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Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER Edwin Jackson faces Wei-Yin Chen tonight at Camden Yards. |
Which means they'll need to get their lineup going tonight against Wei-Yin Chen. They've already beaten Chen this year, scoring six runs in 4 1/3 innings off him on May 20, so that's an encouraging sign. No surprises in Davey Johnson's lineup. As he indicated after last night's game, he's sticking with slumping Ryan Zimmerman in the No. 3 spot. Michael Morse again serves as DH, with Tyler Moore in left field and Xavier Nady in right field.
Edwin Jackson, meanwhile, gets the ball for the Nats, looking to duplicate his eight innings of one-run ball against Baltimore on May 18 (albeit in a game the Nationals eventually lost).
I'm back at the park tonight, so look for plenty of updates throughout the evening...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: Fox (Regional)
Radio: WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WJFK (106.7 FM), WTEM (980 AM), WFED (1500 AM), XM 186
Weather: Clear, 88 degrees, Wind 9 mph LF to RF
NATIONALS (40-28)
2B Danny Espinosa
CF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Michael Morse
1B Adam LaRoche
SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore
RF Xavier Nady
C Jesus Flores
(RHP Edwin Jackson)
ORIOLES (40-30)
2B Brian Roberts
SS J.J. Hardy
RF Chris Davis
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
3B Wilson Betemit
1B Mark Reynolds
DH Nick Johnson
LF Steve Pearce
(LHP Wei-Yin Chen)
UMPIRES
HP Tom Hallion (cc), 1B David Rackley, 2B Alfonso Marquez, 3B Brian O'Nora
6:35 p.m. -- A friendly reminder that tonight's game will be televised regionally on Fox (it appears you'll get that game throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Bob Carpenter will call the game, with Tom Verducci as analyst.
7:17 p.m. -- We are underway on an 87 degree night. Big crowd on hand, could be another full house.
7:22 p.m. -- And we've got our first blown call of the night as David Rackley calls Bryce Harper out on a bang-bang play at first base. Then again, Harper didn't help his case when he dove headfirst into the bag, making it more difficult for Rackley to see and hear the play. Ryan Zimmerman, meanwhile, fell into an 0-2 count for seemingly the 23rd time in the last week, though he did rap a hard grounder to first that was snared by Mark Reynolds for the final out of the top of the first.
7:45 p.m. -- A question for the masses: What does it take for Xavier Nady to beat out a slow roller to third AND for two runners to score on the play (including Adam LaRoche from second base)? It takes the dynamic infield tandem of Wilson Betemit and Mark Reynolds. Yikes. The Nats, of course, will gladly take that defensive miscue and the 2-0 lead they now hold because of it.
7:54 p.m. -- Six up, six down for Edwin Jackson, who did get some help from Harper in the bottom of the second. The rookie had to cover about 120 feet of ground to track down Matt Wieters' drive to deep right-center. Nady was far closer upon impact, but Harper simply got there much faster.
8:12 p.m. -- Nine up, nine down for Jackson, who has done it on only 34 pitches. It's pretty remarkable that on this pitching staff, he's been far and away the most efficient starter all season. Meanwhile, LaRoche just tagged his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center to lead off the fourth. And a sizable contingent of red-clad fans stood to applaud as the Nats took a 3-0 lead.
8:28 p.m. -- Twelve up, twelve down for Jackson. The Orioles have hit a couple of balls hard, but they've all been right at someone. And he's otherwise pitched exceptionally well so far, sitting on only 49 pitches through four.
8:37 p.m. -- A couple of hits already for Michael Morse, perhaps a sign he's starting to put things together. Zim, meanwhile, smoked a line drive to center as hard as you can hit a ball ... right at Adam Jones. Guy can't buy a break right now. Still 3-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
8:50 p.m. -- Well, the perfect game is history as Jones smokes a ball past Zimmerman, who is charged with a tough error on the play. That would've made for some potential controversy had the no-hitter remained intact, but two batters later Betemit sent a no-doubt single to right for the Orioles' first hit of the night. Jackson got into trouble for the first time, walking Nick Johnson with two outs to load the bases. But he came through to get Steve Pearce to pop out and end the fifth with the Nats still ahead 3-0.
