As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Saturday, October 26, 2019

October 25, 2019 – Astros 4, Nats 1 (World Series Game 3) – Nationals Park


 
Weather: 64 degrees, Partly Cloudy.
Wind: 2 mph, Out To RF.
Umpires: HP--Cederstrom, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Barksdale, 3B--Holbrook, LF--Wolf, RF--Eddings.
Time: 4:03
Attendance: 43,867
 
Section 416, Row J, Seats 27-28 (back in our old section, but on the opposite aisle and higher up – under shelter in case of rain)
 
It was, in a sense, a game of opposites. Washington starter Anibal Sanchez, when last seen starting Game 1 of the NLCS two weeks ago, went 7.2 innings in that affair before giving up his one and only hit. Friday night, he gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter, and 10 in all, without getting out of the 6th inning. The Astros, who had been struggling mightily with runners in scoring postion, went 4 for 8 in such situations, while the Nats were 0 for 10. Houston was sloppy in their Game 2 defeat; now, the Nats yielded 4 stolen bases (including one where an errant Suzuki throw allowed the runner to get all the way to third), while birthday boy (and Gold Glove nominee) Juan Soto misplayed one ball in left field and airmailed a throw on a second, giving up an extra base each time.
 
For the first time in the Series, Washington’s starter kept the Astros off the board in the first inning, although they scored in each of the next two to put the home team in an early 2-0 hole. The strategic turning point came in the bottom of the 4th, after a leadoff Zimmerman walk and a one-out Robles triple. Although Tanner Rainey was warming in the bullpen, Davey allowed the light-hitting Sanchez to bat. He struck out, and Turner hit a soft ground ball to pitcher Zack Greinke, leaving Robles on third.
 
The decision was certainly defensible, given Sanchez’s low pitch count and the shortage of reliable options in the Washington bullpen, but it did not work out well. Sanchez recorded only 4 more outs, giving up one more run in the 5th and a homer to Robinson Chirinos in the 6th before leaving with one out. Meanwhile, Fernando Rodney prevented any further damage that inning, and Joe Ross combined with Wander Suero to blank the visitors over the final three frames.
 
The Nats didn’t lack for baserunners, getting at least one man in scoring position in each of the first six innings and getting Greinke out of the game with 2 outs in the 5th. They just couldn’t get hits when they needed them, either against Greinke or the Houston relief crew.
 
Things seemed much more crowded than at the two NLCS games, despite almost identical attendance figures. You could barely move on the lower level when we came in around 6:45, and getting out of the park after the game seemed to take forever. Metro did a great job getting us back, but I didn’t actually get home until 2:15.
 
And I was extremely happy that DC Washington got the honor of performing the National Anthem before the game.

No comments:

Post a Comment