October 4-5, 2014 – Giants 2, Nationals 1 (18 innings, NLDS Game 2) – Nationals Park

Bummer of a decision, Matt (with apologies to Gary Larson)

Ejections: Washington Nationals second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera ejected by HP umpire Vic Carapazza (10th); Washington Nationals Manager Matt Williams ejected by HP umpire Vic Carapazza (10th)

Umpires: HP: Vic Carapazza. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Hunter Wendelstedt. 3B: Mike Winters. LF: Brian Knight. RF: Laz Diaz.

Weather: 61 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, Varies.

T: 6:23.

Att: 44,035.

It’s impossible to beat the first paragraph of Adam Kilgore’s game story in this morning’s Washington Post, so I will repeat it here:

“Saturday night was about heroes and ghosts and everything in between. The marathon at Nationals Park included mastery and meltdowns, players warming their hands by a heater in the dugout and little-known relievers pitching their guts out. The Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants engaged in the kind of game that makes you love baseball and curse its existence and pace around the living room and ask the person next to you, what inning is it again? They played the kind of game that makes you feel alive until it makes you sick to your stomach.”

Incidentally, I have been hard on the Post in the past, but I was astonished to retrieve my newspaper around 8:00 this morning and find full coverage of the game, which went a couple of minutes past midnight – front page photo, box score, game story, columns, complete play-by-play, the works. Way to go guys! I hereby forgive them for running the same page of comics on two consecutive days earlier in the week.

For those of you living either on another planet or in a sterile sports-free environment, the Nats and Giants yesterday (and early today) played the longest postseason game in recorded history (breaking the previous record by more than a half hour), tying for the most innings at 18. We should have all been home at a decent hour, enjoying a 1-0 Washington victory, but Nats manager Matt Williams lifted starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann in the ninth inning, one out away from victory. After the game, Williams justified his ill-fated decision as follows:

“Hindsight is a great thing. You know, if our starting pitcher goes out there, and he’s at 100 pitches, third time, fourth time through the lineup, he gets in trouble in the ninth, we’ll go to the guy who was perfect for us since he has been in that role.”

Well, Matt, here goes:

·        In the first place, it’s not “hindsight” for the many of us who questioned his call even before Drew Storen reached the mound. And that’s not a knock on Storen – I wouldn’t have taken JZim out at that point even if I had Mariano Rivera warmed up in the pen.

·        “100 pitches” is hardly an evening-ending load for a veteran stud starting pitcher (with an extra day of rest, no less).

·        They weren’t even particularly stressful pitches. The Giants never had more than one baserunner in an inning against Zimmermann, and the only runner to even reach second base was back in the third inning.

·        He wasn’t exactly struggling. Prior to walking Joe Panik with two out in the ninth, Zimmermann had retired 20 (!) consecutive batters. Giants starter Tim Hudson was quoted as saying the Nats “probably could’ve brought in Sandy Koufax and we would’ve had a smile on our face.”

·        You want “perfect”? Zimmermann entered the ninth on a streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings, during which he allowed a total of 4 hits – all singles.

·        Today’s closers much prefer to come in to start an inning, rather than in the middle with someone on base. I haven’t checked, but I’m sure that most if not all of Storen’s regular-season saves were of this variety.

Williams also took another risk. If he leaves Zimmermann in the game, he gives up the lead and the Nats lose, JZim gets credit for a valiant effort, and the Nats have their backs up against the wall needing three straight wins. As things unfolded, not only are their backs up against the wall, but they once again have a potential problem at the back of the bullpen, since it’s hard to imagine that Storen could be completely unaffected by being one out away from victory in his last two postseason appearances and unable to close things out either time.

Tom Boswell put it much better than I have in his column in this morning’s Post.

To add injustice to injury, Williams got ejected in the bottom of the tenth inning. So, rather than freezing like us innocent victims, he had a presumably warm and comfortable seat in the clubhouse for the final eight innings.

If Williams is goat #1 in the defeat, the Nats “offense” comes in a close second. Their only run came in the third inning on a leadoff double by Asdrubal Cabrera and a two-out RBI single by Anthony Rendon. Rendon wound up setting a franchise playoff record with a total of 4 hits in the game. Everyone not named Anthony Rendon managed just 5 singles in 55 at-bats, with 19 strikeouts. They were particularly feckless (fecklesser?) in extra innings, with only two hits over the final 9 frames.

There were a few moments of one kind or another, other than the second consecutive transcendent performance by Zimmermann. DC Washington did his usual superb job with the National Anthem and God Bless America. The Nats ditched Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift in favor of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” for the 7^th and 14^th inning stretches – great song, albeit one whose lyrics rival “Take On Me” in terms of being difficult to sing along to. The oddest sight was when at some point in extra innings I left my seat (right after the Nats finished “hitting”) for the men’s room, only to see about a dozen other men literally sprinting across the concourse in that direction. I had the same luck getting in the slow line as I usually have at the grocery store, with the guy at the very front resembling the Dice-K of urination. By the time I finished, it was completely SRO, with a five-yard line out the door.

Given our loss in Game 1, I decided to change things up for Game 2 – drove down myself instead of catching a ride with the Pierce clan, walked down to Subway to pick up a sandwich, bought a bottle of Coke instead of bringing in water. I did forget to pick up a new rally towel on the way in, so maybe that was the problem.

The drive home actually wound up being quite an adventure. Washington Ave. was completely messed up -- the section leading up to where I get onto 395 South seemed to be closed, so I wound up getting routed in the wrong direction, eventually getting into the 3rd Street Tunnel, going north under the Mall, winding up on Second St NW not too far from the Capitol. Pulled over to get my bearings, decided that trying to get back on the Freeway was too dicey, so I headed west and south, eventually finding my way to Constitution Ave. and then to 14th. Even with that, I got home around 1:20 after leaving the lot at 12:30, which I guess isn't too bad all things considered.

Now we just have to hope that the Nats can pull off what would be a miracle comeback, beginning against the formidable Madison Bumgarner. Otherwise, they may be well on their way to joining the Caps in the local pantheon of perennial postseason underachievers.

October 3, 2014 – Giants 3, Nationals 2 (NLDS Game 1) – Nationals Park

Opening act falls flat (borrowed from front page of today’s Post)

 

Umpires: HP: Laz Diaz. 1B: Vic Carapazza. 2B: Tom Hallion. 3B: Hunter Wendelstedt. LF: Mike Winters. RF: Brian Knight.

