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.

Shuffle #120 (October 19, 2019)

We Let The Stars Go – Prefab Sprout

I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Otis Redding

Right Here (Departed) – Brandy

Pictures Of Lily – The Who

Lollipop – The Chordettes

Nashville Cats – The Lovin’ Spoonful

Behind The Wall Of Sleep – The Smithereens

A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You – The Monkees

Midnite Cruiser – Steely Dan

Run Joe – Louis Jordan

Wide River To Cross – Diana Krall

Elizabeth Warren and her recent gay-marriage “zinger”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/warren-had-a-good-zinger-on-gay-marriage-it-was-bad-politics/2019/10/15/6736ea1a-ef50-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html

 

Another great column from the Post’s Ruth Marcus. A couple of key passages:

 

“[Her response] reflects an attitude of intolerance and disrespect toward people of faith. Those who reasonably expect tolerance and respect should think about — well, they should think about the importance of practicing what they preach.”

 

“Most immediately, this dismissive attitude is politically dangerous. In the short term, Warren’s seeming intolerance toward those whose faith rejects same-sex marriage could hurt her with African American voters. In the general election, her comments carried unsettling echoes of Democratic missteps past: Barack Obama on dispirited working-class voters who “cling to guns or religion”; Hillary Clinton lumping Trump supporters into a “basket of deplorables.” Intolerant condescension is rarely a winning political strategy.”

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.

Shuffle #119 (September 28, 2019)

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones

Closer To Me – Dar Williams

Heartbreaker – The Crystals

I Feel Lucky – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Numb – Linkin Park

A Face In The Crowd – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Boogie Oogie Oogie – A Taste Of Honey

He Will Break Your Heart – Jerry Butler

Take My Love With You – Bonnie Raitt

The Chariot – The Cat Empire