But why would I want to be? Like Zuckerman and Harlan, I too grew up in Western PA.  But they have to be there. 

I could have maybe taken a day to go home and catch a game, but honestly, this team just isn’t worth it right now.  Gas is too expensive.  It’s too hot.  Both teams are terrible.  We have our own nice stadium now.  Whatever the reason, you can bet there will be be less fans making the short drive up to Pittsburgh than in seasons past.  Last year, we took in two games at PNC Park:  one win (thanks to Jesus Flores) and one loss (eh, not Jason Bergmann’s best performance).

So, about those 2008 Nats.  Last night, I skipped my first game by choice, a smart decision that brought a 3-2 loss with a game time temperature of 92 degrees.  Turns out I didn’t miss too much.  Clippard looked good in his start, impressing Don Sutton with a good breaking ball.  His line:  4.1 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits and 4 walks with 6 strike outs.  Welcome to Washington, Tyler - a city where 3 runs will never get you a win.

The struggling bullpen settled down and finished the game without giving up even a hit! Sanches, Colome, Manning and Ayala all redeemed recent performances with an excellent 4 plus innings of work.

The Nats have been outscored 53-18 during the last 9 games (and 10 of those came on one night in the only win of the homestand). Belliard was re-actived for the road trip and Clippard was sent back to Ohio, as expected.  Zimmerman has begun to rehab his left shoulder.

Tonight, Paul Maholm (4-5, 4.48) takes on Tim Redding (6-3, 4.14).  When Redding faced the Pirates back in May, he got the win pitching 6.1 innings with 1 run and 5 strike outs.  In that series, Maholm gave up 10 hits and 7 runs in just 5 innings, including a home run to Cristian Guzman.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 1:11 pm 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.