Thursday, August 22, 2013

Game 127: Nats at Cubs

Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER
CHICAGO — Hello one last time from Wrigley Field, where the weather has taken a turn for the worse. There's a fairly intense storm system making its way through the area, and it could impact the start of today's series finale between the Nationals and Cubs. Stay tuned for weather updates.

Once they do get started, Stephen Strasburg will be on the mound, making his first appearance since Saturday night's ejection in Atlanta. Strasburg, who wasn't punished by MLB for hitting the Braves' Justin Upton and then twice throwing behind Andrelton Simmons, should be plenty fresh in the wake of the shortest start of his career. How will his command be? I think a lot of people are very curious about that.

The Nationals have several lineup changes. With lefty Travis Wood on the mound for the Cubs, Davey Johnson is loading with right-handed hitters, including Scott Hairston and Tyler Moore. Ian Desmond also gets the day off. Desmond tweaked his back during BP yesterday but started the game and looked fine, only to be pulled later for precautionary reasons. Afterward, he insisted he was fine and expected to play today, but it looks like Davey isn't taking any chances.

Updates to come...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, Ch. 9, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 185
Weather: Storms, 80 degrees, Wind 7 mph in from LF
NATIONALS (62-64)
CF Bryce Harper
SS Anthony Rendon
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Jayson Werth
C Wilson Ramos
1B Tyler Moore
LF Scott Hairston
2B Steve Lombardozzi
RHP Stephen Strasburg

CUBS (54-72)
SS Starlin Castro
1B Anthony Rizzo
C Dioner Navarro
RF Nate Schierholtz
CF Junior Lake
3B Donnie Murphy
LF Brian Bogusevic
2B Darwin Barney
LHP Travis Wood

UMPIRES
HP Tim Timmons
1B Laz Diaz
2B Bill Miller
3B Mike Winters (cc)

1:55 p.m. — Well, we're 25 minutes from scheduled first pitch and the tarp is on the field, with more rain still coming into the area. So this one is going to be delayed. It's just a question now how long the delay will be.

2:50 p.m. — Nothing new to report. The tarp is still on the field. The rain is still falling. Neither starting pitcher has emerged yet.

3:35 p.m. — Hey, the grounds crew just emerged from the ivy in left field. At least I think that's where they came from. Maybe they were catching up with Andre Dawson. Anyways, they're starting to prepare the field. First pitch is tentatively scheduled for 4:20 p.m. EDT, so two hours later than originally planned.

4:20 p.m. — And we are underway at last after a 2-hour rain delay. Bryce Harper takes strike one from Travis Wood.

4:27 p.m. — And just like that, the Nationals have taken a 1-0 lead. Ryan Zimmerman poked Wood's first pitch to right-center for his 15th homer of the season, an opposite-field shot. Good start to this one for the Nats and Stephen Strasburg, who now takes the mound with a lead.

4:37 p.m. — Strasburg burst out of the gates dealing in the bottom of the first, striking out both Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo on wicked curveballs. He did surrender a bloop single to Dioner Navarro but bounced back to get Nate Schierholtz on a groundball. So that's a 15-pitch inning for Strasburg to get this one started.

4:54 p.m. — Make it 3-0 Nats thanks to another rally in the top of the second. Tyler Moore recorded his fifth hit in eight at-bats since returning from Syracuse, bolstering Davey Johnson's plan to give him more playing time, especially against lefties. Steve Lombardozzi doubled down the right-field line, putting two men in scoring position for Strasburg, who delivered. The reigning NL Silver Slugger Award winner lined an RBI single to center. Anthony Rendon's sac fly brought home another run and gave the Nats an early 3-run lead here.

5:03 p.m. — Four strikeouts already for Strasburg in two innings, all of them on curveballs. He got both Donne Murphy and Darwin Barney in the bottom of the second. Two scoreless in the books for Strasburg, 30 total pitches. Still 3-0 Nats.

5:19 p.m. — Whoa, Strasburg and Ramos just combined to catch a runner trying to steal second base! Strasburg had a quick delivery to the plate, and then Ramos fired a perfect throw to nab Castro. Nicely done all around. Still 3-0 after three.

