The Nationals fell to the Astros last night but not for lack of trying, the final score was 3-2. Compared to Monday and Tuesday’s game, last night’s went very quickly. Losing after a blow out seems to happen to the Nats with a little too much frequency. I wish we could have saved a couple of the 11 runs scored on Tuesday and used them last night. Still a solid performance from our boys though, I am sure they will come back strong tonight for the last game in the series.
Last night’s game was all about the pitchers. Mike Bascik did a solid job. He pitched six innings, and gave up 3 runs on seven hits. He gave the Nats a chance to win. However, our guys left seven men on base - five of them in scoring position. We did see some great plays though. How about Nook Logan?! He seems to have come alive as of late and had a nice single tonight. He also had a stellar catch in center field. He consistently amazes me with the amount of ground he can cover out there. Austin Kearns also had a great night. After Dmitri hit a double - it was a close play at second- Kearns smashed one out of Minute Maid to put the Nats on the board. Then in the 8th with Zimmerman on base, Kearns had a fantastic at bat, drawing a walk. The Nats had lots of chances tonight, they just couldn’t seem to follow through.
We make it a point to be positive and support every player on our team, but sometimes we get a little frustrated or question a few decisions. Just a few issues from last nights game…
1) Felipe Lopez - why oh why did you try to stretch a perfectly hit double for a triple only to get thrown out at third in the first inning? You are the lead off guy, its your job to get on base! If you would have stayed at second - still in scoring position - you would have scored safely when Nook hit his single. Who knows how a one run lead might have changed the game. We forgave you for that play because it was the beginning of the game and maybe you got a little over excited about your hit (which was really nice), but then you did the thing we hate the most. With two runners on base and only one out, you grounded into a double play and squashed our chances for runs that inning. Lets shake last night off and start fresh shall we?
2) Manny Acta - we just don’t understand the use of Robert Fick! In the top of the 9th of a one run game with two outs, why do we keep seeing Fick up to bat? We understand that you like him, he is apparently a great guy in the clubhouse, but lets be honest, his bat hasn’t brought us much this year. With guys like Tony Batista and Jesus Flores still on the bench, why Fick? We are hopeful that you know something we don’t and that Fick will surprise the heck out of us sometime soon.
In other baseball news:
Brandon Webb’s 42 inning scoreless streak came to a halt last night. He gave up a run in the first inning off a single hit by Prince Fielder. The Arizona ace still won his sixth consecutive start however, when Arizona beat the Brewers 3-2.
Finally, how about that game in Baltimore? Holy crap. 30-3 is a football score -not a baseball score, and it’s still a BAD football score! It was the first time in about 110 years that so many runs had been scored in a game. The Rangers also set the record for the most runs ever scored in a single game for the American League. It wasn’t a good start for the O’s new manager Dave Trembley, or for the first game of a double header. All you can say is just…OUCH!
We are looking forward to the last game in Houston tonight.
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