Michael Gerson characterizes the strategy as “Devalue your
own accomplishments”, “Muddy your message”, and “Take the slimmest possible win
as a massive political mandate”.
“The alternative is to take a few large wins — say, on the
infrastructure package and the child tax credit — and actually explain them to
the public. In this case, the overarching message would not be overweening
ambition, but rather a focus on tangible things such as roads, bridges and
children.”
Weather: 85 degrees, sunny
Wind: 4 mph, out to CF
Umpires: HP--Culbreth, 1B--Reyburn, 2B--Hoye, 3B--Cuzzi.
Time: 3:46
Attendance - 33,986
Three highlights:
#3 – Sixth-inning pinch-hitting appearance by fan favorite
Gerardo “Baby Shark” Parra, possibly his final at bat as a Nat.
#2 – For the top of the ninth, Washington initially sent
Alex Avila back out to catch, then put in Keibert Ruiz to replace him, so both
teams could honor Avila as he played his final major league game. Avila wound
things up in style, knocking in two runs with a two-out double in the fifth and
guiding Washington starting pitcher Joan Adon through his major league debut.
#1 – An inning earlier, it had been Ryan Zimmerman’s turn to
be honored, in what may or may not have been his final game. It had, of course,
been his day from the beginning, as he got a standing ovation during the
announcement of the starting lineup and an even bigger one on his first trip to
the plate, as Boston catcher Christian Vazquez and home-plate umpire Fieldin
Culbreth both slowed things down in order for the ovation to build.
Beyond all that, an actual baseball game happened, one which
the Red Sox needed to win in order to guarantee their spot in the AL wild-card
game. Ace pitcher Chris Sale recorded all of his outs via strikeout but otherwise
struggled, giving up one run on a pair of doubles in the 2nd and
exiting with one out an inning later after walking Zim with the bases loaded.
Washington increased its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the 5th, but
went hitless the rest of the way off a parade of Boston relievers.
Meanwhile, Adon had an outstanding debut, pitching out of
trouble a few times but getting through his first five innings allowing only a
single run, on a Rafael Devers homer leading off the 4th. He was
lifted with one out in the 6th after allowing consecutive singles,
with one of the two inherited runners crossing the plate. Perhaps most
impressively, he notched 9 strikeouts against a tough lineup, a number exceeded
only by Stephen Strasburg among Washington pitchers making their first
major-league appearances.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the combustible
Washington bullpen was unable to hold the lead. Erick Fedde gave up three
singles and a double in the top of the 7th, allowing the visitors to
tie the score. Andres Machado, to his credit, retired all four batters he
faced, but Devers struck again in the 9th, blasting a 2-run HR off
Nats “Pitcher of the Year (as voted by local media)” Kyle Finnegan. Former Nats
prospect Nick Pivetta made his first relief appearance of the season to retire
the side in order in the bottom of the frame, with the final pitch of the home
team’s disappointing season being a called third strike to Juan Soto.
While it was quite a hot day for October, the 3:05 start
time meant that we were sitting in the shade the entire game. We had our
pre-game lunch at Kruba Thai & Sushi and were somewhat surprised that it
was delivery and take-out only, but we ordered and were able to eat on one of the
tables they had outside. Well before the game began, the Nats had only two
flavors of gelato – the salted caramel actually wasn’t bad – and I was able to
pick up a Doolittle t-shirt on sale for ten bucks.
