After attending the four game Cubbies sweep over the Nationals at the end of July, the start of this series in Chicago is making me a happy girl!  The Nats displayed some powerful offense at Wrigley Field winning the game with a final score of 15-6.  There was power hitting, fabulous base running, and of course WillingSLAM was at it again!  It was all in all an entertaining way for me to spend my Tuesday night with my TV.

It began with a pretty good performance by Garrett Mock.  He pitched a few solid innings to set up the opportunity for the Nats scoring party.  It all started with some great base hits by Belliard and Willingham and then Wil Nieves hits a sacrifice fly and knocks Willingham in to score one of his 5 runs of the night.  Mock once again pitched a solid second inning and then the Cubs’ pitcher Carlos Zambrano hit a solo homer out to centerfield and believe me…this was the ONLY thing he was hitting tonight because it sure wasn’t strikes.  4th inning rolled around and Josh Willingham hit his first homer of the night (yes there was another) out of the park.  This was followed by what appeared to be an angry Cubs fan throwing the ball over the stands onto the field from the street below.  Ronnie Belliard hits a single followed by an Elijah Dukes double.  Then in a bizarre turn of events on this tragic nights for the Cubs, Fontenot makes an error where it looked like he literally threw the ball straight at the ground.  This of course gives Belliard the opportunity to score.  At this point in the game, the score is only 3-1, so we still have a contest.

THEN…

The 5th inning happened…

This inning had a striking resemblence to the 4th inning of the Sunday game of the last Cubs series at Nationals Park.  I literally remember feeling pain, like physical gnawing pain during this inning where we gave up 7 runs to the Cubbies.  It felt like the inning that would never end.  Well, the Nats gave one of these neverending innings right back to the Cubs tonight.  During this inning, we went through our entire lineup, we got six guys on base and all six of them scored.  The Cubs pitching disaster was just beginning to show itself.  Zambrano hit Willie Harris with a pitch, Christan Guzman singled to center, Ryan Zimmerman singled to left, Zambrano walked Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham, and then finally at the Cubs fans relief, they replaced Zambrano with Heilman.  Well this did not seem to do any good, because Elijah Dukes hit a GRAND SLAM.  All in all, at this point in the game, the Nats were up 9-1 and it felt glorious!

The pitching slightly fell apart in the 6th, but besides that, Mock pitched a great game.  The Cubs scored three runs during this inning before Riggleman replaced him with Tyler Clippard.  The 7th inning proved to be another hitting show by the Nats with Zimmerman doubling to left, Willingham singling to center knocking Zimmerman home, Belliard singling to left, Dukes getting intentionally walked, and Nieves singling to right knocking Willingham and Belliard in.  At this point, it is almost like batting practice for the Nats and gives us a score of 12-4.

Milton Bradley (yes like the board games…I can’t help but giggle a bit) hit a solo homer in the 7th (this did not make me giggle), but then Willingham answers that with his second homerun of the night knocking Zimmerman and Dunn home.  It was 15-5 at this point and with the exception of a solo homer by the Cubs’ Northern Virginia (Dale City) native Jeff Baker, the game was toast.  So the game finishes out on the scoreboard at 15-6 with Willingham having a great game going 4-4, hitting two homeruns (he’s up to 21 now for the season), knocking six runners home, and scoring five runs.  Needless to say, I think his slump is over.

This was exactly what I like to see from the Nats: A decently strong start by the starting pitcher (Although, I wish our starters could pitch a bit longer, but I can save that for another post), emptying our bases instead of leaving the guys hanging out there, great defensive plays, and a pretty good performance by the bullpen.  Now I would like to see the Nats play this great tomorrow and Thursday so we can show the Cubs how it feels to get swept at home.  I will personally send pictures (as I cannot be there in person) of brooms to all of my Cubs fans friends in Chicago, but Nats you gotta take care of business!

The Nats lost 5-2, but that outcome was hardly certain.  The replay on MASN was pretty obvious.  I’m still angry about it…

Which brings me to this conclusion: Instant replay is a waste of time.

What was the point again?  To be more accurate?  Eight minutes later, still wrong.

Tonight…

Dunn’s still looking for hit #1000 as the Nats take on Livan and an injured Mets lineup.

