June 19, 2013

Washington Nationals Game 59 Review: Oh, mediocrity! Nats fall into third place with loss to Mets

June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

All the good feelings from the Washington Nationals’ first walk-off win of the season didn’t even last 24 hours.

Nats starter Dan Haren was hit early and often, and lasted just four innings, as the New York Mets — ten games under .500 themselves – scored five runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-1 win as Washington’s moribund offense never mustered any type of attack whatsoever.

With the loss, the Nats drop below .500 again (29-30) and to add insult to injury, slid into third place in the N.L. East behind their arch-rival Philadelphia Phillies.

Haren actually got through the first inning unscathed, and the Nats gave him an early lead when Ian Desmond’s two-out single in the bottom of the first brought home Denard Span from third base.

That would be the end of the highlights for Nats fans.

Lucas Duda led off the second with a double to right, then Marlon Byrd clobbered an 84-MPH splitter from Haren that just hung in the middle of the plate.

The Mets went right back after Haren in the third. Daniel Murphy’s one-out single preceded David Wright’s eighth homer of the season. After Duda flew out to center, Byrd punished a cutter that didn’t cut, driving his eighth home run to left to make it 5-1.

The competitive portion of the contest was over.

The Nats had runners on base in every inning but one, but managed just the lone run in the first inning. Their best chance to score came in the fourth, down 5-1. With runners at second and third and one out, though, Span struck out swinging on three pitches, then Jayson Werth struck out looking on three pitches.

The Mets picked up two runs in the fifth off Craig Stammen and three off Erik Davis in the seventh inning adding to the embarrassing total.

It was that kind of night, in that kind of a season.

THE GOOD: The lone bright spot for the Nats was the Major League debut of reliever Ian Krol, who gave up a double to his first batter, but then struck out three straight to leave the runner stranded.

THE BAD: Steve Lombardozzi, Tuesday night’s “hero” for his walk-off sac fly, went 0-for-4 to drop his slash line for the season to .228/.241/.290.

THE UGLY: Dan Haren. I’ve been patient with the veteran starter, hoping that the glimpses we’ve seen here and there would become the norm and not the anomaly. But that’s just not the case. Five earned on seven hits, including three home runs. He’s tied for most home runs allowed now and he’s just not getting it done. Unfortunately, with Detwiler still on the D.L. and Strasburg joining him there, there really aren’t any other options unless Haren comes up lame again too.

THE STATS: 8 hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. 2-for-9 with RISP, 8 LOB. No errors, no DPs.

NEXT GAME: Thursday at 7:05 pm against the Mets. Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.64) hosts Shaun Marcum (0-6, 5.71)

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Washington Nationals Game 58 Review: With changing tides, Nats win in walk-off fashion

June 5, 2013 by

Amidst an array of roster moves, the Washington Nationals (29-29) out-pitched the New York Mets (22-33) in their return to Nationals Park Tuesday night to record a much-needed 3-2 win.

It was anything but a quiet day for the Nats, who welcomed back Jayson Werth for his first game since May 2. Washington recalled – but sat – Anthony Rendon and also brought up left-handed pitcher Ian Krol.

With few signs of Zach Duke, Danny Espinosa or Henry Rodriguez lingering in the Nats’ clubhouse, Jordan Zimmermann (ND, 8-3) powered on for eight innings of top-notch baseball, providing the revised lineup with a shot at coming back in the later innings – something they haven’t done much of all season.

Considering some of the rocky outings Jeremy Hefner (ND, 1-5) has had thus far, the Mets’ fandom could applaud his effort as well. The 27-year-old right-hander held the struggling Nationals to just one run over four hits and one walk in seven innings.

As such, once more, a Nationals pitcher tossed a gem only to get cheated out of a win – but, at the very least, this battle was not one to be lost for all. It was almost as though a sense of urgency swept over the Nats – even if it has yet to take hold in the form of bat power. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 18 Review: Rendon debuts but, Mets keep Nats’ bats quiet

April 21, 2013 by

Dillon Gee (W, 1-3) shut down the Washington Nationals (10-8) Sunday afternoon to hand the New York Mets (9-8) a 2-0 victory and a two-of-three series win at Citi Field.

