Attendance: 4,510
Game Time: 2:43
Weather: 78 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 8 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Conroy, First Base - John Libka, Second
Base - Ryan Additon, Third Base - Nick Mahrley
Seventh-inning stretch song: Lazy Mary [Luna Mezza Mare] – Lou Monte
Section 203, Row V, Seat 20 – a bit down the first-base line, on the
aisle, two rows from the top (but still with a good view), in the shade all
afternoon
I went through the first 4 of my 5 games this spring without seeing the
Nats hit a single ball out of the park, but they made up for it this afternoon.
Trea followed his single leading off the game with solo shots to left off Mets
starter Seth Lugo in the third and fifth, the latter a no-doubt-about-it blast.
Harper, who ended the first by grounding into a double play, hit two long ones
to the grassy area beyond the right field wall: a solo shot to lead off the
fourth and a two-run blast in the eighth. Doubles by Drew and Zim added another
4th-inning run, a frame that ended with an excellent at-bat by
Scherzer with runners on 2nd and 3rd, as he fouled off
several pitches and worked the count full before finally grounding out sharply
to Lugo. (The final 6 Washington batters of the afternoon fanned against Mets
minor leaguers, but by that point no one really cared.)
Max didn’t do badly on the mound in just his second official spring
start, throwing 85 pitches over 5 innings and holding the New Yorkers to 2 hits
while striking out 7, although he did issue 3 walks. Enny Romero, Vance Worley,
and Koda Glover, all competing for the final two spots in the bullpen, held the
Mets to one hit and one walk the rest of the way.
The Mets regular outfielders and shortstop were playing a split-squad
game down the road in Jupiter, so New York started some guy named Tim Tebow in
left field. (You may have heard of him.) Appearing to make a statement, Max
brought the heat in the second, fanning him on 3 pitches that registered 97,
96, and 97 on the scoreboard. He struck him out again to start the fifth. Tebow
did get a nice round of applause when he ended his 3rd AB (against
Romero) by grounding the ball back to the pitcher, but Glover fanned him one
more time to end the game.
I have to say that I really liked First Data Field (“Tradition Field”
until a month or so ago). It’s not the newest or fanciest place, but the
sightlines are good, there’s plenty of shade, the lines for food and restrooms
were short-to-nonexistent (at least when I went), and they did a nice job of
getting the cars out of the parking lot after the game. (Allow 10-15 minutes
after exiting the lot to get back onto I-95, however.) The concession prices
were also reasonable; I got the largest slice of pizza I’ve ever had in my life
for a mere $6.