Weather: 70 degrees, overcast.

Wind: 2 mph, In from LF.

T: 3:55.

Att: 44,035.

 

In their 2012 playoff debut, the Nats won Game 1 in St. Louis, only to drop the NLDS 3 games to 2. (But enough about that.) We’ll have to hope that they reverse the script in 2014.

We left Westat at 11:00 for the 3:07 start, encountered less traffic than usual, and walked up to Nando’s to eat after finding a working parking meter. The pregame introductions brought the usual sense of anticipation to the ballpark. Only two members of the Giants drew much notice – nice applause for former Nat Michael Morse (who’s recovering from a strained oblique and is inactive for the series), and a much less warm reception for Game 2 starter Tim Hudson.

The game certainly didn’t go Washington’s way, although they had their chances. Strasburg threw hard in his postseason debut, but managed only two strikeouts in 5-plus innings of work, as the Giants hit 8 singles off him but nothing for extra bases. Strasburg did allow the leadoff man to reach base in each of his final four innings (3 hits, plus his only walk). They notched their first run in the fourth, aided by LaRoche’s questionable decision to go after the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt and a later passed ball by Ramos. They struck again in the fifth on two hits and a Hunter Pence stolen base. Matt Williams took Strasburg out after the Giants led off the sixth with two base hits. Jerry Blevins came in to pitch out of that jam, but Giants put up a crucial third run in the seventh after second baseman Joe Panik led off against Craig Stammen with a triple that Denard Span couldn’t quite haul in.

Meanwhile, the Nats battled Giants starter Jake Peavy, running up his pitch count but getting only a pair of two-out walks through the first four innings. Bryce Harper finally managed an infield single to lead off the fifth and bring the sellout crowd back to life, but he was immediately erased when Ramos grounded into a double play. They finally mounted a mild threat an inning later when Nate Schierholz led off with a pinch-hit double. Two fly outs later saw him still on second, but Peavy walked Jayson Werth for the second time to conclude his outing, and lefty specialist Javier Lopez walked LaRoche to load the bases. Giants skipper Bruce Bochy then brought in hard-throwing rookie Hunter Strickland, who fanned Ian Desmond to end the inning.

Down 3-0 in the middle of the seventh, we decided it was time to pull out the rally minions. Sure enough, Harper led off with a tape-measure blast to right off Strickland, and two batters later Asdrubal Cabrera put one into the Nats bullpen to cut the lead to one. They managed one more threat in the eighth on singles by Rendon and LaRoche, but another Desmond strikeout and a fielder’s choice by Harper ended the threat, and the Nats offense for the day.

September 28, 2014 – Nationals 1, Marlins 0 – Nationals Park

A no-hit wonder (borrowed from this morning’s Washington Post)

Umpires: HP: Alan Porter. 1B: Gary Cederstrom. 2B: Mark Ripperger. 3B: Lance Barksdale.

Weather: 79 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 3 mph, Out to CF.

T: 2:01.

Att: 35,085. [Nats were actually outdrawn by the woeful Phillies, at 38,082, on their respective Fan Appreciation Days.]

It didn’t start out as a great day for me. Traffic on the GW Parkway slowed much more than usual, so I arrived late enough that I decided to skip the originally-planned walk down to Subway. (Went with the Miami Cuban Sandwich instead.) Then, once I got to the park, I realized that I had left my cellphone at home. So I was a little out of sorts, despite the wonderful weather.

My initial wish list for the final game of the season was (1) everybody staying healthy, (2) Jordan Zimmermann pitching well, (3) one more hit from Denard Span to break the Nats’ single-season record, and (4) winning the game. Ian Desmond did his part towards #4 by homering off Henderson Alvarez in the bottom of the second, for what would turn out to be the only run of the game. One inning later, Span took care of #3, as he lined a double to right field and got a standing ovation as he left the game for a pinch-runner. Matt Williams’ plan for the regulars soon became obvious; get them out of game after 2 trips to the plate and give the reserves some playing time. (The only exceptions were Ryan Zimmerman, still in need of at-bats against major league pitching following his return from the DL, and catcher Wilson Ramos, who went the whole way.)

I remember remarking to Terry that I expected that Zimmermann would only pitch 6 innings (the same as Strasburg the previous day), so that a couple of the relief pitchers could get some action prior to the four-day break until the first playoff game. I was actually so preoccupied with Williams’ lineup maneuvers that I didn’t realize J-Zim had a no-hitter going until after the sixth inning, when I was out on the concourse and heard Bob Carpenter on the radio broadcast saying that there were 11 hits in the game, “all by the Nats.”

Naturally the anticipation mounted from there. Zimmermann got a standing ovation after retiring the Marlins 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, but since he was still under 100 pitches I think we all expected that he would come out for the ninth. As we predicted, Williams took Ryan Zimmerman out after his final at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, replacing him with Steven Souza Jr. in the ninth. The rest, as they say, is history.

September 26, 2014 (Game 1) – Nationals 4, Marlins 0 – Nationals Park

Fister fantastic

Umpires: HP: Gary Cederstrom. 1B: Lance Barksdale. 2B: Toby Basner. 3B: Alan Porter.

Weather: 71 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, In from LF.

T: 2:31.

Att: 27,920. [with a lot fewer actually in the stands]

Complete-game shutouts are an increasingly endangered species in baseball, dominated as it is by bullpens and pitch counts. Through Saturday, there were only 33 by National League pitchers during 2014, so I feel fortunate to have seen two of the three produced this season by Nats pitchers – Tanner Roark’s gem in April and Doug Fister’s effort this afternoon.

Fister yielded harmless singles to Miami second baseman Donovan Solano in the first and fourth, and hit catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to lead off the eighth, with none of the runners making it as far as second base. We gave Fister a standing ovation when he finished the 8^th just in case, although since he hadn’t hit the 100-pitch mark yet we hoped that he would be back for the 9^th. Things got interesting in the final frame, when with two outs Solano sliced a ball just inside the foul line into right field for a triple. Casey McGehee then lined a shot that looked destined to be an RBI single to right, but Asdrubal Cabrera made a leaping grab to snag the ball and preserve the shutout.

