May 25, 2013

Washington Nationals Game 44 Review: Padres tally 13 runs against Nationals’ rocky pitching

May 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Dan Haren (L, 4-5) lasted but five innings and gave up seven runs as the Washington Nationals (23-21) fell 13-4 to the San Diego Padres (20-23) Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.

The Nats went down in order in the first against right-hander Andrew Cashner (W, 3-2), but the Padres by no means returned the favor.

Everth Cabrera led off  the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second base before Chase Headley walked to give the Padres first and second with one out. Carlos Quentin doubled in Cabrera and Yonder Alonso brought home Headley on a sacrifice fly to quickly make it 2-0 San Diego. Before Haren could regain control, however, Jedd Gyorko – who’s hit hard off the Nats this series – doubled on a sharp grounder to left to make it 3-0. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 39 Review: Clayton Kershaw tosses 132 pitches to shut down Nats

May 15, 2013 by 7 Comments

Dan Haren (L, 4-4) was sharp for the better part of seven innings, but Clayton Kershaw (W, 4-2) made it his day to shine, holding the Washington Nationals (21-18) to just five hits and one walk in 8.2 innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ (16-22) 2-0 win Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Kershaw reached the 1,000-inning mark, making it official that he now boasts the best ERA (2.70) among starters with 1,000 or more innings pitched in the Live Ball Era. Kershaw struck out 11 batters and reached a career-high 132 pitches against a Nats lineup that featured a very different outfield from the norm. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 34 Review: Nats get to Fister early, hold on to sweep Tigers

May 9, 2013 by

The Detroit Tigers are one of the top teams in the American League, and some folks tried to bill this early May matchup with the Washington Nationals as a World Series preview. It’s a little early in the season to try to sell that, but with the Nats starting to play well it was a big series nonetheless. The Nats scored their runs in the first few innings, then got great bullpen work from a trio of relievers to beat the Tigers Thursday 5-4, sweeping the two-game set from the A.L. Central powerhouse.

The win is the Nats fourth in a row and sixth in their last seven games and it leaves them 1 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the N.L. East entering play in the evening games.

The Nats (19-15) jumped on Tigers starter Doug Fister early. Denard Span led off the bottom of the first with a double over the first base bag. He went to third on Roger Bernadina’s bunt base hit and scored on Bryce Harper’s fielder’s choice that erased Bernadina at second. Ryan Zimmerman followed with a single, and Adam LaRoche did the same, plating Harper. Ian Desmond then single to center to bring home Zimmerman and give the Nats a 3-0 lead after one inning.

The Tigers got one back in the top of the second off Haren (W, 4-3, 5.17), when Fister muscled an 0-1 pitch to center for his third Major League hit of his career, scoring Jhonny Peralta from third.

The hit parade for the Nationals continued in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Span reached when Fister clipped Span’s pant leg with an errant fastball. Bernadina fell behind 0-2 but worked the at bat for a walk. Harper struck out looking, but consecutive singles by Zimmerman and LaRoche again plated two more runs to stretch the Nats lead to 5-1 after two full.

Detroit used some small ball, then a blast to cut into the Nats lead in the sixth. With one out, Peralta drew a four-pitch walk. Haren got Alex Avila to line out to center, but on the next pitch, Omar infant reached on a perfectly placed bunt single. Matt Tuiasosopo pinch-hit for the pitcher’s spot and drilled a three-run shot over the Tigers bullpen in left center to make it 5-4.

Haren’s final line (6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR) ended up kinda messy after the homer, but he threw a good game up until that point.

The rest was up to the bullpen, and they got the job done, with Ryan Mattheus, Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano all pitching scoreless innings to keep the one-run lead intact. Soriano earned his 12th save of the season in 13 tries, getting Prince Fielder to fly to the track in center for the final out of the game.

THE GOOD: Ryan Zimmerman. 3-for-4, RBI, run scored. He’s starting to heat up. Adam LaRoche went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

THE BAD: Danny Espinosa. 0-for-4, K.

THE UGLY: Tyler Moore. Pinch-hit for Bernadina against a lefty reliever and struck out on three pitches, all breaking balls.

