October 27, 2019 – Astros 7, Nats 1 (World Series Game 5) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/astros-win-world-series-game-5-three-straight-in-dc

 

Weather: 72 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 8 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Barksdale, 1B--Holbrook, 2B--Wolf, 3B--Eddings, LF--Cederstrom, RF--Hoye.

Time: 3:19

Attendance: 43,910

 

The search for the Washington Nationals’ offense, gone missing this past Friday, proved fruitless for the third straight day, with only a single ray of hope in each of them. Even the presence of POTUS didn’t help to unravel the mystery.

 

The situation required something close to perfection from the team’s pitching. Joe Ross, starting only due to the injury-related late scratch of ace Max Scherzer, did pitch efficiently, needing only 78 pitches to get through his five innings of work. Unfortunately, he served up a two-run homer to Yordan Alvarez in the 2^nd inning, putting the home team in a quick hole, and allowed another two-run shot (this one to Carlos Correa) in the 4^th. Rainey and Doolittle blanked the visitors for two innings after Ross left, but Hudson allowed a run in the 8^th and yet another two-run dinger (this time to George Springer) in the top of the 9^th, greatly accelerating the flow of fans toward the exits.

 

Houston starter Gerrit Cole, after being treated rudely by the Nats in Game 1, got his revenge Sunday night, giving up just three hits, with the only one that hurt a bit being Soto’s solo HR following the 7^th-inning stretch. Washington’s only real scoring chance came in the top of the 2^nd, when singles by Soto and Kendrick put runners on the corners with no one out. In keeping with the script for the previous two games, however, Zim struck out and Robles grounded into an inning-ending double play.

 

Since our previous two World Series trips to Nando’s had been followed by deflating Washington defeats, we altered our pregame routine, taking advantage of the unusually warm weather to dine outside at Wiseguy Pizza. (Obviously it didn’t help, but the pizza was good enough to justify a repeat visit.)

October 26, 2019 – Astros 8, Nats 1 (World Series Game 4) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-win-game-4-tie-world-series-at-2?game_pk=599374

 

Weather: 63 degrees, Overcast.

Wind: 10 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Hoye, 1B--Barksdale, 2B--Holbrook, 3B--Wolf, LF--Eddings, RF--Cederstrom.

Time: 3:48

Attendance: 43,889

 

The recipe for Game 4 turned out to be almost identical to that of Game 3. The Nats added some sterling defense, but also mixed in an atrocious bullpen meltdown. The main ingredients – excellent Houston pitching blended with Washington’s failure to take advantage of their scoring opportunities – remained the same, as did the final result.

 

The conventional wisdom going into the contest was that the Astros, lacking a fourth starter and therefore needing to make this a “bullpen game”, would be at a decided disadvantage, with the Nats countering with a well-regarded (and well-compensated) veteran like Patrick Corbin. The conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong.

 

Corbin, who had been up and down during the postseason, did get through six innings for the Nats. However, he dug the team into another early 2-0 hole by yielding four consecutive singles with one out in the 1^st inning. He settled down and allowed only one baserunner the next two frames, but faltered again in the 4^th, as Robinson Chirinos homered for the second straight game, this time with a man on base.

 

Meanwhile, rookie Jose Urquidy, with just 41 regular-season MLB innings to his credit, shut down the hosts for five strong innings on only two hits, as the Nats wasted Gomes’ leadoff double in the 3^rd (thanks in part to Corbin’s inability to bunt him over to third). Washington missed its best opportunity to get back in the game in the 6^th after Josh James replaced Urquidy and walked two of the three batters he faced, with the heart of the order coming up. Will Harris took over for the Astros, and Rendon managed an infield single to load the bases (and give the Nats credit for a hit with a runner in scoring position, albeit one that did not actually result in a run). Harris then induced another grounder from Soto that did score Parra as Houston recorded the second out, and then fanned Kendrick to minimize the damage.

 

Any hopes for completing the comeback died a quick death just a half-inning later. Rainey couldn’t find the plate, walking two of the three batters he faced. Rodney then entered with the proverbial can of kerosene, allowing a Michael Brantley single to load the bases, followed by an Alex Bregman grand slam. One out and three walks later, Davey was merciful enough to yank him in favor of Wander Suero, who kept the score at 8-1 by fanning Kyle Tucker. The Nats did manage to produce (and strand) a few more runners, but the meaningful part of the evening was over. The Series was now tied at 2-2, with only one more chance for the Nats to win a game at home before the action returned to Texas.

October 25, 2019 – Astros 4, Nats 1 (World Series Game 3) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/astros-beat-nationals-in-world-series-game-3

 

Weather: 64 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 2 mph, Out To RF.

Umpires: HP--Cederstrom, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Barksdale, 3B--Holbrook, LF--Wolf, RF--Eddings.

Time: 4:03

Attendance: 43,867

 

Section 416, Row J, Seats 27-28 (back in our old section, but on the opposite aisle and higher up – under shelter in case of rain)

 

It was, in a sense, a game of opposites. Washington starter Anibal Sanchez, when last seen starting Game 1 of the NLCS two weeks ago, went 7.2 innings in that affair before giving up his one and only hit. Friday night, he gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter, and 10 in all, without getting out of the 6^th inning. The Astros, who had been struggling mightily with runners in scoring postion, went 4 for 8 in such situations, while the Nats were 0 for 10. Houston was sloppy in their Game 2 defeat; now, the Nats yielded 4 stolen bases (including one where an errant Suzuki throw allowed the runner to get all the way to third), while birthday boy (and Gold Glove nominee) Juan Soto misplayed one ball in left field and airmailed a throw on a second, giving up an extra base each time.