The Nats gave Fister all the runs he would need in the first inning, starting with a one-out homer by Anthony Rendon. They added a second run later that inning on a LaRoche single, Desmond double, and a passed ball. They wasted chances in the second and third against Marlins starter Jarred Cosart, getting five walks but not being able to manage even a single hit. They finally nicked Cosart for another run in the fifth, when walks to Zimmerman and Desmond were followed by a Cabrera RBI single. Fister helped himself in the bottom of the sixth, lining a leadoff double off hard-throwing Miami reliever Sam Dyson and eventually scoring on a two-out Zimmerman single.

The Nats played flawless ball, despite this being the third game in a set of back-to-back day-night doubleheaders. Needing one win to clinch home-field advantage through the National League playoffs, Matt Williams went with his A team in the afternoon game, sitting only Jayson Werth (Zimmerman was in left with Harper in right) and Wilson Ramos.

Section 130, Row M, Seat 1 – A couple of weeks ago, I decided to trade in my ticket for the Wednesday night game with the Mets, and to upgrade to a lower-level seat. Starting earlier this month, you can now pick a particular location when getting single-game seats, so I found an aisle seat in Section 130 just beyond first base, about a dozen rows back from the field. (Oddly enough, this was only one section away from where we were sitting for Roark’s shutout.) In hindsight, the exchange  was a great choice, as the Wednesday night game wound up being rained out, and there was still some rain during Thursday afternoon’s makeup. Friday’s weather, on the other hand, was fantastic. I got to the Shady Grove Metro station in plenty of time to get a parking space, and ate lunch at Nando’s prior to walking over to the park, where I later took advantage of junk-food specials – $1 for a Cyclone popsicle and $2 for a bag of Cracker Jack. (Ironically, my Cracker Jack prize was a Phillies sticker.)

September 8, 2014 – Nationals 2, Braves 1—Nationals Park

A committee of one?

Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Alan Porter. 2B: Marty Foster. 3B: Rob Drake.

Weather: 70 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 15 mph, In from RF.

T: 2:39.

Att: 25,448.

Venue: Nationals Park.

Following Rafael Soriano’s most recent blown saves and at least temporary demotion from the closer’s role for the Nats, Matt Williams has insisted that he will be employing a “closer-by-committee” approach to finishing off close ballgames, at least until Soriano is straightened out. After watching Drew Storen handle the ninth inning the last two days, however, one has to wonder whether or not Storen may be winning the role for good, regardless of a possible Soriano resurgence.

Although the Monday night crowd was not especially large, the game had a playoff atmosphere throughout. The Nats struck quickly for a run in the top of the first on singles by Rendon, LaRoche, and Desmond. The starting pitchers dominated the game through the first six innings, with the Nats’ only other threat being in the bottom of the third – Werth and LaRoche reached third base and second base with two outs, but Desmond hit a foul fly to Jason Heyward in right to end the inning. Doug Fister was even better for the Nats, not allowing at Atlanta runner past first base in his first six innings.

Fister faltered a bit in the seventh, walking Freddie Freeman to lead off the inning and Tommy La Stella with two outs. This prompted a mound visit by manager Matt Williams, who elected to leave Fister in to the delight of the crowd. The Nats starter then finished off his seven innings of shutout ball by inducing a grounder to short by Andrelton Simmons.

After the stretch, the Nats added an important insurance run in the bottom of the frame, as pinch-runner Jeff Kobernus scored from third on a Rendon grounder, after the inning started with a Ramos single and an Asdrubal Cabrera double. This run proved crucial when Tyler Clippard and Matt Thornton, the other two members of the closer committee, combined to allow an Atlanta run in the top of the eighth before Craig Stammen came in to prevent further damage. There was no such suspense in the ninth, as Storen came in to strike out the side, given him 5 Ks in six batters faced in his Sunday and Monday saves.

Section 135, Row R, seats 10-13 – lower level, down the right field line. Prime foul ball territory; none came our way, but there was one in the section next to us. The drive down was uneventful, but the traffic on the freeway and 14^th-street bridge on the way home was even slower than usual. We finally discovered that a “milling and paving” project was underway that closed the right two lanes of the bridge as we got close to Virginia, meaning that not only couldn’t we take our usual ramp to the northbound GW Parkway, but we also couldn’t reach the southbound Parkway or take the shortcut around the Pentagon parking lots. We finally got off on Glebe Road and had a leisurely drive through Arlington, finally reaching the Parkway near the Chain Bridge. (Of course, since it was a start by the quick-working Fister, I still made it home slightly before midnight.)

September 7, 2014 – Nationals 3, Phillies 2 – Nationals Park

What would LaRoche be doing if he were healthy???

Umpires: HP: Tom Woodring. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Adrian Johnson. 3B: Mike Everitt.

Weather: 75 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 4 mph, Out to CF.

T: 3:20.

Att: 29,108.

In the Nationals’ epic 14-inning victory in Los Angeles this past Wednesday, Adam LaRoche was almost certain not to play – in addition to the back stiffness he had been suffering, he came up with the flu. Nevertheless, Matt Williams called on him to pinch-hit in the ninth inning, and he drilled a two-run homer to tie the game. Three innings later, after being drilled in the elbow with a pitch in the eleventh, he singled in two more runs to give the Nats the lead (which they promptly gave back in the bottom of the inning). In the fourteenth, he drove in what finally proved to the winning run by beating out a potential inning-ending double play. After the cross-country plane trip on Thursday, he followed up on Friday with a two-run homer in the first against the Phillies (in a game the Nats eventually lost in 11).

On Sunday, LaRoche again provided most of the offense for the Nats, with homers leading off the second and fourth innings off Phillies ace Cole Hamels. (Showing my incredible baseball expertise [sarcasm alert], I had speculated that Matt Williams might give LaRoche the day off against the left-handed Hamels.) The Nats took their first lead of the game and concluded the scoring in the bottom of the sixth on an Ian Desmond double, a balk call on Hamels, and a long sacrifice fly by Hamels-killer Scott Hairston.

The balk was not the only play where the umpires figured into the action. The Phillies had taken the lead in the top of the first when the Nats, playing as if they were intent on continuing their recent struggles against the Phils, threw the ball away twice on a Marlon Byrd single, with Grady Sizemore scoring from first and Byrd winding up at third. Phils manager Ryne Sandberg argued to no avail that Byrd should have been awarded home as well. In the top of the eighth, Ben Revere led off with a pinch single and appeared to steal second base successfully, but was ruled out when Williams challenged the initial call.

