September 7, 2015 – Mets 8, Nationals 5 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/147870556/mets-rally-tops-nats-to-extend-nl-east-lead

 

Attendance: 34,210

Game Time: 3:26

Weather: 86 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 1 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Paul Nauert, First Base - Dana DeMuth, Second Base - Mike Estabrook, Third Base - Ed Hickox

Seventh-inning stretch song: Twist & Shout – The Beatles

 

Section 416, Row E, Seat 1 – exactly two rows behind my usual seat, seemed a little less breezy and hence more stuffy

 

Highlights – in the top of the first after Granderson reached third with no outs (double on a ball Werth lost in the sun followed by a pitch that got past Ramos), Scherzer kept the Mets off the scoreboard (medium fly to right by Wright, strikeouts of Murphy and Cespedes) … Nats erased an early 3-0 deficit with a 5-run bottom of the fourth, keyed by a Ramos grand slam

 

Other – after putting the Nats in an early hole by allowing solo homers to Conforto, Kelly Johnson, and Cespedes, Scherzer couldn’t hold the lead, giving up one run each in the fifth and sixth … Nats bullpen imploded again in the seventh, as 4 relievers conspired to give up 3 runs … Nats failed to score off the Mets bullpen over the final 5 innings after knocking out Niese

September 6, 2015 – Nationals 8, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/147724724/nationals-sweep-braves-gain-in-nl-east-race

 

Attendance: 29,281

Game Time: 3:06

Weather: 84 degrees, sunny

Wind: 6 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Andy Fletcher, First Base - Clint Fagan, Second Base - Paul Emmel, Third Base - Jerry Meals

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

 

Highlights – following the bottom of the ninth in the Mets-Marlins game by cellphone, which Martin Prado won for Miami on a walk-off sac fly after fouling off 6 straight 3-2 pitches from Clippard … 5-run second inning for the Nats to take the lead for good, featuring 2-run double by Taylor and 3-run homer by Werth … solo homers by Harper in the third and Rendon in the fourth … bullpen held the Braves scoreless over the last 4 innings … tried TaKorean for the first time (half-and-half bowl with brown rice, kimchi, and pork, plus a Jarritos lime soda)

 

Other – Joe Ross, showing signs of fatigue after a long season, wasn’t able to last 5 innings to get the victory … sloppy game overall, with 4 errors charged, plus a passed ball on a third strike

Shuffle #70 (September 7, 2015)

Love’s In Need Of Love Today – Stevie Wonder

And When I Die – Blood, Sweat & Tears

A Hazy Shade Of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel

Happy Hour – The Housemartins

Somewhere In America There’s A Street Named After My Dad – Was (Not Was)

So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) – The Everly Brothers

Mutineer – Warren Zevon

Back To School Days – Graham Parker

Fields Of Gold – Eva Cassidy

This Train Revised – Indigo Girls

Shuffle #69 (September 6, 2015)

These Arms Of Mine – Otis Redding

Quittin’ Time – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Hope In A Hopeless World – Phil Roy

Cheeseburger In Paradise – Jimmy Buffett

Elevation – U2

Tell Mama – Etta James

Too Nice To Talk To – The English Beat

I’ve Seen All Good People – Yes

Shining Star – Earth, Wind & Fire

Shuffle #68 (September 5, 2015)

Kid – The Pretenders

Calgary, My Home Away From Home – Schooner Fare

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Paul McCartney

Party Doll – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Love Song – Sara Bareilles

Stolen Car – Bruce Springsteen

Rosalita – Bruce Springsteen

August 29, 2015 – Trenton Thunder 3, Altoona Curve 1 – Peoples Natural Gas Field

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150829&content_id=146184048&fext=.jsp&vkey=recap&sid=t452

 

Umpires: HP: Dan Merzel. 1B: Brian Peterson. 3B: Alex Tosi.

Weather: 83 degrees, clear.

Wind: 9 mph, Varies.

T: 2:36.

Att: 8,120.

