As expected, the Nats suffered another loss last night, in fact a major league-leading 11th shutout and dropped their record to 34-57.
Odalis Perez got tossed after home plate umpire Angel Hernandez called two balks on Odalis in the 3rd inning. He had only faced 10 batters. At least somebody besides Lo Duca has some fire these days. The ejection may have took a toll on the bullpen, but it was a welcome sign of life from a lethargic team that has quickly put enthusiastic fans to sleep. This team desperately needs leadership. Someone needs to wake up and say, we’re better than this. Because yes, there have been a lot of injuries, but we were better than the 100 losses we’ll collect this season.
And a quick note on Hernandez. Some quick research reveals that he once ejected a “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” singer before the game. He also has a history of holding grudges, which is exactly why Odalis was so upset.
In addition to the balks, the Nats had two errors last night, and both led to unearned runs. Early in the game, Guzman couldn’t complete a throw to first. The runner, Burke, would soon score. Then again in the 6th, Bernadina misjudged Bobby Hammock’s fly ball to put another unearned Arizona run on the board. On the other hand, Wily Mo and Lopez both made nice defensive plays. WMP charged a short fly ball from Mark Reynolds in the 8th to end the inning. Earlier in the game, Felipe Lopez dove full force to stop a grounder before rolling it into Guzman’s glove for the out. Effort? Energy? Yup, at least a little bit.
The bullpen held up nicely too. Shell came in without much of a warm up and quickly issued a walk on 4 consecutive balls to Stephen Drew. But, he got out of the third inning with no damage. In his next two innings, he gave up 1 hit with 4 walks and 2 strike outs. After that, Saul Rivera and Joel Hanrahan finished the game strong. Manny was impressed with their efficiency. Rivera faced 8 batters; Hanrahan faced only 6. They did it on 50 pitches between them.
Sure, the team faced the dominating Webb last night, who gave up 6 hits in 6 innings with 6 strike outs. Several of those hits came off the bat of Austin Kearns. Austin went 2 for 4 with a strike out. He’s only been back for a week, but he’s batting .317 since his return. We doubt his numbers will ever reach Bowden and Ladson level expectations, but he may be on his way back to a more tolerable mediocrity. Young also had a good night (3 for 4 with a walk). Kory Casto had a welcome return to Washington, after going back and forth to Columbus. He had another big pinch hit, a double in the 5th off of Webb.
Tonight, Micah Owings (6-7, 5.15) faces John Lannan (4-9, 3.60).
Zuckerman’s chatting at 1 pm. I’m starting to think he’s the only beat writer we should be listening to these days.
Entries (RSS)
July 9th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I really liked Odalis standing up for himself, wish Manny would have protested a little more. Totally agreed on Zuckerman - he always seems to have a better insight into the team.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:37 am
More Hernandez incidents:
http://www.spudart.org/chicagocubs/umpires/index.html
July 10th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Hernadez is a dick, yes. But until something changes he’s a dick that can throw a guy out of a game. Manny did what a good manager should by attempting to diffuse the situation. You have to stand up for your players in the face of adversity, and he does that. Sometimes standing up for them means helping them avoid makiing a stupid mistake by cussing at or hitting an ump, or getting pulled out of the game.
And Kristen, come on. You post commentary on a Nats fan site called “We Got Heart” and you begin th post with, “As excpected, the Nats suffered another loss last night…” While you may just be stating the obvious, does it really need to be said? Perhaps I’m old-fashioned (can’t be though, I’m only 28) or maybe it’s just different where I’m from, but if you want to back a team, you start with your attitude. “As expected…” wreaks of defeatism. I have the advantage of writing this after Wednessday’s game where the Nats SHUT OUT the D-backs, so it might be easier to be optimistic, but let’s try to.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
p. Dutro - We were facing Webb, who is very very tough, hence my cynicism.
I’ve been accused a lot lately of being too negative. Perhaps that’s because I have only missed maybe three home games. A girl can only take so many rain delays and sticky humid Sunday afternoons without a win before her spirit starts to break down.
That said…I love this game and I love this team. I just want them to play with some heart once in awhile. So, for you - and for my professor that joined us last night at the game and insisted that I change my tune, I’m going to try to be a little more positive.
I appreciate the reality check.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Eh, don’t be too hard on yourself. I think p.Dutro brings up a decent point, but you all manage to write about this team day in and day out which is not an easy thing to do, even in the best of times. Not only is this team bad, but the injuries have made it even worse. One of the few things we’ve had to look forward to was watching some of the young guys develop, and even that has been a major frustration with Dukes, Zimmerman, Milledge, Hill, etc. out. You all have persevered and continue to bring a very unique perspective as well as providing a lot of useful links and information. Hang in there!
July 11th, 2008 at 11:02 am
We try! Mike, thanks for the encouraging words!