The weather was beautiful – about 15 degrees cooler than Saturday with much less humidity – but the sun was tough on the centerfielders. Tony Gwynn Jr. lost a fly ball by Desmond in the bottom of the second, but Hamels pitched out of it. The Nats were not so lucky in the top of the fourth, when Carlos Ruiz doubled on a ball that Denard Span lost in the sun, and subsequently scored the Phils’ second run on a Marlon Byrd single and a Darin Ruf sac fly.

Drew Storen had no trouble getting the save in lieu of the demoted Rafael Soriano, coming up with a 1-2-3 ninth inning culminating in a strikeout of Phils pinch-hitter Ryan Howard.

We finally used our Red Carpets Rewards points to get seats in the last row of Section 112 (UU, 8-11) – just beyond third base, nice view, in the shade. For the second time this season, I purchased one of the overpriced (but good) chicken shawarmas from Shawafel. (Judging from the lack of a line every time I’ve been by, I wonder whether they will be back next year.)

September 1, 2014 – Potomac Nationals 6, Frederick Keys 1 – Harry Grove Stadium (Frederick)

So play ball already!

Umpires: HP: Cody Oakes. 1B: Rich Grassa.

Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 6 mph, R to L.

T: 2:06 (1:44 delay).

Att: 4,909.

On a hot Labor Day afternoon with “scattered showers” predicted, both teams started out as if they were trying to vacate the premises as quickly as possible, with the first three innings being completed in a mere half hour. Clouds had been gathering, however, and a few drops of rain started falling in the bottom of the third. After the Nationals’ leadoff batter was retired in the top of the fourth, however, the skies opened and the game was quickly halted. The grounds crew got the tarp on reasonably quickly, the storm moved on after about 20 minutes, and then the sun came out.

And then we waited. After the tarp was removed, the umpires engaged in a lengthy conversation with the two managers down the left-field line, while many of the players from both teams congregated behind second base. The field appeared to be in great shape, and there didn’t seem to be any remaining storms or lightning anywhere in the vicinity. This continued until about 3:50 (the game had been halted shortly after 2:30), when the umpires finally came in and there was an announcement that the game would be resumed – at 4:15. No indication of what had caused the lengthy “sun delay”.

The game itself was pretty anticlimactic. Potomac broke through when catcher Pedro Severino belted a two-run homer off reliever Jimmy Yacabonis in the fifth inning, added another run off Yacabonis on three singles in the sixth, and broke things wide open in the top of the seventh with three runs on four hits off Lex Rutledge. The Keys didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning, finally scoring a run in the seventh on a wild pitch.

Section 203, Row J, Seat 1 – on the aisle in the third row from the back, in the second section to the right of home plate. This row does provide some shade on a hot day, but unfortunately only the rearmost two rows are under the overhang and thus protected from the rain. There’s nothing like the combination of a heavy rain and a limited amount of space under cover on the concourse to make a relatively small crowd (many of the announced 4,909 were apparently present in spirit only) seem much, much larger.

Oh – and if I had stayed home, I could have watched the Phillies no-hit Atlanta.

August 23, 2014 – New Britain Rock Cats 6, Altoona Curve 1 – Peoples Natural Gas Field (Altoona PA)

Cat scratch fever (headline courtesy of the Altoona recap)

Umpires: HP: John Libka. 1B: Brian Peterson. 3B: Blake Felix.

Weather: 63 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 6 mph, Varies.

T: 3:06.

Att: 6,278.

It’s been a down year this season for the Altoona Curve, and they lived down to their record Saturday evening. The Rock Cats struck first in the opening frame, when Curve starter and loser Zack Dodson hit the leadoff batter and subsequently gave up a walk and a run-scoring double. They added to their lead in the fourth on a single, double, RBI groundout, and RBI single. Meanwhile, the Curve didn’t record their first hit until Jarek Cunningham doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, later scoring on a single by Ramon Cabrera for the only Altoona run of the night.

Pirates reliever Stolmy Pimentel had a rocky rehab outing in the top of the seventh, being charged with the remaining three Rock Cats runs, yielding a double and three walks (two with the bases loaded), while also making an error on a bunt. Former Nat Collin Balester did pitch a scoreless top of the ninth for the Curve.

We had great seats (Section 212, Row 11, 3-4), in the first row of the upper level, looking right down the third base line (similar view to our regular Nationals Park location, but much closer). Several foul pops were in our general direction, although none came particularly close to us. Went with the pulled pork sandwich, which was quite a bargain at $5.00 (not to mention the bottle of water for just $1.75).

August 21, 2014 – Nationals 1, Diamondbacks 0 – Nationals Park

Oops, they did it again

Umpires: HP: James Hoye. 1B: Bob Davidson. 2B: John Tumpane. 3B: Bill Welke.

Weather: 87 degrees, overcast.

Wind: 3 mph, Out to RF.

T: 2:51.

Att: 32,311.

Well, if you have to be in a rut, a 10-game winning streak with 5 walk-off wins in the last 6 games isn’t a bad rut to be in. The latter hasn’t happened since July of 1986, when the Astros somehow managed 5 walk-off victories in a row.

The starting pitching was extremely effective on both sides. (Stop me if you’ve heard this before.) Gio Gonzalez, who was shaky in his previous outing on Saturday, matched Tanner Roark’s effort the night before with seven scoreless and mostly drama-free innings.

Meanwhile, the Nats collected 8 hits and 6 walks (one of which was intentional) off Arizona starter Wade Miley in his 6.2 innings of work, but somehow managed not to score a single run, wasting opportunity after opportunity. As destiny would have it, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the ninth, when Denard Span singled with one out, stole second base, and scored when Diamondbacks third baseman Jordan Pacheco threw away Anthony Rendon’s ground ball.

This 4:05 game was not in our regular plan, so Terry and I were in our “bobblehead section” (107, EE, 12-13). We headed down early, had a leisurely lunch at Nando’s, and then walked down to the Park. We found our old friends (and former section-mates) the Schroeders waiting in line for the Ian Desmond bobbleheads, so spent some time socializing with them before the game began. Weather.com had claimed that there wouldn’t be any rain before 7pm, but it actually started around 5:00, ranging from light to somewhat less light. It never got heavy enough to stop the game, but we got tired enough of it by the fifth inning or so that we decided to find some unoccupied covered seats in our usual upper-level section. We still had some Washington Post coupons to use up, so filled up on $1 ice cream bars and souvenir sodas (and refills of same).