Just when you need a break and take a night off, the Nats do something cool.  They put a rookie on the mound who pitches a solid 6.1 innings and surrenders just 4 runs.  The bullpen actually holds the Pirates scoreless.  The Nats come from behind to get a lead.  Joel Hanrahan records a save to stop the skid.  Sigh.  Happiness.

Now…for the busy weekend. I did a recap of this weekend’s events and giveaways at MASN’s Nationals Buzz.

ESPN’s Draft Blog has more on Strasburg’s injury, which appears minor.  It also has some notes on a good performance by Mike Minor of Vanderbilt.

Peter Gammons says the Nationals would like to deal Johnson and/or Kearns to get relievers.

Nats320 says that Chad Cordero’s wife recently gave birth to their first child, a baby girl.

That’s about all for now. Get your red on!

All good things come to an end. I just hate that it came to an end because of a wild pitch and an intentional walk.

It reminded me of something I read awhile back about Grace Coolidge, former First Lady. Grace was a huge baseball fan. She would often make President Coolidge attend Senators games and stay till the final out. She would re-arrange his important meetings around the Senators’ schedule. Grace kept score, lept with joy during amazing plays, led cheers in her section and sulked after losses.

So, I think we know Grace would have been running “at frequent intervals to the telegraph room in the White House to learn the latest score,” cheering along and having a ball watching Zimmerman live out this streak (New York Times, November 23, 1924).

She would have probably been stopping by to make sure her husband didn’t miss Zimmerman at-bats. She also would have been cursing out Zito and Bochy for intentionally walking Zimmerman.

“Recently she held baseball writers enrapt in an hour-long discussion of her objections to the intentional walk…”

This Morning with Shirley Povich, Washington Post, May 14, 1950

“Mrs. Coolidge was a baseball fan — with strong opinions. She once proposed to abolish the “intentional walk.”

Grace Coolidge Had Modest Start To Reign as First Lady of Charm, Phil Casey, The Washington Post, July 9, 1957

Smart lady.

Short and sweet…I’m tired.  I still can’t believe we won. Congrats to the Zimmerman(n)s on being awesome & to the whole lineup.  Everybody contributed in a big way.  What a game.

Now, the Nats reunite with Felipe Lopez (.303 BA — Yes, those are 3’s not 2’s) and Jon Rauch (ERA 9.00).  Ryan Zimmerman looks for #26 while Martis, fresh off of his complete game, looks for win #4.

Something strange is happening this season.  I’m trying to cheer for the Nats with low expectations in an attempt to save my soul during what looks to be another difficult season.  So, on Saturday, I convinced myself to go to the game simply to get the cool Los Nacionales t-shirt.  I really didn’t want to be there. 

But again, unexpectedly, the Nats lifted me up.  Sure it was nice to see Martis pitch really well through the first six.  It was nice to have a lead.   It was nice to see Dunn crush that bomb and Zimmerman extend his streak.  But we’ve been there before…having a game all locked up only to see it slip away in the final 6 outs.

I wasn’t truly ecstatic until Martis returned to pitch in the eighth…and then again in the ninth.  In those final moments of the game, I nearly transformed into my old, optimistic “I love this team!” self.   I love pitching.  I love the National League.  I absolutely loved this win.

So that’s two games so far where I truly never wanted to be there but left euphoric.  I don’t know what to make of that, except that I’m going to keep going to Nats Park because those moments, even though rare, are really quite special.

I just wish we could have Latino Heritage Nights more frequently, or could incorporate more of the culture, language and music into our traditional games.  It reminded me a little bit of the World Baseball Classic, which was such an amazing experience for me.  The fans sure seemed to have a great time.

Remember - today is the last day to donate new and gently used baseball equipment! Go Nats!

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Nationals fans. After the dismal 2008 season we were all hopeful for a better 2009, but the first two weeks of the new season didn’t fulfill that promise. The season started with a seven game losing streak. The first win against the Phillies a week later, was a bright spot but it was quickly overshadowed by a disgraceful weekend series against the Marlins. A series in which the Nationals led all three games until the late innings, when the bullpen just imploded. Two blown saves in a row from the closer Hanrahan hurt. Saul Rivera’s 9th inning performance a day later, was difficult to watch. After Sunday’s game Manny and Rizzo reshuffled the bullpen, calling up Kip Wells, Garret Mock and Jason Bergmann in hopes that they might fare a little better in relief. So after the disappointing start, it was hard for us to stay positive, most of the guys we were pulling for are no longer on the team, and losing those close games in such a way is enough to test anyone’s fandom. So in short, it has been a difficult start for both the team and for us. We were beginning to question whether the team we give so much to still had any heart, and even more so, did we have any left ourselves?