 

For the first time in the Series, Washington’s starter kept the Astros off the board in the first inning, although they scored in each of the next two to put the home team in an early 2-0 hole. The strategic turning point came in the bottom of the 4^th, after a leadoff Zimmerman walk and a one-out Robles triple. Although Tanner Rainey was warming in the bullpen, Davey allowed the light-hitting Sanchez to bat. He struck out, and Turner hit a soft ground ball to pitcher Zack Greinke, leaving Robles on third.

 

The decision was certainly defensible, given Sanchez’s low pitch count and the shortage of reliable options in the Washington bullpen, but it did not work out well. Sanchez recorded only 4 more outs, giving up one more run in the 5^th and a homer to Robinson Chirinos in the 6^th before leaving with one out. Meanwhile, Fernando Rodney prevented any further damage that inning, and Joe Ross combined with Wander Suero to blank the visitors over the final three frames.

 

The Nats didn’t lack for baserunners, getting at least one man in scoring position in each of the first six innings and getting Greinke out of the game with 2 outs in the 5^th. They just couldn’t get hits when they needed them, either against Greinke or the Houston relief crew.

 

Things seemed much more crowded than at the two NLCS games, despite almost identical attendance figures. You could barely move on the lower level when we came in around 6:45, and getting out of the park after the game seemed to take forever. Metro did a great job getting us back, but I didn’t actually get home until 2:15.

 

And I was extremely happy that DC Washington got the honor of performing the National Anthem before the game.

October 15, 2019 – Nats 7, Cards 4 (NLCS Game 4) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-win-2019-national-league-pennant

 

Weather: 64 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 5 mph, Out To LF.

Umpires: HP--Cuzzi, 1B--Fairchild, 2B--Culbreth, 3B--Guccione, LF--Conroy, RF--Miller.

Time: 3:02

Attendance: 43,976

 

Sweep dreams! The Nationals win the pennant! The Nationals win the pennant!! The Nationals win the pennant!!!

 

Tuesday night’s triumph can best be seen as a two-act play, with three major scenes.

 

Act One, which consisted of a single scene (the first inning), couldn’t have gone any better for the Nats. Starter Patrick Corbin struck out the side, on his way to becoming the first postseason pitcher to record at least 10 Ks by the end of the 4^th. The home team then proceeded to quickly ambush the ill-fated St. Louis starting pitcher, Dakota Hudson:

 

Pitch #3 – Turner single

Pitch #4 – Eaton double

Pitch #5 – Rendon sac fly, scoring Turner

Pitch #7 – Soto double, scoring Eaton

Intentional walk to Kendrick

Pitch #9 – Ground ball by Zimmerman, with second baseman Kolten Wong dropping the throw to load the bases

Pitch #14 – Catchable pop by Robles that was chased by three Cardinals and dropped in front of the defensively-challenged Jose Martinez, scoring run #3 and leaving the bases loaded

Pitch #15 – Two-run single by Robles for a 5-0 lead

 

Exit Hudson (stage left). Enter long-time St. Lous stalwart Adam Wainwright, who had played the lead role of starting pitcher the previous Saturday. Corbin laid down a sacrifice on Wainwright’s second pitch, sending the runners to second and third, and Turner singled them both home on the next offering.

 

The second act of the evening, which ran much longer, began immediately thereafter, following only a brief intermission. Would our home-team heroes be able to extend their lead, or would they let it dwindle?

 

The cast of characters in blue, so dominant in Act One, might as well have turned their bats into wet noodles for the remainder of the affair. Only four of them got on base against the St. Louis bullpen, with none advancing past first.

 

Meanwhile, Corbin dominated the Cardinals for the next three innings, although he did give up a seemingly-harmless homer to Yadier Molina in the 4^th. This led to the night’s second major scene, the top of the 5^th inning.

 

Corbin suddenly had trouble finding home plate, walking two batters with a Kolten Wong single in between. A soft grounder allowed the Cards to score their second run, and a ringing Martinez double produced two more. All of a sudden the score was 7-4, with an air of apprehension filling the sold-out audience. Nats manager Davey Martinez surprised many of us by keeping Corbin in the game, and he rallied to fan his final two batters.

 

Things calmed down for a bit, with Tanner Rainey retiring the visitors in order in the 6^th and a well-rested Sean Doolittle repeating the feat an inning later. This led to the climax of the affair.

 

Doolittle retired the first two St. Louis batters in the top of the 8^th, then gave up a single to Marcell Ozuna. The equally well-rested Daniel Hudson (no relation to Dakota) entered to (hopefully) close things out; he proceeded to hit Molina with his fourth pitch, then walk Paul DeJong to load the bases. St. Louis then played one of their high cards, bringing in dangerous left-handed power hitter Matt Carpenter to face the right-handed Hudson. A single would cut the lead to one, a round-tripper would actually put the visitors ahead. As the script unfolded, however, Carpenter hit a harmless ground ball for the final out of the inning, and 40,000 of us resumed breathing.