August 20, 2014 – Nationals 3, Diamondbacks 2 – Nationals Park

Ho hum, another walk-off win

Umpires: HP: Bill Welke. 1B: James Hoye. 2B: Bob Davidson. 3B: John Tumpane.

Weather: 74 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 4 mph, Out to RF.

T: 3:04 (:12 delay).

Att: 24,113.

After scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday, and the bottom of the eleventh inning on Sunday and Monday, the Nats somehow put together an easy 8-1 victory behind Strasburg on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, however, they were back to their old tricks.

Like Sunday’s game, it started out as a pitcher’s duel, this time between Tanner Roark and Arizona’s Trevor Cahill. Roark was outstanding despite a high pitch count in the first couple of innings, holding the D-Backs scoreless through seven on just five hits and a single walk. Meanwhile, the Nats cobbled together a second-inning when with one out Desmond singled, took second on Harper’s single, stole third, and scored on a Wilson Ramos grounder when Harper’s hard takeout slide prevented Arizona from turning the inning-ending double play. They added a second run in the sixth on consecutive doubles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Jayson Werth.

Given the Nats’ recent history, however, late-inning dramatics shouldn’t have been surprising. The normally-reliable Tyler Clippard entered in the eighth and yielded his second game-tying homer in as many appearances, this one by light-hitting D-Backs centerfielder Ender Inciarte after a walk to the leadoff hitter. After neither team threatened in the next two half-innings, Harper led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and moved to third on a one-out single by Kevin Frandsen, in the lineup at third base to give Anthony Rendon a well-deserved rest. Fortunately, that meant that Rendon was available to pinch-hit for Rafael Soriano, and he lined a ball just inside the third base line to send almost everyone in the relatively sparse crowd home happy.

It was raining in Rockville when we left shortly after 5:00, and kept raining throughout the drive, although it had pretty much stopped (and fortunately did not resume) by the time we got inside the stadium. Decided to try the Arizona Quesadillas in honor of the visiting team – not bad, but somewhat on the sloppy side for eating in the stands, and the salsa was packed too tightly for convenient dipping.

August 17, 2014 – Nationals 6, Pirates 5 (11 innings) – Nationals Park

Winning ugly is sweet

Umpires: HP: Andy Fletcher. 1B: Mike Muchlinski. 2B: Tom Woodring. 3B: Mark Wegner.

Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 3 mph, Out to RF.

T: 3:42.

Att: 34,430.

“Winning ugly is sweet” is the name of one of the ice cream stands at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, where I had seen a White Sox game two days earlier. It certainly applied to Sunday’s game, with its unusual 5:05 start time. Both teams took turns self-destructing, with the Nats falling behind, taking the lead, falling behind again after a 3-run top of the ninth, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, and finally winning it in the eleventh. Each team committed two errors and tossed two wild pitches. It was a long, ugly victory, but we’ll certainly take it, along with the sweep of the typically-troublesome Pirates.

The first five innings moved along briskly, with Fister and Volquez giving up two hits each and neither one allowing a runner to get as far as third base. Things started getting weird in the top of the sixth – five batters in, the Bucs had scored twice and had the bases loaded with no outs, partially due to an error by Desmond on the Pittsburgh leadoff batter and a bad throw by Rendon two batters later. Fister managed to get two consecutive batters to ground into force outs at home, and escaped the inning without further damage.

Washington cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Desmond, who at least partially atoned for his error and two previous strikeouts. After the seventh-inning stretch, the Pirates reciprocated Washington’s earlier generosity. The Nats loaded the bases with one out, when Michael Taylor was ruled to have been hit by a pitch following a successful replay challenge, and pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen and Denard Span followed with singles. Jared Hughes came in to relieve Volquez and did his job by inducing ground balls from Cabrera and Rendon. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the grounders resulted in wild throws home by Ike Davis and then by Pedro Alvarez, allowing all three inherited runners to score.

With a 4-2 lead, Tyler Clippard shut down the Pirates in the eighth, but Rafael Soriano produced an ugly top of the ninth all by himself, hitting the first batter and eventually allowing one run to score on a wild pitch and two more on a double by Gregory Polanco.

The Nationals, however, were far from done. Against Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon, Jayson Werth pinch-hit, drew a one-out walk, and scored the tying run on singles by Span and Asdrubal Cabera. After remaining in the game to play right, Werth struck again in the bottom of the eleventh with a leadoff double. Span advanced him to third on a grounder, and Scott Hairston (pinch-hitting for winning pitcher Ross Detweiler) hit a fly ball to left that was plenty deep enough to score Werth and win the game.

I drove down unnecessarily early to get a Bill Taft bobblehead – despite being delayed 5-10 minutes by slow traffic on the 270 spur and a stretch of the Outer Loop, still got to the parking lot around 3:00. Given the hot weather, I grabbed a lemon chill before heading upstairs, saving my sub for a little later in the day.

August 15, 2014 – White Sox 11, Blue Jays 5 – U.S. Cellular Field

2 big innings = 1 win

Umpires: HP: Tim Welke. 1B: Todd Tichenor. 2B: Clint Fagan. 3B: Tim Timmons.

Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 8 mph, R to L.

T: 3:22.

Att: 22,739.

In front of a relatively sparse Friday night crowd, both teams’ offenses started off louder than the fireworks planned for after the game. The first two innings took well over an hour to play, winding up with the White Sox up 6-4. Toronto drew first blood in the top of the first off Hector Noesi, but the Sox responded with a vengeance in the bottom of the inning, scoring 5 runs on 5 hits and a HBP and knocking out Toronto starter Marcus Stroman before he could record the third out. Toronto battled back with 3 in the top of the second, keyed by Melky Cabrera’s two-run homer, but the White Sox added four singles and a run in the bottom of the frame.

Things quieted down for a while until the home team struck again in the bottom of the fifth, starting the inning off with six consecutive singles, followed by a wild pitch and a walk. Toronto reliever Todd Redmond was mercifully taken out before the White Sox had made an out in the inning, and the second five-run inning by the Sox were more than enough to put the game away.

Unbeknownst to me, this was “Country Music Night” at the game. Easton Corbin put on a decent-enough 20 minute show shortly before the game started, although I could have done without the constant country music ditties during breaks throughout the game.

