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| Photo by USA Today |
Game in a nutshell: The Nationals had lost four straight with a total of four runs scored, a dismal stretch that forced manager Davey Johnson to make changes to his lineup. Whether it was his adjustments or not, the Nats finally broke through with a six-run outburst through the first three innings. They got started with an RBI double by birthday boy Danny Espinosa in the second and scored another on a slow infield grounder by Denard Span. In the third both Espinosa and Bryce Harper hit home runs as the Nats took a 6-0 lead and let pitcher Gio Gonzalez work the rest of the night with a comfortable lead.
Hitting highlight: The Nats entered the third inning with a two-run lead, but quickly decided they wanted more. Harper led off the inning with a solo home run to dead center field. Werth then singled and was moved to third on a Joey Votto throwing error after he fielded a grounder from Adam LaRoche. Ian Desmond scored Werth on a fielder’s choice groundball and Espinosa then scored both himself and LaRoche on a two-run shot to right-center field. Finally a big inning for the Nats’ offense.
Pitching highlight: Gio Gonzalez entered Thursday’s game coming off two forgettable starts with a deep and powerful Reds lineup awaiting. He threw 33 pitches through his first two innings, but was perfect against the first 11 batters he faced. A solo shot by Votto broke up his no-hit bid, but Gonzalez finished strong with no runs allowed, one hit, two walks, seven strikeouts, and one home run through eight innings of work.
Key stat: The Nats scored four runs in the third inning, as many as they had produced in their previous four games combined.
Up next: The Nats will look to build off their offensive outbreak in the second game of the series as Jordan Zimmermann (3-1, 2.67 ERA) and Homer Bailey (1-1, 3.24 ERA) face off.
57 comments:
UNTUCK!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Happy Birthday Danny!!
Reds were third in the league in hitting before the game. Held to one hit. Nice!
Great Gatorade shower for Gio and the new kid! How sweet it is!
Although . . . perhaps its time some other team goes through a collective slump against the Nats. The Reds only got give hits, and no runs, yesterday.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep on truckin', boys.
awesome win. finally had some luck go our way and good hitting all around. I honestly did not think Gio would go eight innings after he had 60 some pitches by four innings. nice to finally see his 2012 side. hope he stays that way.
okay a move in the right direction, lets take the series tomorrow so i can bring my broom for saturday's game
Lombo 0 for 5. Espinosa a double and a homer. That's his sixth double.
LaRoche 0 for 4 again.
Well Werth is sure better than LaRoche in #4 so far ...
Three more with the Reds then four more in Atlanta.
okay a move in the right direction, lets take the series tomorrow so i can bring my broom for saturday's game
You mean Sunday right?
Lets review my prediction made at 524 on the game thread.
Final Nats 9 Reds 2 (very close)
Gio line 7 IP (CLOSE) 4 (HITS REASONABLY CLOSE) 1 ER ( correct) 2 BB ( correct) 8 k ( real close).
I gave myself an A.
Espi hits Lombo doesnt (go figure)
Indeed, 'tis a four game series.
Did anyone credit Werth's sage advice for the win?
Good night you all. Finally the luck changed! WoooHoo and untuck!
FP did fanscwere burning sage out side of gate in centers.
Manassas.. keep it up!
Yes, I heard that, Manassas. Atta way, fans.
You better believe I untucked. :-)
So how did Span do?
Pretty sure we won't hear about it from you know who.
Surprising stat: Span is tied for third on the team on RBI's, behind Harper(16), Werth(9), and tied with ALR,( each with 8).
Welcome back guys
Span Fans unite! :-)
In all fairness to Lombo-- he was put at third, has hardly ever played there, and moved to a new spot in the lineup. I think he had a few things to think about. Played well at third and still rarely strikes out. The fly balls have to go, though. Still probably a better option at third than Tracy. Figures, though- torches and pitchforks against Danny, love for Lombo, and what happens? Reverse lock. It's a funny game. What do you think of the new pretty face on the sideline?
Drake was awesome. What?
What do you think of the new pretty face on the sideline?
Lombo no hits but made contact. ALR open you eyes.
Yes, he was. Cute kid.
Swami, she was "okay," but she's got big little shoes to fill.
Great night for Gio, Span, Espy and Bryce.
Seriously, not big on sideline reporters but I guess it goes with the territory.
Swami amen on the pretty face on the sideline. And that new girl they got is cute also.
At least she doesn't wear bow-ties.
And yes, making contact is good. Never know when a ball will drop, get through or be bobbled. ALR- no contact or very weak. May will be better?
4 game series. Can't bring broom out on Saturday.
Dave Jageler had me in tears laughing, after Bernadina's hit, he says to Charlie Slowes, "thats a huge weight lifted off of Shark's dorsal fin"
That's pretty funny, mick!
JZim tomorrow! Go Nats!
Dave J.'s comment was one of the highlights of the evening for me. Couldn't watch it, had to catch it on the MLB AtBat app and the radio.
Reserving judgment on Julie A. Tonight's Gatorade shower sort of messed up her post-game interview. (And I have to wonder whether Gio might not have been in on it somewhat, helping with Julie's initiation.)
@michelle earlier I felt 4-1 tomirrow for Nats. Will see if my 5:00 feel the same tomorrow.
The pretty , young sideline girls just seem all the same. Fluffy , inane stuff. And the shaving cream and Gatorade - so junior high. Guy has a great game and you destroy his interview? Ha, ha, very funny. So professional and mature.