9:07 p.m. -- Another 1-2-3 inning for Jackson, whose only blip the entire night came in the fifth. He's been fantastic, and he's headed for another long outing the way he's going.
9:17 p.m. -- A weak popup to second for Zimmerman to end the top of the seventh. He's 0-for-4 tonight and is now hitting .218 for the season. Yikes.
9:34 p.m. -- Wow, what a couple of dramatic turn of events in the bottom of the seventh. Jackson served up a leadoff homer to Jones, then gave up a couple of one-out singles to Betemit and Reynolds. And just like that, Davey Johnson came out of the dugout with the hook. So in came Michael Gonzalez to face Nick Johnson ... except Buck Showalter countered with the right-handed Ronny Paulino. Gonzalez fell behind 2-0 and looked to be in real trouble, but then Paulino lined a ball just to Desmond's left at shortstop. He caught the ball at his shoetips and then kept moving toward second base to double up Betemit and end the inning in stunning fashion. The Nats maintain a 3-1 lead heading to the eighth.
9:55 p.m. -- Another inning-ending double play from a Nats reliever. This time it was Sean Burnett getting J.J. Hardy to ground into a 6-4-3 twin-killing to end the eighth. The lead is still 3-1, and Tyler Clippard is warming for the ninth.
10:04 p.m. -- OK, here we go. Bottom of the ninth. Two-run lead for the Nats. Clippard on in search of his 12th save. In his previous 11, he's given up a total of one hit.
10:11 p.m. -- It's all over. Clippard closes the door for his 12th save and the Nationals pull off a 3-1 victory behind some early offense and some fantastic pitching from Edwin Jackson and Co. They'll go for the series win tomorrow and a possible split of the season-long Battle of the Beltways.
128 comments:
And remember, Mark -- you need to leave the press box immediately after the first pitch to Espi so the Nats can give EJax a big 1st inning lead!
GYFNG!
Oh, Tom Hallion of the awesome third strike call gesture, as seen in Strasburg's debut and in Howard's last at-bat of the 2010 NLCS (if memory serves).
Glad that our humble host will be on the scene, so that I can read about the game after the fact (going to the P-Nats tonight). Maybe Mark should just leave the press box in the top of every inning, just to be on the safe side. I'm not kidding. Well, okay, I am kidding. Sort of.
Okay, this is for old times' sake, for my Chicago baseball buddy: Niiiiiiiiiiiick. (btw, I'm gonna need an oh-fer from you, big guy. 'kay, thanks. ;-))
Fish lost again, and Ozzie probably doesn't believe in Myers-Briggs (ref. previous thread). Some of the comments are perceptive.
Ozzie on players' psyches
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120623&content_id=33793082¬ebook_id=33793084&vkey=notebook_mia&c_id=mia
Thanks for the link, NatsLady. Interesting coinkydink there.
Ryan Perry starting tonight for Harrisburg. Will be interesting to see how that experiment pans out.
Wow - out all day and trying my best to dial it back after I ranted non-stop in defense of JZim last night. Glad to see everyone carried on the debate in my absence and saved my last nerve. Bottom line, though - even though I have my own favorite players and opinions about the game and the Nats, I respect that others have differing opinions. I have been a huge critic of Davey Johnson, really it's just a long history of him with the Mets and the Orioles -I don't actually think he is a bad manager. It's more a personality thing. I don't think he is quite the saint everyone else does, but I know he is a smart baseball man. Sometimes I think he is blindly stubborn, but I have read what Ian and Danny had to say about the way he stuck by them and believed in them. Obviously that has had a great effect on them both. As a parent and teacher, I have to say that I kind of admire that approach with these players. I think he knows how to evaluate talent and can tell if they have it in them. I will repeat that Ryan Zimmerman has meant a lot to this team for a long time and I think he will again. He may have an Adam Dunn year - certainly Lincecum is terrible right now, Hanley can stink it up, Wright was bad last year. It happens. I think he does get a mulligan for a bit longer and think he will contribute again. For now, I will watch him play third and love it. I just want the Nats to hold the line the best they can and get a re-start after the ASG.