THE STATS: 9 hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. 5-for-12 with RISP, 7 LOB. No errors, no DPs.

NEXT GAME: Friday starts a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs, 7:05 pm from Nats Park. Ross Detwiler (1-3, 2.50) hosts Jeff Samardzija (1-4, 3.09).

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Washington Nationals Game 28 Review: Haren solid in 3-1 win over Braves

May 2, 2013 by

Dan Haren’s season sure didn’t start the way he wanted it to, but in his last couple of outings we’ve started to see more of the veteran pitcher the Washington Nationals thought they were getting when they inked him to a $13 million contract over the off-season. Thursday night in Atlanta, Haren authored his best performance of the young season, leading the Nats to a split of the four-game series, beating the Braves 3-1 before an announced 19,806 at Turner Field.

After splitting the series in Atlanta, the Nationals remain 2 1/2 games behind the Braves in the division.

Haren (W, 3-3, 5.01) went eight strong innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits and one walk, striking out four in the process. The Braves only run of the game was a solo home run by Dan Uggla in the seventh inning.

Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth and gave up a single to Even Gattis, but otherwise held the Braves in check for his ninth save of the season.

The Nats (14-14) did their damage early to Braves (17-11) starter Kris Medlen (L, 1-4, 3.38). Washington got a run in the first when Denard Span doubled to lead off the game, took third on a wild pitch, and came in to score on Steve Lombardozzi’s grounder through the hole on the left side.

They picked up two more in the second. Adam LaRoche doubled off the wall in right to start the inning and went to third on Anthony Rendon’s single. Wilson Ramos hit into a fielder’s choice that got LaRoche hung up off third base. Haren bunted the runners up to second and third with two outs. Span slapped one the other way that third baseman Chris Johnson couldn’t handle, and both runners scored. It was originally ruled an error, but later changed to a two-RBI double for Span.

The rest was handled by Haren, who scattered two singles and a base on balls until Uggla got to him in the seventh. In the eighth, Haren got Andrelton Simmons to ground out and Reed Johnson singled to center. After getting Jordan Schafer to fly out, manager Davey Johnson went out to check on Haren. Haren emphatically responded to his manager, then struck out Johnson to punctuate his strong performance.

THE GOOD: Dan Haren. He continues a string of very strong starting appearances for the Nats. This is the guy they thought they were getting.

THE BAD: Bryce Harper. He won’t be in this column often, but the young slugger went 0-for-4 with a K and 3 LOB.

THE UGLY: Jayson Werth left in the fifth inning after trying to track down a ball in the corner and was replaced by Roger Bernadina. Werth has been dealing with hamstring and ankle injuries.

THE STATS: 8 hits, 5 BBs, 12 Ks. 3-for-11 with RISP, 10 LOB. No errors, no DPs.

NEXT GAME: Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 7:05 pm from PNC Park. Ross Detwiler (1-2, 2.03) faces A.J. Burnett (2-2, 2.83).

 

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Washington Nationals Game 24 Review: Span’s grabs highlight Nats 6-3 win over Reds

April 27, 2013 by

What a difference a couple of days makes.

After falling below .500 for the fist time since 2011 earlier in the week, the Washington Nationals found the elixir to their problems in a strange place: the very good Cincinnati Reds. The Nats used a strong starting performance from Dan Haren, some timely defense, and another blast by Bryce Harper to beat the Reds, 6-3, for their third straight victory against the N.L. Central powerhouse, before an appreciative 38,903 at Nationals Park.

Haren (W, 2-3, 6.29) earned his second win of the season, going six strong innings, and looked more like the pitcher the Nats thought they were buying this off-season than the one that was kicked around in his first few starts. And Denard Span showed again why GM Mike Rizzo was so keen on the center fielder, as he made a pair of run saving catches in the late innings to save the Nats’ collective bacon.

The Nats (13-11) jumped out in the second off Reds starter Mike Leake (L, 1-1, 4.34). Showing uncommon patience, Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon drew consecutive one-out walks to get the rally started. Kurt Suzuki popped out for the second out of the inning to bring up Haren. Haren, one of the better hitting pitchers in the game, fouled off a couple of pitches until he got one he could handle, and he flipped a single into right on the fifth pitch of the at bat to plate Desmond for the Nats first run. Denard Span followed with a ground ball single to center to score Rendon.

