts from Tom Gorzelanny with men in scoring position in the top of the 12th. He got both Chris Heisey and Drew Stubbs swinging. So now it's DeRosa, Bernadina and Ramos due up as Alfredo Simon returns to the mound for his second inning of relief.
10:46 p.m. -- Good lord, what just happened there in the bottom of the 12th? Bernadina was thrown out on a 6-2-5-6 fielder's choice, yet he kept the rundown alive long enough for Ramos to go all the way to third base. No matter, because Steve Lombardozzi struck out looking to end the inning. We go to the 13th inning of a ballgame neither team has any intention of winning.
10:56 p.m. -- What has gotten into Craig Stammen? He just struck out three more batters in the top of the 13th. That means the last six outs he's recorded over the last two days have all come via strikeout.
11:10 p.m. -- Jayson Werth wins it! Bases-loaded single up the middle in the bottom of the 13th. The Nats win 3-2 and remain in first place in the NL East.
275 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 275 of 275 Newer› Newest»OMG! 12 innings? Are you kidding me?
I thought our bullpen would have an advantage over the Reds, it does, the problem is our offense sucks
@Unkyd-- Werth BA .290. Bernadina BA .143.
I think Werth's going to be okay this year.
Actually just the opposite Dave the sycophant ... Werth is striking out way to much. Why not look at Espinosa's OBP not his small sample BA? AS I've been saying and FP corroborates its the approach. Espinosa's approach is the right approach and he will be rewarded whereas Werth and Desmond appear headed for a steep fall ...
Your posts are far stupider than any anonymous poster ... you might as well be Poopy McPoop and be an Ori'holes fan.
oh man, I feel like Fred G Sanford, its the big one Elizabeth....
Well done, Gorzy!!
Too bad nobody will hit. Seriously--they got nothing done against Simon?
And where are those cretinous so-called-fans who wanted to non-tender and cut Gorzelanny instead of Lannan? People Lannan imploded in the fifth in Syracuse as per usual? He now has a 13.50 ERA but again that doesn't tell us much its the consistent -20 pRAA that tells the true story across three going on 4 years ... send the ignorant into the way back machine with Sherman ... somewhere in the stone age preferably.
somebody's off theirs.
why cant we hit the god damn baseball???????????
somebody's off theirs.
Delusional schizophrenic hatred of anonymous posters ...
Come on Nats!
This has been one of the best and longest pitching duels we've seen in a while.
Winning it by 1 run would be nice :-)
Very nice outing for Gorzo. Strikeouts in pressure situations were impressive. For the second day in a row, Davey brings in the long reliever right after the pitcher's spot in the order bats, allowing them to go multiple innings. Stammen could be next if we PH for Gorzo, but if we go down in order, he can pitch another inning. I like this strategy alot better than doubleswitching.
Mick -- AMEN!!!!!!!! Do you realize how fast they have been playing? This is like 12 innings in 3 and a half hours, some of our regular nine inning games. Or maybe six innings of a Yankee/RedSox game.
Wilson has not looked confident at the plate, this would be a good time for him to whack the ball
This entire game has been a giant "out" parade.
Ok, I'm ready for Flores to pinch hit a HR and end this thing.
I'm done. That's enough for me.
Used to be a nice site with decent discussion. Turned quite ugly and bizarre all of a sudden.
Ok, I'm ready for Flores to pinch hit a HR and end this thing.
You'd have to call up Solano or add Maldonado first. He's the last catcher.
Bernadina is a goof ball! get him the hell out of here
You'd have to call up Solano or add Maldonado first. He's the last catcher.
Totally a joke. You could tell because there was talk of a HR.
What just happened?
Dave.. don't give into the trolls...
Wow.... Talk about your crazy nonsense...!!
Where was Roger going, what was he thinking?.
Used to be a nice site with decent discussion. Turned quite ugly and bizarre all of a sudden.
