Umpires:
HP: Doug Eddings. 1B: Marvin Hudson. 2B: Cory Blaser. 3B: Jim Joyce.
Weather:
66 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 12
mph, In from LF.
T: 2:19.
Att:
31,590.
Section
131, Row U, Seats 9-10 (lower level, just beyond first base, not too far from
the field, so was able to go with short sleeves and no jacket for the first
time since the home opener)
The Nats
didn’t get Tanner Roark as the first pick in the draft (Strasburg), or pick him
up in a blockbuster trade (Gonzalez, Fister). He was a 25th-round
draft pick after pitching for a couple months in an independent league, never
appeared on top prospect lists, didn’t do anything especially noteworthy in the
minor leagues, was acquired by the Nats from the Rangers in a minor deal at the
2010 trade deadline, and wasn’t added to the team’s 40-man roster after an
undistinguished 2012 season at AAA Syracuse (6-17, 4.39 ERA). Many still
mispronounce his name with one syllable (it’s ROW-ark). Tom Boswell has a nice
column in today’s Post chronicling his modest start and recent achivevements.
This
afternoon, Roark was magnificent, producing the team’s first complete game of
the year in an ultra-efficient 105 pitches, more than 2/3 of them strikes. He
was perfect into the sixth inning, until Padres catcher Rene Rivera managed a one-out
single to center. San Diego managed only two other hits, and Roark only walked
one batter.
Meanwhile,
the Padres were channeling the worst aspects of the early-season Nationals,
allowing 3 first-inning runs and being charged with 3 errors. (Their most
critical misplay, when second baseman Jedd Gyorko couldn’t handle a likely
double-play grounder by Jayson Werth in the first, was initially also scored as
an error but later changed to a hit.*) The Nats managed only one more run the
rest of the game, but their modest offensive output was more than enough for
Roark.
Traffic
was relatively uneventful both ways, although I can’t quite figure out the
recurring Legion Bridge slowdowns on the way back from games this year. Took
advantage of both the $5 beer and 2-for-1 hot dog coupons.
* -
5/15/2014 update: heard on a Nats broadcast this week that, upon a few weeks of
further review, they changed the play back to an error.
No comments:
Post a Comment