They went back at it in the third. Bryce Harper led off with a single to left and went to second on Werth’s infield single. After Adam LaRoche popped out, Ian Desmond delivered with a single to center to bring home Harper. Rendon took a called strike three and Suzuki grounded to third, but Reds 3B Jack Hannahan threw wide trying for the force at second base and the ball got away, allowing Werth to score the Nats fourth run of the game.

The Reds got one back in the fourth inning. Joey Votto doubled to left field with two outs and scored on Brandon Phillips single. Haren ended the rally, striking out Jay Bruce on three pitches.

Harper continued his hot April, launching his ninth home run of the season in the bottom of the inning. His two-run shot came with Danny Espinosa on board after a fielder’s choice wiped out Span’s second hit of the game, a single to center to lead off the inning.

The Reds chipped away at the Nats lead in the later innings. They got one off Haren in the sixth, as Shin-Soo Choo led off the frame with a solo home run. Haren escaped the inning without further damage, completing his best appearance of the season. The veteran right-hander allowed just two runs and six hits over six innings, walking none and striking out five.

In the seventh, manager Davey Johnson called upon Zach Duke to face three straight lefty batters and it didn’t work out all that well. Jay Bruce reached via throwing error by Danny Espinosa, and Xavier Paul followed with a base on balls. Duke retired Hannahan and Devin Mesoraco, and Reds manager Dusty Baker then called on Todd Frazier to pinch-hit for pitcher Alfredo Simon.

Johnson countered with Tyler Clippard, and the normally reliable righty showed rust from being off for a couple of days. Frazier singled to score Bruce, then Clipaprd walked Choo to load the bases for shortstop Zach Cozart. Cozart crushed a 1-0 pitch to center that looked like it would clear the bases, but for the second inning in a row, center fielder Denard Span made a game-saving catch, running down Cozart’s blast to end the threat.

Rafael Soriano retired the side in order in the ninth for his seventh save of the season, but Span should get credit for the save in this one.

THE GOOD: Denard Span. Made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Joey Votto of extra bases in the sixth and let Haren enjoy his best game of the season, Then in the seventh, made an even better catch of a potentially much more damaging drive from Cozart against Clippard. Moar UZR, please.

THE BAD: Tyler Clippard. Not sharp at all. Really bailed out by Span. 12 pitches, five for strikes.

THE UGLY: Danny Espinosa: 0-for-4. .174/.219/.348. Adam LaRoche: 0-for-4. .143/.221/.286.

THE STATS: 10 hits, 5 BBs, 5 Ks. 4-for-12 with RISP, 8 LOB. E: Espinosa (1, throw); 3 DPs.

NEXT GAME: Sunday at 1:35 pm against the Reds. Ross Detwiler (1-1. 1.38) hosts lefty Tony Cingrani (1-0, 2.25).

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Washington Nationals Game 19 Review: No offense in 3-2 loss to Cardinals

April 22, 2013 by

In the first rematch of last season’s National League Divisional Series, the Washington Nationals dropped the first of a three game series to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2, before a chilly crowd of 27,263 at Nationals Park.

Nats starter Dan Haren pitched his best game of the season to date, but was outdueled by Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller, as the Cards rookie and three relievers limited the Nats to five hits for the night.

The Cardinals got to Haren (L, 0-3, 7.36) in the third inning. Pete Kozma — Nats nemesis — singled over Danny Espinosa’s head at second base on a 2-0 count with one out and went to second on Shelby Miller’s sacrifice. Matt Carpenter then coaxed a free pass to set up Allen Craig. Craig got fooled on a 2-1 cutter, but he lefted a fly ball into the wind and it carried to the wall in left center. Denard Span lept at the last, crashing into the fence, but he could not come down with it. Two runs scored on the play.

