Comprehensive coverage of Washington, D.C. sports by local writers
It was a day of unlikely heroics for the Washington Nationals (17-15), who topped the Pittsburgh Pirates (17-14) 6-2 at PNC Park Sunday afternoon.
The Gio Gonzalez (W, 3-2) of old returned to the mound in the nick of time, holding the Bucs to five hits, two runs and two walks over 6.0 innings pitched. [Read more...]
Natstown has been waiting for a game like this.
Gio Gonzalez pitched like an All-Star, giving the Washington Nationals eight innings of one-hit ball. And the bats finally broke out, with 12 hits and five extra base hits — including homers by Bryce Harper and Danny Espinosa. The result was an 8-1 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds before 24,748 at chilly Nationals Park.
Gonzalez was, in a word, sublime. He spotted his two-seam fastball all night, keeping Reds hitters off-balance with a wicked curveball. The only hit he allowed was Joey Votto’s opposite field home run in the fourth inning, little more than a blip against his record. Gio struck out seven in the effort to move to 2-1 on the season with a 4.50 ERA.
The bats jumped all over Reds’ starter Bronson Arroyo, starting in the second inning. Ian Desmond hit a one-out single and scored on Espinosa’s double to the wall in right center. Espinosa went to third on Kurt Suzuki’s soft line drive over the shortstop’s head. After a sacrifice by Gonzalez, Espinosa carried home the Nats second run of the game on Denard Span’s infield single to short.
The Nats got right back at it in the third. Harper led off with his eighth home run of the season, a no-doubter to center. Jayson Werth followed with a single to left. Adam LaRoche reached on an error by Votto, and the runners moved up to second and third. Werth scored on a Desmond ground out, which moved LaRoche up to third. Espinosa then yanked an 88-MPH sinker into the Nats bullpen in right field to give the Nats a comfortable six-run lead.
The home team tacked on two more in the eighth inning. With two outs, Suzuki drew a base on balls from reliever Logan Ondrusek. Roger Bernadina, pinch-hitting for Gonzalez, singled to center for his first hit of the season. Span followed with a line drive over center fielder Shin-Soo Choo’s head, clearing the bases with his first triple of the season.
Rafael Soriano, who hadn’t pitched in five days, walked Choo to lead off the ninth, but erased him on a double play and got Votto to ground out to finish the game.
THE GOOD: Danny Espinosa. batting lefty, the switch-hitting second baseman needed a night like that. 2-for-4, homer, double, three RBIs.
THE BAD: Steve Lombardozzi. Inserted in the two-hole (and playing third base) to shake things up a bit, Lombo went 0-for-5 and didn’t make solid contact on anything.
THE UGLY: Adam LaRoche. Another o-fer (0-for-4, K) drops his early average to .159/.243/.317. A career .219 hitter, he can’t wait to see the calendar flip at this point.
THE STATS: 12 hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. 4-for-9 with RISP, 6 LOB. No errors, 1 DP.
NEXT GAME: Friday night at 7:05 against the Reds. Jordan Zimmermann (3-1, 2.67) hosts Homer Bailey (1-1, 3.24).
HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY DANNY ESPINOSA!
Washington Nationals switch-hitting second baseman was born on 04/25/1987 in Santa Ana, California.
Happy birthday, #8.
Danny Espinosa during his MLB Network interview after Nats clinched – Philadelphia Phillies v. Washington Nationals, October 1, 2012 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
Danny Espinosa turning a double play (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
Washington Nationals 2B Danny Espinosa scores on Bryce Harper’s triple in 3rd inning, May 20, 2012. (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
After consecutive losses to the Atlanta Braves on Friday and Saturday, the Washington Nationals needed Gio Gonzalez to be the “stopper” on Sunday. He ended up being whatever the opposite of stopper is as the relentless Braves lineup pounded him and the Nats 9-0 before 39,389 under sun-drenched skies at Nationals Park.
