September 29, 2024 – Phillies 6, Nats 3

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202409290.shtml

 

Start time: 3:05pm (the common starting time for all games on the final day* of the regular season)

Time: 2:40

Attendance: 26,729

Start Time Weather: 69° F, Wind 6mph in from Rightfield, Overcast, No Precipitation.

 

* - OK, not quite the final day THIS year …

 

This was a much drearier day for the hometown team, in terms of crowd size, result, and weather (at least it didn’t rain, but the sun went back into hibernation for the day), as the NL East Champion Phillies avoided the ignominy of being swept by a sub-.500 team in its final series before heading into the postseason.

 

Jake Irvin dug a hole for himself right away, sandwiching full-count walks to Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos around a Trea Turner single to load the bases. Infield grounders by cleanup hitter (!) Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm each plated a run to give the visitors a quick lead, which the Nats immediately cut in half on a leadoff home run by Luis García Jr. off Aaron Nola.

 

Irvin then settled down, retiring the Phillies in order over the next three innings. Washington also failed to score, although they made it interesting in the 3rd when, with runners on first and third and one out, Dylan Crews was caught attempting to steal home. Irvin walked the leadoff hitter again in the top of the 5th, however, before two singles again produced a bases-loaded, no outs situation. This time Philadelphia took full advantage, with a two-run Schwarber single and a two-run double by Weston Wilson that ended Irvin’s outing.

 

The Nats again answered back in the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of runs on four base hits off Nola. That would prove to end the scoring, despite mild threats by Washington in the 6th and Philadelphia in the 8th. The Nats did make things interesting in the bottom of the 9th against Phillies’ closer-for-the-day José Ruiz, loading the bases (walk-single-walk) with no outs. Ruiz recovered to fan García Jr. and James Wood, and Kody Clemens made a leaping catch at the left-field wall to retire Juan Yepez for the final out of Washington’s season and provide Ruiz with the first save of his 8-year major league career.

September 28, 2024 – Nats 6, Phillies 3

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202409280.shtml

 

Start time: 4:05pm

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 38,135

Start Time Weather: 84° F, Wind 6mph from Right to Left, Cloudy, No Precipitation.

Seats: Section 314, Row E, Seats 1-2 – one section to the right of our usual, seats on the “far” aisle, in the shade

 

The sky was bright for the only time this week, and it was actually rather warm out in the sun. Starting pitchers MacKenzie Gore and Zack Wheeler dominated the first five innings, with neither team getting a runner as far as second base. The Nats finally broke through in the bottom of the 6th on a two-run homer by James Wood.

 

The bullpens took over an inning later, although Phillies manager Rob Thomson kept Wheeler in for one more out so that he could reach the 200-inning mark for the season. The action really picked up in the 8th, as former Nat Trea Turner sent a two-out, 0-2 pitch from Jose A. Ferrer into the visitors’ bullpen to tie the game at 2. Washington answered back quickly in the bottom of the frame off Phils reliever Jeff Hoffman, with Wood leading off with a triple, Keibert Ruiz singling him home, and Joey Gallo adding an exclamation point with a three-run dinger four batters later. Kyle Finnegan closed things out in the 9th, allowing just one meaningless run. The victory allowed the Nationals to match their 71-win total from 2023 and sent at least half of the sellout crowd home happy.

September 15, 2024 – Nats 4, Marlins 3

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202409150.shtml

 

Time: 2:21

Attendance: 18,265

Start Time Weather: 79° F, Wind 8mph in from Rightfield, Sunny, No Precipitation.

Seats: Section 207, Row H Seats 1-2 – 200 level, just beyond 3rd base (FIS Champions Club)

 

The Nationals took the series against Miami by winning the final three games, scoring exactly four runs in each victory. (They also dominated the season series 11-2, an exact reversal of the 2023 results.)

 

The visitors opened the scoring with an unearned run in the 3rd, but Washington responded with a pair in the bottom of the 4th on four consecutive hits. James Wood doubled the lead with a 435-foot blast to left-center an inning later. McKenzie Gore needed 31 pitches to escape the top of the 1st, issuing two walks, but recovered to complete six innings without allowing another run.

 

Things did get a little dicey following Gore’s departure, after Eduardo Salazar gave up a run in the top of the 7th. Wood added what would turn out to be a crucial insurance run with his second dinger of the day in the bottom of the 8th. With closer Kyle Finnegan unavailable, young southpaw Jose A. Ferrer allowed one run in the 9th but held on to notch his first major league save.

 

Mike and Terry’s Excellent Metro Adventure continued; this time we drove to Glenmont and transferred to the Green Line at Fort Totten, reversing the process on the way back. We enjoyed our padded club-level seats, and the location offered a somewhat different perspective on the game. Our experience inside the club was generally good, with numerous TV screens, complimentary fountain beverages, and plentiful tables for eating lunch (as long as you claimed one relatively early). On the down side, the folks at the place where they carved sandwiches were unable to read my eCASH from my phone, and I was disappointed by the three salad offerings, each of which was prepackaged and stuffed into a small cup.