Section 128, Row 33, Seat 13 – pretty much behind home plate, on an aisle (hooray!), lower level, although not as close to the field as my Wednesday seat at Wrigley (cheaper, however). U.S. Cellular is a decent place to see a baseball game in terms of amenities, although it certainly doesn’t bring much in terms of character or distinguishing features. The pork chop sandwich ($9.50) was quite good; the $4.25 soft-serve ice cream was cheaper than at Nats Park but not quite as good. As with Wrigley, the access via public transportation is excellent – less than 15 minutes on the L, take the bridge across the Dan Ryan, and you’re there.

August 14, 2014 – Brewers 6, Cubs 2 – Wrigley Field

Fiers away 

Umpires: HP: Tim Timmons. 1B: Tim Welke. 2B: Todd Tichenor. 3B: Clint Fagan.

Weather: 67 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 5 mph, In from CF.

T: 3:06.

Att: 38,157.

I was glad the Cubbies won last night, because Edwin Jackson was pitching for them this afternoon, which is almost always bad news for the Wrigley faithful. Jackson has been consistently mediocre throughout his career, including 2012 with the Nats, but degenerated to truly terrible after signing a long-term contract with Chicago after that season, leading the NL with 18 losses in 2013 and carrying a 5+ ERA for most of 2014. He certainly lived down to his reputation today, starting with two first-inning walks followed by a two-run Scooter Gennett double. Things didn’t improve thereafter, until he was mercifully lifted with 2 outs in the fifth, after 93 pitches and 5 runs allowed, despite the absence of Braun, Ramirez, and Segura from the Milwaukee lineup.

Meanwhile, Brewers starter Mike Fiers, who is only modestly endowed stuff-wise, completely baffled the Cubs during his six shutout innings, allowing only three hits and one walk while fanning 14 of the 22 batters he faced. For comparison purposes, the only other pitchers with 14 or more Ks in a game this season are Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Jon Lester, Jose Fernandez, and Max Scherzer – quite heady company for a guy who was exiled to AAA for much of the season.

After some effective long relief by recent Cubs pickup Jacob Turner, the home team did make things somewhat interesting in the bottom of the seventh, plating two unearned runs off Zach Duke on a Chris Valaika pinch single. But Mark Reynolds hit one out in the eighth off Kyuji Fujikawa, and the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth.

Nobody parachuted onto the field today, but there was plenty of non-baseball activity in the middle innings, as jets practicing for an upcoming air show were regularly buzzing over the ballpark. Since Jackson had pretty much ended the competitive part of the afternoon by then, this proved to be a welcome diversion for both fans and photographers alike.

Was almost on the field today – Club Box Infield, Aisle 33, Row 1, Seat 106, just beyond first base. Just past the visiting team dugout is an area three rows deep with about 10 folding chairs, mainly for press photographers. My seat was just behind and beyond this section, meaning that close attention to every pitch was a must to avoid potentially great bodily harm. We did notice that the security guy who was in the reserved area near us along with the photographers was wearing a batting helmet. On the other hand, a couple of the photographers sitting in the very front of that area had laptops on which they were frequently typing. Since the sun would have made it nearly impossible to see the screen, they draped what looked like large towels over both the laptop screens and their heads to do their work, leaving them with no view at all of any possible flying objects heading towards them. You could not pay me enough to be in that position.

While fortunately there weren’t any liners into the section, it did finally turn out to be a great place for getting baseballs. In the bottom of the seventh, Brewers shortstop Elian Herrera fielded a grounder and threw it past first base near the Brewers dugout. At the end of the play, Cubs first base coach Eric Hinske got the ball and tossed it into our section, where it was caught by the guy sitting right next to me. (After a bit of gentle prodding, he then generously gave it to a young woman nearby who had also been trying to get it.) A batter or two later saw a foul pop find its way near us. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo tossed another ball our way after finishing warmups an inning later, and someone else tossed a fourth ball in before the game was over.

I got a bargain for lunch at Wrigley’s Decade Diner. When I ordered the blackened tilapia po’ boy sandwhich, the cashier asked whether I had a MasterCard. Although I didn’t, she apparently still gave me the MasterCard discount, which meant I got the sandwich, fries (which I didn’t expect and didn’t especially want), and two pickle spears for $8.65, rather than the listed price of $11.50. Although the sandwich was messy and not very quick to arrive (15 minutes), it was quite good, and tables were still available. Also wound up getting a $7.00 souvenir soda – it is the 100^th anniversary of Wrigley, after all – and a $4.50 lemon chill, an item which is much easier to find at Wrigley than it is in Washington.

August 13, 2014 – Cubs 4, Brewers 2 – Wrigley Field

Go, Cubs, Go!

Umpires: HP: Clint Fagan. 1B: Tim Timmons. 2B: Tim Welke. 3B: Todd Tichenor.

Weather: 70 degrees, clear.

Wind: 7 mph, In from RF.

T: 2:36.

Att: 31,191.

My first of two games in Wrigley proved to be successful for the home team, as the Cubs jumped on Kyle Lohse for a quick 4-0 lead and hung on to beat the first-place Brewers for a second straight night. Lohse has apparently been pitching with a slightly sprained ankle, and he definitely wasn’t himself this evening. After a leadoff double by Chris Coghlan and a single by Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo knocked in one run with a sac fly, and Starlin Castro followed with a single to drive in Baez.

The Cubs resumed their assault in the bottom of the third. The recently-recalled Baez led off with the first of what probably will be many Wrigley Field homers, a no-doubt-about-it shot to left that wound up on Waveland Avenue. Not to be outdone, Anthony Rizzo hit Lohse’s next pitch out to right. The Milwaukee trainer came out to visit Lohse later in the frame; he completed the inning by striking out the side but did not return for the fourth, giving way to Marco Estrada, who kept the Cubs off the board for the next 4 innings. (For the game, the first four hitters in the Cubs’ batting order accounted for all of their 9 hits, runs scored, and RBI.)

Meanwhile, Cubs starter Tsuyoshi Wada blanked the hard-hitting visitors until giving up back-to-back homers to Rickie Weeks and Martin Maldonado with two outs in the top of the seventh. The Cubbies bullpen took it from there, allowing only one baserunner the rest of the way. The heavily-booed Ryan Braun went 0-4, as did Carlos Gomez.

