October 13, 2016 (NLDS Game 5) – Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/206007428/dodgers-beat-nationals-in-nlds-to-go-to-nlcs/

 

Attendance: 43,936

Game Time: 4:32 (!)

Weather: 67 degrees, clear

Wind: 11 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Jeff Kellogg, First Base - Manny Gonzalez, Second Base - Dan Bellino, Third Base - Chris Guccione, Left Field - Ron Kulpa, Right Field - Tom Hallion

Seventh-inning stretch song: We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister

 

Highlights – Nats took a quick lead in the bottom of the second, when Murphy singled, stole second, and scored on an Espinosa single … Max held LA scoreless until the seventh, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth … after the Dodgers took the lead with 4 in the top of the seventh, the Nats rallied after the stretch, cutting the lead to one on a leadoff walk by Espinosa and a pinch-HR by Chris Heisey

 

Lowlights – in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Nats 3^rd-base coach Bob Henley attempted to score Jayson Werth from first on a Zimmerman double (He was out. By a lot.) … Scherzer’s only pitch in the seventh was hit out of the park by Joc Pederson … 5 Nats relievers (!) allowed 3 more runs before the inning was over, keyed by a pinch RBI single by Carlos Ruiz and a two-run triple by Justin Turner … LA put closer Kenley Jansen in the game with one on and none out in the bottom of the seventh … after Jansen walked two in the bottom of the ninth, Clayton Kershaw came in after pitching into the seventh inning two days earlier to retire Murphy and last-man-standing Wilmer Difo to end Washington’s season, losing yet another first-round series despite having home-field advantage

 

Other – Livan Hernandez got a nice round of applause for throwing out the first pitch … in typical Nats fashion, they ran out of paper towels in one of the men’s rooms before the game even started, and ran out of pizza on the upper level in the fifth inning … we all booed the “last call” announcement for Metro in protest of WMATA’s decision not to extend the midnight closing time … game lasted 45 minutes longer than September’s Springsteen concert … getting out of DC seemed to take forever; it was past 2am when we finally got back to Westat

 

 

October 9, 2016 (NLDS Game 2) – Nationals 5, Dodgers 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/205513796/nationals-even-nlds-after-game-2-victory/

 

Attendance: 43,826

Game Time: 3:55

Weather: 62 degrees, sunny

Wind: 8 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Guccione, First Base - Ron Kulpa, Second Base - Tom Hallion, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg, Left Field - Manny Gonzalez, Right Field - Dan Bellino

Seventh-inning stretch song: Jump – Van Halen

 

Highlights – Nats catcher Jose Lobaton turned the game and series around with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth (after ending an earlier bases-loaded threat with an inning-ending double play and dropping a throw at the plate as LA scored its second run) … Daniel Murphy had 3 hits and a walk, driving in insurance runs in the fifth and seventh … Trea had two singles, a stolen base, and a run scored … Roark was not at his best but limited the damage to 2 runs in 4.1 innings … 5 Nats relievers blanked the Dodgers on 1 hit the rest of the way

 

Other – first inning was déjà vu all over again, as Seager hit a solo homer for LA and all 3 Nats batters fanned in the bottom of the frame … enjoyed an early lunch at the “Budweiser Brew House” (fish tacos, pizza, wings, hot cider, and hot chocolate) … the sun made it surprisingly comfortable during the game in the upper level, despite windy conditions on the field … not sure whether official crowd figure counted the many pigeons that decided to attend … our chauffeur won the Designated Driver of the Game drawing; we all chuckled when his prize turned out to be a Nationals beer stein … game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but they decided to postpone it about 5 minutes after we arrived (we had expected a delayed start but not a postponement)

October 7, 2016 (NLDS Game 1) – Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/205330526/dodgers-hang-on-to-win-game-1-of-nlds/

 

Attendance: 43,915

Game Time: 3:46

Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Dan Bellino, First Base - Chris Guccione, Second Base - Ron Kulpa, Third Base - Tom Hallion, Left Field - Jeff Kellogg, Right Field - Manny Gonzalez

Seventh-inning stretch song: You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

 

Section 305, Row E, Seats 21-23 (our seats for all home NL playoff games) – same level as usual but 3 sections away (about halfway down the left-field line) … only 2 seats away from the aisle, making the relocation a reasonably good trade-off

 

