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| Photo by USA Today |
Even if the Nats keep it up the division is still a major longshot, but fortunately for them, the Reds haven't been playing their best baseball either. The Nats now sit 8.5 games back from the Reds for the final NL Wild Card spot, and Washington has the advantage with their schedule. After they play the Royals today, the Nats face teams with losing records in each of their next 19 games. Conversely, the Reds play expected playoff teams in ten of their next 13, including seven games against the Cardinals.
Today the Nats look for their sixth consecutive win which would be their longest winning streak of the season. Dan Haren (8-11, 4.64) takes the mound against a club he's been very successful against in the past. Through ten career starts vs. the Royals he is 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA.
Pitching for Kansas City will be right-hander Ervin Santana who has been one of their more reliable starters this year. He holds a 3.13 ERA through 167 innings in what has been the best season of his nine-year MLB career.
Enjoy the game...
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN 2, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 869
Weather: Mostly sunny, 92 degrees, Wind 10 mph in from LF
NATIONALS (65-64)
CF Denard Span
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Bryce Harper
DH Jayson Werth
SS Ian Desmond
1B Adam LaRoche
C Wilson Ramos
LF Tyler Moore
2B Anthony Rendon
RHP Dan Haren
ROYALS (64-64)
LF Alex Gordon
2B Emilio Bonifacio
1B Eric Hosmer
DH Billy Butler
3B Mike Moustakas
C Salvador Perez
RF David Lough
SS Alcides Escobar
CF Jarrod Dyson
RHP Ervin Santana
UMPIRES
TBA
229 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 229 of 229 Newer› Newest»Man- you guys are brutal.
Jayson Werth does alot of yelling at players. Does he have the balls to yell at Ryan Zimmerman.
The Nats broadcasters wont say anything however the Royals broadcasters told the truth and then what did Zimmerman say to Billy Butler that had Butler laugh.
Zimmerman whined for years about playing on the 100 loss teams and all he cared about was postseason. When it comes down to shutting up and doing it he has single handedly failed his teammates over and over again. This isnt a 1st or 2nd year player or a bench guy, this is the Face of the Franchise and the guy that got the lifetime contract.
Just a thought, but I saw it posted somewhere else. Is it possible Zimmerman didn't cover third because when Desi dropped the ball, if it had kicked away from him, Zim would have had to be the one to field it? Like I said, I'm not saying that's the case, but maybe that helps explain it? Don't know.
Nats128, thanks for the Royals TV feed.
When you teach youngsters how to play baseball you tell them on every play each player is doing something. Players have to cover their bag is a basic you learn from the beginning and the old saying about not being a spectator.
Gio last week, Stammen today and most critical was the RZim play.
Bryce is 13 for his last 30 (.433) with 5 doubles, a homer, 6 RBI and 6 walks. I think he's heating up.
I think I'm finally over the loss today.. I had to leave for a second... But yeah Ryan swinging on 3-0 was disaterous.. I thought the same thing about Bryce when he swung on 3-1/3-0....
Also Wilson Ramos shouldn't have played today... Idc the there is an off day tomorrow... Should have given him 2 days off then... Man, talk about a rally killer...
Quietly, D Span had a very good game today...
I so wonder if there is a correlation of Eck leaving and Schu getting here.. The at bats seem better (sometimes)... I mean certainly, they have been hitting the ball more...
"MrsB loves the Nats said...
Also Wilson Ramos shouldn't have played today..."
Great point. Day games after long night games. Isnt that typical Davey.
Yesterday's game was very short, not long. I understand why Davey started him. Ramos gets 48 hours off after this and we need to win every game.
David, it has nothing to do with getting your catcher ready for Tuesday with a day off. You have a catcher with a bad hamstring who should not be playing day games after night games.
>>And Ryan has a bad shoulder, but fact is, he should not have swung at the 3-0 pitch.Period.
That's on Davey and his awful, awful managing. His two greatest loves, the three-run homer and the 3-0 greenlight will be the death of this team's playoff chances.
Did you notice after Werth's 3-0 HR that all these guys are now swinging 3-0. Its one of the worst moves in baseball. Take the walk if they want to give you one. You also work the pitcher's count.
Wow, Nats 128, I honestly wasn't defending Ryan Zimmerman with my comment, at least it wasn't my intent.i said that he should have covered the bag. My intended point was that the play should've been to second, and it would've been had Desi fielded the ball cleanly. I didn't offer one excuse for Zimmerman. I thought that I was being clear that his shoulder wasn't an excuse for swinging at the 3-0 pitch and that he should've gotten to third to cover.
Did you see where the 3-0 pitch Zimmerman swung at was? Top of the strike zone. It wasn't even center of the zone.
Would you swing at this pitch on 3-0?
just saw, shark is at it again. for phillies, ugh.
That's really not that bad of a pitch to swing at 3-0.
For the record, Desi threw to third because Billy Butler was running to third. He's slow. Very slow. If Zim is there, it's a sure out. I'm not sure who was running to second and first, but Charlie and Dave said they thought Desi had plays at both of those bases too. Desi must have decided that the most sure out of the three was at third. But Ryan didn't cover.
I feel like, while Ryan certainly should have covered the base, that's still something that needs to be communicated before the play even happens. Something along the lines of "if i can't field this cleanly, i'm coming to you" so that Ryan knows to be looking for it. Again, I'm not excusing Ryan, he should KNOW to be on the base without being told. But you can never have too much communication.