During the singing of the National Anthem, 4 Navy Seals parachuted onto the field, one of them carrying an American flag. Quite exciting, although perhaps somewhat unfair competition for the poor woman who was singing the anthem.

Was in Aisle 120, Row 7, Seat 6, directly behind home plate. “Field Box infield” is not the closest section to the field, but it nevertheless was a great lower-level seat, much better than I could get at Nationals Park for anything close to $71.00 (plus various charges, of course). Had a Chicago Dog ($6.50) in honor of the location, plus a $7.50 draft Bud and a $4.00 soft pretzel.

Based on this single visit, I’ve concluded that the Cubbies long-time woes are due primarily to a lack of overall confidence, whether by the team, its fan base, or both. Apparently after every home victory they play a ditty (written by the inimitable Steve Goodman) called Go Cubs Go (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9XtDyDUjIU), whose key lyric is “Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today.” Think about that for a moment. A team with any confidence might play that before every game, or as part of the seventh-inning stretch. The Cubs, however, don’t play a song saying the Cubs “are gonna win today” until AFTER THEY HAVE ALREADY WON!

August 6, 2014 – Nationals 7, Mets 1 – Nationals Park

Earl Weaver would be happy

Umpires: HP: Larry Vanover. 1B: Dan Iassogna. 2B: Vic Carapazza. 3B: Paul Nauert.

Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 3 mph, L to R.

T: 2:31.

Att: 26,701.

Long-time Orioles manager Earl Weaver always preferred long ball to small ball, so he certainly would have been impressed with this Nats victory. Washington gave starter and winner Doug Fister a nice lead in the bottom of the first on a Rendon double, a run-scoring single by Werth, and a two-run homer by the suddenly-hot Adam LaRoche. The Nats doubled their lead in the sixth, as Danny Espinosa continued his success against lefty pitchers with a three-run shot off Jon Niese, following a Desmond single and steal, and a walk to Bryce Harper. LaRoche finished the Nats scoring with an eighth-inning homer off Carlos Torres.

Meanwhile, Fister turned in another fine outing, shutting down the Mets with his usual alacrity, being charged with only one (unearned) run which scored after he was taken out in the middle of the eighth. (We joked about the Nats possibly putting in a “Fister season ticket plan” for 2015, designed for fans who enjoy quick, crisply-played games.)

Caught a ride down and back with the Pierce clan, and actually was home before 11:00 – first time in recent memory that’s happened for a night game. Was thinking of getting something from Taste of the Majors, but due to the line decided to settle for a couple of Nats dogs.

August 3, 2014 – Nationals 4, Phillies 0 – Nationals Park

Hamels blinks once, Strasburg dominates

Umpires: HP: Eric Cooper. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Hal Gibson III. 3B: Chris Guccione.

Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, In from CF.

T: 2:47.

Att: 30,038.

If you came to this game expecting a pitcher’s duel between Cole Hamels and Stephen Strasburg, you didn’t go home disappointed.

Each starting pitcher retired the first 7 batters he faced. The third inning was really the key to the game. With one out, each team’s #8 hitter reached first base and was sacrificed to second by the pitcher. In the top of the inning, Phillies leadoff man Ben Revere was unable to plate the run, while in the bottom of the frame Denard Span singled to center to score Jose Lobaton for an unearned run and a 1-0 Nats lead.

Hamels and Strasburg continued their dominance through the next 4 innings, with neither team mounting a major threat to score. With Strasburg having thrown 99 pitches, the Nats replaced him with Tyler Clippard in the top of the eighth, and the Phillies, still down by a run with time running short, were forced to pinch-hit for Hamels. Unfortunately for them, the Nats were able to plate three runs in an ugly bottom of the 8^th for the visitors, which gave Soriano plenty of breathing room as he completed the shutout in the 9^th. The Phils were shut out for the second straight game, managing only three hits and one walk while whiffing 13 times.

Traffic was uneventful, and the afternoon was much sunnier than I had expected, with the thunderstorms holding off until the evening. The Taqueria continues to produce excellent pork tacos (although very slowly), and my eCash card again proved useful to avoid the long regular line for ice cream.

July 9, 2014 – Big Train 5, Thunder Bolts 2 – Shirley Povich Field

Pleasant evening, another Big Train win

Although I had purchased a season pass several months ago for the Bethesda Big Train’s 2014 summer season of collegiate baseball, this actually wound up being the first game I attended. The week saw a lot of rain both Tuesday evening, forcing the postponement of the Nats-Orioles game at Nationals Park, and Thursday evening, Wednesday produced no rain and comfortable temperatures. Pregame and between-innings entertainment featured the Mariachi Los Mensajeros del Sur band and Ethiopian shoulder dancing, in addition to the usual (mascot race, musical chairs, etc.). I grabbed a cheeseburger (OK, not exactly one of my healthier choices) and an Honest Ade Orange Mango prior to the game. I wound up sitting in the front row just beyond the T-Bolts dugout on the first-base side, joining most of the other Metropolitan Washington Ear volunteers (we were one of the “nonprofits of the night”), so had to pay close attention. Fortunately no line drives came into our section, although there was a shot directly into the dugout.

The Big Train struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second on a bases-loaded single by Cody Manzella. The T-Bolts cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth, but the Big Train came back to score 3 in the bottom of the inning, keyed by Stephen Alemais’s two-run double. Alemais, Manzella, and Kevin Tatum each had a single and a double to lead the Big Train attack.

The Big Train pitchers – starter and winner Sean Labsan, Ray Lambert, and Tim Yandel – effectively stifled the Silver Spring-Takoma offense throughout, giving up only 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10.

We learned during the game from the mother of one of the T-Bolts players that their starting pitcher, Brandon Holsworth, is deaf. The Gazette just ran a feature article on his baseball experiences.

July 6, 2014 – Nationals 2, Cubs 1 – Nationals Park

Replay is our friend

Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Paul Schrieber. 2B: Ted Barrett. 3B: Will Little.

Weather: 85 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 13 mph, R to L.

T: 3:12.

Att: 32,941.

Unlike the previous day’s 13-0 dismantling of the Cubbies, Sunday’s game was close throughout – one of those games where one or two close plays could make the difference. Thanks to two favorable rulings on replay challenges, the Nats were able to pull out the victory.