Highlights – injured catcher Wilson Ramos threw out the first pitch, as Livan Hernandez was unable to make it up from Florida due to Hurricane Matthew … after falling into an early 4-0 hole against LA ace Clayton Kershaw, the Nats got a 2-run single in the third by Rendon (following a Harper double, Werth walk, and a double steal), and got one more back the next inning, when Pedro Severino doubled, advanced to third on a Scherzer ground out, and scored on Turner’s sac fly … Scherzer (who went 6), Solis, and Melancon blanked the Dodgers over the final 6 innings

 

Other – Max gave up a solo homer to Corey Seager in the first, and 3 more runs in the top of the third, keyed by a 2-run Justin Turner shot … Nats got plenty of hits off Kershaw, but only one with a runner in scoring position … Espinosa fanned in each of his 3 at-bats, with 2 men on each time … Nats managed only 1 hit in 5 innings off the LA bullpen … Metro acquitted itself well in both directions (although on the way back we just missed getting on a crowded Red Line train that was waiting as we arrived) … getting out of the park after the game (at the same time with 40,000+ other folks) took forever, as our experiment of taking the left field ramp was not a great success

October 2, 2016 – Nationals 10, Marlins 7 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/204648956/max-scherzer-allows-5-marlins-runs-wins-20th/

 

Attendance: 28,730

Game Time: 3:36

Weather: 73 degrees, overcast

Wind: 2 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - John Tumpane, First Base - Alan Porter, Second Base - Brian O'Nora, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – Max won his 20^th game, ending his 5 innings by fanning his final 2 batters to strand the go-ahead run at third base … he also drove in 4 runs (!) with 2 2-run singles … Espinosa hit his 24^th homer in the bottom of the fifth as the Nats scored 3 to retake the lead … Solis recorded the final out in the top of the eighth by fanning Jeff Francoeur after the Marlins got back within one run … Spencer Kieboom made his major-league debut in the bottom of the frame, walking and scoring a run … Turner (who also walked twice and stole his 33^rd base) and Revere had eighth-inning RBI singles to give Melancon some breathing room for his 47^th save

 

Other – Scherzer wasn’t at his best on the mound, yielding 2-run homers to Miami rookies Destin Hood (Nats second-round draft choice in 2008) and Tomas Telis, the first major league HR for each … Nats outdid themselves on Fan Appreciation Day, as all 3 of us got autographs from Mike Rizzo … didn’t win in the “jerseys off their backs” giveaway, but did get some swag in the traditional toss-goodies-into-the-stands event after the game (an XL “One Pursuit” T-shirt for me)

September 30, 2016 – Marlins 7, Nationals 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/204278716/justin-bour-marlins-beat-nationals/

 

Attendance: 30,857

Game Time: 3:08 (start was delayed 1:46 due to rain)

Weather: 63 degrees, drizzle

Wind: 13 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Brian O'Nora, First Base - Jeff Kellogg, Second Base - John Tumpane, Third Base - Alan Porter

 

Section 222, Row P, Seats 12-15 – upper level, about halfway down the right field line between first base and the foul pole

 

Highlights – back-to-back homers by Rendon and Drew kicked off a 4-run fourth inning for the Nats … Trea stole 2 more bases … nice pregame tribute to Jose Fernandez

 

Other – Nats starter A.J. Cole dug an early hole by giving up 4 runs in his 3 innings (although only 2 were earned) … offense was completely shut down by the Miami bullpen, whose members fanned 10 of the 16 batters they faced … Harper struck out in all 4 of his at-bats … due to taking Metro and the delayed start, we headed out in the sixth, after Dee Gordon drove in the decisive run on an infield single … on “Election Night”, they eventually ran out of donkey figurines as expected, while some elephants were still left

September 20, 2016 – Tigers 8, Twins 1 – Target Field

http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/202393448/tigers-beat-twins-gain-in-al-wild-card-race/

 

Attendance: 23,395

Game Time: 2:46

Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Adrian Johnson, First Base - Gary Cederstrom, Second Base - Eric Cooper, Third Base - Ryan Blakney

Seventh-inning stretch song: Little Red Corvette – Prince

Kiss Cam song: Passionate Kisses – Mary Chapin Carpenter

 

Section 115, Row 17, Seat 1 – lower level behind home plate, with several rows of premium seats in front of the section

 

