Attendance: 28,680
Duration: 2:45
Weather: 84 degrees, Partly cloudy
Wind: SW 11 MPH
Umpires: HP: Whitson. 1B: Miller. 2B: Hernandez. 3B: Porter.
Section 318, Row F, Seats 14-16 – about halfway down the first-base
line, back row
Final home game of the season – the good, the bad, and the mixed.
Looking forward, and looking back.
Since Tanner Roark was with his family awaiting the birth of their
third child, recent call-up Kyle McGowin got his first opportunity to start a
major-league game. After retiring the first 11 Miami batters and holding the
Marlins scoreless through 4 innings, he was forced to leave the game with a blister,
unable to get the 5 innings of work that would have made him the winning
pitcher.
Top prospect Victor Robles provided hope for the future with a monster
offensive game, going 4 for 5 with a double, homer, and 5 RBI. Fellow rookies
Juan Soto, Spencer Kieboom, and Adrian Sanchez joined Robles to account for all
but one of the team’s 12 hits, while Robles and Kieboom combined for all 8 of
the runs batted in. The Nats got all the runs they needed with 5 in the 2nd
off Wei-Yin Chen, and broke the game wide open with 4 more in the 5th
off Brett Graves.
The game’s ending was also fitting, as the threatened thunderstorms
appeared with a vengeance just as the 7th inning ended.
And Bryce Harper, in possibly his final home game as a National, went
0-4, striking out twice. He would have led off the 8th inning with
the chance for a more positive finale, but the game never resumed.