The Nats (10-9) answered off Miller in the fourth. Jayson Werth reached on an infield single and scored on Ian Desmond’s two-out double to center. Anthony Rendon, in his second Major League game, worked the count full before lining a double to right center for his first big league hit and RBI, plating Desmond easily to tie the score.

The Cardinals came back in the sixth and chased Haren quickly. Haren hit Matt Holliday on with a 1-1 fastball to lead off the inning. Carlos Beltran hit the next pitch into right for a single. Yadier Molina then hit the very next pitch into right for a single to score Holliday from second. Haren then walked David Freese on a close inside pitch, his 97th of the night, and Davey Johnson had seen enough.

Johnson summoned Craig Stammen from the pen and the dependable righty got Jon Jay to ground into a nifty 3-2-3 double play. After intentionally walking Kozma, Stammen calmly struck out Miller with a 91-MPH sinker to end the threat.

Haren’s line was solid: five innings, three earned runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts. But it wasn’t enough on a night the offense was quieted.

Unfortunately, the offense just couldn’t mount any comeback against the Cards to change the score. The Nats put two runners on in the seventh against Miller with two outs, but Joe Kelly came in and got pinch-hitter Chad Tracy to fly out to center on a great sliding catch by Jon Jay. They put two more on in the eighth against Trevor Rosenthal, but the fireballer froze Ian Desmond with a 97 MPH fastball on the outside black to squelch the rally.

Edward Mujica finished things up for the Cards with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season.

THE GOOD: The double play turned by Adam laRoche and Kurt Suzuki to keep it 3-2 in the sixth was a thing of beauty. In fact, the Nats turned three DPs on the night helping their cause, maybe a little turning the tide on the Nats defensive woes this season so far. Rendon started a 5-4-3 in the sixth with a sharp, calm feed to Espinosa perfectly on the glove-side.

THE BAD: Ian Desmond looking at strike three with runners at second and third and two outs in the eighth inning. Rosenthal is a “challenge” pitcher, he puts his fastball up there and challenges you to hit it. Desmond looked like he wanted no part of it.

THE UGLY: LaRoche went 0-for-4, stranding three and lowering his season batting average to .185.

THE STATS: 5 hits, 3 BBs, 11 ks. 1-for-7 with RISP, 6 LOB. No errors, 3 DPs.

NEXT GAME: Tuesday at 7:05 against the Cardinals. Ross Detwiler (1-0, 0.90) hosts Adam Wainright (3-1, 2.48).

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Washington Nationals Game 14 Review: Zim’s throwing error proves costly in Nats’ 8-2 loss

April 17, 2013 by

Dan Haren retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced Tuesday night, but a fourth-inning throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman seemingly reignited the Miami Marlins’ (3-11) sub-par batting order in time to shut down the Washington Nationals (8-6), 8-2.

The Nats were shorthanded as both Bryce Harper and Denard Span sat out with stomach flu symptoms, while Danny Espinosa remained out of the lineup with a bruised right hand.

Considering that the Marlins entered the game with the worst record in the majors, the Nats seemed off to a solid start with Haren on the mound. However, as evidenced in each of his three starts this year, control has been an issue for Haren and – unfortunately for the Nats – a simple E-5 was all it took to throw Haren off his game. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 9 Review: Nats complete sweep of Sox with 7-4 win

April 12, 2013 by

The Washington Nationals haven’t lost at home yet this season. Led by five innings of competency by starter Dan Haren, a timely big hit by Ryan Zimmerman, and a few shut-down innings by the bullpen, the Nats ran their overall record to a stellar 7-2 win a 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox, before a crowd of 24,785 at Nationals Park.

After two home series sweeps, the Nats clean slate will be challenged by division rival Atlanta over the weekend. But for now, that pristine 6-0 record at home is pretty to look at.

The Nats took a bit of a different tack to win Thursday night’s game — at least on offense. Where the home run has been integral so far in the young season, the Nats pieced together an attack against the Sox rookie hurler Dylan Axelrod. The Nats made Axelrod work and forced him from the game early. Of course, Nats starter Dan Haren threw a lot of pitches too, but did a better job than his counterpart limiting the damage.