Chicago starter Jake Arietta had gone deep into each of his two previous starts without yielding a hit, but any suspense in that regard was gone early, as Denard Span led off the bottom of the first with a shot to center that Justin Ruggiano misplayed into a double. Two ground balls later, the Nats had a 1-0 lead.

Ryan Sweeney led off the top of the third for the Cubs with a grounder to Rendon at second and was initially ruled safe at first, but Williams challenged the call and it was overturned on replay – a good thing, as it turned out, as the next two Chicago batters followed with singles. With the first out in the books, however, Jordan Zimmermann was able to get out of the inning with his shutout intact.

Zimmermann ran high pitch counts in the early innings and scattered seven hits, but he was able to hold onto the lead through his six innings of work. (Unfortunately, in the bottom of the fifth, he dampened the Nats’ chances for an insurance run or two by failing to lay down a sacrifice after Desmond and Ramos led off the inning with singles.)

Drew Storen has pitched extremely well for the Nats all season, but was not able to hold onto the lead, giving up a sacks-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to knot the game at one. Jerry Blevins, who has had his struggles, did come in with two outs to prevent further damage by fanning Luis Valbuena. Clippard made things interesting in the top of the eighth by allowing the first two Cubs batters to reach base on a single and a walk, but after a Darwin Barney sac bunt he got out of trouble by striking out pinch-hitter Welington Castillo and getting Sweeney on a ground ball.

Span led off the bottom of the inning with a line drive to right on which he aggressively went for a double. He was called safe on a close play, which was challenged by the Cubs but ultimately upheld by the replay crew. After Rendon and Werth were retired, the Cubs decided to play the percentages by intentionally walking the left-handed LaRoche to face Ryan Zimmerman, who unfortunately for them singled in Span to regain the lead for the Nats. Zimmerman also fielded two grounders in the ninth without incident after Williams opted not to replace him with Espinosa to improve the defense.

It was perfect ice-cream weather – warm, but not hot enough to cause immediate melting – so after finishing my roast beef sub from Subway I took advantage of my eCash card to bypass the horrendously long line at the Sweet Spot stand. Traffic seemed a little lighter than usual both coming and going.

July 1, 2014 – Nationals 7, Rockies 1 – Nationals Park

Rocky mountain high

Umpires: HP: Marty Foster. 1B: Rob Drake. 2B: Alan Porter. 3B: Joe West.

Weather: 91 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, Out to RF.

T: 3:19.

Att: 26,033.

The Colorado Rockies got off to a great start this season, but have been slumping badly in recent weeks. The Nats showed no signs of allowing them to turn things around, following up Monday evening’s 7-3 victory in Bryce Harper’s return with an even more convincing 7-1 thumping on Tuesday.

Things unraveled quickly for Colorado starter Christian Friedrich, as he walked the first two Nats batters in the bottom of the first. Jayson Werth smashed a double past the third baseman to score two runs. He then moved to third on a LaRoche infield single and scored on a Zimmerman sacrifice fly.

Perhaps not satisfied with the three-run lead, Strasburg took matters into his own hands with one out in the bottom of the fourth, sending a Friedrich fastball deep into the right field corner. He thought about going for a triple, but decided that discretion was the better part of valor and settled for a double. Remaining cautious on the base paths, he stopped at third on a Denard Span single (after which the Rockies replaced Friedrich with Chad Bettis), and stayed put on a subsequent wild pitch on which Span took second. Rendon finally provided a no-effort path for Strasburg to score with a double that plated both baserunners. Werth then knocked in Rendon with his second double of the game, moved to third on a LaRoche ground out, and scored on Bettis’s second wild pitch of the inning. With the bases now empty, the Nats added singles by Zimmerman and Harper before the inning finally ended.

Strasburg had to make a lot of pitches in the first two innings, but was never seriously threatened. Given the heat and the Sunday and Thursday off days, I thought they might lift him relatively early to give the bullpen some work, but he pitched into the 8^th, finally giving up a home run to DJ LeMahieu and his first walk of the game before Stammen came on to get the final 4 outs.

I started things off with a frozen lemon ice, with a grilled chicken sandwich later for something more substantial. Since I had been up late the night before and had to do volunteer work in the morning, I took off around 9:45 (end of the sixth), getting back to the Shady Grove Metro at 11.

The other highlight of the evening was bumping into our former section mates the Schroders for the first time all year. (Due to an ongoing schedule conflict, they had to switch to a different partial plan this season.)

June 22, 2014 – Nationals 4, Braves 1 – Nationals Park

Brave new world? 

Umpires: HP: Mark Carlson. 1B: Tim Welke. 2B: Todd Tichenor. 3B: Clint Fagan.

Weather: 78 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 0 mph, None.

T: 2:54.

Att: 39,473.

Along with St. Louis, Atlanta had been the Nats’ kryptonite since October of 2012, beating them out for the 2013 NL East title and dominating them in head-to-head play. The trend continued in 2014, with the Braves winning 7 of the first 8 encounters, including a disheartening loss Friday night where the Nats tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run Anthony Rendon homer off the normally-untouchable Craig Kimbrel but went on to lose in extra innings. Things looked up on Saturday, when the Nats won behind a clutch pitching performance by Doug Fister, so with a victory on Sunday the Nats could at least split the 4-game series.

The Nats took a 2-0 lead off Ervin Santana in the bottom of the first on a walk, two singles and a sac fly. Santana and Nats starter Tanner Roark then traded zeroes for the next several innings. In the top of the fifth, with two outs and Santana on first, Braves second baseman Tommy La Stella worked a walk off Roark with a 12-pitch at-bat, including 5 full-count foul balls. This effort seemed to take a lot out of both Roark and Santana, who had to head for second on each of the 3-2 pitches. After their first-inning outburst, the Nats had had little success against Santana, consistently swinging and missing at his offspeed stuff, but they plated their third run in the bottom of the fifth on a Sandy Leon single, a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Roark, and a double by Denard Span.

Roark was named the player of the game, but the award could well have been shared by all four Nats pitchers who appeared. Craig Stammen relieved Roark with two on and one out in the top of the sixth and retired all 5 batters he faced. Clippard pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. We thought Soriano might need a day off after pitching 4 of the previous 5 games, but he wound up putting an exclamation point on the win by striking the side out in the ninth to earn the save.

No traffic issues either way, with a little bit less of a backup on the Legion Bridge than usual. Went with a bowl of Cincinnati chili from Hard Times.