Ejections:
Washington Nationals second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera ejected by HP umpire Vic
Carapazza (10th); Washington Nationals Manager Matt Williams ejected by HP
umpire Vic Carapazza (10th)
Umpires:
HP: Vic Carapazza. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Hunter Wendelstedt. 3B: Mike Winters.
LF: Brian Knight. RF: Laz Diaz.
Weather:
61 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 7
mph, Varies.
T: 6:23.
Att:
44,035.
It’s
impossible to beat the first paragraph of Adam Kilgore’s game story in this
morning’s Washington Post, so I will repeat it here:
“Saturday
night was about heroes and ghosts and everything in between. The marathon at
Nationals Park included mastery and meltdowns, players warming their hands by a
heater in the dugout and little-known relievers pitching their guts out. The
Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants engaged in the kind of game
that makes you love baseball and curse its existence and pace around the living
room and ask the person next to you, what inning is it again? They played the
kind of game that makes you feel alive until it makes you sick to your stomach.”
Incidentally,
I have been hard on the Post in the past, but I was astonished to retrieve my
newspaper around 8:00 this morning and find full coverage of the game, which
went a couple of minutes past midnight – front page photo, box score, game
story, columns, complete play-by-play, the works. Way to go guys! I hereby
forgive them for running the same page of comics on two consecutive days
earlier in the week.
For those
of you living either on another planet or in a sterile sports-free environment,
the Nats and Giants yesterday (and early today) played the longest postseason
game in recorded history (breaking the previous record by more than a half
hour), tying for the most innings at 18. We should have all been home at a
decent hour, enjoying a 1-0 Washington victory, but Nats manager Matt Williams lifted
starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann in the ninth inning, one out away from
victory. After the game, Williams justified his ill-fated decision as follows:
“Hindsight
is a great thing. You know, if our starting pitcher goes out there, and he’s at
100 pitches, third time, fourth time through the lineup, he gets in trouble in
the ninth, we’ll go to the guy who was perfect for us since he has been in that
role.”
Well,
Matt, here goes:
·
In
the first place, it’s not “hindsight” for the many of us who questioned his
call even before Drew Storen reached the mound. And that’s not a knock on
Storen – I wouldn’t have taken JZim out at that point even if I had Mariano
Rivera warmed up in the pen.
·
“100
pitches” is hardly an evening-ending load for a veteran stud starting pitcher
(with an extra day of rest, no less).
·
They
weren’t even particularly stressful pitches. The Giants never had more than one
baserunner in an inning against Zimmermann, and the only runner to even reach
second base was back in the third inning.
·
He
wasn’t exactly struggling. Prior to walking Joe Panik with two out in the
ninth, Zimmermann had retired 20 (!) consecutive batters. Giants starter Tim
Hudson was quoted as saying the Nats “probably could’ve brought in Sandy Koufax
and we would’ve had a smile on our face.”
·
You
want “perfect”? Zimmermann entered the ninth on a streak of 19 consecutive
scoreless innings, during which he allowed a total of 4 hits – all singles.
·
Today’s
closers much prefer to come in to start an inning, rather than in the middle
with someone on base. I haven’t checked, but I’m sure that most if not all of
Storen’s regular-season saves were of this variety.
Williams
also took another risk. If he leaves Zimmermann in the game, he gives up the
lead and the Nats lose, JZim gets credit for a valiant effort, and the Nats
have their backs up against the wall needing three straight wins. As things
unfolded, not only are their backs up against the wall, but they once again
have a potential problem at the back of the bullpen, since it’s hard to imagine
that Storen could be completely unaffected by being one out away from victory
in his last two postseason appearances and unable to close things out either
time.
Tom
Boswell put it much better than I have in his column in this morning’s Post.
To add
injustice to injury, Williams got ejected in the bottom of the tenth inning.
So, rather than freezing like us innocent victims, he had a presumably warm and
comfortable seat in the clubhouse for the final eight innings.
If
Williams is goat #1 in the defeat, the Nats “offense” comes in a close second.
Their only run came in the third inning on a leadoff double by Asdrubal Cabrera
and a two-out RBI single by Anthony Rendon. Rendon wound up setting a franchise
playoff record with a total of 4 hits in the game. Everyone not named Anthony
Rendon managed just 5 singles in 55 at-bats, with 19 strikeouts. They were
particularly feckless (fecklesser?) in extra innings, with only two hits over
the final 9 frames.
There were
a few moments of one kind or another, other than the second consecutive
transcendent performance by Zimmermann. DC Washington did his usual superb job
with the National Anthem and God Bless America. The Nats ditched Garth Brooks
and Taylor Swift in favor of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough”
for the 7th and 14th inning stretches – great song,
albeit one whose lyrics rival “Take On Me” in terms of being difficult to sing
along to. The oddest sight was when at some point in extra innings I left my
seat (right after the Nats finished “hitting”) for the men’s room, only to see
about a dozen other men literally sprinting across the concourse in that
direction. I had the same luck getting in the slow line as I usually have at
the grocery store, with the guy at the very front resembling the Dice-K of
urination. By the time I finished, it was completely SRO, with a five-yard line
out the door.
Given our
loss in Game 1, I decided to change things up for Game 2 – drove down myself
instead of catching a ride with the Pierce clan, walked down to Subway to pick
up a sandwich, bought a bottle of Coke instead of bringing in water. I did
forget to pick up a new rally towel on the way in, so maybe that was the
problem.
The drive
home actually wound up being quite an adventure. Washington Ave. was completely
messed up -- the section leading up to where I get onto 395 South seemed to be
closed, so I wound up getting routed in the wrong direction, eventually getting
into the 3rd Street Tunnel, going north under the Mall, winding up on Second St
NW not too far from the Capitol. Pulled over to get my bearings, decided that
trying to get back on the Freeway was too dicey, so I headed west and south,
eventually finding my way to Constitution Ave. and then to 14th. Even with
that, I got home around 1:20 after leaving the lot at 12:30, which I guess
isn't too bad all things considered.
Now we
just have to hope that the Nats can pull off what would be a miracle comeback, beginning
against the formidable Madison Bumgarner. Otherwise, they may be well on their
way to joining the Caps in the local pantheon of perennial postseason
underachievers.