5:31 p.m. — Four innings down, and Strasburg has allowed only one bloop single to Navarro in the bottom of the first. He's got six strikeouts and is just cruising right along to this point.

5:41 p.m. — Meanwhile, the Nats don't have a hit since Strasburg's RBI single in the second. Middle of the fifth now, still 3-0.

6:08 p.m. — 29,393 people can go home tonight and say they saw Steve Lombardozzi homer in person. Yep, Lombo just launched his first homer of the season, the fourth of his career. He and Strasburg are now a combined 4-for-6 today with a 2.000 OPS. Harper and Werth, on the other hand, are 0-for-5. It's 4-0 Nats at the stretch.

6:24 p.m. — Strasburg continues to mow down the Cubs. He's through seven scoreless innings now on 86 pitches. He's primed to go for his second complete game in three starts. And the other one, of course, was his ejection in the bottom of the second, so that can't really count.

6:42 p.m. — There goes the shutout. Brian Bogusevic blasts a solo homer to the right field bleachers in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling Strasburg's bid. But the right-hander got out of the rest of the inning. He's at 96 pitches and he will hit for himself in the ninth, so he'll be shooting for his second career complete game. 4-1 now.

6:53 p.m. — OK, here we go: Strasburg takes the mound in the ninth inning for the second time in 11 days. He'll face Rizzo, Navarro and Schierholtz with the Nats leading 4-1.

7:04 p.m. — Oh, dear. This game is tied and going to extra innings. Strasburg came within one out of the complete-game victory, but Rendon couldn't make a really tough play on a grounder in the hole at short, and Moore couldn't make the scoop at first base. Donnie Murphy then clubbed a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for the game-tying homer. Strasburg was beside himself as Davey came out to take the ball from him. Rafael Soriano now in.

7:08 p.m. — Extra innings. Not what anybody expected, or wanted, today.

7:19 p.m. — The Nats had a man on second with one out in the 10th, but couldn't advance him. Denard Span struck out looking and Lombardozzi flied out to center. Bottom of the 10th now, with Tyler Clippard in from the pen.

7:29 p.m. — Clippard retires the side. To the 11th.

7:38 p.m. — A nifty catch by Dioner Navarro to end the top of the 11th. The Cubs catcher had to squeeze into a narrow nook between the first base dugout and the stands to snag Rendon's pop-up. So we go to the bottom of the 11th, Craig Stammen now in.

7:46 p.m. — Stammen retires the side. To the 12th.

7:55 p.m. — David DeJesus officially was credited with a sac bunt in the top of the 12th, but it was the ugliest sac bunt in the history of sac bunts. I don't even know where to begin. Meanwhile, the Nats stranded the go-ahead run on second, so we go to the bottom of the 12th, Stammen back out there for another inning.

8:05 p.m. — Stammen gets through the bottom of the 12th. To the 13th we go.

8:18 p.m. — The Nats take the lead in the top of the 13th. Span doubles, takes third on Lombardozzi's bunt and then scores on Chad Tracy's swinging bunt groundout to the first baseman. Hey, whatever works. They lead 5-4 and here's Drew Storen for the save.

8:25 p.m. — It's over. Storen saves a 5-4 win in 13 innings.

256 comments:

  1. Sad - we are only have 8 more wins that the Cubs. gotta win today, and then get hot to have any hope of playoffs, or even a small bit of redemption.

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  2. Except for Wood, that Cubs lineup is awful ugly. So I suppose the expected outcome is probably 2-1, with the odds not favoring the Nats. Moore shows some signs he is emerging from a very bad period but, overall, starting him, Hairston and Lombardozzi does not make the Nats the favorites.

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  3. Rays claimed David DeJesus on waivers.

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  4. ehay2,

    You need to be thinking more about next years playoffs than this years. The fork has been in a long time

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  5. Davey sorta ran out of righty OF's. Harps, although he got a hit off of a lefty relief pitcher(?) last night, isn't doing well against lefties.

    Maybe Lombo in LF, and JWerth in CF, and Hairston in RF????

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  6. Lotta rain in Chicago. Have to figure they will try to get this one in.

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  7. Let's make it 3 out of 4 today, boys.