We got our answer Monday night. Yes we still have heart. Ours might be bruised and beaten and it might take a bit for us to dig it out, but deep down we still have heart. Something bigger than the win/loss record, keeps pulling us back for more. After a wet, cold dreary Monday I admit the last thing in the world I wanted to do was drag myself out to Nationals Park to sit in the rain and wait for a game that might not even happen. However, as I was watching the pre-game show from the comfort of my sofa, I realized I was crazy. What had happened to me? Was I really at the point where I didn’t care anymore? Last night was the debut of one of the only bright spots left in the Nationals organization. Was I really ok with watching it on TV when I could just as easily get to the park and see it in person? I debated for while, but in the end realized that there was no place I would rather be than at Nationals Park in the rain to watch Jordan Zimmermann’s start. After all, one of my best baseball memories ever happened two years ago under very similar circumstances. So at 7:00 pm I texted Kristen, told her I was on my way and headed to the stadium.

The game officially started at 9:15 pm and Jordan Zimmermann made his debut in front of a very small crowd. The announced paid attendance was 12,473, but I would be surprised if even half of those people were present at the start of the game. Jordan looked like a veteran on the mound. He threw seven pitches in the first inning, all of them strikes. He worked quickly and efficiently, attacking the strike zone. He pitched six innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He threw 72 pitches, 51 of them for strikes. His only mistake came in the fourth inning when he gave up a two run homer to Matt Diaz. Zimmermann shook it off though and worked like a pro through two more innings.

The Nationals battled Lowe and cut the Braves lead in half when Elijah Dukes singled Johnson home. Two batters later, Jesus Flores, hit a long sac fly to left center field to plate Ryan Zimmerman and tie the game. The Nationals took the lead in the 6th when Flores, who has struggled so far this season hitting with runners in scoring position, hit a grounder up the middle to send Dukes home. The Nationals lead 3-2 for the remainder of the game.

When Zimmermann was removed after the 6th having only thrown 72 pitches, it seems Manny was eager to test his new bullpen. Kip Wells worked a scoreless 7th, while wearing #32 (that stung a little bit, as I still miss Cordero). Joe Biemel came in for the 8th and recorded two quick outs, but heavy rain started to fall and the umpires delayed the game again at 11:16 pm. By this time, the crowd had thinned even more and the team announced that the last metro for the night departed the Navy Yard at 11:45. The announcement caused even more people to flee. We stayed though and are sure glad we did, because the tarp was rolled off about a half and hour later and the game resumed.

Joel Hanrahan’s music signaled the top of the ninth and Kristen and I looked at each other with worry. Was Joel ready for this again? We only had a one run lead after all! Hanrahan retired Jones on a grounder to short. He made all 70 of us left in the stands cringe with a four pitch walk to the next batter, but redeemed himself with a strikeout to Matt Diaz to get the save and preserve the win for Zimmermann. It was an incredible night of baseball, the best kind actually. Who would have thought that the a cold, rainy, gross day would help me gain some of my enthusiasm back? In the end, I think it was a love of the game and a promise of a few bright spots, one coming from a rookie making his debut, that caused my change of heart.

For more photos from the game go here.

Ok, lets get the obvious out of the way, it really stinks that the Nats still haven’t won a game. They sure tried to get that illusive curly W today but lost their 7th consecutive game, 11 straight if you count those lost at the end of the ‘08 season. A season that began with a promise of a fresh start, is looking more and more like the same old team off to a slow start with a seven game skid. Today’s game wasn’t much different than those the Nats have lost so far this season. With a final score of 9-8, offense wasn’t really the problem, pitching and errors on defense caused the Nats to fall.

