Washington Nationals' Chien-Ming Wang Wins Second Straight, 6-4 Nats Over Cincinnati Reds.
by Patrick Reddington on Aug 16, 2011 10:15 PM EDT
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• Tonight's Nation's Capital Top 5:
5. Nats Pick Wang Up: Chien-Ming Wang's fourth start of the year, after two days off courtesy of a rainout and scheduled off day is his first since a surprisingly strong six inning outing against Chicago last week in which he allowed just one hit while holding the Cubs scoreless. The right-hander struggles early tonight in Nats Park, giving up a leadoff single on a 2-2 sinker Drew Stubbs lines to right, and a walk to Joey Votto with one down before back-to-back RBI singles by Jay Bruce and Ramon Hernandez have the Reds up 2-0 before the Nationals come to bat.
Washington rallies in the bottom of the frame, however, with Rick Ankiel and Ryan Zimmerman singling an out apart in front of Michael Morse, whose 29th double drives Ankiel in to cut the Reds' lead in half. 2-1 Cincinnati. A walk by Jayson Werth loads the bases, but Laynce Nix K's swinging, leaving it up to Ian Desmond, whose broken bat single through short into center drives two runs in to give the Nats the lead. 3-2 after an inning in Nats Park.
4. Oppo-Boppo Blast: After throwing 33 pitches through two, Chien-Ming Wang retires the Reds in order on ten pitches in the third to hold the Nats' one-run lead through two and a half. Michael Morse makes it a two-run lead with his 21st HR of 2011. Mike Leake throws a 2-1 slider to the Nats' slugger who pushes it out to right for an oppo-boppo blast over the out-of-town scoreboard in right. Line drive HR. 4-2 Nats. Chien-Ming Wang retires the Reds in order on four pitches in the top of the fourth and the Nats add another run on a two-out grounder by Rick Ankiel that bounces off Joey Votto at first allowing Wilson Ramos to score from third after he'd doubled and advanced on a productive groundout by Wang, 5-2 Nats after four.
3. THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!!: After a ten-pitch fifth by Wang, in which he retires the twelfth-straight batter following a error by Ryan Zimmerman that led off the second, the Nats' third baseman gives his starter another run to work with when he launches a 1-0 fastball from the Reds' starter to left and almost on to the concourse beyond the left field stands. Zimmerman's HR off Leake is his seventh, and it makes it 6-2 Nats. Chien-Ming Wang gives one back when he gives up the first hit since the Reds' first on a leadoff double by Joey Votto, who scores two outs later on an RBI groundout that makes it 6-3, but the Nats' right-hander strands two runners and he's at just 71 pitches after his sixth inning of work.
2. Too Long?: Chien-Ming Wang gives up a leadoff single by Fred Lewis in the top of the seventh, and one out later he allows the Reds back within two when he surrenders an RBI double off the center field wall by Edgar Renteria, who hurts himself on the play. 6-4 Nats. Wang's done seven pitches into the seventh. Wang's Line: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K's, 78 pitches, 51 strikes, 9/4 GO/FO. Tyler Clippard gets a weak pop to second from Votto and a swinging K from Brandon Phillips. Renteria's pinch runner's stranded on second. 6-4 Nats in the 7th.
1. Clipp/Storen: Tyler Clippard gives up a broken-bat, two-out single over short in the eighth, but pops Reds' 3B Todd Frazier up for the final out of inning. 25 pitches, 16 strikes, one K, three pops to the infield. Drew Storen takes over in the ninth, still 6-4 Nationals. Pinch hitter Dave Sappelt can't check his swing on a wicked 0-2 slider from Storen. One down. Drew Stubbs chases a 1-2 slider off the outside edge. Two. Paul Janish lines to left, and it's a sharp one, but defensive replacement Brian Bixler makes a sliding catch to end the game. Save no. 32 for Storen. Wang's second-straight win, the first time he's won two in a row since 2008.
• Miss The Game? The DC Faithful Were Watching...
• Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Game 120: Zimmy's monster bomb didn't even register!":
- Does he have any strikeouts yet? Chien-Ming Wang (-6.3%) goes 6.1 IP with 1 BB and no Ks, giving up 4 ER on 7 hits.
- The relief-pitching equivalent of Gibraltar: Tyler Clippard (+16.3%) spells Wang to get 5 scoreless outs, giving up a double to make sure we're awake.
- Beast is a beauty: Michael Morse (+24.5%) is 2-4 with an RBI
singledouble to get the Nats on the board in the 1st (+15.2%) and an oppo-boppo blast to tack on in the 3rd (+10.4%). - Too late for Lombo? Ian Desmond (+14.6%) gets in the best heroics of the night with a two-RBI single for the lead in the 1st (+17.7%).
- Barely noteworthy: Drew Storen's utter dominance in the 9th is only worth +6.9% WPA.
Nationals now 58-62.
