 |
Associated Press photo John Lannan was roughed up for six runs in only 3 2/3 innings. |
Hitting highlight: For seven innings, there were no hitting highlights. Zero. Zilch. Then Michael Morse led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer off Beckett. Then Steve Lombardozzi belted a two-run shot. Then Adrian Gonzalez booted a sharp grounder to first. Then Mark DeRosa singled to right. Then Bryce Harper beat out a slow roller to third. Then Danny Espinosa singled to left, loading the bases. Then Morse, batting for the second time in the inning, drilled a two-run single to right to incredibly turn a 6-0 deficit into a 6-6 tie. It was one of the most remarkable rallies in Nationals history, and it brought life back to what remained of the crowd of 26,931. That is, until Clippard served up the homer to Kemp to lead off the ninth, making the eighth-inning rally moot.
Pitching lowlight: Lannan excelled in his three previous starts because of his ability to attack the strike zone, get ahead in the count and induce groundballs. And he labored through this start because he wasn't able to do any of those things. Lannan threw first-pitch strikes to only 9 of 22 batters faced, including a stretch of six consecutive batters to open the top of the third in which he didn't throw a first-pitch strike to anyone. He issued back-to-back, two-out walks during that inning, setting the stage for RBI hits by Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier. And he plunked Shane Victorino in the fourth, setting the stage for another three-run rally. It's only one bad start after three stellar ones, but this wasn't what the Nationals were looking for out of Lannan with a playoff berth at stake.
Key stat: Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett combined to win 39 games ... in 2007.
Up next: They didn't clinch tonight, so the Nationals will give it another try tomorrow night when these two teams meet in the series finale. Ross Detwiler gets the start against fellow left-hander Chris Capuano at 7:05 p.m.
30 comments:
Yup. Good job by the goon squad to rescue this game.
I do hope we get to see Ryan Perry in a Sunday start against the Brewers.
I think you will find that Lannan was not getting the low strike which he had in previous starts.
I was OK with a loss down 6-0. The Nats showed why they are something, with that 6 run 8th. But alas, Clip puts a real bitter taste in my mouth. Sorry gang, this is unacceptable, veteran pitcher well RESTED, ahead 0-2 in the count against the Dodgers BEST hitter. That is on you Clip and you owe your team one hell of an apology for working so hard only to have you blow it! If Kemp homers on a 2-0, I can understand it, not on 0-2, sorry gang
I have lost all confidence in him period. I would have felt better losing 6-0 than to see this team work so hard and Clip throw that pitch on 0-2. This is not the first, second or third time this has happen with Clip. It is old
why didn't davey use another pitcher for the top of the 9th besides clippard? Should have used Garcia
In fairness too Clip, the umpires once again SUCK and they have gotten old. Bud Selig, you need to take out the GARBAGE!!!
especially since clippard just pitched the game before and garcia was fresh.
dcnatsfan89 my bad, I forgot Clip pitch the game before, but still.... 0-2 pitch?? My guess is that Davey thought Nats would get the 1 run in the 9th.
We should still be playing. How can a mistake like that be allowed to stand? Who disciplines the umpires?
They need to start putting Storen in save situations. Again, this was a devastating loss. Let's see if this snowballs, or makes them stronger. Again, my money is on the Braves taking the division, but it'll be close.
clip always makes me nervous when he comes out to pitch, never an easy save. always puts someone on base. playoffs are going to be interesting..
mick said...
In fairness too Clip, the umpires once again SUCK and they have gotten old. Bud Selig, you need to take out the GARBAGE!!!
September 19, 2012 10:56 PM
___________________________________
The bad calls almost always go against the Nats. The LaRoche play against the Braves where they said he was off the base and this call are head scratchers.
They must have instant-replay as the integrity of the game is more important.
phillies must be licking their chops to play us..we've been looking like sh*t lately, and they've had our number since may.
Think back to the 1st Dodgers series when Jerry Hairston hammers the ball out of the catchers glove and Davey argued it to no avail.
I bet you can come up with 2 dozen bad ump calls against the Nats including some obvious bad K calls on Bryce while he was batting.
Gonat..... I forgot about the Hairston play... you just got me mad again, lol
How do you miss that call, honestly? What are you watching?
We had a great comeback in the 8th and I'm glad we finally showed some offense. However, the home plate umpire should be fired for lying about seeing the play, that's what he told Davey.
Otherwise I agree with mick on clipp. I would prefer we have a power arm as a closer. Clip worries me every time he goes out to pitch.
No accountability for these Umps, who continue to blow calls nightly. No excuse for that one. Porter was sleepwalking. The MLB needs to start getting rid of some of these "veteran" umps. They suck.
at the end of this video you can tell HP is just watching his buddy making over the top "you're out gesture" he's not watching Kemp.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_09_19_lanmlb_wasmlb_2&mode=video
You wanna get really pissed? Watching King Felix on the MASN channel vs Os and Gary Thorne all if a sudden turns from the game conversation to start lambasting Rizzo and the Nats on shutting down Strasburg.