Nicely said Swami. It's a long season and we aren't at the break. A game ahead with one to go? Then sweat it out.
I truly believe that Jayson is our ace in the hole.
So much talent on this team. Enjoy it.
The Rangers, who were losing 11-1 to the Rox, are now at 11-7 and still batting in the bottom of the 5th. NO LEAD IS SAFE. LOL.
Sarge? Not a good team. Admit it.
Sure wish the lineup was in a little different order. Need a shake up offensively.
Thoughts and prayers to the family of Max Scherzer. He is pitching today, out of his home ballpark where he would have gotten a lot of support. Baseball is a just a game - I can't imagine what his family is going through.
I have my doctorate in something other than baseball, so someone teach me why this is
HRod pitches pathetic sudenly after 6 ot 8 saves, and only 1 save in last 5 tries) and he is replaced, Detwiler is replaced, when he is still in the top 25 in the leavue in ERA, Lidge sucks for 2 games against the yankees and he DFAd, then Wang makes 3 horid starts, and he demoted and Detwiler brought back, All along our pitching is ranked number 1.
Zime hits like crap in the 3 hole, our hitting stays at about 12-13 all season long, and he is still batting in the 3 hole. WHy is Davey hesitant about trying something different in the batting (wghich has not performed), but is quick to do something with the pitching when it has been in general great.
Loyalty is good only to a point. He hedged last night about moving Zim, but didn't pull the trigger. What will ahve to heppen to pull the trigger, and move him to 6yj ot 7th?
Inquiring minds want to know, (Werth last year was moved all over)
Davey and most of us old folk are creatures of habit. Some not hitting so of course, you make changes, move people around, stop the hard fast rules made long ago (L/R). As the times are anew, we must think anew. History will remember the Nats in spite of themselves.
So move zimm down, take some pressure off of him, see if it helps him...(and get the shoulder checked out in spite of what he says).
I say move him, and when he gets hot again move him back up. Not sure why he is hesitant. We all want him to get hot, and not chaning a thing will probably result in nothing changing.
I think Davey felt that all the "moved all over" stuff hurt the team last year (certainly including Werth). I think he feels that proven players that are in a slump are most likely to recover if they stay at a familiar role. I tend to give Davey some benefit of the doubt.
And Johnson is concerned with Zimmerman's shoulder also:
"Right now, I was more concerned in having somebody who can pick up Zim if his shoulder starts bothering him or something," Johnson said.
When DeRosa is back, he'll finally be able to give a break once in a while...
1a, thanks for reminding who Tom H is. I thought he was SS's debut umpire, couldn't confirm it.
Good thing Danny is batting righty tonight. Hope he mashes a couple.
who is the pinhead commentator with Sunshine
Who is the idiot on with Carp?
alright good swing by zimm
Here we go again with the umps.
My biased eyes had Harper safe, then the slow mo clearly showed me my bias eyes were fine, it was the umps eyes that were wrong.
Speaking of which did anyone evey here MLB or Rim Rimmons comment on the play last week. i was really disappointed that no reporter followed up that I read on that, and it cost us a game, it is worth following up.
With Carp is Mike Bordick.
First of all -- Bryce was safe. Second - Another incarnation of Cy Young on the mound. Third - I hate fox coverage.
Harper was safe and it was not that close.
It isnot Bordick, it is Tom Verducci.
Courage, people. I have been in Houston since Tuesday, reading every day about the Astros' hitting woes, too many strikeouts, too many guys left on base, etc., etc. But we just got back from MinuteMaid Park. Check the box score--there is light at the end of the tunnel, folks.