Highlights (Twins) – Brian Dozier singled to lead off the bottom of the first (extending his hitting streak to 23 games) and promptly stole second, but failed to advance any farther … Byron Buxton robbed Jose Iglesias with a highlight-reel catch in the top of the seventh … Robbie Grossman homered for the Twins’ only run in the bottom of the frame … starter Hector Santiago pitched effectively for the first two innings

 

Highlights (Tigers) – Matt Boyd efficiently shut down the home team on 99 pitches through 8 innings, allowing only 4 baserunners and retiring 14 straight Twins at one point … Detroit reached Santiago for single runs in the 3^rd and 4^th and put the game away with 4 in the 6^th, punctuated by a 3-run James McCann HR … Miguel Cabrera added insult to injury with a 2-run shot the next inning off Michael Tonkin

 

Other – Twins manager Paul Molitor disappointed those of us who hung around waiting for one more Dozier at-bat, pinch-hitting for him in the bottom of the ninth … Tom Lehman threw out the first pitch on Ryder Cup night … had a chicken tikka bowl ($11.00), something that you can’t find at a ballpark every day … quite a bit of information available on the various electronic scoreboards, including pitches in the current at-bat, an in-game box score shown periodically, a baseball headline ticker, and the names of winning and losing pitchers for completed out-of-town games

September 11, 2016 – Nationals 3, Phillies 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200761468/anthony-rendon-gio-gonzalez-lead-nationals/

 

Attendance: 31,805

Game Time: 2:49

Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 9 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Segal, First Base - Paul Emmel, Second Base - Larry Vanover, Third Base - David Rackley

 

Notes – to our surprise, the game moved along quickly with efficient efforts from both Gio Gonzalez and Adam Morgan; the game had reached the bottom of the seventh before we had to leave for the second half of our split doubleheader … Nats took the lead in the first when Turner singled and scored on Murphy’s double … Phillies tied it in the top of the seventh on a Tommy Joseph HR … Nats took the lead with two in the bottom of the seventh … Freddy Galvis led off the top of the eighth with a homer on Koda Glover’s first (and only) pitch of the afternoon to cut the lead to 1, but Perez, Treinen, and Melancon shut the visitors down the rest of the way … Roman Quinn made his major league debut in CF for the Phils, going 0-3 with a walk … impressive and moving pregame ceremony in recognition of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks

September 10, 2016 – Nationals 3, Phillies 0 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200618874/bryce-harper-homers-as-nationals-beat-phillies/

 

Attendance: 36,152

Game Time: 3:05

Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 4 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - David Rackley, First Base - Chris Segal, Second Base - Paul Emmel, Third Base - Larry Vanover

 

Section 111, Row JJ, Seats 15-18 – full original crew was here for the first time since Opening Day, nice lower-level seats on the aisle down the left-field line, out of the sun

 

Notes – biggest crowd of the series, for the Oktoberfest beer stein giveaway … came down early and stopped by TaKorean before the game … another pitcher’s duel, with both starters putting up goose eggs (Scherzer struggled with high pitch counts early but lasted into the seventh, while Jerad Eickhoff for the Phils needed only 82 pitches to get through six before leaving for a pinch-hitter … Phils center fielder Odubel Herrera kept the shutout going in the bottom of the fourth by throwing out Robinson trying to score from second on a Lobaton single … Nats finally broke the stalemate in the eighth when lefty specialist Patrick Schuster entered for Philadelphia with one on, promptly giving up a walk to Murphy and a 3-run blast to Harper

September 8, 2016 – Phillies 4, Nationals 1 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200222852/alec-asher-ryan-howard-lead-phillies-by-nats/

 

Attendance: 25,412

Game Time: 2:48

Weather: 93 degrees, clear

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Paul Emmel, First Base - Larry Vanover, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Chris Guccione

Seventh-inning stretch song: Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

 

Section 232, Row M, Seats 5-6 (free tickets from August food drive) – upper level in far right field, just in foul territory (so couldn’t see deep right and right-center field). Almost had the entire row to ourselves, did have some Phillies fans a little farther back. Very hot until the sun dipped below the opposite stands early in the game, relatively comfortable thereafter.