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  8. Theo- completely disagree. Lombo, Hairston, Moore all playing well right now and very motivated. They will give their best and not any one of the three will hurt you by being an automatic out or error. We know what everyone else can bring to the table.

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  9. I keep hearing how smart a hitter Cabrera is, how he covers the whole plate,how he anticipates what the pitcher will throw. So maybe there is such a thing as a smart hitter?

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  10. So has Wil Nieves' career been reborn? This confuses me. NatsLady- one of the problems with smart hitting is in the results. Good at bats can bring zero results, bad at bats can bring good results. Hard to stick to the process when you know that. Too tempting to change things when the good results don't happen.

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  11. According to Davey, some of our Nats' hitters just aren't smart enough.

    Maybe he's just trying to rile them up a bit.

    It's been a frustrating year for many, including Davey.

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  12. Adios DeJesus, we barely knew ye.

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  13. Facing Wood today. Need Strasburg to be on. We won't be putting up 6 runs in the first 3 innings like yesterday. We need this win today. Just can't have a split with the Cubs.

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  14. Wind blowing in from LF. Small ball today?

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  15. Charlie and Dave for me today since I am at work... Gosh, I wish WUSA 9 would stream the game live via their website...

    Nonetheless - lets win this series!

    GYFNG!

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  16. Figures. The one day I *can* watch in real time, there may be a rain delay. And there's another 8 PM start tomorrow in KC. Oh, well. Go, NATS!!

    btw, I just watched my recording of yesterday's Nats postgame and then sped through the game recording to watch Ro-ark's cheering section. That was awesome. Good on you, Ro-ark peeps. :-)

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  17. Much better that the game starts late than that it gets interrupted in a relatively early inning and knocks out the starters. Bad enough that Stras' last outing was so short (though I assume he's had a full enough BP session in between).

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  18. Cahill not a good pitcher, Votto very good at baseball, but that was funny. Votto caught stealing because he thought Cahill wasn't paying attention.

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  19. Rays not the team to spend $2.5MM w/out a purpose. So they either (A) really want DeJesus -- they could use a corner outfielder; (B) are trying to block Boston from getting him. An opportunity for the Nats to score a fair-to-middlin' minor league prospect. Or, as I said before, I don't think there's any loss in keeping him; some upside, and see how much it costs to keep him next year.

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  20. Watched DeJesus in the dugout yesterday. The original Extrovert. Also noticed that he was much liked by teammates and employees.

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  21. Theo -- exactly. As I said on the other thread, we were only able to get him before contending teams because our worse record put us ahead of them in the waiver claiming order. Rizzo is seeking to convert that claiming order into an asset.

    And if the asset doesn't get over whatever bar Rizzo has in mind, we can as you noted keep him, at least for the rest of this season. It's a long offseason.

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  22. NL -- good additional point. Saw he had JZimm, Olly, Rendon, and a couple of other guys all absorbed in his story or routine or shtick, which can only be a good thing.

    Part of his value to us or whomever is as a good clubhouse guy, which we've missed from DeRosa maybe even more than Morse. And many have pointed out (in an analogous but different way), a significant part of Werth's value has always been what he adds to the clubhouse. It's not all in the on-field numbers, even if he is giving good value for money this year on that count alone.

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  23. Off-topic: I would like to see position players develop as well as our pitchers have in the farm system.

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  24. NatsLady @2:30. I brought up that same subject a couple of weeks ago with the knowledge that it's position players not picked at the top of the 1st round. Other than Rendon and Harper and RZim, the only one with success has been Desmond.

    Someone said it's because the Nats focus in the draft has been pitchers, yes, but they have drafted many position players in each Draft like Marrero and Goodwin, etc.

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  25. Talk about run support. Verlander gives up 6 but he's still in the game with it tied 6-6. The same cannot be said for the Fish....

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  26. This is terrible. I am having to work at work.

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  27. SCNats, yes, it is. This was a game I was actually going to SEE. Work at 5:30. Grrrrrr...

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  28. My sympathies, SC. I hate when that happens. :-)

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  29. one of the problems with smart hitting is in the results. Good at bats can bring zero results, bad at bats can bring good results. Hard to stick to the process when you know that. Too tempting to change things when the good results don't happen.

