Washington Nationals Drop 7-6 Decision To Houston's Astros In Homer-Friendly Minute Maid Park.
by Patrick Reddington on Jul 19, 2011 11:50 PM EDT
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Print• Tonight's Countdown - Minute Maid Park Top 5:
5. vs LHP: The Washington Nationals bring a .217/.299/.339 slash line against left-handers in into tonight's game against Houston and Astros' lefty J.A. Happ in Minute Maid Park. The Nats' team slash and .257 team BABIP are all second-to-last in the NL behind Atlanta's Braves. Houston's left-hander, though, is tied for the National League lead in losses, and while that's not too surprising on a 31-65 team, he's got a 5.76 ERA and a 4.54 FIP, almost five walks per game, 53 BB (4.77 BB/9), a 1.57 WHIP and a .312 BABIP. Something's got to give. Will the Nats turn Happ into an ace-for-a-day or will Washington's offense break out?
4. Desi's Ready: Ian Desmond told Nats' Skipper Davey Johnson he was ready to return to the top of the order. Johnson told ESPN 980's Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro on the Sports Fix this afternoon that Desmond had been, "... kind of hinting, 'Skip, move me down, I'm feeling I'm ready.'" "Well," Johnson said he'd told his shortstop, "I think you're not ready, but I'm going to give you a shot anyway." Desmond works a seven-pitch at bat in his first trip to the plate, and doubles to right field off Happ in the Nationals' first and Michael Morse and Jayson Werth both walk in front of Wilson Ramos, whose fly to right strands three runners. Happ's through the first on 29 pitches. Jordan Zimmermann throws two two-strike mid-90's fastballs by two Astros' batters and takes a line drive off his shin on the way to his own scoreless first. 18 pitches, 15 strikes and one less inning of watching the right-hander this season...
3. Crawford Boxes Eat Two: Jordan Zimmermann gives up a one-out single to Carlos Lee in the bottom of the second, and one out later he throws an 0-2 fastball to Clint Barmes that the Astros' shortstop hits far enough to left to get it into the Crawford Boxes. [Weak] two-run HR, but at least it's a little more respectable than the line drive Michael Morse tucks into the first row of the left field bleachers. J.A. Happ walks Ryan Zimmerman on five pitches with one down in the third (after striking Zimmerman out in the Nats' 3B's first AB), and the Astros' lefty leaves a 1-2 curve up for Morse to pull 316ft to the 315ft wall in left field. Morse's 18th HR ties it at 2-2 in the third.
2. 4-Run 4th: The Houston Astros collect five hits and four runs off Jordan Zimmermann in the home-half of the fourth. Carlos Lee's 2 for 2 after he hits a 95 mph 2-2 fastball back up the middle. El Caballo goes first to third on a Chris Johnson double and scores on Clint Barmes' RBI single to center which gives the Astros' SS 3 RBI's in a 3-2 game. With Chris Johnson on third, Houston's catcher Humberto Quintero gets a safety squeeze down, and the Nats' starter doesn't get over to cover first in time, so it's an RBI bunt single and a 4-2 Houston lead. One out later Michael Bourn collects hit no. 5 of the frame and drives in runs five and six of the night to make it 6-2 Astros before Zimmermann escapes the frame, 28 pitches after the Astros' fourth started.
1. Love Them Boxes: The Nationals knock J.A. Happ out in the sixth and get back into the game. Wilson Ramos hits a 2-2 slider to center after a seven-pitch AB and one out later he scores on Jerry Hairston's 3rd HR of 2011. Hairston pulls a 1-0 fastball from Happ into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in left for a two-run HR that gets the Nats within two of Houston at 6-4. Alex Cora walks with one down, takes second on a wild pitch from Astros' reliever Fernando Rodriguez, and scores on a two-out RBI single to center by Ian Desmond, who sends a 94 mph 2-2 fastball back up the middle to get the Nationals within one after five and a half in Houston. 6-5 Astros lead.