Haren (W, 1-1, 9.00), to his credit, did not walk a batter, though he did give up 10 hits in his five innings of work. He struck out five in the effort and held the Sox to three earned runs despite pitching in and out of trouble all night.

The Nats scored first in this one. With one out in the first, Jayson Werth singled after on the tenth pitch of his at bat. After Bryce Harper popped up, Werth stole second ahead of Ryan Zimmerman drawing a base on balls. The next batter, Adam LaRoche, singled to the opposite field to plate Werth and give Haren something to work with.

That didn’t last long, unfortunately, as Paul Konerko led off the second with a single, took third on Conor Gillaspie’s double to right field, and scored on Tyler Flowers’ ground out to short.

Washington’s attack went back to it in the third off Axelrod (L, 0-1, 5.79). Denard Span led off with a single, stole second and took third on Werth’s fly out to right field. Harper singled to center to score Span and give the lead back to the Nats. Zimmerman drew another walk and LaRoche did as well to load the bases. Ian Desmond delivered Harper with a sacrifice fly to center to put the Nats up 3-1.

Chicago came right back in the fourth off Haren. Gillaspie singled to lead off and went to second on Axelrod’s botched sacrifice that ended up a bunt single. Alejandro De Aza singled to right to plate Gillaspie and Axelrod moved up to third when the throw missed the cut off man. Jeff Keppinger followed with a single to left, scoring Axelrod to tie it back up.

But the Nats were undaunted and continued to peck away in the bottom of the inning. Haren helped himself out with a one-out double and took third on Werth’s single with two outs. Axelrod started Harper off 1-0 then uncorked a wild pitch, which scored Haren. Axelrod then gave Harper an intentional walk — the first of his career — to bring up Zimmerman again.

The veteran third baseman got into a 3-2 count before making Axlerod pay and delivering big time — a double to right field that scored both Werth and Harper. The hit turned what was a back-and-forth affair into a good lead for the home team.

The Sox picked up their fourth run of the night in the sixth inning off reliever Ryan Mattheus, with Adam Dunn doubling in De Aza, who had singled earlier in the inning. Mattheus pitched two innings and struck out three. He allowed the one run on two hits and a walk.

The Nats got that run back later, with Harper driving in Span on a two-out single to provide the 7-4 final score.

All that was left was for Tyler Clippard to pitch a scoreless eighth and Rafael Soriano to toss a clean ninth inning to record his fifth save of the season.

THE GOOD: Ryan Zimmerman. 1-for-2 with two walks, but the hit was a big one, breaking the game open. Can’t imagine too many folks are going to be willing to put Harper on ahead of Zimmerman this season.

THE BAD: Wilson Ramos went 0-for-4 with a K.

THE UGLY: Danny Espinosa went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, lowering his April average to .182, before being lifted in a double switch late in the game.

THE STATS: 10 hits, 6 BBs, 6 Ks. 5-for-11 with RISP, 8 LOB. No errors, no DPs.

NEXT GAME: Friday night, April 12 against the Atlanta Braves (8-1) at 7:05 pm. Ross Detwiler (0-0, 0.00) hosts Julio Teheran (0-0, 9.00).

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Washington Nationals Game 4 Review: Reds’ six homers bring Nats back down to earth with first loss

April 6, 2013 by

After starting the season with a commanding 3-0 record, the Washington Nationals (3-1) gave up six home runs to the Cincinnati Reds (3-1) Friday night at the Great American Ball Park in a tough-to-swallow 15-0 loss.

Dan Haren’s first start of the season was a rough one, however, he gave up just one hit – to Joey Votto, in the first – before Cincinnati did its first round of damage in the second inning. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Haren gives up four homers in Nats’ 8-5 loss to Marlins

March 26, 2013 by

The Miami Marlins put on a derby against Dan Haren and the Washington Nationals Tuesday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium – not in the least, Giancarlo Stanton, whose first inning shot landed well beyond the right field wall.

While the Nats’ bats – namely, Bryce Harper – helped Haren walk away with a no-decision, Ryan Mattheus did not step in for the loss until the seventh inning, with the game tied 5-5. [Read more...]

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