 

The final inning seemed preordained. Hudson retired the side in order, giving the Nats their first-ever NL pennant. The stagehands and actors took their bows, and everyone lived happily ever after (or at least until the World Series).

 

October 14, 2019 – Nats 8, Cards 1 (NLCS Game 3) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/stephen-strasburg-nlcs-game-3-performance

 

Weather: 71 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 3 mph, L To R.

Umpires: HP--Miller, 1B--Cuzzi, 2B--Fairchild, 3B--Culbreth, LF--Guccione, RF--Conroy.

Time: 3:26

Attendance: 43,675

 

The action last night deviated quickly from the script of the previous two games, in that one of the Cardinals actually had the temerity to get a hit before the seventh-inning stretch. Fortunately for the Nats, Marcell Ozuna (who has always hit Strasburg well) followed his leadoff double in the second by getting caught between second and third on Jose Martinez’s comebacker to the mound, extinguishing the rally before it had a chance to get going.

 

An inning later, again referring to the previous two games, I commented that the Nats were about due to score their one early run. This would indeed come true, as Robles led off with a single, went to second on the first of two Strasburg sacrifice bunts, and scored on a two-out Eaton single after St. Louis ace Jack Flaherty fanned Turner. Turned out that I had underestimated our team, as Rendon then lined a double to left that Ozuna just missed catching, scoring Eaton. Following a walk to Soto and a wild pitch, Kendrick came through again, doubling to center to double the Washington lead.

 

Strasburg continued to deal for the next 3 innings, allowing a couple of harmless singles. In fact, he seemed to be getting stronger, finishing off a 10-pitch 6^th by fanning Paul Goldschmidt (who wound up going down on strikes in each of his 4 plate appearances) and Ozuna. Meanwhile, Washington feasted on the St. Louis bullpen after Jack was forced to hit the road, lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 5^th. Doubles by Kendrick and Zim following a Rendon single plated two more in the bottom of the frame, and Robles led off the 6^th with a homer to increase the lead to 7-0.

 

Things did get a little tense in the top of the 7^th. Martinez, a thorn in Washington’s side the entire series, extended Stras’s pitch count from 90 to 100 before singling to left, and Yadier Molina got another hit on the very next pitch. With Tanner Rainey up in the bullpen, Strasburg fanned Tommy Edman, but Paul DeJong hit another single in Soto’s direction, with Martinez scoring an unearned run after Juan slipped while getting ready to throw the ball back in. During the subsequent mound visit, Stephen made clear that he intended to finish the inning, and he did so in style, fanning former Nat Matt Wieters and Dexter Fowler on a total of 8 pitches.

 

Things calmed down from there. The Nats got the run back after the stretch on Kendrick’s third double of the game followed by Zim’s single. Fernando Rodney and Rainey retired the final 6 St. Louis batters, leaving the Nats one win away from the World Series. (And we are now 2-1 this postseason when eating at Nando’s before the game.)

 

October 7, 2019 – Nats 6, Dodgers 1 (NLDS Game 4) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/max-scherzer-nationals-force-nlds-game-5-vs-dodgers

 

Weather: 80 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 3 mph, Out To CF.

Umpires: HP--Eddings, 1B--Marquez, 2B--Gibson, 3B--Little, LF--Baker, RF--Barrett.

Time: 3:24

Attendance: 36,847

 

Since none of the superstitious behaviors we carried over from the wild card win worked for the NLDS, we changed direction for the win-or-go-home Game 4. Took Metro instead of driving. Brought in subs rather than eating before the game. Different attire. New rally towels. Something seemed to work.

 

In some ways, this was the mirror image of the loss the previous night; this time it was the Nats who put up one big inning after the opposing starter had left the game. Rich Hill, as expected, didn’t last long, leaving with 2 outs in the 3^rd, although the Nats failed to take advantage of the 3 walks he issued in the inning, plating only a single run. Their explosion came in the bottom of the 5^th, when Julio Urena replaced Kenta Maeda on the mound for the Dodgers. A Turner single, Eaton sacrifice, and Rendon single gave the Nats the lead. After Soto popped out, Kendrick singled Rendon to third, finishing the outing for Urias. Zim then sent the crowd into a frenzy by greeting Pedro Baez with a three-run homer to center. Rendon finished the scoring an inning later with his third RBI of the game.

 

On the pitching front, Max brought back memories of his wild-card-game struggles when he served up a home run to Justin Turner with two outs in the top of the first. He recovered nicely, however, getting through the next 5 innings without much difficulty while keeping his pitch count down. He did struggle in the 7^th, walking two men with one on and one out, but he retired the next two batters, completing his mission nicely. Doolittle and Hudson finished things off, sending the series back to LA for a winner-take-all Game 5.

 

As predicted, the weather took a turn around 8:00, with quickly falling temps, quite a bit of wind, plus off-and-on rain for the rest of the evening. Fortunately it was never bad enough to stop the game, although many of us sought out shelter in various covered areas of the park.

October 6, 2019 – Dodgers 10, Nats 4 (NLDS Game 3) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/patrick-corbin-nationals-fall-to-dodgers-in-game-3

 

Weather: 72 degrees, Overcast.