0. [Coffey Sprints To Mound]: Nats' right-hander Todd Coffey's two outs into the sixth when he gets himself into trouble, surrendering a single and a walk to Humberto Quintero and pinch hitter Andrew Bogusevic, respectively. Michael Bourn goes all the way the other way with 2-2 fastball outside and drives in the Astros' seventh run to give Houston back its two-run lead. The Nationals pull back within one when Michael Morse doubles for the second time tonight and the 20th time this season. Ground-rule double to right center for Morse, and Jayson Werth connects for a line drive single to left. Wilson Ramos grounds back up the middle off the pitcher and into a 1-4-6-3 DP, but Morse scores from third and it's 7-6 Astros after seven innings in Minute Maid Park.
-1. 6 Outs To Get 1 Run: Jerry Hairston singles to left field and off the wall to start the Nats' eight, but El Caballo Carlos Lee plays it, uh, perfect-Lee and makes a throw to second that beats Hairston to the bag. Angel Sanchez with the catch and tag, and Hairston's out trying to stretch a single in a one-run game. Still 7-6 Astros after seven and a half. Ryan Mattheus throws a quick scoreless bottom of the eighth. Ian Desmond pops up to the infield on a 2-0 pitch from Houston right-hander Mark Melancon. Ryan Zimmerman drives a 2-2 pitch to right and just foul, inches from a game-tying HR. Zimmerman works the count full and grounds out to second. Michael Morse up with two down. Melancon hits Morse, the first HBP of the year for the right-hander, so it will be up to Jayson Werth. Rick Ankiel on to run. Werth walks to bring Wilson Ramos up. Ramos K's chasing. Astros win, 7-6 final. Nats 2 for 10 with RISP, 9 LOB.
• Miss The Game? The DC Faithful Were Watching...
| Num | Name - Comments |
|---|---|
| 1 | dc Roach - 202 |
| 2 | MissB - 80 |
| 3 | d_c_guy - 74 |
| 4 | Whupass - 55 |
| 5 | Doghouse - 43 |
| 6 | Jeff T - 40 |
| 7 | FanSince05 - 37 |
| 8 | cat daddy3000 - 37 |
| 9 | Brotato - 34 |
| 10 | Dan Shields - 22 tie |
| 11 | hscer - 22 tie |
• Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Game 97: Reverse-locked":
- Gotta get the AAA guys out: Jordan Zimmermann (-44.0%) struggles after taking a liner off his shin, giving up 6 ER in 5 IP while fanning 5 and walking none.
- Can't win it all himself: Michael Morse (+35.4%) is 2-3 with a double, a game-tying 2-run HR (+20.6%), a walk, and an obviously intentional 9th-inning HBP by the fraidy-cat closer.
- Seeing the ball better? Jayson Werth (+17.5%) is 1-3 with a pair of walks.
- Not helping: Wilson Ramos (-33.9%) has a run-scoring (but rally-killing) GDP in the 7th (-14.9%), and a game-ending strikeout at a pitch way out of the zone with RISP (-13.2%).
• Nationals now 48-49.
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I hope Desmond makes me eat crow
With that said, Harper hitting 171’, but Wang showed progress. He clearly struggled w command, but one walk? That’s fighting through it.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
That's twice I've read that Davey said his 8th hitter wants to move down in the order......
what the frank does that mean?…… so, he moves his successful ROY out of the way to accommodate this against his judgement…….
making me miss Manny…
"And, finally, enough of this stockpiling prospects stuff. The object of this game isn’t to get a nice review in Baseball America, or climb the rankings in Baseball Prospectus." - Mark, centerfieldgate.com
by cat daddy3000 on Jul 20, 2011 1:16 AM EDT up reply actions
In # 0. you forgot the part where Werth didn't see the wild pitch and
failed to get to 2B off it.
That would have prevented the conventional DP…though with his bad luck (and bad AB’s and basepath blunders) running wild, I’m sure he would have found a way to make the DP happen.
Please Davey…sit the man! Get him some help! Rizzo? Boras? Won’t anybody come to his aid?
i thought that too at the time but later i thought he wouldve been tagged out anyway
The will to lose remains strong with this team
Morse continues to be a run-producing machine!
