June 16, 2021 – Nats 3, Giants 1

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/pirates-vs- nationals/2021/06/16/633628#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=633628

 

Weather: 77 degrees, Sunny.

Wind: 9 mph, Out To RF.

Umpires: HP--De Jesus, 1B--Wegner, 2B--Porter, 3B--Tosi.

Time: 2:59

Attendance - 16,781

Seats: Section 205, Row B, Seats 8-9. Second level, down the left field line, just beyond 3^rd base. In the shade for the entire game, so I didn’t need my cap except for Woo’s.

 

Trois étoiles:

#3 – Yan Gomes, who homered in the bottom of the 2^nd to get the Nats on the board first

#2 – Josh Bell, who provided critical insurance after the stretch with a two-run blast against his former team

#1 – 34-year-old journeyman Paolo Espino, who got his first major-league win in his 29^th major league appearance, 15 years after being drafted in 2006. Getting the start in place of the injured Max Scherzer, Espino was efficient (53 pitches in his 5 innings), effective (allowing no runs or walks, and only 3 hits), and clutch (escaping a 2^nd-and-3^rd one-out jam in the fourth via a strikeout and a ground ball). Despite pitching mostly in low-leverage mop-up situations, Espino has been quietly excellent for the Nats so far this year, with a 2.28 ERA, only 19 hits allowed in 27.2 innings, and a superlative 21-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

 

While Washington’s recent uptick in hitting the ball out of the park has been encouraging, for the most part the offense continues to produce only enough runs to win (assuming excellent pitching). They loaded the bases twice with only one out and failed to score both times, an outcome that will be no surprise to even casual observers. A rested bullpen did enough to clinch the win, giving up 4 of Pittsburgh’s 9 hits in the last two innings to make things interesting, but ultimately yielding only one run.

 

We took Metro (me for the first time in at least 15 months), and it worked out well. We had plenty of company, but were able to easily find seats both coming and going, although some of the cars we passed while “moving down” were definitely SRO. It was also another surprisingly good day on the concessions front. For some reason, none of the (admittedly few) stands in our area of the park were on the mobile ordering list, so I decided to just go out and order/pay the old-fashioned way. There was no line, and our beer, water, and hot dogs arrived quickly. And the weather was perfect, with low humidity and not even a hint of rain.