Umpires:
HP: Tom Woodring. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Adrian Johnson. 3B: Mike Everitt.
Weather:
75 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 4
mph, Out to CF.
T: 3:20.
Att:
29,108.
In the
Nationals’ epic 14-inning victory in Los Angeles this past Wednesday, Adam
LaRoche was almost certain not to play – in addition to the back stiffness he
had been suffering, he came up with the flu. Nevertheless, Matt Williams called
on him to pinch-hit in the ninth inning, and he drilled a two-run homer to tie
the game. Three innings later, after being drilled in the elbow with a pitch in
the eleventh, he singled in two more runs to give the Nats the lead (which they
promptly gave back in the bottom of the inning). In the fourteenth, he drove in
what finally proved to the winning run by beating out a potential inning-ending
double play. After the cross-country plane trip on Thursday, he followed up on
Friday with a two-run homer in the first against the Phillies (in a game the
Nats eventually lost in 11).
On Sunday,
LaRoche again provided most of the offense for the Nats, with homers leading
off the second and fourth innings off Phillies ace Cole Hamels. (Showing my
incredible baseball expertise [sarcasm alert], I had speculated that Matt
Williams might give LaRoche the day off against the left-handed Hamels.) The
Nats took their first lead of the game and concluded the scoring in the bottom
of the sixth on an Ian Desmond double, a balk call on Hamels, and a long
sacrifice fly by Hamels-killer Scott Hairston.
The balk
was not the only play where the umpires figured into the action. The Phillies
had taken the lead in the top of the first when the Nats, playing as if they
were intent on continuing their recent struggles against the Phils, threw the
ball away twice on a Marlon Byrd single, with Grady Sizemore scoring from first
and Byrd winding up at third. Phils manager Ryne Sandberg argued to no avail
that Byrd should have been awarded home as well. In the top of the eighth, Ben
Revere led off with a pinch single and appeared to steal second base
successfully, but was ruled out when Williams challenged the initial call.
The
weather was beautiful – about 15 degrees cooler than Saturday with much less
humidity – but the sun was tough on the centerfielders. Tony Gwynn Jr. lost a
fly ball by Desmond in the bottom of the second, but Hamels pitched out of it.
The Nats were not so lucky in the top of the fourth, when Carlos Ruiz doubled
on a ball that Denard Span lost in the sun, and subsequently scored the Phils’
second run on a Marlon Byrd single and a Darin Ruf sac fly.
Drew
Storen had no trouble getting the save in lieu of the demoted Rafael Soriano,
coming up with a 1-2-3 ninth inning culminating in a strikeout of Phils
pinch-hitter Ryan Howard.
We finally
used our Red Carpets Rewards points to get seats in the last row of Section 112
(UU, 8-11) – just beyond third base, nice view, in the shade. For the second
time this season, I purchased one of the overpriced (but good) chicken shawarmas
from Shawafel. (Judging from the lack of a line every time I’ve been by, I
wonder whether they will be back next year.)
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