 

Notes – Phillies ended 9-game losing streak to the Nats … all of their offense came in the third, with a solo homer by Peter Bourjos and a 3-run shot by Ryan Howard … Nats starter A.J. Cole needed only 78 pitches to get through 5 innings before departing for a pinch-hitter, fanning 8 … Alec Asher made his season debut for the Phils and blanked Washington for 6 innings, although they hit quite a few balls hard, deep, or both … Nats loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off Hector Neris, followed by a Murphy sac fly and a Harper strikeout (the first Nat to fan all evening) … about 65-70 minutes to drive down (typical for weeknight games) … took advantage of coupons (2 for 1 Nats Dogs, $2 Cracker Jack) … buyer beware: frozen custard from Shake Shack is delicious but insidiously messy … made quick escape from The Parking Lot Formerly Known As HH and got back to Rockville before 11:00

September 5, 2016 – Nationals 6, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/199685872/scherzer-turner-lead-nationals-over-braves/

 

Attendance: 26,005

Game Time: 2:59

Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Todd Tichenor, First Base - Carlos Torres, Second Base - Rob Drake, Third Base - Gerry Davis

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – 3 hits (1^st inning double, 2-run homer in the 3^rd, single in the 4^th) and 3 RBI for Trea Turner … Chris Heisey followed Turner’s shot with a 3-run round-tripper later in the third inning … Scherzer wasn’t at his sharpest but held Atlanta to single runs in the second and sixth, pitching out of deeper trouble each time and talking his way into pitching the seventh

 

Other – Turner, Espinosa and Rendon were the only regulars in the lineup, as the team didn’t arrive in DC until 3am following the Sunday night game in New York … Melancon made things interesting by allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in a ninth-inning non-save situation … with a Monday game rather than a Signature Sunday, we came down early to beat the traffic and had a pregame lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings … subsequently tried the gelato (they seemed to have plenty of cups) … traffic getting out of our usual parking area was again a mess

August 28, 2016 – Rockies 5, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/198058832/nolan-arenado-stays-hot-as-rockies-beat-nats/

 

Attendance: 28,124

Game Time: 2:52

Weather: 86 degrees, sunny

Wind: 3 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Mike Muchlinski, First Base - Marty Foster, Second Base - Mark Wegner, Third Base - Mike Winters

Seventh-inning stretch song: The Twist – Chubby Checker

 

Highlights – Trea Turner led off the bottom of the first with his fifth home run … other two Nats runs also came on leadoff homers, by Ramos in the seventh and Harper in the ninth

 

Non-highlights – Lucas Giolito struggled in the first but only allowed one run … with two out and none on in the third, Giolito allowed a single to Carlos Gonzalez, followed by back-to back homers by Nolan Arenado (who finished a double short of the cycle) and David Dahl … final Rockies run came in the eighth on a Koda Glover wild pitch that nailed home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski on the left shoulder, allowing Daniel Descalso to score from second … Bryce was having trouble with the sun in right field most of the game, most notably on Arenado’s fifth-inning triple (which was initially scored an error) … Zimmerman fanned in all three appearances against Rockies starter Chad Bettis

 

Other – was third in the section 129/130 pre-game autograph line, but A.J. Cole didn’t come out to sign until we’d been in line in the sun for about 50 minutes (12:05-12:55), after Glover had already finished signing for the luckier folks in the other line … tried the chicken and biscuit sandwich from Virginia Country Kitchen (not too bad) … worst traffic ever getting out of the parking area by the Homeland Security offices

August 17, 2016 – Rockies 12, Nationals 10 – Coors Field

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/196128614/rockies-outslug-strasburg-nats-in-finale-win/

 

Attendance: 25,308

Game Time: 3:52

Weather: 85 degrees, sunny

Wind: 4 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Clint Fagan, First Base - Brian Gorman, Second Base - Quinn Wolcott, Third Base - Mark Carlson

Seventh-inning stretch song: Hey Baby – DJ Otzi

 

Section 236, Row 11, Seat 1 – club (2^nd) level, looking down first base line, in the shade, more limited concessions selection than main concourse and not quite enough seating in the “club”, although the air conditioned refuge would have been great in rainy, hot, or freezing weather

 

Finally, a real Coors Field kind of game!