    With any given at-bat, sure, anything can happen. Old joke: "That's why they call it 'fishing' and not 'catching'." Like in any other line of work, it can be hard to stick to the plan, including a plan you thought was good, when it doesn't seem to be working.

    How do I know I'm being smart? Maybe I'm doing it wrong? There are few plans so good they can't be improved, maybe there's a flaw in this one. Maybe I'm doing it right, but I'm not good enough? Maybe there's a conspiracy against me by the baseball gods or the umpires or my teammates or whatever? Maybe I really am just in a long streak of bad luck?

    It is so easy to get off the track in this game, even when you're doing it right.

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  30. The Beard is pitching the bottom of the 9th for tge Dodgers. Gave up a double, had 1 k in his inning.

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  31. .The announcer in the Reds game made me laugh. Said, "He doesn't want to throw strikes here, he wants to throw pitches that LOOK like strikes." Um, yes.

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  32. Brian Wilson is one strange dude.

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  33. Ghost,

    Marrero was drafted in the era were signability was considered more important than talent, they also drafted such players as Smoker, Willems etc.

    Goodwin - I wouldn't give up on him just yet. He's only 22, it's his 1st year at AA and he has an OBP of .348 with some pop. His progress has probably been a bit slower than we would have liked but I think there's still a lot there.

    Next year is a big year for Brian. He needs to take that next step. Destin Hood is 23 but he has been around for a few years now and does not seem to be progressing well.

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  34. JD, not giving up on Goodwin. He had a real nice AFL and a decent AA. He loves trying to swing for the fences. As a CF with speed he needs to be a high OBP guy. Too many K's and gets fooled a lot on pitches.

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  35. Danny Espinosa was a third-rounder in 2008. Not looking like much at the moment, I'll grant you, but he may yet wind up being a regular major leaguer.

    Derek Norris wasn't a total wash, as a trade piece. Jake Smolinski (2007) was part of the deal to Miami for Bonifacio and Willingham. Steven Souza (2007), not so much.

    I wonder how to grade this, though, since the Nationals situation was literally unique--no other team started so bereft, pillaged and looted, and basically left for dead by the side of the road for years. And since there is a certain time lag, at least for the not-first rounders we have in mind here, how much of a window are we really talking about? How many years in the minors do you allow before counting a pick as not-MLB talent? How much of a running start do you allow them at the beginning, considering it was Bowden running it? Just wondering how to score this, because I don't think it's an easy question.

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  36. Good thought on Goodwin, Ghost. Could be that he has played too much baseball over the past year or so. Still like his potential, until we learn otherwise.

    Good smartass comment Mark on the grounds crew emerging from the ivy. Was Kerry Wood with them? He usually hangs with the Hawk and the ivy crew.

    The rain storm that appears to be finishing up in Chitown, is now over Indiana.

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  37. Josh Willingham looks heavy, slow and old.

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  38. I have always thought NL, that Rizzo and company spend more time, money, and energy on pitchers than positon players.

    Maybe because pitchers are subject to being easily replaced and their are 12-13 of them on every ML roster.

    Still I'd like to see more development of positon players, even if it's to trade them for pitchers.

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  39. hoping for postponement. Then we could skip Zimmermanns next start and bump up our ace Dan Haren.

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  40. I think we have had some great development at positions like catcher, 1b and outfield. We haven't had that many drafts and we got Zim, Harper and Rendon. Most teams concentrate on pitching in the draft.

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  41. swami,

    which catchers did we develop?

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  42. Zim looked great on that swing. That was no accident, he looks healthy.

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  43. pokes does not sound exciting but I will take it.

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  44. Werth, the on-base MACHINE. .500 on-base since the All-Star Break.

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  45. Silver Slugging pitcher gets an rbi!!!

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  46. CrossEyed umpire. That pitch was outside to Harp. Oh well, he walks anyway.

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  47. Trent is not afraid, will give him that.

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  48. Cross-eyed ump gave Rendon a pitch, so it evens out.

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  49. Anyone still worried about Strasburg's command post-Atlanta?

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  50. We need some add-on runs, guys. Give SS more of a cushion.