The game also marked the first of 22-year-old Anthony Rendon’s major league career. Rendon went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts for the Nationals, but made good contact off Gee and showed a decent amount of patience at the plate, given his dearth of major league at-bats logged. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 17 Review: Twice for Bryce – Harper goes deep to help lift Nats over Mets 7-6

April 21, 2013 by

Bryce Harper went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs as the Washington Nationals (10-7) topped the New York Mets (8-8) 7-6 at Citi Field Saturday afternoon.

The Nats banked on the long ball early on to give Gio Gonzalez (1-1) his first lift of the game on Ian Desmond’s first-pitch homer to left in the second inning. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Game 16 Review: Strasburg wavers as Harvey, Mets win 7-1

April 19, 2013 by

In the battle of the National League East pitching phenoms, Matt Harvey (4-0) emerged the victor against Stephen Strasburg (1-3) as the Mets pulled away with a 7-1 win.

The crowd of 26,675 at Citi Field sounded twice their size on two occasions Friday night – the first as cheers of “Harvey’s better!” erupted, and the second as “U-S-A!” reverberated through the stadium after Citi Field announced the second suspect in the Boston manhunt had been captured.

Despite the fact Strasburg held the Mets to just two runs through the first five innings of his stint, Harvey out-pitched him in every capacity. In fact, in seven innings pitched, Harvey allowed just one run, four hits and three walks and struck out seven. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Gio solid in loss to Mets

March 23, 2013 by

With Opening Day right around the corner, manager Davey Johnson gave most of the Washington Nationals regulars the day off from the long road trip to Port St. Lucie to face the New York Mets. Those that did make the trip, plus a collection of minor league journeymen for the most part, fell to the Mets 3-1 at Tradition Field.

Gio Gonzalez was efficient in six innings of work, allowing one earned run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts, throwing 49 of his 83 pitches for strikes. The Mets got to Gonzalez for the run in the second inning. Gio walked the leadoff batter, catcher John Buck, on four pitches — and the walk came back to bite him. Lucas Duda followed with a single to right field that moved Buck to third base, and minor leaguer Zach Lutz lofted a fly ball to center to bring him home.

It was the last time the Mets would have a runner get past first base the rest of the outing against Gonzalez. [Read more...]

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Strasburg sharp in three inning stint

February 28, 2013 by

If you asked him after the game, Stephen Strasburg probably wasn’t entirely happy about his fastball command in his Thursday night outing against the New York Mets. But the Washington Nationals ace was in midseason for with his changeup and curveball, good enough to strike out six in three innings. Strasburg was long gone before the final out was recorded in a 10-inning 4-4 tie.

Strasburg threw 31 of his 53 pitches for strikes on the evening, with his biting curveball as sharp as ever. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks. Five of his six strikeouts came on called strikes, mostly the change or curve.

The only run Strasburg allowed came in the first inning. Jordany Valdespin singled on a 2-1 fastball to lead off, took second on Collin Cowgill’s broken bat single — on another fastball — and scored on a Mike Baxter sacrifice fly. Strasburg then sat Andrew Brown and Kirk Nieuwenhuis on called strikes to end the inning. Strasburg gave up a walk in both the second and third innings but were stranded without incident.

The Nats got that run back in the second, as top prospect Anthony Rendon continued to impress this spring, doubling home Danny Espinosa, who reached on his own double. Rendon drove in another run in the fourth on a fielder’s choice and is hitting .417 this spring.

Zach Duke, expected to be the Nats left-handed long reliever, gave up an unearned run and three hits in his two innings of work, striking out two. Yuniesky Maya struck out three in two innings, but was roughed up for two runs on three hits and two walks. Minor league reliever Patrick McCoy pitched one perfect inning and Ryan Mattheus followed with two hitless and walkless innings, striking out three in his appearance.

Perhaps the most exciting sequence of the afternoon came in the third inning. Denard Span drew a walk to lead off the frame. Span stole second as Kurt Suzuki struck out, and on a 2-1 count stole third base while Jayson Werth was at bat. Two pitches later, the Nats had another run after Werth’s groundout brought Span home easily.

The Nats travel to Disney on Friday to face the Braves at 6:05 pm.