And of course you avoid reading anonymous posts right? Go to bed old man and don't forget to whine and moan to Mark about anonymous posters ... egad the idiots and cretins how they managed to make it through kindergarten escapes me?
top of 13! Lombo a chump are you sh----- me! this is pathetic. reminds me of 1970 Senators, no hitting and the batters have that stupid look on their faces after they look at a third strike,
Where was Roger going, what was he thinking?
Agressive base running by one of the Nats fastest players ... that young shortstop caught him just a few feet off the base ... give credit to the Reds on that play ...
This is real baseball ... and the Nats now can hold their own against anyone. Enjoy don't complain!
egad the idiots and cretins how they managed to make it through kindergarten escapes me?
Your use of a question mark really makes this extra classy.
How do you have that type of brain cramp? Just bad base running by the Shark.
in the infamous words of the late Willie James Huff aka allah ragbar, funky chicken... i'm drunk as hell!! rack em rack rack rack lol
top of 13! Lombo a chump are you sh----- me! this is pathetic. reminds me of 1970 Senators, no hitting and the batters have that stupid look on their faces after they look at a third strike,
Kind of sad ... he may have already been told he is going to Syracuse ... I feel bad for the kid.
NatsLady.. if you are still there.. god bless, this one must have been a doozy!
Nothing about Roger's play was smart. The Reds ss played good fundemantal ball, Roger did not. I can enjoy and call what I see at the same time.
How do you have that type of brain cramp? Just bad base running by the Shark.
Being aggressive like Zim last night ... sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This time they lost last night they won. Its the right approach. Its solid baseball ...
Relax!
Thank God we have pitching, cause we're going to see a lot 1-0 or 2-1 games this year.
The offense really need to start picking it up soon.
Nothing about Roger's play was smart. The Reds ss played good fundemantal ball, Roger did not.
Then what Zim did last night wasn't good fundamental ball. This time the Reds were on top of things. They know the Nats are no patsies anymore. They're playing at their best now ... and that's a good thing if you want the Nats to win the division this year.
On another note, Aaron Harang has 9 KS in 3 innings.
If we play for another hour Friday the 13th will be over. And in the "duh" department, our pitchers are really really good. And our hitting is really really bad.
Aren't the Reds expected to be a pretty good team this year?
Their offense has been even worse than ours :-)
Flat out battle of pitchers tonight.
Bernadina's offensive instincts have not caught up to his defense. There was a play earlier in the week against the Mets where, after hitting a single, Bernadina casually sauntered back to 1st base instead of taking 2nd on a wile throw from the outfield to home plate to hold a potential run at 3rd. The next batter hits into a double play to kill the rally and we ended up losing the game.
we should try to trade bernadina for torres,torres hit 16 homers,42 doubles,and 27 sb's in 2010 despite battling injuries,and the dimensions of at&t ballpark.in 2011
This again is a silly post? Why now during this game? Because Bernadina is an aggressive base runner?
I guarantee you that teams are asking for 2 things from Mike Rizzo:
1. Pitching, pitching, pitching, and more pitching.
2. Catching.
Just like the A's did for Gio Gonzalez.
Let's just play the hand their dealt for a few games maybe into June before we think about any trades ... let's see how the boys in Syracuse make out at that point.
Nats are making me nuts, but their a great excuse to drink .... lol not that I need one
here is Mark's prediction:
Mark Zuckerman@MarkZuckerman I predict this game will end on a Gio Gonzalez pinch-hit inside-the-park grand slam. That's what it's going to take for someone to score.
come on Zim, end this damn thing
Being aggressive like Zim last night ... sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This time they lost last night they won. Its the right approach. Its solid baseball...
Oh come on! Shark's baserunning error was not a matter of being aggressive. He overran the bag and got caught. Not solid baseball at all. Zim was taking a chance to win the game; Bernie messed up.
