The Nationals battled through another close game with the Astros only to lose it in the bottom of the ninth. Odalis Perez remains winless and the Nats struggled as they lost their eighth one-run game. En route to another tough loss, the Nationals also gave up 4 stolen bases. Ray Knight explained the timing involved in getting a runner out and that it all comes down to fractions of a second, with a stolen base taking around 3.5 seconds. This highlights how critical it is for the pitcher to get the ball to the catcher so he can have a shot at getting the out. While I’m encouraged to see our boys keep the game close enough to win, it’s getting hard to watch these close ones slip away.
Odalis Perez lasted five innings and in the post-game press conference, Manny Acta reported that Perez was really sick. With that in mind, I appreciate his determination and am impressed he escaped with just 5 hits and 3 earned runs. Hanrahan came in for the seventh and pitched 2.1 innings, without giving up a hit. Colome came in to finish out the ninth, but unfortunately gave up the game winning hit to Carlos Lee.
Ryan Zimmerman had a great night for the Nats. He is finally looking comfortable with his swing and he looks calmer during his at bats. After Guzman got on base in the first, Zimmerman got himself off to a quick start by hitting a two run homer. He followed that up with an opposite field home run in the sixth inning. Zimmerman was responsible for driving in all three runs tonight. Unfortunately the rest of the offense struggled tonight. The top of the order combined for 6 of the 7 Nationals hits.
Paul Lo Duca was injured during the seventh inning tonight. He was taken out of the game, and Wil Nieves came in to inherit Lo Duca’s at bat. Right now, we don’t know the extent of the injury or if Paul will be taking another trip to the DL.
Hopefully tonight, the Nats get their spark back and can come out on top!
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