The Braves (11-1) jumped all over Gonzalez early — and often. From the very first pitch, which B.J. Upton lined for a double, you could tell this one could end up being trouble. Gonzalez got uber-slumping Jason Heyward to fly out, but he walked Justin Upton before allowing a run-scoring double to janitor-turned-Babe Ruth Evan Gattis. Gio got Dan Uggla swinging for the second out, but couldn’t get the Braves to stall. Chris Johnson ripped a pitch right back through the box to score two more, and the Nats trailed 3-0 before they took a swing.
Gonzalez cruised through the second inning, but got into even more hot water in the third. Justin Upton led off with his seventh home run of the season, which leads the Major Leagues. Uggla drew a one-out walk and Johnson singled again, to set up Andrelton Simmons’ three-run home run, his first of the season.
Atlanta picked up two more in the sixth against reliever Zach Duke. Braves pitcher Paul Maholm hit a one-out single, took second on B.J. Upton’s single and scored on Heyward’s double to the right field corner. After an intentional walk to Justin Upton, B.J. scored on Gattis’ sacrifice fly to right.
The rest was all Maholm. The lefty was dominant against the Nats (7-5), going 7 2/3 innings to earn his third win of the young season. He blanked the Nats, allowing just four hits and a walk, striking out seven.
THE GOOD: Kurt Suzuki went 2-for-3. That’s all I got.
THE BAD: Danny Espinosa was hit on the right hand in his only at bat. He played another half-inning in the field before being lifted for Steve Lombardozzi. The team announced during the game Espinosa left with a “sore right hand”.
THE UGLY: Ryan Zimmerman made another throwing error, his third in as many games against the Braves. He also made several plays, including starting a pair of 5-4-3 double plays. Manager Davey Johnson insists Zimmerman is healthy but concedes his third baseman is still gaining strength in the surgically repaired shoulder.
THE STATS: 4 hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. 1-for-5 with RISP, 7 LOB. E: Zimmerman (throw, 3); Lombardozzi (1).
NEXT GAME: Monday against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Jordan Zimmerman (2-0, 2.08) faces Wade LeBlanc (0-2, 3.27) at 7:10 pm.
It’s a high bar indeed, when a starting pitcher allows no earned runs in six innings and we accuse him of “struggling”. But Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg has set that standard for himself in his young career. He had trouble locating his fastball through the early innings against the Atlanta Braves, but eventually settled down to get through six innings.
Unfortunately, his teammates were thoroughly shut down by Braves hurler Tim Hudson, and the Nats (7-4) fell to the Braves 3-1, before a sellout crowd of 41,992. Adding injury to insult, catcher Wilson Ramos sustained a pulled hamstring trying to leg out a ground ball in the eighth inning. Manager Davey Johnson indicted the pull was “pretty deep”, and suggested Ramos would need a few weeks to recover. If that is the case. Jhonatan Solano would be first in line to replace Ramos on the roster.
Strasburg didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled through six innings. His final line — two unearned runs on five hits and one walk with a hit batter, wild pitch and seven strikeouts — masks the lack of pinpoint control and his trouble locating his fastball through most of his appearance. Indicative of his struggles on the day, Strasburg failed to retire the Braves Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, shortstop Ramiro Pena and pitcher Tim Hudson, who went a combined 3-for-3 with a walk.
After laboring in the first and second innings, Strasburg looked like he had righted the ship and was going to have a 1-2-3 inning in the third. Justin Upton rolled over on a fastball and hit a soft grounder to third base. Ryan Zimmerman fielded cleanly, but his sidearmed throw drew Adam LaRoche off the bag and Upton reached on the error. Given another opportunity, the Braves capitalized, as rookie Evan Gattis hit his fifth home run of the season, into the visitor’s bullpen in left center.
But Strasburg (L, 1-2, 2.95) seemed to settle down a little bit after the third inning and he got into a groove as his day went on, retiring his final seven batters consecutively.
