May 30, 2021 – Brewers 3, Nats 0 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/brewers-vs-nationals/2021/05/30/633933#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=633933

 

Weather: 54 degrees, Overcast.

Wind: 9 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Holbrook, 1B--Muchlinski, 2B--Wolf, 3B--Beck.

Time: 3:01

Attendance - 15,326

 

First in-person baseball game in a long time. There was much to like. Catching up with friends was great, the drives down and back were uneventful, and singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” at the seventh-inning stretch is still a great feeling. Unlike Friday night and Saturday, there wound up being only a few minutes of rain, and the temperature and wind were bearable despite the unusual late-May chill.

 

Then there was the game itself. Before it started, I (only somewhat facetiously) wondered whether Max Scherzer would give up a dinger in the first inning, as has so often happened to him and other Nats pitchers this season. It turned out I was right, as Avisail Garcia, one of the few right-handed hitters in the Milwaukee lineup, turned around a 1-2 fastball. Unfortunately, Max had issued a 5-pitch walk to Dan Vogelbach two batters earlier, so the home team was in an early 2-0 hole – not a particularly good sign for an offense that had managed only 3 runs while losing both ends of a double-header the previous day.

 

Scherzer was fantastic after that, allowing only one more baserunner while fanning 10 through his 6 innings of work. Meanwhile, however, the Washington bats remained silent. Brandon Woodruff faced the minimum number of batters through the first 4 innings. Kyle Schwarber got a big cheer when he singled to lead off the 5^th, but he didn’t even manage to reach second base. The Nats mounted a mild threat an inning later, when Woodruff walked Yadiel Hernandez (pinch-hitting for Max) and gave-up a two-out single to Trea Turner two batters later, but once again they failed to convert. Starlin Castro did at least manage to get to second base in the 8^th, after drawing a walk from reliever Brad Boxberger. After Omar Narvaez extended the lead with a 9^th inning homer off Austin Voth, Turner generated a bit of excitement with a leadoff single off ace closer Josh Hader, but Bell, Schwarber, and Harrison went down in order to send the Nats to their fourth straight loss, and a 4-5 record for a homestand that began with a sweep of the (admittedly awful) Orioles.

 

As uninspiring as the show on the field was, trying to get food from the concession stands (those that were actually open, that is) proved far more frustrating. It started when one of our friends on the lower level reported: “No souvenir cups, out of Diet Coke and the lids don’t fit on the small cups.” A bit later, my seatmate began his quest for some chicken tenders and fries. He returned after a surprisingly long absence to report that, after waiting a while for someone to notice him in the season-plan-holder eCash line, he was told that “eCash wasn’t working for them”. I, on the other hand, noticing that the lines at that stand had gotten unbelievably long, decided to try ordering a slice of pizza via the Ballpark App. After staring at its “Being prepared” screen for 35 minutes or so, and not having received any text-message updates despite having signed up for them, I went up to the counter and was informed that “there was no pizza” (the stand closed shortly thereafter). They did give me a refund, but by now it was well after 2:30 and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. At least the Section 317 Grand Slam Grill seemed organized, as I was able to successfully place and retrieve an order there. Still, it took about 15 minutes to get my food. Given that concession service and speed has never been a Nats Park strong point, especially with relatively large crowds, I hate to think about bad things might get for the remaining games, with all crowd restrictions lifted. We will try to eat before we go in.