That said, he kept the rundown going so that Ramos could make it to second, and then Ramos in a heads up play made it to third. That meant that the end result was exactly the same as if Bernie had made it to third and Ramos was thrown at first. So in the end it was "no harm, no foul," in contrast to the infamous Nook Logan brain freeze that spawned the classic call by Charilie -- "Where was he going? What was he thinking?"
sm13 said...
On another note, Aaron Harang has 9 KS in 3 innings.
April 13, 2012 10:56 PM
9 strikeouts in three innings to start a game. Wow, don't think I ever remember ever seeing that before, not saying it hasn't happen.
Well, I am glad Danny didn't go O-fer.
The offense really need to start picking it up soon.
Looks like Nady's bat might be about to ... in the end though you'll have to wait for Espinosa, Ramos, and Desmond to continue to progress and develop. I'm not convinced you'll see much from Werth and LaRoche. Their replacements are already here ... not sure how ownership is going to take Werth as a bench player but he is looking more and more like one ... with the K's. Without Morse in the lineup doubtless Werth won't be hitting ...
Sec 222 - the harm was the extra out. At least it didn't end the game like Nook. I was at RFK for that mysterious bit of base running.
Oh God, the base are loaded. PLEASE LORD!
At 126 million, all we need werth to do is hit a fly ball
THANK GOD!
now that is what werth is suppose to do yihaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
WOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Jason!!!! 'Bout time. Stammen with 2 wins in a row!
Im a happy drunk!!! rack em rack rack rack rack rackeeeeeeem
6 & 2...Go Nats!
That was painful but I will take it.
I love love LOVE THEM!
This team is going to put a lot of hitters into slumps after they play the Nats. That was some big time pitching.
Quite the random interview by Werth.
A win is a win. Some day Jordan, some day.
GREAT WIN and you could tell Cincinnati really wanted this one! Making this even better than any previous win ...
Hmmm maybe I should "dis" Werth more often ... I thought for sure he would "K" again and instead he wins the game!
Like to see more doubles from Jayson but its still early ... let's ride the hand we're dealt and see how far it takes them at least into July!
That was really a trip. Who would have predicted that on Friday,April 13th, Craig Stammen would have 2 wins and Jordan Zimmerman would have zero wins?
As one of my kids noticed, a man named Jason won on friday the13th..
A win is a win. Some day Jordan, some day.
Does it matter more than the fact that Johnson's bullpen "design" and his management of the rotation is working? Wonder what Riggleman is thinking down with his Wahoo's. Bet he was watching since he works for the Reds.
Sweet!! I was hoping he'd hit a sac fly, but I'll take a base hit through the drawn in infield any day. 6-2, and still atop the NL East. Love it!
@sm13 -- If Bernie had run the bases properly and just stopped at third, the SS wouldn't have tried to pick him off and Ramos would have been thrown out at first. So looking at it that way, there was no extra out. But that doesn't change the fact that it was a bonehead play. No way he was going to score on a groundout to SS.
As one of my kids noticed, a man named Jason won on friday the13th..
Actually its Jayson ... but who's counting?
Instant analysis is up.
(Boy....I just LOVE it when MicheleS goes "WOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!)
I know it is JaYson, but the character in the movies is Jason....
If we can win on Friday the 13th in the 13th...
Then it's going to be a fun year! LOL
Go Nats!
I am post surgery in hospital. You made á bad evening fun. I will love you forever. Duke
Awww... Thanks UnkyD...I was afraid that I wouldn't get it to say it tonight!
3-2? I thought it was 2-1.
Section 222-Davey just said that they planned to send Bernadina on that play had he thrown it to first. Blame that one on the coaching staff, not Bernadina. I am sure they work on stuff like that in spring training hoping to steal a run. Cosart throws to first, and I think Bernadina has a real good shot to score. I think it was a calculated gamble rather than a bad baserunning play. They would have had to make 2 throws and a tag, and Bernadina was already 3 steps toward home. Great, great play by Cosart in my opinion.
You think Philadelphia is feeling it too...
P.S. Duke, get well soon buddy.
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