May 25, 2024 – Nats 3, Mariners 1

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202405250.shtml

 

Time: 2:21

Attendance: 30,791

Start Time: 4:05

Start Time Weather: 88° F, Wind 2mph out to Leftfield, Cloudy, No Precipitation.

Seats: Section 314, Row E, Seats 1-2 (next to our usual section, but at the opposite end of the row)

 

While there wasn’t a lot of scoring on this warm (but thankfully rain-free) late afternoon, the home team demonstrated that three runs worth of small-ball offense beats one solo homer every time.

 

Washington’s pitchers certainly did their part. Trevor Williams continued his strong start to the season by recording the first 15 outs, with the only damage coming on a Julio Rodríguez dinger in the 5th. Robert Garcia (who replaced Williams after Dylan Moore’s leadoff double in the top of the 6th), Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan took care of business the rest of the way, allowing only one Mariner to reach base.

 

The Nats manufactured their first run in the bottom of the 2nd. Luis García Jr. reached on an infield single, stole second, got to third on Jesse Winker’s bunt single, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Keibert Ruiz.

 

After García Jr. was retired to open the bottom of the 7th, Winker notched his second single of the game, stole second, and reached third on a Ruiz single. With the latter on the move toward second, pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas hit a ground ball to short, getting thrown out at first but plating pinch-runner Victor Robles with the go-ahead run. Joey Gallo then singled in Ruiz to complete the scoring for the day.

 

It seemed like the vast majority of the folks attending decided to arrive at the same 1:30 time that we did, judging from the crowds on Metro and at the Navy Yard station. We finished our lunch at Silver Diner about an hour later and had no difficulty getting our “Lane Train” bobbleheads after avoiding the lengthy lines at the centerfield gates. (Unfortunately, Lane Thomas himself was still finishing up his injury rehab assignment and was unable to attend.)

Shuffle #175 (May 27, 2024)

Springsteen special:

 

American Skin

Fade Away

Jacob’s Ladder

Rave On! (Live at Madison Square Garden – 09/21/79)

Last To Die

Downbound Train

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Hello Sunshine

A remarkable pivot

“I very much understand that Governor Hogan has a Senate race that he very much wants to win.” – Maryland House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany)

 

Buckel was referring to former Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s interview with the New York Times, in which he not only characterized himself as “pro-choice” but also claimed that he would support efforts in Congress to restore the protections of the since-overruled Roe v. Wade decision on a nationwide basis.

 

Interestingly enough, during his campaign for the Republican nomination to replace retiring Senator Ben Cardin, Hogan never referred to himself as pro-choice, and repeatedly declined to say whether he would support any measures to codify abortion rights in federal law. He didn’t announce what he later referred to as the “refinement” of his position until the beginning of his general election campaign, when he would need to attract votes from Democrats and independents. I guess you could call this “a remarkable pivot”, as did the NYT article. “Shameless political pandering” might be a more appropriate term.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/16/maryland-senate-race-abortion-rights/