I didn’t think there would be a post-All-Star Game slump. I think he’s motivated to show that he deserved to be on the team. I hope he gets 40 HRs this year. He can do it.
Desmond may be turning the corner. He has hit .324 over his last 10 games (.395 OBP). He could be a big boost to the offense, even he’s only hitting .260-.270. That would be one less black hole in the line-up. Now if only Werth could start to turn it around too. He’s a monster-sized black hole right now.
I’m eager to see how well Chien-Ming Wang does in his return to the majors this month. It seems as though either Gorzelanny will go on the DL or Marquis will get traded. With Wang and Detwiler available, and Peacock maybe coming up next year, the Nats can get by without Marquis. I hope they can get a good deal for him.
-------------------------------------------------
"Save it. I'm goin' for a smoothie."
The Washington Nationals, the team of the 2010s!
werth has k'd in half of his ABs since the break
but still has 3 hits and 5 walks. i wouldn’t exactly say he’s been a black hole in the last week
Fighters ....
I havn’t been posting much at all this season…but every day I read the summary and listen to the games and I am hearing a fighting team which is much better than a roll over and lose team …. :) GO NATS and GO WERTH !
Thanks, NJASE, good to know you're still following along...
Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."
by Patrick Reddington on Jul 20, 2011 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Regardless...........
Of last night………..“skip move me down”
We moved and disrupted BERNIE and ESPI to accommodate, make no mistake OUR NUMBER 8 HITTER!!!.
This team should have come out the gate 7-2 from the allstar break. Where do we stand?
Completely pitiful…………what is our post Wriggleman record, anybody?
One thing about Riggleman's ejection certainly worked ...
… by bailing when the team was on an 11-1 hot streak, he “managed” to become this icon in the minds of some fans … and completely delete from the collective memory his mystery lineups, fondness for the double switch and kowtowing to past-their-prime or never-were-prime veterans (Guzman, Kennedy, etc). It’s probably the best managed thing he’s done in his career!
For the record:
When Riggleman left: 38-37, .507
Since Riggleman left: 10-12, .455
It’s simply not a significant difference – especially allowing for (hello) the disruption to the team caused by the manager quitting. Had Riggleman quit two weeks earlier, his record would have been 27-36, .429. If the Nationals win three games in a row, their post-Riggleman winning percentage would be .520. Would that prove that the team is better off without Riggleman? Riggleman’s record as manager of the Nationals: 140-172, .449 (right in line with his career winning percentage of .445).
I was never a Riggleman hater like some (you didn’t have to go far on a lot of fan pages and boards – including this one - to find people who couldn’t stand his managerial moves). But the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments just doesn’t make sense to me.
I am far less impressed with Davey's work so far than Riggleman's
Riggleman may have made curious moves, but they were usually simply suboptimal maneuvers. They were never game killers, like Davey’s already done tree times, in just three weeks. That’s almost beyond belief for a manager to have that much (negative) influence on games so quickly.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
Three game killing moves?
I assume that leaving Livo in as long as he did against the Cubs is one of them (I disagreed the move at the time, but understand why DJ did it). What are the other two?
We really need to come up with a sarcasm font on this site
It’s too tough to tell when someone is being serious :-)
And 7-2 out of the all star break? WTH?
Where does that come from? They’ve only played five games, the first three of which were on the road against the #2 team in the National League when that team had its best starters lined up. The real kicker in the rubber game against the Braves was that the starter got injured in the second inning – what move would have prevented that?
One thing hasn’t changed since Riggleman quit – I still find myself coming to the defense of the Nationals’ manager, since every time the team loses it’s the manager’s fault. Of course, that would probably be true even if the team were managed by John McGraw, so I’m not expecting that to change. It’s not that I agree with or understand everything the manager is doing or has done – far from it – but I am at least open to the idea that a baseball lifer manager who is in the clubhouse every day:
(1) just might be doing things based on knowledge that I don’t have;
(2) for good reasons that I’m not aware of (either in that game or in a “big picture” sense); and (3) perhaps most importantly, may not have the time or inclination to explain (1) and (2) to me, even assuming such an explanation wouldn’t be counterproductive for the ball club.
