September 8, 2016 – Phillies 4, Nationals 1 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200222852/alec-asher-ryan-howard-lead-phillies-by-nats/

 

Attendance: 25,412

Game Time: 2:48

Weather: 93 degrees, clear

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Paul Emmel, First Base - Larry Vanover, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Chris Guccione

Seventh-inning stretch song: Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

 

Section 232, Row M, Seats 5-6 (free tickets from August food drive) – upper level in far right field, just in foul territory (so couldn’t see deep right and right-center field). Almost had the entire row to ourselves, did have some Phillies fans a little farther back. Very hot until the sun dipped below the opposite stands early in the game, relatively comfortable thereafter.

 

Notes – Phillies ended 9-game losing streak to the Nats … all of their offense came in the third, with a solo homer by Peter Bourjos and a 3-run shot by Ryan Howard … Nats starter A.J. Cole needed only 78 pitches to get through 5 innings before departing for a pinch-hitter, fanning 8 … Alec Asher made his season debut for the Phils and blanked Washington for 6 innings, although they hit quite a few balls hard, deep, or both … Nats loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off Hector Neris, followed by a Murphy sac fly and a Harper strikeout (the first Nat to fan all evening) … about 65-70 minutes to drive down (typical for weeknight games) … took advantage of coupons (2 for 1 Nats Dogs, $2 Cracker Jack) … buyer beware: frozen custard from Shake Shack is delicious but insidiously messy … made quick escape from The Parking Lot Formerly Known As HH and got back to Rockville before 11:00

September 5, 2016 – Nationals 6, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/199685872/scherzer-turner-lead-nationals-over-braves/

 

Attendance: 26,005

Game Time: 2:59

Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Todd Tichenor, First Base - Carlos Torres, Second Base - Rob Drake, Third Base - Gerry Davis

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – 3 hits (1^st inning double, 2-run homer in the 3^rd, single in the 4^th) and 3 RBI for Trea Turner … Chris Heisey followed Turner’s shot with a 3-run round-tripper later in the third inning … Scherzer wasn’t at his sharpest but held Atlanta to single runs in the second and sixth, pitching out of deeper trouble each time and talking his way into pitching the seventh

 

Other – Turner, Espinosa and Rendon were the only regulars in the lineup, as the team didn’t arrive in DC until 3am following the Sunday night game in New York … Melancon made things interesting by allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in a ninth-inning non-save situation … with a Monday game rather than a Signature Sunday, we came down early to beat the traffic and had a pregame lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings … subsequently tried the gelato (they seemed to have plenty of cups) … traffic getting out of our usual parking area was again a mess

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (The River Tour) – Nationals Park, 9/1/2016

Section 403, Row K, Seats 9-16. Upper level, down the left field line, at somewhat of an angle to the stage. We were fortunate enough to be under cover, as there was a little rain both early and late. We relied a lot on the big screens on either side of the stage, as the figures on the stage were tiny even with binoculars. Oddly, the screen showed Bruce himself almost the entire time, even when someone else was doing an extended solo.

 

Music-wise, this was definitely the best Springsteen concert I’ve been to this century. (Can’t remember all that much about the time I saw him in 1974 in Carlisle.) He wasn’t touring behind a new album, as he was when he first played Nats Park on the Wrecking Ball tour, and although this was still officially “The River Tour”, he had stopped performing that two-record set in its entirety. (In fact, only 3 of its songs made this night’s setlist.) Instead, the early part of the show was Bruce in wayback mode, featuring 5 consecutive tracks from Asbury Park and 4 of the 7 from E Street Shuffle. He also managed to get to all 5 of the non-single cuts from Born In The U.S.A., while doing only 2 of that album’s 7 Top Ten hits (“I’m On Fire” and the obligatory “Dancing In The Dark”). I was a little concerned about the sound quality during the opening “New York City Serenade”, but it was fine during the rest of the show. The crowd was generally enthusiastic, and Bruce and the band seemed to be having a great time throughout (along with Katie Ledecky).

 

Traffic wasn’t too bad on the way down, although it was a tight fit for 6 of us along with all our tailgating equipment and supplies in the brand-new Kia Sorrento. Our reservation for the parking lot on Half Street (about three blocks north of the park) proved to be a good choice, as the concert ended at 11:45 (started at 8:00) and we got back to Rockville just a few minutes after 1:00.

 

Highlights – “No Surrender”, “Spirit In The Night”, “Kitty’s Back”, “Rosalita” (the last song we listened to while tailgating), “The Promised Land”, “Hungry Heart”, “Jungleland”, “Bobby Jean” (which concluded the evening)

 

Key line from the excellent Washington Post review: [Springsteen] has been trying to make America great again for years in a way that’s antithetical to those who co-opt his progressive songs for conservative purposes.

 

Key line from the great writeup at Backstreets.com: Patti [Scialfa] elevated "Because the Night" with her unique vocal stylings.

 

Setlist