How can Bordick not know the Nats (40 miles away) played the Yanks (same division) last week in DC? IMO Debbie would be a strong replacement.
Tom Verducci is fine. Knowledgable and not full of himself. Does good historical stuff on MLB Network paired with Bob Costas and writes for Sports Illustrated. He did the Strasburg debut with Costas for MLB Net.
Davey hasn't been afraid to move players around. Desmond is alot better as a 5 or 6 hitter than he was as our leadoff guy. I think he may make a move with Zim fairly soon.
No, Swami, no Cy Young against us tonight. Zim hit that liner solidly and Beast was spraying hard-hit liners all over the stands foul before he smacked that single to right. Annd now as I write this, LaRoche hangs with one too.
One of the finer moments for the X Man.. 2 rbi's
Papelbon just blew another save.
Nice to have Zimm at 3b instead of the mere mortals that other teams have for D.
Oriole's fielding is real poor. Than you.
Now EJax needs to have a second inning like the first.
Verducci is a national baseball guy, not a Nationals baseball guy. Could very easily have gotten the location of the Nats/Yanks series wrong with all 30 teams to cover. Glad to see that tonight's Cy Young is maybe his cousin Clyde Young. Orioles defense helped us last night, let's take the gift tonight and make something of it.
And Thome (HR) wins it again for the Fils, for so Papelbon vultures another win.
No Davey is not afraid, just slow to make changes with his starting position players and lineups. He gives his players every opportunity to hang themselves. It works for him.
Harper !!!
EJAX! Not bad so far.
I was a bit puzzled by the EJax acquisition, but I have to say that this guy has grown on me. We have Stras and Gio that have a tendency to flame out early in games because no one can hit their stuff. Then JZim and EJax come in and bulldog their way through. We figure out that fifth spot - Detweiler throws fire again - and this will be awesome to watch the rest of the season.
I don't think there's any way the Rays nor the Orioles win the AL East because of their hands of stone.
So far, so good.
Terry Byrom @hbgsensradio
Ryan Perry delivers three scoreless innings. He hits 94 mph on the in-stadium radar gun. Sens and 'Cats scoreless into the 4th.
the nats need another bat of goodness.
Ejax a good second inning.
We are now 1 for 4 RISP.
Eck needs to work on more contact, we swing and miss at way too many pitches. I believe they must do it more than the league average though I have no proof.
Wow - more good news from the minors. Speaking of the minors - apparently DeRosa will be back quickly - why are we rushing everyone back and then they are o-fer the universe? They have more time to rehab and I wish they would take advantage of it. And as for OPACY? It's a little hazardous around the infield right now.
If I were an opposing pitcher, I would not give Harper anything near the strike zone until I know the guy behind him can hit.
Swami -- Rizzo's explanation for signing EJax was clear and reasonable at the time -- Stras' innings deficit, which meant not only the obvious September shutdown, but also Davey's appropriate tendency to use him sparingly in the late innings of his starts. So he needed not only a potential 3d playoff starter but a guy who would not wear out the pen in his starts.
Boy is he doing both and dealing tonight! I've never seen him mix in so many breaking balls effectively. Good game plan so far. But Ron's walk Nick.
This is sort of cool.
Tim Kurkjian @Kurkjian_ESPN
Starting pitchers today/tonight include Johnson, Jackson, Lincoln and Kennedy.
That's DON'T walk Nick. And he didn't.
I love that line from Hammel -- "playing in Colorado is like playing on the moon."
He doesn't hit much anymore, but Nick Johnson still knows how to make a pitcher work. He was always one of my faves.
And somebody must be pitchin for Cleveland and in the Bush league.
The Bat of Goodness!!!
ALR... sweet.
ALR!!!
I was just thinking, "wouldn't it be nice if that second inning single was the first step towards Adam being back?"
what...Lincoln just struk out Douglass
and why doesn't Tyler play everyday...certainly he is a better choice than Ankiel/Bernadina/Nady
Chen must be getting wild if he's walking Nady on four pitches, none of them close. Which means we'd better get more runs on him before we get into that tough pen. C'mon Jesus!