I think Julie brought us good luck. Baseball gods do not like to hear Carpenter doing post-game interviews.
Hey, peric. Lombo did all right at third, yes!
So, swami is the new summoner, right? Called for an easy game with their pitcher melting down and they make the errors... I think this one qualifies.
I had a funny thought, unconventional. What if, on those plays where Ryan is back and would in theory make the long 3/4 throw to first, that he throws instead to Espy like a double play? Make the pick and then the short side-arm zip over to second base and let Espinosa relay it to first. Seems like you would have the advantage of RZ's range (and bat) and maybe eliminate some of the bad throws and the wear-and-tear on his shoulder.
It would look weird but I bet it would work.
SJM308,
If its a choice between Span or Lombardozzi and Kobernus I'd likely pick the latter for lead-off.
Sure Span did fine and he drove in some runs. But he and Werth are blocking Tyler Moore.
BTW, Here is Rizzo on Rendon. Just so you see and understand (finally) what is really going on.
Courtesy of Byron Kerr:
"He is going to play every day somewhere," Rizzo said of Rendon. "If he is here in the big leagues, he is going to play every day in the big leagues."
Rizzo said Rendon looks the part at third base and at the plate, despite hitting just a 2-for-15 (.133) to start.
"I like the way he plays," Rizzo said. "He has got a calmness about him in the batter's box and in the field. I thought he has had some good at-bats against some quality pitching. I think he is going to be a guy that is going to help us in the near future a lot."
Swami, the Gatorade shower came with a Curly W attached to it. Brought a smile to many of us.
Dave Jageler had me in tears laughing, after Bernadina's hit, he says to Charlie Slowes, "thats a huge weight lifted off of Shark's dorsal fin"
I wouldn't say that in mixed company ... ~smiles~
I just got back! What a game. The excitement is back!
The man who did the chicken sacrifice this afternoon is brilliant.
And last I heard Davey was "retiring" to the front office and Rizzo is going to build a 2014 lineup for a new manager. The way things are looking right now Rendon is likely going to be at third base.
Unless Zim suddenly completely heals and has a monster year and wins the MVP, silver slugger, and gold-glove at third base. Well worth waving Rendon in his face if he does.
That Espinosa kid did good, eh? Someone here predicted he would go 2-4 tonight. Funny.
The way things are looking right now Rendon is likely going to be at third base.
What happens to LaRoche next year? (And what if he, as usual, heats up and has a killer July, Aug, and Sept?)
Really helps when the plate ump calls a good game. Gio was really hitting the corners and the ump called them correctly. Makes a big difference.
SonnyG10 said...
Really helps when the plate ump calls a good game. Gio was really hitting the corners and the ump called them correctly. Makes a big difference.
Good point. Conversely, Arroyo was just missing, and the ump was correctly calling them as balls, too.
Wonk: how can you let common sense into an argument? This has to stop. Really enjoyed just watching Gio tonight. I did think he pitched with a little more attitude and I loved that we scored multiple runs in multiple innings. I think we have lost just one game when we score first.
Peric - of course you would pick Koberus because
1. you have disrespected Span ever since he signed here and
2. you are the champion of our AAA boys.
I do love your passion but I think you need to let Rizzo and Davey do the jobs they are being paid to do. Corey Brown, Kobernus, Karns, Rosenbaum are easy to root for because they can kill it at AAA but 3 of those 4 have never played an inning in the majors. Ask Rendon how tough that is? Don't stop rooting for the underdog but take a step back and look at what Span has done this year and actually in his career. Its a good signing, Harper has less pressure in LF and it shows in his offense.
Good night all!
BTW, Desi was safe on that pickoff at first base, even though the ball beat him. Desi's body blocked the first base umpire's view and he blew the call. That was a neat hand move Desi put on Votto. Too bad the ump couldn't see it.
Fun game to watch. Think I will watch a little bit of the replay on my DVR. Good nite, all.
"Ha, ha, very funny. So professional and mature."
Yeah, but at the same time, some levity has been sorely needed...
"Sure Span did fine and he drove in some runs. But he and Werth are blocking Tyler Moore."
Poor Tyler. These veterans keep blocking him by doing their job well...
That slide Desi did, that was the Rick Ankiel slide. Made me smile.
anyone else want to see rendon in the 2 hole
Span, Rendon, Harper, Werth, LaRoche, Desimond, Espinosa, Suzuki, Pitcher
My husband would like more data points but gave Julie a conditional acceptance. Haven't watched the postgame but from photos it looks like she took the Gatorade shower well.
On the antics, either someone's complaining that the guys aren't focused and are horsing around too much or another one's complaining that they're acting too goofy. It's nice to have something to complain about, right? Win games and I don't care what you do afterwards, boys. ;-)
Let's see if bday boy stays hot....
natsfan1a said...
My husband would like more data points but gave Julie a conditional acceptance. Haven't watched the postgame but from photos it looks like she took the Gatorade shower well.
She did take it well and with a big smile. She then commented they told her to expect it. She also said "I can tell you, the Gator Ade is orange flavored.
I give her a pass so far because she is good looking and anything to keep Carpenter from doing postgame interviews. I like Carp as our play-by-play guy, but not so much doing postgame interviews. Seems like Julie is not too bad with the questions, but like your husband, I need more data points.
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