 

Highlights – Nats kept battling back from their 7-0 first inning deficit … two-run Harper homer in the fifth traveled 461 feet and made the score 9-6 … Pedro Severino and Chris Heisey also homered (the first of Severino’s major-league career) … Jayson Werth ran his consecutive game on-base streak to 45

 

Other – Strasburg was torched for 7 in the bottom of the first on a combination of walks and scorched line drives, and gave up 2 more before being lifted with two outs in the second … splurged on the carved turkey sandwich for $12.00 (OK, with a pickle and chips), and grabbed a Dollar Dog later

August 16, 2016 – Rockies 6, Nationals 2 – Coors Field

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/196008928/rockies-lemahieu-flirts-with-cycle-in-win/

 

Attendance: 29,209

Game Time: 2:54 (delayed 2 hours and 4 minutes in the bottom of the third inning due to rain)

Weather: 84 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Mark Carlson, First Base - Clint Fagan, Second Base - Brian Gorman, Third Base - Quinn Wolcott
Seventh-inning stretch song: Hey Baby – DJ Otzi

Section 137, Row 31, Seat 1 – lower level, section behind the visitors dugout, far enough back (just under the overhang) that I only got slightly wet when the storm hit

 

Highlights – Werth set the Nats team record by reaching base in his 44^th consecutive game (franchise record is 46) … singles by Werth, Murphy, and Ramos gave the Nats a 2-0 lead in the top of the third

 

Other – Rockies came right back to tie in the bottom of the third on a Blackmon double and LeMahieu homer off Gio … after play resumed, Nats were blanked for the final 6 innings, while the Rockies notched 4 runs in 5 innings against 4 Washington relievers … apparently if I take a road trip to see the Nats, there will be a two-hour rain delay … had a large burrito bowl for $8.00, and an overly large serving of gelato for $5.75 … over 700 canines for Bark in the Park, complete with a pre-game parade (not sure how they handled the rainstorm and delay)

August 15, 2016 – Nationals 5, Rockies 4 – Coors Field

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/195792814/nats-bryce-harper-hits-go-ahead-rbi-in-win/

 

Attendance: 27,818

Game Time: 3:26

Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Quinn Wolcott, First Base - Mark Carlson, Second Base - Clint Fagan, Third Base - Brian Gorman

 

U338, Row 25, Seat 1 – halfway between third and home, very top row of the stadium (I requested something under cover since I realized I forgot to pack an umbrella)

 

Highlights – Nats rallied from a 3-0 first-inning deficit for the win … Werth (who tied Nats record by reaching base in 43 consecutive games) got things started with a two-run shot in the third … Bryce reached base all 5 times and knocked in the winning run with a seventh-inning double … Trea Turner stole another two bases … Treinen relieved Solis with two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh and induced an inning-ending DP on his first and only pitch … Melancon needed only 4 pitches to retire the Rockies in order in the ninth for the save

 

Other – Scherzer was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the fifth, after needing 97 pitches to get through 4 innings … concession prices very reasonable by DC standards ($7.75 draft beer, $5.75 grilled chicken sandwiches) … unbelievably pleasant weather after escaping the Washington heat wave

August 14, 2016 – Nationals 9, Braves 1 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/195507330/rendon-roark-lead-nats-to-win-over-braves/

 

Attendance: 29,107

Game Time: 2:46

Weather: 96 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 9 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Pat Hoberg, First Base - Mike Everitt, Second Base - Jordan Baker, Third Base - Tim Timmons

Seventh-inning stretch song: The Twist – Chubby Checker

 

Highlights – Tanner Roark had his second straight strong Sunday start, this time giving up only one run in his typical 7 innings … Bryce Harper, out over a week with a stiff neck, asked politely to get back in the lineup and was in the middle of the Nats’ 3-run first with a double … after Roark drew a walk to start the bottom of the 5^th, Nats broke things open on a sac fly by Ramos and a 3-run homer by Rendon

 

Other – perhaps the hottest game I’ve been to, as the official temperature hit 100 for the day … roasted in the sun until the second or third inning, at which point we got our shade and it wasn’t so bad … enjoyed the cooling center for a couple of innings (large conference room with plenty of large TV screens, ice, and water)

August 7, 2016 – Nationals 1, Giants 0 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/194170816/tanner-roark-wilson-ramos-lead-nats-in-win/

 

Attendance: 32,790

Game Time: 2:43

Weather: 87 degrees, sunny

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Rob Drake, First Base - Sam Holbrook, Second Base - Gerry Davis, Third Base - Carlos Torres

Seventh-inning stretch song: I Can’t Help Myself – The Four Tops

 

Highlights – Tanner Roark pitched out of big jams several times to hold the Giants scoreless thru seven innings … Shawn Kelley threw a 1-2-3 eighth, and Mark Melancon repeated the feat in the ninth for his first Nats save … Ben Revere made a spectacular catch to end the top of the seventh, saving two runs … after the stretch, Wilson Ramos went deep for the only run of the game (and only Washington’s second hit) … great enough game to inspire a Tom Boswell column in this morning’s Post