OK, now Danny, here's your RH chance! Just do it!
1 for 6 Risp. LaRoche's ball carried more than I thought. Espi reaching to hit a ball. if you have to reach like that you are either to far from the plate or swinging at a ball outside. Neither is good. that looked like a typiceal left handed swing.
I agree that Ryan is part of Bryce's problem. When - when, not if, Ryan starts hitting then Bryce will get better pitches. Why bother right now?
ball seems to be carrying to RC....
Iur batting with RISP going into tonight 13th in the league .223 last Saturday it was .224. 2 weeks ago .221.
League leaders is .289 (that's what we should be hitting with RISP)
Somebody just has to light a fire under this team to get them hitting. Maybe a little less esteem building and more old-fashioned 'Hey, stop whining and get this done" attitude.
Whatever Eck and co. have been doing thus far just isnt working.
You just gotta love Jackson -- one of the grittiest pitchers and battlers I've ever seen. Can't understand fans who didnt understand why his acquisition was reason to cheer.
Good to know we are up 3-0.
Me likey this start. All year, if EJax can start with a couple of clean innings, he gets real tough when he gets into a rhythm. Saw it against the Reds in the first home series, and tonight.
At least that was a decent at bat for RZ
Morse starting to come around. At least Zim hit it sharp.
Ehax looking good. Keep it up.
MIcheleS - thinking the same thing about Ryan - fouled off a lot and hit the ball hard. Morse and LaRoche with hits tonight!
Swami.. exactly.. at least 2 of the 3 are hitting.
I found this stat and it was shocking. On balls in play on first pitches, the nats are .330 average almost .090 more than their regular average. Had no cluse
Manassas, league average is .320 so not that strange. Pitchers throw first pitch strikes. Problem is RZ is like .136 on first pitches.
You have to love EJax. Loses the perfecto and the no-no, still gets 'em out. That's a pro.
I hate submarine/side arm throwers.
Well, that was really two hits--no doubt they'll revisit that E-5--but the O's official scorer is probably just so used to calling errors, it's become a custom. And the next best thing to hitting the ball to their infielders is getting into their bullpen. Let's go get 'em.
Awww.. Sofa, I love the new avatar.
So Nady goes when DeRosa returns? Tyler Moore has earned the right to stay.Bernie, Ankiel? Gotta be Nady.
Ejax fought hard in the 5th, too bad our hitters didn't give him more rest. Bwetween Desmond swinging at the first and it was one O'Day's typical pitches, and nady just topping for a double play, not enough rest. Tyler the youngster had the best at bat easily that inning.
with 0-1 count they are 14tr in the league at .274
Damn Yankees couldn't do anything much since they swept us, losing 3 of 4 and now losing 3-0 tonight. Makes you wonder what they heck was the problem last weekend. (besides Tim Timmons)
Sofa, LOL.
the O's official scorer is probably just so used to calling errors, it's become a custom.
Harper off the schnide now.
Ejax doing well through 6,
Nats with 0-2 count are .116 13th in the league
Just as I was warming to Verducci - who seems to make intelligent and insightful comments on the game in play - he talks about Jason Heyward making a fielding mistake on Harper in "interleague play". I get that you can't follow 30 teams closely. But . . .
Yanks just tied it up in NY.
with a 1-1 count .289 16th in the league looks lime medium is .325.
Theh "Face of the Franchise" is now batting .218.
I heard that interleague play comment too. carpenter being a good teammate has nbot thrown him under the bus either time.
Another possibility when Derosa is activated--Zim fesses up and goes on the DL. I would rather see Nady at bat than the present day Zim.
And the Orioles are off the schneid as well.
that sure fell apart quick. 2 cheap singles and tieing runs are on. Iwas texting to take him out after the first hit, but too loyal as usual.