You tell me, Angeloser owns MASN and you have to wonder how often their announcers are talking crap about the Nats.
Lerner shouldn't sit idly by.
I thought I put a message here, but it is gone.
I would love to have mark be pool reporter who does what they are taught in journalists school and get the truth. Which umpire called the run good? Obviously he was wrong.
PLease don't let the umps weasel out of this.
Yeah Ghost I hope Ted Lerner puts the hit on that mob schiester mouthpiece Angelos before too many moons go by ... now that'll be a sweet taste in my mouth ... memories of fleeting tax dollars going to build 2 professional sports complexes and franchises ...
IN any case back to this ballgame ... folks need to keep in mind that Davey and his busy mind never sit idly by. There's a reason he works his tail off in the gym. Keeps his mind sharp.
No doubt this is a dress rehearsal for the playoffs and that will undoubtedly include everyone. Storen is just about back, Christian Garcia is looking pretty good. Burnett is working to prove he's still viable. Looks like my man Mattheus is having problems and I still think Clippard has been playing this entire season hurt ... Davey has to have his suspicions.
Plus Clipp is low-end poor man's power pitcher. Not the high end variety like Storen, Mattheus and Garcia. Clippard uses some sleight of hand through his unorthodox throwing motion and windup plus change up.
We'll have to wait and see what Davey has cooked up in the Natstown for the playoffs.
I just got home from the Park...had lots of fun as always until the end...
I'm sure others have already said this, but NOBODY in the Park knew what was going on with the Dodgers phantom run in the 4th...The PA announcer even announced the Dodgers had scored 2 runs in the inning, and then after the argument, there were 3...
I know they don't show replays of close plays, which is stupid, but they HAVE to use the video board to explain to those in the Park what's going on....
The 10 million dollar video board has to be put to better use...Explain calls like the one tonight, show a few more replays of hits and good defensive plays....how many times do we need to see the canned videos of Nats hitting the ball in the cage with the "smoking bat"....
I know they're afraid of riots if they show replays of bad calls...but they can put the video board to much better use than they do know
all if a sudden turns from the game conversation to start lambasting Rizzo and the Nats on shutting down Strasburg.
Unfortunately, every time Lannan lays an egg you're going to hear that ...
Its why I'd like to see Ryan Perry make a start. He may make them think twice about dissing the Nats ... with Perry, Karns, and Meyer the Nats have some real fire power pretty close to the majors. The days of hoping Garret Mock might get it are gone.
Although, sure looks like Rizzo / Riggleman made one mistake in not giving Marco Estrada any sort of chance in the majors while they had him. But he's not a power pitcher type that Rizzo prefers.
Love the Legion of Doom guys on here predicting how the Nats will fail in the playoffs...
Predicting failure is easy, 10 teams will make the playoffs, if you predict DOOM for all 10 teams, you'll be 90% correct, but that doesn't make you a genius...
I can see why Davey stuck with H-Rod for so long. He had the stuff for a lights out closer, but not the mental make up. Clippard has the mental make up, but not the stuff. Storen will be closing more games, if they make it to the divisionals.
Sorry we lost the game, but that was SO fun!!!! Here's Davey, auditioning pitchers for the Sunday game and taking out the regulars and everyone is sorta sleepy--or leaving early--and then it was like time stopped, and suddenly there was no one in the CF plaza, everyone was standing and screaming. No one was heading to the Metro. I yelled and yelled and I'll be hoarse today, fer sure.
Like Phil Wood, I wondered why Davey didn't use Clip in the 9th. However, like Phil, I'm not going to second-guess Davey. Rather, I'm going to try to understand his reasoning. So I'll meditate on it and see what the morning brings. Burnett looked good. Wang looked good after his opening jitters (wild pitch). Zach Duke looked good.
The "regulars" are tired. That makes me glad we are playing teams that are all still in the hunt, because their regulars are also tired and banged up.
Some very nice defensive plays in both games. Coupla gems by Espy in game one. That RZ play where the ump blew the call was spectacular. Harper made a great catch and a couple of excellent ones. He is reading the ball very well in center.
All in all, it was worth the $$ it cost me to take the day off...I mean, you work to live, not vice-versa, right?
DJB, agree. Seems like Davey is riding Clip pretty hard, so Storen will be ready and healthy. Same for Garcia. Now that Davey has seen Garcia's stuff, why wear him out?
Clip is pretty tough. Came back after the dinger and the single and got the side out. I wouldn't bet on the furniture in the clubhouse, though...
Doesn't surprise me on whit that a pair of Angelos employees -- Thorne and Cakes -- were ripping Rizzo for the Stras shutdown. Let's not delude ourselves. MASN stands for Mr. Angelos's Sports Network. It's all about him. So any chance to stick it to the Nats, the Angelos lackeys will find a way. I was listening and it was not in any germane to the O's-M's telecast at the time. They went out of their way to rip the Nats' brass. Typical.
I hope we meet these bushers in the World Series.
Alan Porter says: I missed the call at home because I was busy watching The Z man working it at third base. I'm such a fan
Post a Comment