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Nats put prospects on display against Mets

February 25, 2013 by

The Washington Nationals had an evening game against a team they played a day ago with a two-hour road trip when seemingly half of their Major League roster was at the Daytona 500 on Sunday. So what do they do? They sent most of the team’s top prospects to face the New York Mets at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, FL.

The result? The Nats pounded out 17 hits and Gio Gonzalez and the kids beat the Mets 6-4 and got a chance to show off some of the more prized assets in the system.

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Gonzalez warms up for his first spring start. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

Gonzalez, making his first start of the spring, threw two solid innings, allowing no hits and one walk while striking out three.

The lineup was full of names familiar to Nats prospect hounds. Eury Perez led off and went 3-for-3 with three infield singles, two runs scored and a stolen base. He was replaced by Michael Taylor (1-for-2, run). Corey Brown went 1-for-2 with a run. Anthony Rendon went 1-for-2 and was robbed of a home run to straight-away center. Chris Marrero singled in three trips. Matt Skole doubled to right center and went 1-for-4. Destin Hood had an RBI double and Zach Walters played short and went 1-for-3. Even Jason Martinson made an appearance.

In fact, the only batters that were on the Nats’ big league roster last season that played were Tyler Moore (1-for-3, RBI), Steve Lombardozzi (2-for-3, run, two RBIs) and Brown.

On the mound, Nathan Karns put in two innings of good work, striking out three and allowing a single base runner on a single, reinforcing his position as the Nats Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2012.

Ross Ohlendorf, one of the stable of MLB pitchers the Nats will stash in Syracuse in the event of injury, gave up one run on one hit and one walk, striking out three in three innings. Ryan Mattheus pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the spring training save.

The Nationals travel to Disney on Tuesday to face the Atlanta Braves for the first time this spring. Game time is 1:05 pm.

 

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Photo Gallery of Opener

February 23, 2013 by

Thanks to District Sports Page fan contributor Luis Albisu (@itsLuisF), please enjoy a photo gallery of Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener, in which the Washington Nationals lost to the New York Mets 5-3 at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, FL.
(DSP Game Review).

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The first pitch of spring training under beautiful azure skies. (photo courtesy L. Albisu).

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Davey Johnson waives to familiar faces in the crowd at Port St. Lucie. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

The first meeting at home plate of the season. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

The first meeting at home plate of the season. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

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Denard Span and Bryce Harper get ready to take their hacks against the Mets. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

Harper hits. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

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Strasburg delivers in the bottom of the first. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

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Tyler Moore takes a big cut in Nats first spring training game. (courtesy L. Albisu)

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Washington Nationals Spring Training: Nats fall to Mets 5-3 in spring opener

February 23, 2013 by
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Denard Span steps into the box against the Mets in the Nats Spring Training opener. (photo courtesy L. Albisu)

Even as much as a perfectionist that Stephen Strasburg is, even he can’t be too upset with the first performance of the season. Strasburg gave up three hits and two runs on mostly fastballs in two innings in the Washington Nationals Grapefruit League opener and the Nats fell to the New York Mets, 5-3, at Legends Field in Port St. Lucie, FL. (More photos).

The first start of spring training is meant to get the rust off and adjust to pitching with adrenaline for the first time of the year, and Strasburg looked like he had plenty of rust and was a little too amped up. He did not have the fine fastball control on his 42 pitches and gave up a two-run home run in the first inning to slap-hitting shortstop Ruben Tejada. Granted, the ball carries well to left center at Tradition Field, but the 3-2 pitch was a belt-high fastball that Tejada just squared up against Strasburg.

But the Nats ace didn’t walk a batter, coaxed three groundouts and struck out his final hitter to end the second inning.

Craig Stammen took over and threw two innings himself. He gave up a run on three hits and struck out one.

Cole Kimball, returning from rotator cuff surgery, threw a scoreless inning as the last Nats pitcher of the day.

Washington combined for eight hits, including two from non-roster invitee catcher Chris Snyder, who homered in his first at bat against Mets starter Shawn Marcum. Ian Desmond singled and scored a run while Chris Marrero doubled and scored for the visiting Nats.

The Nats turned two double plays, both by Zach Walters and Will Rhymes, most likely the middle infield for AAA-Syracuse this season.

The Nationals host the Miami Marlins Sunday at 1:05 pm in their home opener from Space Coast Stadium in Viera, FL.

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