Wind: 3 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Barrett, 1B--Eddings, 2B--Marquez, 3B--Gibson, LF--Little, RF--Baker.

Time: 3:58

Attendance: 43,423

 

Well, we tried to keep as much as we could the same from our routine for Tuesday’s wild card game win. Same restaurant, same food/drink orders, mostly the same attire. We again switched seats during the seventh-inning stretch and brought out our “magic mints” in the eighth. It wasn’t nearly enough.

 

The evening started off well. Juan Soto got the home team off to a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 1^st, making a winner of the game’s “Dinger Of The Day” contestant in the process. Anibal Sanchez mostly baffled the Dodgers with his eclectic pitch assortment, fanning 9 and not allowing a run until Max Muncy hit a solo shot in the 5^th. Admittedly, the Nats failed to take advantage of scoring chances in the 4^th and 5^th, but they still held their one-run lead after 5.

 

Inasmuch as Washington possesses only two trustworthy relief pitchers, no one was surprised to see Patrick Corbin (who started Game 1 on Thursday, tossing 107 pitches) start to warm up in the 5^th and come in for the 6^th; after all, Stephen Strasburg had fired 3 scoreless frames in the Wild Card Game, and Scherzer struck out the side in the 8^th inning of NLDS Game 2 in LA. Ideally Corbin could go for two innings, followed in some order by Doolittle and Hudson, to finish off the victory and give the Nats a 2-1 series lead.

 

Things looked promising when Corbin fanned the next two batters after a leadoff single by Cody Bellinger, but they then collapsed with a thud, the key blows being a two-run Russell Martin double to give the visitors a 3-2 lead, and a pinch-double two batters later by Enrique Hernandez to extend the lead to 5-2. Following an intentional walk to Muncy, Wander Suero entered the game to face Justin Turner, who promptly put one out of the park to double the lead.

 

The Nats were given a great chance to get back in it in the bottom of the inning thanks to Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, who gave up a single, three walks and a wild pitch, finally exiting with no outs, the bases loaded and one run in. Asdrubal Cabrera delivered a sac fly off Julio Urias to score another run, but Kendrick managed to kill the rally by getting caught between second and third for the second out. Washington could scrounge up only one more baserunner during the final 3 innings, and Hunter Strickland put the punctuation mark on the team’s bullpen woes by giving up a 2-run homer to Martin in the ninth (his 9^th HR allowed in 13 post-season innings).

 

We wound up parking at L’Enfant Plaza: quite a hike, but easy to get into, and surprisingly easy to get out of.

October 1, 2019 – Nats 4, Brewers 3 (NL Wild Card Game) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-win-2019-nl-wild-card-game

 

Weather: 83 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 4 mph, Out To CF.

Umpires: HP--Everitt, 1B--Danley, 2B--Nelson, 3B--Blaser, LF--Rackley, RF--Torres.

Time: 2:55

Attendance: 42,993

 

Section 301, Row C, Seats 7-8

 

Previously, the Nats played winner-take-all playoff games at home in 2012, 2016, and 2017. They lost all three. Things were different tonight – we won’t quibble that this win just gets them to the NLDS, which they had already reached previously by virtue of winning the NL East.

 

The much-discussed decision to start Scherzer rather than Strasburg at least initially looked misguided, as Max walked the leadoff hitter in the top of the first, promptly served up a two-run homer to Yasmani Grandal, then gave up a solo shot to Eric Thames an inning later. As in some of his other post-return starts, he wasn’t consistently sharp with his location, although his fastball started out in the 98-99 mph range, at least a few mph higher than his typical early-inning offerings.

 

Trea Turner brought some life back into the park with a third-inning shot off Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff, but the Nats had only two other hits through the first 7 frames off Woodruff, Brent Suter, and Drew Pomeranz. Although Max settled down to last 5 innings, and Strasburg kept the visitors off the board for the next 3, the Nats faced a formidable task when the Brewers’ relief ace Josh Hader came in for the bottom of the 8^th.

 

Although Hader was throwing as many balls as strikes, things still seemed bleak three batters later, as he fanned Robles and Turner, with a Michael A. Taylor hit-by-pitch in between. But Zim pinch-hit for Eaton and blooped a broken-bat single into the outfield, and Rendon drew a walk to load the bases.

 

Juan Soto then sent the crowd into a frenzy with a clean single to right, with all three baserunners scoring as the ball got by the charging Trent Grisham. Daniel Hudson came in to pitch a scoreless ninth, as chants of “Beat LA!” started to fill the stands.

September 29, 2019 – Nats 8, Indians 2 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-will-play-brewers-in-wild-card-game

 

Weather: 86 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 4 mph, In From RF.

Umpires: HP--Blaser, 1B--Cooper, 2B--West, 3B--Dreckman.

Time: 2:50

Attendance: 36,764

 

Having already secured the home field for their upcoming Wild Card game against the Brewers, the Nats had nothing particular to play for on Sunday, but nevertheless extended their end-of-season winning streak to 8 games heading into the playoffs. The afternoon had a spring training feel, with Anthony Rendon getting the day off and other regulars exiting at some point during the game. Consequently, part-timers Brian Dozier and Gerardo Parra, plus the seldom-seen Michael A. Taylor and Wilmer Difo, each accounted for two of the team’s 14 hits. Washington never trailed, sparked by an RBI double by Soto in the 1^st  and a 2-run homer by Suzuki in the 3^rd. They pretty much put things away three innings later on a 2-run Dozier single and a 2-run pinch double by Parra.