He shouldn't be swinging at ANY 3-0 pitch. That's on Davey. The fact that it was a terrible pitch to swing at is just the icing on the cake but the biggest element of the problem is Davey Johnson.
Top 9th: Washington
- G. Holland relieved K. Herrera
- D. Span singled to center
- R. Zimmerman struck out swinging
- B. Harper struck out swinging
- J. Werth singled to shallow left, D. Span to second
- I. Desmond struck out swinging
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors
Span gets a lead off hit and three of your top four hitters strike out in the 9th? The game was still winnable, right down to the last pitch.
Re: Span and hitting. Copied the following from the WaPo. Hmm, maybe Schu is doing something useful?
"Span, meanwhile, has a chance to cap a rough offensive first season in Washington with a strong finish. Span has a nine-game hitting streak, and over the Nationals’ road trip he went 16 for 45 with a double, two triples, a homer and two walks. Span credited his work, much of it with hitting coach Rick Schu, for his turnaround.
“We found a routine that has worked for me,” Span said. “Since he’s been here, we’ve been sticking with the same routine, the same drills. Once I do a drill, I’m pretty locked in.
“I’ve just been working. I’ve just been working every day, coming to the field and trying to get better. It’s a good feeling to be able to contribute towards the end of the season. We still got a ways to go. Somebody once told me it’s not how you start.”
ArVAFan
>>Span gets a lead off hit and three of your top four hitters strike out in the 9th? The game was still winnable, right down to the last pitch.
They were all swinging for the fences rather than just trying to get on base.
DP, Desmond flubbed the ball.If he makes the routine play, the throw goes to 2nd for the easy force. Go back and look at the play. Zimm still should've played his position, but the miscue started with Desi.And the game ended with a K with 2 runners on base.
Harper should have walked. Here's "strike 2":
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/numlocation.php?pitchSel=518813&game=gid_2013_08_25_wasmlb_kcamlb_1/&batterX=73&innings=yyyyyyyyy&sp_type=1&s_type=3
I'm starting to believe umpires are out to get him because he gets screwed more than any other player I've seen. Harper gets that call and Span probably scores on Werth's single (though with Gordon in LF, maybe not). That changed the entire 9th inning. And almost nobody is going to catch up to 99 elevated up in the zone. He had to swing because it was in the zone.
Stop making excuses for Ryan Zimmerman. Nothing should have been communicated by Desi to RZim.
Another old saying with 2 outs and bases loaded: EASIEST BASE!
Desi's momentum was to 3rd. Zimmerman was playing spectator. Stop making excuses. While Desi didn't field it cleanly there was an easy play at 3rd. Desi still did his job. Ryan didn't do his.
David, I said before there is a Bryce bias. Some things never change.
In case you didn't see the Royals TV feed on the Desmond to Zimmerman play with the quote about Zimmerman playing "Spectator".
Click here: Ryan Zimmerman play at 3rd
I feel like, while Ryan certainly should have covered the base, that's still something that needs to be communicated before the play even happens. Something along the lines of "if i can't field this cleanly, i'm coming to you" so that Ryan knows to be looking for it.
That's really funny. What else should he try to communicate, just in case? "Hey, Adam, if I field the ball in the hole, my throw might be in the dirt, so be ready." "Hey Anthony, if there is a looper behind second, I'll try to get there, but if I get a bad jump, it's your ball." "Hey Wilson, if the ball is hit slowly, my best play might be to home, so don't start walking off the field because you think I'm going to first." Wow. If he has to remind everyone what he might do, he could be pretty busy before each pitch. And what if they want to remind him of something?
Zim was a spectator on that play, as the Royals announcers said. There's no excuse. Seriously. No excuse.
If I hear that MASN promo with Zim talking about how leaders lead by example any more I'm going to throw up.
So we go for 15 of the next 19.
Fillies will be the toughest. The new manager is lighting some fires. With Doc back, Colbert, and Lee, those are three good pitchers. I don't think they care if Bernadina hits much as long as he takes care of CF. (Next year will be interesting when Revere returns).
This week's assignment: 5/6 or two sweeps. Get on it, boys.
Ghost Of Steve M. said...
Stop making excuses for Ryan Zimmerman. Nothing should have been communicated by Desi to RZim.
Another old saying with 2 outs and bases loaded: EASIEST BASE!
Desi's momentum was to 3rd. Zimmerman was playing spectator. Stop making excuses. While Desi didn't field it cleanly there was an easy play at 3rd. Desi still did his job. Ryan didn't do his.
August 25, 2013 10:19 PM
I agree with you ghost, except I don't think anyone is trying to excuse Ryan. He clearly had a brain lock and didn't do his job as did Stammen.
Maybe it's Schu, or maybe it's Span's mom ;-) (see passage below, from the same piece):
"Span's third home run this season had come two batters earlier. He hit a first-pitch change-up one day after his mother sent him a text message admonishing him for not swinging at the first pitch more often.
'I was [ticked] off,' Span said, laughing. 'I didn’t even reply back to her.'"
c715e5d6-9d22-11e1-a89a-000f20980440 said...
Re: Span and hitting. Copied the following from the WaPo. Hmm, maybe Schu is doing something useful?
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