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  51. 3 runs against Wood in 3 innings. Pretty good.

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  52. In one game RBI hit by pitcher, a sac fly and a caught steeling

    The trifecta.

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  53. Lake looks like a keeper, but the ”WTF was THAT?" look on his face after SS punched him out was priceless.

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  54. Good AB by Werth. Wood was about to have 5 pitch inning, but Werth made him work a little bit. Still a quick inning, but not like it would've been.

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    Replies
    1. The ball well struck, just to much air abd Lake made a good play.

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  55. MrsB loves the Nats said...
    I want more runs....
    August 22, 2013 5:41 PM


    Dang, me too!!!

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  56. Ryan was doing so well for a few weeks...

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  57. David, no, Ryan is doing better but his 1st baseman are generally bailing him out. He bounced one to Moore the last time he played 1st and LaRoche made one great swipe and tag on a wide throw. The bigger problem was that "hit" yesterday and the double off his glove on Monday on the first batter of the day which was Lake.

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  58. Good on you Lombo... He hits 1 every year... Good on Lombo...

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  59. MNF, wow, you're complimenting Ramos on defense.

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  60. Pitchers making good contact today both ways.

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  61. LOMBOOOOOOOOO from Atholton High school. Raiders are dynamite don't mess with dynamite.

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  62. Yeah and Span hits two a year BACK OFF OF LOMBO

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  63. Props to Hairston last night but to all those excited about his Nats record against lefties after the HR that brought him to .295, after his 0-3 today he's back to .267. It's fine but that is the issue with small sample sizes.

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  64. Sure Ghost. But Hairston has murdered lefties his entire career.

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  65. How was it that on a 6:08 post, Mark knew that the score would be "4-0 Nats at the stretch" -- when Werth didn't make the third out until 6:17?

    THAT's the kind of summoning we could do without...:-)

    (Especially as Werth did nothing with a 3-0 pitch to make the third out.)

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  66. Tyler Moore is such a cutie pie.. I can't help but to root for him and hope he does well....

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  67. 3-0 pitches and Werth make me nervous...

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  68. Those were 2 perfect throws by Wilson... Castro didnt get a good jump either time...

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  69. Steady Eddie - Mark knows things.

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  70. MrsB, are you thinking of changing your name to MrsM?

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  71. Naw Candide... I'd change it to MrsS before that... *snickers*

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  72. David, I'm not disagreeing with you as Hairston was great in 2012 swinging against lefties. He's outperforming his Chicago numbers. If he could play defense then he could be serviceable. I think Tyler Moore gives you more.

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  73. Moore gives you more?

    Boooo!!!

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  74. Tyler Moore.. I mean... You really have to play him at this point...

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  75. reds won..not making up ground yet

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  76. More more Moore, how do you like it how do you like it!

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  77. We are making up ground on the snakes remember we need to pass two teams

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    Replies
    1. We wanted the Snakes to win, as we have to catch the Reds, and we have game vs. Az still

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  78. That guy was obviously sitting first pitch fastball. Stras missed his spot. No big deal, just get back to getting outs.

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  79. Whoa, Brandon Beachy with a trip to Dr. Andrews.

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  80. Whew.... That was big... Good going SS and Nats D!

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  81. So do you put Strasburg out there for the 9th?

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  82. Well it looks like Davey is going to let him.

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  83. MrsB -- except when he tells Davey or Cat, "listen -- I threw 26 pitches, including half a dozen bogus ones, in my last start. i've thrown 97 now and you;'re going to have to tie me down to keep me from going out there in the 9th."

    But they sent him out to hit so it's no contest.

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  84. Follow up I would have Storen stretching and the least little problem get ready to come in.

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  85. Dammit, Ryan. You can't look one out of the park!

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  86. I hope it is my imagine, seems Zim takes a way to high prcentage of called 3rd strikes.

    Any one have the number?

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  87. MNF -- he takes a LOT of called strikes, period.

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  88. Which is exactly why I said... He shouldn't have come out... He was in fumes and you could tell...

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  89. Why take SS out now.... I mean this should have been done a few batters ago....

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  90. I knew we needed more runs. DAMMIT!!!