Seventh-inning stretch song: Just “God Bless America” (Kate Smith recording) and “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”

 

Highlights – nice post-game fireworks show for the large, appreciative crowd … very good grilled chicken sandwich … excellent late summer weather … Curve scored in the bottom of the seventh on an Adam Frazier double and a Max Moroff single to avert the shutout

 

Other –Thunder nicked starter and LP Matt Benedict for single runs in the 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th … Curve stranded 12 base runners

August 27, 2015 – Nationals 4, Padres 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/145787146/joe-ross-strong-for-nationals-in-win

 

Attendance: 28,908

Game Time: 3:01

Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 6 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Hunter Wendelstedt, First Base - Marvin Hudson, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Bob Davidson

Seventh-inning stretch song: Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars

 

Highlights – just when we had given up on any 400-level love, everybody in our section (416) won free buffet tickets from Maryland Live Casino … another excellent start for Joe Ross, who in 6 innings allowed just 1 (unearned) run and 1 (questionable) hit, while walking 2 and fanning 7 … Nats started off the bottom of the fifth by loading the bases with nobody out, then grabbed the lead by scoring two runs … Werth and Zimmerman added solo blasts in the sixth and seventh … great play by Rendon at 3B to save a run and end the top of the seventh … bullpen held the lead for the final three frames, with Pap converting a rare save opportunity … spent most of the game socializing with our “pet calendar” friends … was bold enough to drive down and back on a weekday (with navigational help), with both trips and the parking being blessedly uneventful

 

Other – Escobar left the game after getting hit on the wrist, and Taylor departed after running into the outfield wall … with Span unavailable (and later placed back on the DL), Nats were forced to use Fister as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and finish the game with a defensive alignment that included Espinosa in LF

August 25, 2015 – Nationals 8, Padres 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/145349540/stephen-strasburg-strong-in-nationals-win

 

Attendance: 34,199

Game Time: 3:08

Weather: 82 degrees, clear

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - David Rackley, First Base - Bob Davidson, Second Base - Hunter Wendelstedt, Third Base - Marvin Hudson

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

 

Section 106, Row N, Seats 10-13 (left field, just on the fair side of the foul pole)

 

Highlights – another strong post-DL start for Strasburg (6 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks), marred only by a 2-run second-inning homer by Jedd Gyorko … 2-run homer in the bottom of the second by Ramos to tie the game … grand slam by Zim in the 6^th to pretty much ice things … great weather once again … arrived in time to get the Anthony Rendon Garden Gnomes, despite spending about 15 minutes figuring out how to get DC to take our money for parking

August 23, 2015 – Nationals 9, Brewers 5 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/144856846/nationals-win-second-straight-over-brewers

 

Attendance: 28,039

Game Time: 3:03

Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 1 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Rob Drake, First Base - D.J. Reyburn, Second Base - Joe West, Third Base - Clint Fagan

Seventh-inning stretch song: I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown

 

On a perfect day for baseball, the struggling Nats desperately needed a win, coming off a disastrous 3-7 West Coast road trip and a split of the first two games of the series against the woeful Brewers. Things certainly did not start off well, as Nats-killer Scooter Gennett led off with a single to center and Jonathan Lucroy followed with a round-tripper, putting the home team in an immediate 2-0 hole off Jordan Zimmermann.

 

The Nats got one back in the bottom of the inning. Werth led off with a double, and Rendon got him to third with a grounder to second. Matt Garza then fanned Harper for the second out, but Zim picked him up with a double to center, scoring Rendon to cut the lead in half.

 

The Nats took the lead for good in the third, which started inauspiciously as Garza fanned the first two batters. He then walked Rendon with Harper on deck – generally not a good idea. Bryce doubled down the left field line, sending Rendon to third. Garza then walked Ryan Zimmerman (semi-intentionally?) on four pitches to bring up Desmond. Ian hit a high chopper to the right of the mound which Garza couldn’t handle to tie the score, and Danny Espinosa had the biggest hit of the game, just missing a home run on a double to right-center that cleared the bases.

 

The Nats extended their lead with another 4-spot in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Ramos homered, Michael Taylor drew a walk, and Zimmermann sacrificed him to second. The Brewers’ decision to lift Garza at that point backfired, as reliever Corey Knebel walked Werth on four pitches, then served up a homer to Rendon.

 

Zimmermann wasn’t at his sharpest but managed to get the win, giving up single runs in the fifth (a Gennett homer) and sixth before being taken out with two down in the sixth. Rivero, Janssen, Storen, and Papelbon got the Nats to the finish line, with the only damage being a Khris Davis four-bagger on the first pitch Drew threw in the eighth.

 

The Clara Barton Parkway route (leaving at 11:15) again worked reasonably well; despite a bottleneck on Independence Ave. (the Kutz Bridge was down to one lane) and a wrong turn on my part which took me onto Maine Avenue, I still made it in 40 minutes.

Shuffle #67 (August 22, 2015)

Without Love – Tom Jones

Born In The U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen

Morningtown Ride – The Seekers

Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson

Redemption Song – Bob Marley & The Wailers

Baby, It’s You – The Shirelles

Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group

Love’s In Need Of Love Today – Stevie Wonder