 

Joe Ross needed only 78 pitches to get through the first 6 innings, fanning 8 while allowing only one run. Comeback kid Aaron Barrett received a deservedly warm reception as he came in for the 7^th (which he battled through despite allowing Cleveland’s second run to score), and Erick Fedde finished things off.

September 15, 2019 – Nats 7, Braves 0 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/howie-kendrick-sparks-nationals-win

 

Weather: 81 degrees, Sunny.

Wind: 5 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Welke, 1B--Muchlinski, 2B--Drake, 3B--Timmons.

Time: 3:03

Attendance: 29,350

 

After being outscored 15-1 in the first two games of the weekend series, pretty much extinguishing any faint hope the Nationals had of catching the first-place Braves, Washington got a small measure of revenge Sunday afternoon and kept pace in the standings with their Wild Card challengers. Former Brave Anibal Sanchez was brilliant, going 7 innings and not allowing an Atlanta runner to reach second base other than Freddie Freeman, who doubled with two outs in the first. Hunter Strickland handled the 8^th, while Doolittle pitched a 1-2-3 9^th, albeit with all 3 outs coming on long fly balls.

 

Atlanta lefty Max Fried had owned the Nats 10 days earlier, allowing only one baserunner in his 7 scoreless innings. This Sunday, however, the tables were turned. The onslaught started in the second, when Kendrick singled, Robles doubled, and Yan Gomes got a ground ball through the infield to score both. Fried would be gone an inning later, after Kendrick’s two-run single with the bases loaded and a walk to Brian Dozier. Reliever Jeremy Walker then walked Robles on 5 pitches to force in Washington’s 5^th run. Kendrick continued his big day with a solo homer two innings later, and Robles scored on an odd inning-ending double play in the 6^th to finish the scoring.

September 13, 2019 – Braves 5, Nats 0 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/max-scherzer-nationals-lose-opener-to-braves

 

Weather: 71 degrees, Overcast.

Wind: 5 mph, In From RF.

Umpires: HP--Drake, 1B--Timmons, 2B--Welke, 3B--Muchlinski.

Time: 3:16

Attendance: 39,730

 

Section 419, Row M, Seats 1-2 – one row below the top of the stadium, although we were so used to our top-row seats from previous “extra” games that we actually sat in Row N instead

 

A decent-but-not-great start from Scherzer, two more runs surrendered by the Bullpen From Hell, and an almost-complete lack of offense produced the expected result, as the Nats (Naughts?) fell once again to the 2019 NL East champs-to-be. Most of the members of the sellout crowd were left to hope that their Tony Two-Bags bobbleheads would not be the final Washington giveaway item honoring the wildly popular pending free agent.

 

Despite inconsistent command, Max battled the Braves successfully for the first three innings, most notably in the second when he struck out the side after a Nick Markakis single and a Matt Joyce walk. Things didn’t go as well in the 4^th, when Atlanta scored their first run on a Markakis double and a Joyce single, and a second when Dansby Swanson doubled two batters later. Markakis, in his first game back off the IL, struck again an inning later with a bases-loaded sac fly to make the score 3-0. The Braves added what proved to be unnecessary insurance runs in the 7^th (when Ozzie Albies went yard on Tanner Rainey’s first pitch of the inning) and 8^th (when Hunter Strickland retired only one of his four batters faced, before Javy Guerra came in to limit the damage).

 

There isn’t much to say about the Washington “offense”. They wasted scoring opportunities in the 2^nd and 4^th against Braves starter Mike Soroka, who gave up just one hit, along with three walks, in his six innings of work. Doubles by Robles in the 8^th and Soto in the 9^th were too little, too late.

August 28, 2019 – Brewers 4, Cardinals 1 – Miller Park (Milwaukee)

https://www.mlb.com/news/keston-hiura-has-3-rbis-as-brewers-beat-cardinals

 

Weather: 70 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 21 mph, Out To LF.

Umpires: HP--Woodring, 1B--Torres, 2B--Hernandez, 3B--Marquez.

Time: 2:50

Attendance: 33,045

 

Section 217, Row 6, Seat 19 – second level, just to the first base side of home plate

 

As I was in the bag-inspection line to enter the park, the woman behind me was looking at the list of prohibited items, and asked me why anyone would want to bring a broom to a baseball game. I explained to her the concept of “sweep”, and how we hoped that it would not be an issue that afternoon. Fortunately for those in the crowd not wearing bright red, the home team combined excellent pitching and timely hitting to salvage the final game of the series and remain on the fringes of the wild-card race.

 

Jordan Lyles continued his post-trade revival, fanning 5 of the first 7 Cards he faced, and 9 in all. After he gave up a leadoff homer to Kolten Wong in the top of the 6^th, then allowed 2 of the next 3 batters to reach base, Junior Guerra induced the red-hot Yadi Molina to ground into a double play, then struck out the side in the 7^th. The slumping Josh Hader pitched the final two innings for the save, allowing only a Wong double in the 8^th.