The Nats cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth on Danny Espinosa’s first home run of the season. That was, unfortunately, the only run the Nats would get off Braves starter Tim Hudson (W, 2-0, 2.50). The veteran right-hander dominated the Nats lineup over seven innings, limiting the Nats to four hits with no walks.
THE GOOD: Danny Espinosa. He’s been really struggling out of the box, but showed signs of life with the homer.
THE BAD: Ryan Mattheus. One run on three hits in one inning in a one-run game. Nats needed Mattheus to lock it down with the one run deficit and he couldn’t.
THE UGLY: Zimmerman’s throw. You can’t give good teams like the Braves an extra out, and that’s what that error did. The bats let the Nats down Saturday, but Zimmerman’s error set Strasburg up for failure.
THE STATS: 4 hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. 0-for-1 with RISP, 1 LOB. E: Zimmerman (throw, 2), 0 DPs.
NEXT GAME: The Nats send Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.82) to the mound on Sunday to face Paul Maholm (2-0, 0.00) at 1:35 pm.
Before they could even turn the lights on at Space Coast Stadium, swirling winds and reports of a nearby tornado sent fans and ball players scrambling for cover with the Washington Nationals leading the Atlanta Braves 9-3 in the eighth inning Sunday afternoon.
Jordan Zimmermann pitched 6.0 impressive innings, allowing six hits, three runs – only one earned – three walks and four strikeouts over 85 pitches on an outrageously windy day in Central Florida. [Read more...]
The Washington Nationals played with split squads on Wednesday, sending mostly minor leaguers and prospects to Kissimmee to face the Houston Astros. That left a team of mostly MLB regulars to host the New York Mets, including starter Jordan Zimmermann, who was roughed up in his last spring training outing.
After some initial shakiness, Zimmermann had little trouble this time out, carving up the Mets and leading the Nats to an 8-5 win at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, FL.
Zimmermann tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run (three total) on four hits and two walks, striking out six. [Read more...]
Those who made the trek to the Washington Nationals’ Space Coast Stadium to witness powerhouse hitting were undoubtedly disappointed as the Nats fell 5-1 to the Miami Marlins.
That said, this is Grapefruit League ball, and both teams’ rosters were comprised of a motley crew of players by midway through the game.
Dan Haren tossed 24 of 35 pitches for strikes over two innings. He allowed one earned run, but struck out three of the last four hitters he faced in his spring debut with the Nats.
Christian Yelich led off with a triple against Haren and Donovan Solano flied to Bryce Harper in left, allowing Yelich to score. During the next at-bat, Joe Mahoney reached first base on Haren’s fielding error, but the newbie to the Nationals’ rotation settled in from there to get Alfredo Silverio and Chris Coghlan.
The Nats struggled to connect against the Marlins’ pitching staff, however imaginative the day’s roster may have been. Miami right-hander Nathan Eovaldi earned the win by pitching two scoreless innings in which he allowed no hits, one walk and struck out three. [Read more...]
“We’re going to the World Series this year.” – Principal Owner Mark Lerner said during a “State of the Nationals” forum for season ticket holders at NatsFest.
The Washington Nationals held NatsFest on Saturday, January 26 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. By all accounts, it sounded like a big success with more than 7,000 fans (per @NationalsPR).
Fans got a chance to see new Nationals Denard Span and Dan Haren as well as several other Nats players and prospects, including Corey Brown, Tyler Clippard, Ian Desmond, Ross Detwiler, Danny Espinosa, Christian Garcia, Gio Gonzalez, Brian Goodwin, Bryce Harper, Nathan Karns, Steve Lombardozzi, Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Moore, Ryan Perry, Anthony Rendon, Will Rhymes, Matt Skole, Drew Storen, Kurt Suzuki, Chad Tracy, Jayson Werth and Jordan Zimmermann.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and Mark Lerner, one of the team’s Principal Owners, as well as team broadcasters Bob Carpenter, F.P. Santangelo, Charlie Slowes and Phil Wood were also in attendance. [Read more...]