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  91. Davey gets credit for blowing this NOT Strasberg. Why not send Clip or Sori out in the 9th? Or at least, once he got into trouble. TORTURE.

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  92. MrsB, yep, greed did them in there. Pull him after the hit.

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  93. davey...stupidity

    Stras...mentally weak and selfish

    just a dysfuntional team all around

    I am really pissed

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  94. Did you see SS slump his shoulders after the Rendon error? Once again just can get beyond an error. Mentally weak.

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  95. Stras is me, myself and I


    selfish player

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  96. OMG and now sorry oh no. where was clippard. dysfunctional is right.

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  97. mentally weak, immature player...coached by a clueless old man

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  98. No Fp DJ didnt do the right thing... SS was gassed and you could tell... Pay your 28 mil closer....

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  99. Desmond makes the throw . LaRoche makes the catch.

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  100. Put your 28 mil closer out there and make him earn it... Or Storen...

    Damn the iPad really cut me off...

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  101. just disgusting... this just cant happen and yet it does way too much.

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  102. Davey is a terrible manager this year

    too many selfish players on this team as well

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  103. SS saw this man 4 times... You don't think he would adjust... I mean these other guys get paid too....

    Just a shame...

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  104. So why isn't desmond in for D were is ALR for D. Davey SUCKS!!!!

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  105. Could ALR make the play. I am in my car.

    Still prefer Stras the Soriano who I dont trust at all

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  106. In this defensive moment... You sub Span and DeJesus... Why not sub Moore too... I mean good lord... This was shouldn't have happened...

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  107. MnF - Storen could have gone in... Point being SS shouldn't have pitched the 9th...

    It's really that simple...

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  108. Oh, well. Let's take it in extra innings. The good news is that we Sorry-Oh-No out of the way.

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  109. "lets get him a complete game." Lets let hin finish." screw numbers scre stats. WIN THE DAMN GAME.!!!!!!

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  110. Oh well... Time for us to score 2 more and win this thing... Lets leave Chicago with a series win...

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  111. Davey too lazy to get his FAT @#$%$ up and go get stras. I am FUMING!!!!!!!!

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  112. Davey takes our best hitter out for a guy probably not on the team tomorrow. Strange.

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  113. MrsB, agree bring in ALR for the 9th as a defensive replacement...he easily makes that pick. Everyone chill, we got this game.

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  114. Captain Hindsight in here is amazing. Strasburg was an out away against a guy he struck out several times. Rendon threw 2 balls away (one that scored the run and the other should've been a double play). Yes, Strasburg has to pickup his teammate. He's done it several times all year. He did it to Zimmerman in this same game. When you continuously give a team extra outs, even the Cubs, EVENTUALLY they're going to make you pay.

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  115. Not strange MNF. HOLD THE PHONE A PINCH RUNNER>

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  116. Another reason to dislike defensive indifference....if Schierholtz is on first, Rendon has an easier play for a force on second on the Lake grounder in the hole.

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  117. Agreed proctor. terrible fielding by rendon. but mediocre talent is mediocre talent.

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  118. Hey calm down everyone. You sound like the season is on the line. Stras deserved to try for the complete game. Its not like the season is lost if we don't win this game. I mean really... Besides we're going to win in extra innings anyway.

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  119. Stop it DP... I said that SS should have come out... And guess what I was right... He was struggling to get the other 2 outs... Point blank, he shouldn't have come out for the 9th...

    It's that simple...

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  120. Sonny im was banking on 36 straight. cmon

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  121. I have what may be a silly question - is there a 3rd (emergency) catcher I don't know about? I know Werth is out of the game. I am curious as to why Suzuki is running for Ramos. What happens if he gets hurt on the basebaths? Why not pinch run Stammen or someone who won't pitch?

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  122. Over it.... Come on guys... Lets score here and get the hell out of town with this series win...

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  123. think Lombo can catch, Span you can't look at that!!!

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  124. Span was just going to keep looking wasn't he.

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  125. Strasburg is too picking up his teammates. He blew the save so Soriano didn't have to.

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  126. Lombardozzi can catch. And obviously Harper, but Davey has joked if he lets Harper catch, he's gonna get fired on the spot.

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  127. I said any trouble bring in Storen . Not done.