 

Meanwhile, Milwaukee made the most of its six hits, pushing across single runs in four of their eight times up. Second baseman Keston Hiura drove in three of the runs, with a groundout in the 1^st, a homer in the 4^th, and a double in the 8^th.

 

Kids and seniors got 50% off on all tickets, and seniors got to stroll on the warning track after the game. (No “special ticket” required: Nats please take note.) I decided to avoid the interstates on both legs of the drive – slower, but less stress.

August 27, 2019 – Cardinals 6, Brewers 3 – Miller Park (Milwaukee)

https://www.mlb.com/brewers/news/brewers-bullpen-falters

 

Weather: 77 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 13 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Marquez, 1B--Woodring, 2B--Torres, 3B--Hernandez.

Time: 3:27 (:09 delay)

Attendance: 36,690

 

Section 124, Row 18, Seat 1 – lower level, just beyond third base

 

This turned out to be a great game (for non-Brewers fans anyway), with a pitchers’ duel at the beginning, 7 runs scored in the last 3 innings, suspense to the very end, and what was probably one of the shortest rain delays in MLB history.

 

The Brewers kicked off the scoring with a two-out RBI single by Orlando Arcia in the second. St. Louis responded two innings later on a solo homer by Yadier Molina. That’s the way it stayed until the seventh, with Adrian Houser lasting 5 innings for Milwaukee before leaving with hip discomfort and Miles Mikolas going 6 for the Cards. St. Louis pulled ahead before the stretch with 3 off ex-Nat Matt Albers, highlighted by another Molina dinger, this time with a man on first. Milwaukee narrowed the lead with a 2-run Yasmani Grandal shot in the bottom of the 8^th off Andrew Miller, but the Cards answered right back with 2 in the top of the 9^th, starting off with a Molina double. Hope seemed lost as St. Louis closer Carlos Martinez retired the first 2 Brewers in the bottom of the inning, but after an infield single and a 4-pitch walk, Hernan Perez came to the plate representing the potential tying run. On a 1-2 count, he sent a 97-mph high fastball deep to right-center, but Dexter Fowler made a leaping catch at the wall, directly in front of the Cards’ bullpen, to nail down the win.

 

Just about all of us were astonished when, with 2 outs in the top of the 7^th, the skies opened up, sending many fans scurrying for cover (I was far enough back to stay dry) and the players off the field. Fortunately, the roof closed perfectly (to the strains of “Who’ll Stop The Rain”), and play resumed less than 10 minutes later.

 

I was also bemused when Christian Yelich used the Police’s “Roxanne” as his walk-up music during his first at-bat. Turns out there was a story behind that.

https://www.mlb.com/brewers/news/christian-yelich-body-issue-reaction

 

The stadium is reasonably nice, although the all-weather design of necessity makes it less airy and open than many. The same stands tended to repeat throughout the lower level, with not as much variety as I would have liked. I had a brat (OK) and custard (terrific). Getting in and out of the parking lots was not as difficult as I had feared, although it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. (Things were reasonably well-marked, although they could stand to freshen up the lane striping on their roads.)

August 18, 2019 – Nats 16, Brewers 8 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-tie-home-run-record

 

Weather: 95 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 5 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Ripperger, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Danley, 3B--Wolcott.

Time: 3:24

Attendance: 30,571

 

Had Joe Ross hit one out of the park in his 14^th-inning pinch-hitting appearance Saturday night, the Nats would have scored 16 runs and won the game by 1. They sort of made up for that Sunday afternoon, although this time 16 runs proved to be major overkill.

 

On a day that was hot enough to draw folks in droves to the designated cooling area in the Kennedy Room, the Nats hit 8 dingers to tie a team record first set in 2017, also against the Brewers. The only starters who failed to join the parade were pitcher Erick Fedde (who did lay down two nice sacrifice bunts), plus Turner and Gomes, each of whom reached base 3 times. Juan Soto and Brian Dozier each went yard twice, although Dozier’s second blast should get an asterisk, since it came in the bottom of the 8^th against Milwaukee utility man Hernan Perez.

 

Fedde pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, then put up zeroes the next two frames. By the time he took the mound in the 4^th, Washington had scored 4 in the 1^st, 2 in the 2^nd, and 7 in the 3^rd. Milwaukee starting pitcher Chase Anderson gave up 10 of the runs while recording only 7 outs. With the 13-run cushion, no one particularly cared that Fedde was touched for a run in the 4^th and 3 in the 5^th, or that the visitors added 4 more meaningless tallies against Kyle McGowin in the top of the 9^th.

August 17, 2019 – Brewers 15, Nats 14 (14 innings) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-lose-14-inning-classic

 

Weather: 88 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 5 mph, Out To LF.

Umpires: HP--Wolcott, 1B--Ripperger, 2B--Hoye, 3B--Danley.

Time: 5:40

Attendance: 36,953

 

Section 419, Row N, Seats 27-29

 

OK, we knew it was going to be a long day. We arrived at the park just after 1:30 for the Nationals’ annual Season Plan Holder Appreciation Day. After exiting the park around 4:15, we decided to join the line to get back in for the game, so we could pick up our Patrick Corbin bobbleheads and enjoy a leisurely pre-game meal at the Budweiser Brew House. We certainly did not expect the game to still be going on well after midnight, ending as we neared the end of our trek home on Metro’s Red Line. (We left at the end of the 11^th inning.)