The teams battled back and forth for the first five innings. The Nationals scored first off Moyer when Dukes hit a double to score Guzman. It was really nice to have Anderson Hernandez back in the lineup, but since he just came off the DL he might have been a little rusty, his error in the bottom of the first let the Phils eventually tied the game. The game stayed tied at 4-4 until the 7th inning, when Saul Rivera came in to face Victorino, Utley, and Howard. Uncharacteristically, Saul hit both Victorino and Utley with pitches and then Howard hit a monster three run homer to give the Phils a boost. Another solo shot from Raul Ibanez followed and the game seemed out of reach at 8-4.

The Nats proved us wrong though, and continued to play hard. Adam Dunn hit a two run homer in the bottom of the 7th and the Nats had a bit of a rally in the 9th, surprisingly off Lidge. Zimmerman’s two run homer in the 9th put the Nats within one, but the Nats couldn’t tack on anymore runs and the game ended when Johnson grounded out to win the game. The boys hung in there offensively, today’s loss can be chalked up to pitching and errors on defense. Hopefully everything will click soon and the Nats can get that critical first win.

I love home openers. It was really great to see so many people enjoying the stadium…even if most of them seemed to be Phillies fans. I saw the statues in center field for the first time. I must say they are…different…not what I had imagined for Nationals Park. I also just love April baseball. Sitting with the girls all bundled up, and cheering for the Nats was just about the perfect day…just about, a win would have made it so, but I guess we really can’t win them all!

Here are some photos from the day.

Looking at the score, 9-8, it really seems like it was close game, a tough loss, and at times it was but the 3 errors may be a bad omen of what may come. Anderson Hernandez’s two errors were not good and Adam Dunn didn’t gir-r-dunn when we needed it in the 9th but he still had two RBI today and Ryan Zimmerman had a two run homer in the 9th inning.  It was an odd game to say the least. But it was also an official sell-out crowd.  Cristian Guzman looked great until he got hurt in the 9th inning, he was 5-5 today and is batting .515 this season.  It looks like Guzman will be joining Willie Harris, Terrell Young, Dmitri Young, and Matt Chico on the disabled list but I’m not sure. After Guzman’s injury and Hernandez’s defense, I would really like to second my plea for Justin Turner.

This was a bittersweet win for the Phillies though. At around 12:30 today, their Hall of Fame broadcaster was found slumped over in his booth. He was taken to George Washington University’s Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:20 PM, he was 73 years old. Today, Tigers fan favorite Mark “The Bird” Fidrych was also found dead on his farm in Massachusetts.  The 1976 AL rookie of the year played in the majors until 1980, but was well known for talking to himself, the baseball, and his glove while on the mound and his amazing performance in 1976. Both f these men will greatly be missed in the baseball community.

Breathe.  Take a walk.  At some point later this summer, the rotation will (hopefully) get an upgrade.

Last night was ugly, and I say that having missed Monday’s game.  Really, who is going to watch the DVR-ed version of a 12-6 loss?

Anyway, these Marlins are a good team.  They are an exciting team.  They have power and speed, but no fans.  What gives? Maybe they can start shipping the Phillies fans down for a few series.

Last night, Scott Olsen was shaky in the first two but really fell apart in the third.  He gave up 8 hits, 8 runs and 2 homers while walking 3.   Two of those hits were triples.  He couldn’t get pitcher Josh Johnson out either.   Tavarez, Beimal and Hanrahan were just fine in relief.  The team looked as lethargic last night as they did throughout all of 2008, which is not a great sign of what’s to come.  Sloppy defense included a near collision between Dunn and Milledge (the ball dropped of course), Belliard bobbling balls at second and a Zimmerman throwing error, though at least he made a few great plays to make up for it.

The Nats, yet again, made the opposing pitcher look like an ace.  Johnson scattered 7 hits over 6.2 innings but collected 8 strike outs.  Kearns helped the Nats avoid a shutout with a 2 run home run in the 8th, but it was too little, too late.  Guzman went 3 for 5 with an RBI, Nick Johnson went 3 for 4 and Jesus Flores went 2 for 4 with a double.  The lead-off hitter finally managed to reach base, once in his first 9 plate appearances.  He struck out twice.

Today, just be glad you’re at work to miss the sweep.  Daniel Cabrera takes on Chris Volstad at noon.

Oh, and go check out Manny Acta’s new blog at MASNSports.com.