What a fun game to watch at the new park and a great night for a big Nats win!  And Felipe was just the guy to do it.  I have to say, I’ve been on this bandwagon for a long time, patiently waiting for him to work through his slump and start to showcase his talent.  Tonight, his moment arrived.  Fighting for a spot in the lineup, switching to left field when the team was down an outfielder and showing a tremendous attitude has really helped Felipe excel in recent weeks and we couldn’t be happier for him.  With a the bases loaded on a 3-2 count and 2 outs, fans throughout the park stood up and the park really (finally) came alive.  Lopez went deep to center/right field to collect his 4th career grand slam.  Lopez went 2 for 4 with a walk, a grand slam and 6 RBI tying a career high.  The stellar night comes just two days after he became John Smoltz’s 3,000th strike-out victim. He has made it very clear that he wanted to make the most of Manny’s decision to give him the opportunity to earn his spot back, saying recently:

“I was like, ‘I got this.’ I just think this team needs somebody that’s going to be energetic and pick up the tempo of the game instead of going through the motions and waiting for somebody to hit a two-run shot.”

Hill had a decent start, but nothing to get too excited about.  He pitched 5 innings and gave up 6 hits, 3 runs (2 earned).  He walked 3 and struck out 5.  His start was supported by a good effort from the bullpen.  Both O’Connor (in the 6th) and Ayala (in the 8th) were lights out.  Rivera gave up a solo shot to Carlos Beltran in the 7th and Jon Rauch gave up another solo shot in the 9th to Marlon Anderson.  After back to back hits by Reyes and Castillo, Rauch buckled down and managed to get out of that inning without too much damage. 

Now, let’s finally talk about some serious offensive production! Guzman, Zimmerman, Pena, Boone and Nieves all collected two hits each.  Good pinch hitting appearances made a huge difference tonight as well.  Belliard’s walk in the 5th eventually led to a run.  Milledge drew an important walk in the 6th to load the bases for Felipe with 2 outs.  Estrada’s RBI pinch hit came at a pivotal moment too in the 7th inning when the Nats came up with 3 more runs.  It was nice to look to the bench for support tonight. 

Kearns, on the other hand, had a really rough night.  He tripped over 1st base for the 2nd time in recent days.  He was 0 for 5 with 2 strike outs and 4 runners left on base.  Also, Milledge was scratched from the original line-up for being late.  Acta, as we know, has no tolerance for these types of things — though Milledge has had a lot of free passes this season on the field.  It’s nice to finally see Manny sticking to his word.

Overall, a great night for our team — the kind of night that hopefully helps to turn the page on the miserable 7-16 start.

After the win, we decided to celebrate at Crystal City Sports Pub.   You should know that the restaurant/bar has half price appetizers before and after Nationals games if you present your ticket.  Additionally, you can save $5 on Nats tickets by purchasing them on their website. They also have a roundtrip $15 shuttle to and from the park for home games.  That’s a lot of things to be happy about.  It’s a lot more hometown than ESPN Zone, where you have to beg them to turn the Nats on.

Photo:  Greg Fiume/Getty Images

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 9:02 am and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.