October 1, 2022 – Nats 13, Phillies 4 [Game 1 of split double-header]

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-nationals/2022/10/01/662572#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=662572

 

Time: 2:58

Announced attendance: 29,808

 

Nationals starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez had pitched reasonably well in September, while Phillies starter Kyle Gibson had been mostly terrible. This afternoon saw Gibson live down to his previous month’s numbers, while Sánchez pitched well enough to win, in a game where it would have been hard to tell which team was in contention for the playoffs and which had the worst record in baseball.

 

The Phillies quickly jumped out in front when slow-footed LF Kyle Schwarber tripled (!) to lead off the game and was credited with his 10^th stolen base of the season (!!!) two outs later, after Bryce Harper deliberately wandered off first base, stopping midway to second in order to bait a throw from rookie Nats catcher Riley Adams. The home team quickly tied the game in the bottom of the first before plating 5 runs off of Gibson in the second, an inning climaxed by a Joey Meneses 3-run double that 3B Alec Bohm probably should have snared.

 

The visitors briefly made things interesting in the top of the 4^th, getting 4 hits and 3 runs off Sánchez, but the rest of the game belonged to the Nats. Meneses blasted a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 5^th to complete the damage against Gibson, who did manage to put up a scoreless 6^th. The Phillies bullpen fared no better, giving up 3 runs each in the 7^th and 8^th to turn the afternoon into a rout, with infielder Nick Maton finally taking the mound to record the last out. Meanwhile, Hunter Harvey and Andrés Machado each turned in two scoreless innings behind Sánchez.

 

The remnants of Hurricane Ian were very much in evidence throughout the day. It was raining hard while I was driving down I-270, although I wound up not needing my umbrella when walking to Rasa for lunch and then on to Nats Park, which I entered around noon. It did start raining shortly after I got there, with sufficient wind that I had to climb to the top row of Section 416 to find an available covered seating area without the wind blowing in some of the rain. As a result, the 1:05 start was delayed about 40 minutes. Once the game got underway, however, there were only a couple hints of rain. I was glad that I had worn my medium-weight jacket, but I didn’t feel the need for the gloves I had brought along.

 

James Hunter Six – Rams Head On Stage, 9/28/2022

Table 102, Seat 3 – directly facing the alto sax player, and close enough to easily touch the stage. (The other three seats at the table were unoccupied; I hope those who purchased them had some compelling reason for missing the show.) I had to look somewhat upward to see the top half of the performers’ bodies, but my head was about on the same level as Hunter’s frequently-tapping feet.

 

All of the 9+ Hunter shows that I’ve attended have been top-notch, and this 85-minute set was certainly no exception. Hunter was the only remaining member of the Six from the most recent band show that I saw, but the 5 newcomers were excellent throughout. The set contained an almost-even mix of songs from 2020’s Nick of Time (10 of the album’s 13 tracks) and older Hunter material, with four covers thrown in along the way, including his inimitable take on The “5” Royales’ “Baby Don’t Do It”. Nick of Time highlights included “Brother or Other”, the upbeat title track, and “Ain't Goin' Up in One of Those Things”, a bluesy ode to aerophobia. A big crowd-pleaser relatively early in the show was the one-two punch of “No Smoke Without Fire” and “Don’t Do Me No Favours”, both of which featured extended solos from three of the band members. The main set ended with the lovely ballad “Something’s Calling” followed by the up-tempo “Believe Me Baby”. We actually got two encores:  with the obligatory audience-participation classic “Talking ‘Bout My Love” preceded by a duet with bassist Myles Weeks on “September in the Rain,” which they had been performing together during 2019’s “James Hunter Duo” tour.

 

Setlist

 

As a bonus 20-minute appetizer for the main meal, three members of Hunter’s band (saxman Freddy DeBoe, drummer Rudy Albin, and organist Adam Scone) came out shortly after the scheduled show time of 8:00 to perform an enjoyable set of jazzy instrumentals, mixing original material with a couple of covers.

 

September 26, 2022 – Braves 8, Nats 0

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/braves-vs-nationals/2022/09/26/662460#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=662460

 

Time: 2:24

Attendance: 24,684 (as has often been the case this season, a figure significantly greater than the actual number of fans that appeared to be in the park)

 

It was a little too cold for the lucky (short-sleeved) shirt. Switching seats didn’t help. The Nats suffered loss #100 for the season, and it wound up not being especially close.

 

The game moved along quickly for the first three innings, with each starter allowing only a single baserunner and getting outs on relatively few pitches. Cory Abbott finally blinked in the top of the 4^th, hitting Austin Riley with one out and then allowing a two-out, two-run homer to slumping Atlanta 1B Matt Olson. Marcell Ozuna led off the next inning with another blast to extend the lead. Things completely fell apart in the top of the 6^th, after Andres Machado replaced Abbott with two on and no one out. By the time the inning ended, the Braves had added 5 more runs, punctuated by a two-run homer by light-hitting infielder Orlando Arcia. Most of the damage would have been averted had not 1B Joey Meneses dropped the throw on what would have been a double play to end the inning.

 

For the past two months, the Braves have been using rookie Bryce Elder as the yo-yo of their pitching staff, calling him up to start a game or two against NL East weaklings Miami and Washington and then sending him back to AAA when their schedule got tougher. It’s hard to argue with the strategy; he’s given up just 2 runs in his past 4 starts covering 27.2 innings, culminating in this evening’s complete game shutout. Washington had a few scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize on any of them, ending a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the 6^th when CJ Abrams was doubled off second base on Luke Voit’s line drive.

 

Traffic was relatively light in both directions. We arrived earlier than usual to take advantage of “Teddy’s Garage Sale”, where fans with a ticket to the game could fill one clear shopping bag with leftover promotional items for every $5 they donated to Nationals Philanthropies. We arrived at 4:50 and were able to start shopping about 45 minutes later. (The line was long when we arrived, and only got longer.) We didn’t get everything we might have wanted, but did fill four bags between the two of us by the time we finished.