 

Other – Traffic down not too bad (left at 10:45) … traffic coming back somewhat slower getting out of the parking lot (the one formerly known as Lot HH), and backed up on the GW Parkway getting on to the Beltway

July 16, 2016 – Harrisburg Senators 4, Altoona Curve 2 (12 innings) – PNG Field

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160716&content_id=190049704&fext=.jsp&vkey=recap&sid=t452 (story)

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2016_07_16_haraax_altaax_1&t=g_box&sid=l113 (box)

 

Umpires: HP: Derek Gonzales. 1B: Mike Wiseman. 3B: Richard Riley.

Weather: 86 degrees, clear.

Wind: 9 mph, Varies.

Time: 3:54.

Attendance: 6,096.

 

Section 212, Row 11, Seats 7-9 (first row in second level, great view down third base line)

 

Highlights – Senators took an early lead on a third-inning homer by light-hitting infielder Stephen Perez … each team notched a single tally in the fourth … Altoona finally tied it with a run in the bottom of the seventh … Senators won it in the 12^th with RBI hits by Wilmer Difo and Andrew Stevenson … Curve outfielder Barrett Barnes was a HR short of hitting for the cycle

 

Other – No DH, since two National League teams were playing … Harrisburg starter Phillips Valdez walked 6 and didn’t make it through the fourth inning … a couple of light showers in the late innings … post-game fireworks went off as planned despite the long game

July 11, 2016 – Frederick Keys 11, Winston-Salem Dash 7 – Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160711&content_id=189314496&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t493&sid=t493 (story)

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2016_07_11_wswafa_frdafa_1&t=g_box&sid=t493 (box)

 

Umpires: HP: Chris Scott. 1B: Chris Marco.

Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, Varies.

First pitch: 2:03 PM.

Time: 2:56.

Attendance: 3,228.

 

Section 203, Row J, Seat 1 – third row in front of the concourse (in the shade), not too far down the first base line

 

Highlights – in the three Keys games I’ve seen this year (all victories), they’ve scored 8, 12, and 11 runs … this was a game Earl Weaver would have loved, as most of the Frederick runs came via a third-inning grand slam by Cameron Kneeland and a three-run shot in the sixth by D.J. Stewart … relievers Jeff Beliveau and Ryan Meisinger blanked the visitors over the last 4 innings, fanning 7 … weather was wonderful, as was the traffic both ways

 

Other – Winston-Salem had a 7-5 lead after 4, as Frederick starter Franderlin Romero was battered for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3⅔ innings … didn’t seem as if there were close to 3,000 actual bodies in the stands

July 5, 2016 – Brewers 5, Nationals 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/188086618/hill-davies-lead-brewers-to-win-over-nats/

 

Attendance: 25,138

Game Time: 2:52

Weather: 89 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Jeff Nelson, First Base - Greg Gibson, Second Base - Nic Lentz, Third Base - Cory Blaser

 

Highlights – it didn’t rain … Nats did get 12 hits … traffic both down and back was better than usual … had a good time despite the quality of baseball (see below)

 

Other – shoddy fielding, questionable base-running, gopher-prone pitching, very little clutch hitting (Brewers lefty Will Smith came in to fan Harper with 2 out and the bases loaded in the seventh) … only 25,000 folks were interested in the Bryce Harper Chia Pet giveaway … humidity increased steadily as the game went on

July 3, 2016 – Nationals 12, Reds 1 – Nationals Park

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/187685716/espinosa-strasburg-lead-nats-rout-of-reds

 

Attendance: 37,328

Game Time: 3:08

Weather: 75 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 1 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Adrian Johnson, First Base - Ramon DeJesus, Second Base - Gary Cederstrom, Third Base - Eric Cooper

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – in his return from the DL, Strasburg pitched 6 ⅔ hitless innings … Nats tied team record with 6 homers in the game, starting with a Wilson Ramos solo shot in the second … for the second time in 4 games, Danny Espinosa hit homers from each side of the plate, including a grand slam each time, totaling 15 RBI for the series (2 short of the major league record)

 

Other – was hot in the sun initially despite the mild temp, overcast and muggy later, with some light rain the last couple innings and on the way home … we arrived prior to the gates opening, beating most of the traffic and in time to get autograph vouchers (Rivero and Solis) … cheesesteak was better than I expected