    Bring ALR not done.

    Harper on second 1 out 2 k.
    Worse. The defensive indifference. shertholz on girst who knows. Better throw him out the game is over. No one can convince me nothing is better than throwing him out.

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  128. Sonny G10 @ 7:15. You are right. I love your positivity! (Is that a word?)

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  129. Last 2 inning man on second with 1 out and we have 3 k out of the 4 outs. 2 looking

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  130. I also hate the bunt with Tyler Moore. I know everyone here loves small ball, but it doesn't make sense to bunt Moore, who has been hitting well and who has tons of power, in front of Span and Lombardozzi. Do you have faith in Lombardozzi and Span to get the job done? I don't. I realize bunting him keeps Suzuki out of the doubleplay, but I take that risk.

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  131. I hope there isn't anything to Zook's arm hurting...

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  132. I hope to hell the next manager will not be a sissy like Davey...Billy Martin or Earl Weaver would have told Stras to go to hell and sit his ass down after 8 inning if Stras had wined about going the full game...If Stras pouted, Billy would have punched him out...this is what this team of selfish sissies needs in 2014...

    other than Werth, there are no champions on this squad, only weak knee little boys who I think are chumps, not champs

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  133. these clowns will not get to 500, I would make that bet with any one...to many head cases and too many me myself and I players...Stras facial expressions turn my stomach

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    1. Of course they wont go .500.

      You said they would win 10% of their last 40.
      No way acording to your prediction.

      64-98 was your prediction.

      Delete
  134. who were the experts who picked the Nats to win the WS?

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  135. Since I am reading game day what break did Bryce not get? Said he flew out to center. Was it a diving catch?

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  136. will there be at least one reporter who will call Davey out? the old man has gotten a pass all year.

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  137. mick, deep breaths, come on, work with me...like karate kid, wax on, wax off...chill dude!

    like Sonny said, its not like we are battling for a WC spot.

    and if it means Davey gets canned on the spot, put Bryce at catcher, now!! haha.

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  138. Gosh.. Gotta hope Gio can go 8/9 tomorrow... I'm not sure who is left at this point...

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  139. Easy fly short of the track. People rooting with their hearts. Not their eyes.

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    1. Thanks that is what I figured.

      Still pissed at Zim for taking a 3rd strike with insurance at second.

      If i was manager he RISP approach is what I would change. No k looking, an no k in pitches in the dirt. More now than 30 years ago for sure.

      Delete
  140. MNF

    I actually said back in early June they would lose 90-95. Davey is paid to win games and coach every game like playoff, that is how winning mangers coach.

    You should be livid with Davey right now...he lets his selfish players influence his decisions and frankly he could care less and it shows...No passion at all from Davey and it is sickening to watch...a GOOD manger would bitch slap Stras for his selfishness.I think Norv Turner has more passion than Davey and that is how bad this is

    Nats were still in this and games like this are unacceptable and Davey deserves to be ridiculed as well as Stras

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    1. I much angrier at Davey then players.

      Why after first guy got on with Stras he was not removed I dont know. If you read before it occurred, i would give 1 runner and no more.

      I clearly think Davey has cost us maybe as many as 10 games

      Delete
  141. Damn... Both Stammen and Clippard are making these batters look foolish....

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  142. pqaul

    its hard right now to stay calm....I am so sick of how this team is managed and I really a starting to believe the vast majority of the players are too soft and selfish to ever win a championship

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  143. Lead off hit... Lets not waste him... Come on guys! Lets do this!

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  144. Zim with leadoff hit in 12th.

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  145. KC is 3 over 500...if Nats lose this game, they are so fragile and soft, refllecvtive of their manager, that they may drop 3 in row at KC

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  146. Now that there is no RISP Zim gets a hit.

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  147. Man, the Cubs are dumber than the Nats. They should have had a double play on that bunt.

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  148. C'mon Ty Mo. Out of here please.

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  149. C'mon ump, that wasn't a strike.

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  150. Just got home. What did I miss?

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  151. Good thing we gave away another out on the bunt to put a runner into scoring position. Because we really thrive with runners in scoring position.

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  152. Crap, TyMo. You wanna win the 1st base job or not.

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