Well the Nationals sure made their last game in Shea Stadium interesting. Despite a battle of a game, with the Nats mounting an impressive comeback mid game, the biggest story of the night would have to be the antics of one outfielder, Elijah Dukes. After hitting a mammoth home run in the second inning, Dukes made an unnecessary gesture to the Mets dugout, kinda like a kiss that ball goodbye thing. A few innings later the Mets pitcher Pelfrey almost nailed Elijah with a pitch in retaliation…which sparked a bit of a freak out on Dukes part. On TV it looked like a heated exchange between Dukes, Schneider, and others. Both Chatter and Journal have more info.
Anyway Dukes wasn’t happy and neither were the New York fans, who boo’ed Elijah mercilessly for the rest of the night, taunting him for a reaction, which they eventually got. It’s really a shame, Dukes is no doubt a talented and exciting player, but when antics like these and his emotions get in the way, a good battle of a game is soured. The two monster home runs from hot hitting Guzman, now seem to take a back burner to the actions of just one player. If Dukes keeps hitting homers, and playing well, then are his actions going to be allowed? Granted nothing too serious has happened yet, but after watching last nights game, I get the feeling that only time will tell. After the game Ryan Zimmerman offered an honest and mature take on last night’s game, which we really appreciated.
Ok so onto the game –
Odalis Perez really struggled last night. He pitched only three innings and gave up seven runs, most in the bottom half of the third which I thought would never end. When Perez left the game the score was 7-1. Honestly, when this season did we think the Nats would stand a chance for a comeback after a start like that? I was pleasantly surprised though and despite losing 13-10, the Nationals keep proving that they aren’t done yet.
The boys battled back from a six run deficit with big hits from Casto, Guzman, Zimmerman, and Nieves off Pelfrey and reliever Aaron Heilman. The bullpen of Speigner, Mock and Hinckley pitched three scoreless innings to keep the Nats in the game. Things unraveled in the 7th with Saul Rivera on the mound. Back to back singles from Wright and Beltran, a sac fly from Delgado, a botched pick off attempt and a two run single from Schneider, put the Mets up by four.
Cristian Guzman almost evened the score in the eight, when he hit his second homer of the game, a three run shot off of Stokes. It was Guzman’s first multi-homer game and it gave the Nationals another fighting chance. If Guzman was the thorn in the side of the Mets last night, David Wright was his counterpart for the Nationals. Wright’s two run homer off of Hanrahan in the 9th sealed the deal for the Mets. New York’s new closer Ayala got another save.
Let’s hope the momentum continues for the Nationals offense as they head to Miami to take on the Marlins this weekend.
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