 

Inning 3 – Brewers plate 5, after Anibal Sanchez walks the pitcher and then the rookie leadoff batter, followed by 5 straight hits. But a 2-run Juan Soto homer keeps the home team in it.

 

Inning 4 – 3-run HR by Eaton with 2 outs. Nats tie things up at 5.

 

Inning 5 – Matt Grace replaces Sanchez and promptly serves up a tater to Ryan Braun. Brewers back up by 1.

 

Inning 6 – Grace faces 3 batters and retires none of them, giving up a 2-run homer to Trent Grisham before giving way to Wander Suero. Freddy Peralta comes in to pitch the bottom of the inning, and 4 batters later the Nats have a 9-8 lead, punctuated by a Trea Turner 3-run shot.

 

Inning 7 – Strickland blanks the Brewers, Kendrick hits one out after a Robles walk to extend our lead to 11-8.

 

Innings 8-9 – Against all odds, no one reaches base for either side in the 8^th, with Rodney holding the visitors in check. Doolittle comes in for the save in the 9^th. 10 pitches later (homer-double-homer-homer), it’s 12-11 Milwaukee. But our heroes aren’t done yet, despite the entry of imposing Brewers relief ace Josh Hader. After a Gomes walk, a Suzuki double, and a Robles single, the Nats have tied the game, with the winning run on third and no outs. Somehow, following the intentional walk to Kendrick to load the bases, Hader recovers to fan Turner, Eaton, and Rendon to provide some bonus baseball.

 

Innings 10-12 – The hitters on both teams seem worn out, and no one comes close to ending the game. With the Nats out of position players and short on pitchers, Tanner Rainey hits for himself in the bottom of the 10^th so he can take the mound for the 11^th. Long man Javy Guerra replaces him an inning later and fans the side in the 12^th.

 

Inning 13 – Yelich hits his second homer of the game (and #41 for the year) to give the Brewers a 13-12 lead. Asdrubal Cabrera (more on him later) coaxes a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, but Javy Guerra (forced to hit for himself) fails to bunt him to second. After a Suzuki single gets Cabrera to third, Junior Guerra (no relation) comes in to pitch for Milwaukee and gives up a sac fly to Robles. Game tied. Again.

 

Inning 14 – Javy G, clearly gassed, walks Braun and gives up a 2-run homer to Eric Thames for a 15-13 Milwaukee lead. The Nats have one last chance, as Keston Hiura throws away Juan Soto’s potentially-game-ending ground ball, scoring Eaton from second and putting the tying run in scoring position. However, Junior G intentionally walks Cabrera to reach the pitcher’s spot in the order. Martinez sends starting pitcher Joe Ross up to hit for Javy G, and he fans to bring the affair to its final conclusion.

 

Note #1 – Had the game continued, the Nats would have sent out a lineup with Kendrick moving to second, Soto playing first, Ross in left, and Cabrera on the mound. It would have been his first major league pitching appearance, after over 1500 career games peacefully plying his trade in the infield.

 

Note #2 – The Nats tied a major-league record by allowing 5 homers in the 9^th inning or later.

 

Note #3 – According to Jamal Collier’s MLB.com story, “The rock band The Raconteurs began the game sitting in the stands, played at a nearby concert hall [The Anthem] and made it back in time to see the conclusion of the game.”

July 7, 2019 – Nats 5, Marlins 2 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-end-first-half-with-win-over-royals

 

Weather: 82 degrees, Cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, In From RF.

Umpires: HP--Barksdale, 1B--Barrett, 2B--Lentz, 3B--Tumpane.

Time: 2:37

Attendance: 21,873

 

Patrick Corbin had another strong outing for the Nats, setting the tone by fanning the side in the top of the first, and retiring the final 9 batters he faced. The fourth was his only rough inning, when he gave up 3 of his 5 hits, but Robles gunned down Alex Gordon on Cheslor Cuthbert’s one-out single to keep the visitors off the board.

 

Kansas City’s Jakob Junis was almost as effective through his first 5 innings, although he did allow a solo HR to Brian Dozier in the 2^nd. The Nats missed a great chance in the 6^th, when Rendon grounded into a double play and Soto flied out after a Turner double and an Eaton walk. They did double their lead off Junis in the 7^th when Robles homered.

 

As has so often been the case, however, the 8^th inning was not kind to the Nats’ bullpen. Martin Maldonado led off with a single off Fernando Rodney, and pinch-runner extraordinaire Terrance Gore promptly stole second. Rodney retired the next two batters, but Adalberto Mondesi blooped a single in front of Soto to score the Royals’ first run of the game. Davey’s strategy of having Doolittle warmed up for the left-handed-swinging Gordon backfired, as he doubled on Sean’s first pitch to tie the game.

 

The Washington offense finally came to life in the bottom of the inning, with Jake Diekman replacing Junis on the mound. With one out, an Eaton single and a Rendon double gave the Nats back the lead, then Kendrick doubled in two insurance runs following a Diekman error. Doolittle preserved the victory in the 9^th, despite subpar velocity on his fastball.

July 3, 2019 – Nats 3, Marlins 1 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/stephen-strasburg-immaculate-inning

 

Weather: 90 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Guccione, 1B--Carlson, 2B--Gibson, 3B--Segal.