Oh..............
Most importantly…………..
When our plane lands in LA LA land………….Is Michael Bourn on it?
The guy who sold me my crystal ball assures me it works every time
“It glows red every time the Nats are going to make a trade”, he says. It’s not glowing red.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
by RobBobS on Jul 20, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Syracuse ends up with going 1 for 13 with RISP, leaving 17 stranded on base
but they won the game 4-3 with a walkoff sacrifice fly by Bixler in the 12th.
Espi-Desi lineup to continue testing
Though Johnson acknowledged the changes may not be permanent, he felt the alterations were worth a look.
“Desmond has swung the bat well the last couple of weeks,” said Johnson. “He’s going to get more at-bats [hitting second], and that’s what he needs. I thought about it before now. It wasn’t something I just woke up in the middle of the night. It’s not a major thing.”
Whats wrong with Bernadina, Desmond, Zim, Morse, Espinosa
Zim Morse Espinosa reminds me of Zim, Dunn, Hammer.
DO NOT BAT ESPINOSA LEADOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, I like Bernadina, Desmond, Espinosa, Zim, Morse (at least against RHP)
But that’s just me. :-)
by d_c_guy on Jul 20, 2011 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Why not?
I still don’t understand the violent hatred about Espi leading off. I think he’s a great lead-off guy. Let me make this clear: I would rather him batting leadoff than Bernadina.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
Because he has sucked when he has been leadoff
September, he was good, put in leadoff and sucked
begining of this year, he sucked in leadoff, was moved on got hot.
He also is a guy I would rather have in the middle of the order becuase of his power and clutch which may or may not exsist ;)
It's misuse of a powerful bat
I think most fans want a powerful bat in the heart of the lineup, not up top.
He will get plenty of RBI opps
plus, he will make fewer outs than Bernadina in the leadoff spot.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
that may be true (although he'll get MORE RBI opps batting in the heart of the order)
I’m just telling you why I think it’s understandable that many are ardently opposed to him leading off (esp. if Bernadina’s a suitable option, like when a righty is pitching). You said you “still don’t understand” the sentiment. To me, it’s pretty easy to understand.
I understand the thinking
I don’t understand the violent reaction. In the end, lineups don’t make THAT much difference anyway, and there are reasonable argument (I think) either way.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
a game of inches
1. Hairston being tagged out at 2nd in the 8th on a perfect bounce off the wall, perfect one hand pick-up by Lee, perfect throw, perfect tag.
2. Zimmerman barely missing the foul pole in the 9th
3. Zimmermann not sustaining a broken leg on the shot up the middle
Considering #3 I’ll take the loss, I’ll take it.
It’s a lot more fun to watching the Nats these days
Clearly you have no sense of perspective!
This game was clearly lost because of DJ having Espinosa lead off! And for leaving JZim in as long as he did (default B is that if he brings in Coffey and Coffey gets creamed: “how could he take out our BEST PITCHER in that situation! Let the kid learn to pitch through adversity!”)!!!
BLAME THE MANAGER!
In the battle of sarcasm vs sarcasm...
Sarcasm is declared the winner…
Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."
by Patrick Reddington on Jul 20, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm going to claim high moral ground here
Because I usually did defend Riggleman’s decisions as “well considered”, even when I disagreed with them. Johnson has already admitted to making a couple of bad (IMO, very bad) decisions because he was too slow to react to the changing game circumstances. I don’t recall ever seeing that with Riggs.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
I was always surprised how "well considered" Riggleman's decisions were, honestly...
No matter what questions he got in post games, he always had a reason for what he did and clearly explained the thought process…now I didn’t always agree, as you note, but was always surprised/impressed with his answers at least…
Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."
by Patrick Reddington on Jul 20, 2011 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
My Coffey gets creamed on a daily basis
was that pun intended?
"A game of inches"
Told my son the exact same thing last night after Hairston and Zimmerman…..
That’s why the game is so lovable (even when you’re on the short end of the stick).
Any idea why they plunked Morse
instead of simply walking him?
by UsualLine on Jul 20, 2011 2:35 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
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