OK, so, since "schneid" is short for schneider, Yiddish for tailor, would the English translation be "off the tail"?
Paulino kills the Nats.
Desi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, nothing Betamit could do there, he was just leaning the wrong way at exactly the wrong time.
Neutrino kills the Pats.
Ian desmond has to be in contention for the all star team, his hitting stats are solid and his fielding has been a mass majority of the season.
Video killed the radio star.
Manassas Nats' Fan said...
I heard that interleague play comment too. carpenter being a good teammate has not thrown him under the bus either time.
Probably because Sunshine's too dim to realize it was a mistake.
Natslady, there was a fish fry once again in Miami. :-)
Just catching the game now,have not read the thread yet. Ejax seems to have,pitched well once again.
Manassas -- Desi's most impressive hittiing is his tw-out RBIs.
I see a bunch of lousy swings in the top of the 8th. lets hold them please in the bottom of the 8th.
ehay2k, yup, noticed that. Also Ozzie's comments on "no problem" with his players' psyches.
Manassas - no fear, it's Sean on the bump.
Natslady, Ozzie probably thought they asked about the players' cycles.
Fie on Fox and MLBTV... game is blacked out in Omaha even though Fox is carrying NYY-NYM game here. Thankful though that Charlie and Dave have been keeping us entertained. Was beginning to harbor thoughts of a no-no for EJax. Now the bullpen needs to do its job.
Manassas, I loved Ozzie's comment to the effect "Players slump and they get a shrink; managers go bad and the team gets a new manager."
There will be no position players from the Nats going to the All-Game Game. Stras, Gio, and that's probably it. Sure, we think others should go, but they probably won't.
All-Star Game duh
brian Roberts at bat was just like we want our batters to bat, with 2 strikes foul it til you get one you like. We swing and miss more at 2 strikes counts than we foul the ball for sure.
Tim, had hope for ALR with the hot spring but it ain't happening. LaRussa likes Desi, though.
Look at that DP, didn't think he was getting it, but he did. Love me some Desi!
Like I said, no fear with Sean on the bump.
And now we get Mr. Clip next.
Sure looked like Hardy struck out, but the ball call allowed him to hit into the inning ending double play.
JFlo is due for a homer.
Perhaps tomorrow he will get one!
1 for 8 RISP. The one a gift from the 3Bman. Someone needs to take the lead here and make the hitters own up to their resposnbilities.
Someone needs to take the lead here and make the hitters own up to their resposnbilities.
The "accountability" thing again. What do you expect someone to do, beat them with rubber hoses until they start hitting?
This is who they are. They aren't good hitters, mostly. That's all there is. They are trying. You can't play this game better by trying harder, you have to relax. It's hard to relax when you're 0-for-June.
Agreed - you either have to relax so you can try harder, or try harder so you can relax. Catch 44.
:-P
WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO! Yup another win for the Nats!!! #41
It's your avatar, Nats Lady -- fear the goggles!
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
TM Michele
Burnett and clippard have been great the last 6 weeks. When Storen comes back and is ready to close, I would go to the A and B team with burnett and clippard one night and Stammen and Storen the other, as we are in these kind of games every night.
Yup. And y'know, Desi and RZ didn't get on base. But boy, they sure kept the O's OFF the bases. I'll take it.
Desi and Espi turn double plays like they are winding a clock!
Last night, we had our chances but didn't convert them. That's baseball, especially when poor Zimnn is pitching.
OK, let's get them tomorrow.
For the most part they are swinging harder than they need to. Swinging harder isn't neccesaruly better. I am for relazing and swinging for contact, not for homers. they always look like they all want a homer. I guess that is my complaint. Swing smoothly.
They do seem to be trying to hit six-run homers far too often, when a gort to the opposite field would do just fine, thanks.
*gork. That should read "gork".
But Klatuu barada nikto, just in case.
No wonder Brian Roberts is so hard to get out...he's a midget! Not that there's anything wrong with that!
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