https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202409010.shtml
Time: 2:42
Attendance: 31,086
Start Time Weather: 81° F, Wind 5mph out to Leftfield,
Cloudy, No Precipitation.
Ineffective pitching + porous defense (Manager Dave Martinez
after the game: “It was awful”) + anemic offense = this afternoon’s debacle.
The carnage started in the top of the 3rd, when
defensively-challenged Washington starting pitcher Mitchell Parker committed
his 5th error of the season by sailing an attempted pick-off throw well past
its target, sending speedy Cubs CF Pete Crow-Armstrong all the way to third base.
After he scored on Ian Happ’s single, a double and a walk loaded the bases, and
a two-out hit by Isaac Paredes plated the second and third runs of the frame. An
inning later, Nico Hoerner reached base on a grounder to CJ Abrams that was
charitably scored as a base hit, then scored all the way from first when third
baseman José Tena airmailed a throw on Crow-Armstrong’s bunt. Parker managed to
finish six innings without further damage, but the visitors added another
three-spot in the 7th off Jacob Barnes, aided in no small part by a ground ball
that second baseman Luis García Jr. failed to come up with.
Meanwhile, Washington’s batters were extremely effective at
making quick outs, as Chicago starter Jordan Wicks breezed through five innings
without a single walk or strikeout. Even the Nats’ lone run was a mixed
blessing, as it scored on a bases-loaded double play in the 2nd inning.
With the game pretty much out of hand, the only suspense was
whether and when the team’s two brand-new members would make their major league
debuts. Pitcher Zach Brzykcy (BRICK-see) was first, entering the game to pitch
the 9th inning. He started out reasonably well, allowing hits to two of the
first three batters he faced but then fanning Cody Bellinger for the second out
of the inning. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, as he walked the
next two batters to force in one run before allowing a two-run single that
ended his outing. Fellow rookie Orlando Ribalta poured kerosene on the fire, as
the next five Chicago batters reached base before he could record the final
out.
The pinch-hitting debut of Darren Baker went better, as he
lined a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the inning.
His father (former Nats manager Dusty) and mother were both there to witness
the event.
We somehow managed to make our usual one-hour trip down on Metro in a mere 45 minutes, with so little company that we were completely alone when we started our escalator ascent to ground level. With plenty of time after lunching at SeoulSpice, we decided to hike across the three-year-old Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which spans the Anacostia River. With another large crowd, the concession lines at the park were almost unbelievably long, but the afternoon once again was rain-free.
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