Time: 3:07

Attendance: 25,483

First pitch: 6:05 PM

 

It was an interesting first inning for Stephen Strasburg Wednesday evening. The good news: he fanned the first two batters, and induced a harmless ground ball for the third out after walking Garrett Cooper. The bad news: he needed 20 pitches to get through the frame. On an oppressively hot and humid day, I remember thinking that he wasn’t destined to get very deep into the game.

 

Strasburg had other ideas. He continued to pile up strikeouts (13 through 7 innings, including an immaculate 9-pitch 4^th where he struck out the side). During that time, he allowed only two baserunners, both harmless singles. No one even reached second base.

 

Meanwhile, the Nats struggled to get on the scoreboard against Miami starter Sandy Alcantara, the team’s lone All-Star representative. After wasting two-out doubles in the second and third, they loaded the bases with just one out in the fourth  on two walks and an error,  but Alcantara retired Robles and Gomes on strikes to extinguish the threat.

 

The home team finally broke through in the 6^th, on a one-out single by Soto and a two-out homer by Dozier (which I more or less called). Dozier’s dinger also enabled the Nats to set a franchise record, with at least one home run in 17 straight games.

 

Stras still looked strong, ending the top of the 7^th at 98 pitches, so Martinez let him hit in the bottom of the inning and come back out for the 8^th. He promptly walked leadoff hitter JT Riddle and hit Bryan Holaday with a pitch. He exited one batter later to a standing ovation after fanning pinch-hitter Brian Anderson. Fernando Rodney allowed a single to Nats-killer Miguel Rojas to load the bases, but got a double-play grounder to end the inning and protect the shutout.

 

Matt Adams’ solo homer in the bottom of the inning provided some insurance, which felt good as Sean Doolittle navigated a rocky 9^th inning. After retiring the first batter, he allowed three straight singles to load the bases. He struck out Riddle after falling behind 3-1, but then hit Cesar Puello to force in a run. We could finally exhale when he fanned Yadiel Rivera to nail down the save.

 

The early start and the lack of rain let the Nats proceed with their post-game “Freedom Fireworks” display. Somewhat oddly, the musical accompaniment began with “Time Of The Season” by the very-British Zombies. The remaining selections were certainly all-American, although I thought that CCRs “Bad Moon Rising” was an equally discordant choice to end a celebratory show. (Check out the lyrics if you don’t believe me.) Perhaps “Proud Mary”, or even “Born On The Bayou”, which actually mentions the Fourth of July?

 

June 23, 2019 – Braves 4, Nats 3 (10 innings) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-lose-to-braves-in-extra-innings

 

Weather: 83 degrees, Sunny.

Wind: 6 mph, L To R.

Umpires: HP--Miller, 1B--Eddings, 2B--Conroy, 3B--Porter.

Time: 3:09

Attendance: 34,256

 

After the previous evening’s 13-9 slugfest, this afternoon somewhat surprisingly turned into a pitchers’ duel, despite Atlanta starter Mike Soroka’s departure after two innings (he was hit in the forearm by a pitch in the top of the 3^rd), and Washington’s use of Austin Voth to make an emergency start. Voth exceeded expectations by providing an effective and efficient 6 innings, showing more velocity than expected and keeping the hot-hitting Braves under control, except for two solo homers.

 

Unfortunately, the Nats could do nothing against journeyman Josh Tomlin, who replaced Soroka and retired 12 straight after giving up a hit to Gerardo Parra. They finally broke through to tie the game with two outs in the bottom of the 7^th on a Soto HR and consecutive singles by Adams, Kendrick, and Parra. After that, however, they failed to score in the 8^th after the first two batters reached, and again in the bottom of the 9^th when Kendrick stole second with 2 outs.

 

The overworked Washington bullpen blanked Atlanta for 3 innings, but faltered in the 10^th when Tanner Rainey gave up a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Johan Camargo. The Nats answered with one run in the bottom of the frame and had runners on first and second with one out, but Atlanta closer Luke Jackson retired Rendon and Soto to end the game.

 

June 21, 2019 – Nats 4, Braves 3 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-bullpen-secures-win-over-braves

 

Weather: 81 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 17 mph, L To R.

Umpires: HP--Conroy, 1B--Porter, 2B--Miller, 3B--Eddings.

Time: 3:01

Attendance: 34,212

 

Section 419, Row N, Seats 28-29 – behind first base, top row of the stadium (nice breeze, although the bright sun was a bit of a problem sight-wise until it finally went down)

 

Although Strasburg struggled early with his control, he hung in there for 6 innings, as the Nats rallied to beat the Braves on a perfect evening for a ballgame.

 

The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2^nd when Austin Riley homered following a leadoff walk, and they added another run an inning later on a two-out RBI double by Freddie Freeman. Meanwhile, Dallas Keuchel, making his first start after his belated free-agent signing, allowed runners in each of the first 3 innings, but the Nats were unable to push anything across.

 

Washington finally broke through in the fourth to tie the game at 3, in an inning featuring a Robles triple and a Yan Gomes home run, and took the lead in the fifth when Soto led off with a triple and Rendon singled him home.

 

That wound up finishing up the scoring for both sides. Despite some anxious moments, Washington’s depleted bullpen protected the lead for the final 3 frames, with Wander Suero notching his first major-league save.