The lineup looked different, but the result was the same as usual. The Nationals fell to 4-11 after being unable to hold an early lead. Manny moved Belliard up to the #2 spot, while Milledge went down to the 5th spot, dropping Kearns to 6th.
Guzman got things started by drawing a walk and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Zimmerman. Then Austin Kearns hit a solo home run in the 5th inning to give the Nats a one run lead. I heard Bob call the play on TV and I actually had to check the replay to make sure it was Austin. While it was great to see him finally hit, I have to wonder how many at bats will go by before we see another RBI from Kearns.
With Chico coming off such a fantastic outing against the Braves, I had high hopes that he would be able to hold the Mets. After giving up an early homer to Ryan Church, he kept the Mets scoreless until he was hit hard in the 5th inning. I’m not sure what the problem is this year, but the Nationals starters have continued to show a strong start, only to give it up with a huge inning for the opposition. This particular inning resulted in 4 earned runs for the Mets.
Chief came in during the 8th inning and had a questionable warm up with the pitch going in the dirt. The trainers and coaches came out, but he said he was okay to pitch. With the Nats down by 3, it seemed like a good decision to allow Chad to get some time on the field in a non-save situation. He got through the inning with just one hit, but his speed seemed to be suffering as he was consistently in the mid to upper 70s.
Even though Paul Lo Duca is too injured to swing a bat, the Nats are keeping him on the roster. The team chose to send reliever Chris Schroeder down to AAA to make room for a second, healthy, catcher on the roster. I was surprised to see the team called up Wil Nieves instead of Jesus Flores. However, the rules state that unless Flores would be replacing a disabled player, he has to remain in Columbus for 10 days. If Lo Duca goes on the DL, the Nats could really use the offensive spark that Flores can provide.
If things don’t pick up soon, I think that it’s really only a matter of time before we see some changes to this team. With all of the off season moves and promises that were made to fans about a stronger offense, it’s getting more difficult to sit back and watch these losses. To add salt to the wounds, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider are playing great baseball so far this season.
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April 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
hey guys. another depressing loss last night. i kinda called some guys out in my game story last night.
Chico really confuses me. he was throwing a really good game and got two easy strikes on Reyes before serving up the gopher ball. why stray from the breaking ball? Reyes just looked silly watching one and then missing badly on the next one. keep putting it up there till he can prove he can hit it! but no, a letter high fastball with no movement? if you’re gonna waste a pitch (something i’ve NEVER understood), really waste it.
after that, he just lost it. that “change-up” to Beltran for the homer was nothing more than a batting practice fastball. i could have taken that one to the track. he needs to deal better when things start to go south. he’s got talent, but he collaspes with alarming reguality.
the middle of the order is atrocious. Zim has NO IDEA what he’s doing up there. the idea that he’s weakly popping up to the right side tells me someone (Lenny Harris?) is in his head about going that way. he needs to put his head down and start driving the ball. he’s not even making good contact.
Kearns needs to go down another spot in the order, if we had anyone else to put in there. he is what he is at this point: a decent OBP guy that will pop 15-20 homers and give good D. to expect anything more is foolish, and that makes him a sixth or seventh place hitter, not someone in the middle of the order.
all props to Guz tho—walking twice in one game?!? is this the same Guz?