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BTW
Don’t know how good CMW looked last night, but as I mentioned in another thread, I’m in China right now and am working with a Taiwanese guy. We talked about the concept of loyalty, particularly within the Confucian culture, and my friend said that he thinks it’s very important to CMW. He said CMW’s family still lives in Taiwan, and he comes from a part of Taiwan (Tainan) where the Confucian influence is very strong. And in that environment, loyalty is a very important consideration. The fact that the team invested in his recovery for two years definitely takes on a significance greater than we generally see in MLB – it should not be underestimated as we all wonder whether CMW will remain a Nat beyond this season.
very interesting insight......tell your friend that I thought he pitched well...
notwithstanding the screaming liners right to the outfielders…moar grounderz!!!
"Lombo can wait 'til September" -by Doghouse on Aug 2, 2011
by cat daddy3000 on Aug 16, 2011 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I kept yelling "MOAR GROUNDERZ!!!" until I realized that the grounders were getting through and the liners were being caught
So I gave up and went with Wang’s plan of screaming line drives at outfielders.
well, you do have a point....and it is thrilling seeing Nix go back for one, and Werth sliding or making it look harder than it is...
"Lombo can wait 'til September" -by Doghouse on Aug 2, 2011
by cat daddy3000 on Aug 16, 2011 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I think what Werth does is the fundamentally sound way to make that play.
It’s much easier to catch a ball overhand and watch it into your glove than catch a ball underhand. Anything below the waist it is easier to catch by sliding.
Aim for the head baby Jesus
but the point was Wang shouldn't be providing the opportunity...
slo-mo of the sliding catch was interesting…. Werth’s eyes don’t quite follow the ball into the glove, and the awkward landing and pop-up to throw could not have been described as graceful…
"Lombo can wait 'til September" -by Doghouse on Aug 2, 2011
by cat daddy3000 on Aug 16, 2011 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions
HA
I lived in Asia, and have been saying this for months. Couldn’t agree more, but not sure its entirely confucian related. The same goes for the other countries in the area such as Thailand/Japan.
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!
Confucius? Ye' don't say.
Hell, I knew it: SOMETHING was directing all them liners straight at our defense.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
I don't know if it really showed up on TV
But Wang gave up a bunch of rockets – just about every out to an outfielder while he was in there was a line drive that was just smoked. He was living lucky tonight, make no mistake about it.
That, and the Reds played clown car defense. Zim’s first inning single really should have been caught. It was a soft liner to short left center that hung up, but both the LF and CF kind of loafed in after it – both clearly thought the other guy was going to get it. The Reds’ RF was not very good at baseball, breaking in on one ball that was hit over his head and mis-timing a leap at the RF wall on another hit (in fairness, it would have been a very good catch if he had made it).
I agree, and it was unusual because Bruce is normally a stud defensively.
Aim for the head baby Jesus
And worse,
Renteria didn’t even bother trying for the ball. He might have had the best shot at it, but he just held his ground in regular shortstop’s position..
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
He's getting rather long in the tooth, and it shows
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
Renteria has only slightly more range than Miguel Tejada
who has the range of a dead elephant. Unfortunately for the Reds, Cosart’s on the DL, so it’s either all-hit, little glove (Renteria) or all-glove, little hit (Janish).
Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what i'm pondering?"
Pinky: "Yes, but isn't a cucumber that small called a gherkin?"
did watch tonight, sorry I haven't been around
liked the game. although CMW got lucky as everything was up but it got the job done. Zim’s HR was a sight to behold. wish Storen had struck out the side but loved the save nonetheless
btw, dunno if it’s been covered yet, but Nicasio came out the Desmond liner bad, but better than you might have expected: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110816&content_id=23303230&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
Jayson Werth Triple Slash Watch: .224/.330/.383
Morspinosa HR Watch: Michael 18, Danny 17
(Figures accurate through 4 August)
I will also say that the ball Werth dropped was an insanely difficult play
and if it didn’t look like it on TV, then the camera had a bad angle. I’m not sure he really saw the ball, it was a rocket right over his head and it might have hit his glove by shear luck.
Aim for the head baby Jesus
Ryan calls his moonshot!!!
Nats Enquirer:
Ryan Zimmerman called his 5th inning monster bomb off Mike Leake
“Actually, he called that in the dugout. None of us believed him. He said he was gonna hit a bomb. And he went up there and…I guess the guy was pitching him fastballs in early in the count, and he said ‘when he comes in there I’m gonna hit it out of the ball park.’ So it didn’t surprise any of us. I asked him if he got all of it. He said no, it kind of jammed him.”
(Davey Johnson, via postgame interview/MASN, 8/16/2011)
Amanda Comak of the Washington Times Tweeted: “Davey insisted that Zimmerman called his HR in the dugout. Zimmerman, ever humble, blushed but wouldn’t say one way or another if he did.”
(via @acomak, 8/16/2011)
"Lombo can wait 'til September" -by Doghouse on Aug 2, 2011
AdamKilgoreWP:
Mike Morse will be playing some left field these last six weeks, Davey said, to prepare for LaRoche’s return/Marrero call-up.
REASON 2..........
For my hatred for LaFraud…………And yes Davey spoke at length about Marrero playing two weeks from now.
Makes sense to me Davey...
Go right ahead and screw around with the most consistent, productive and positive player on the team. What harm coulkd that do?
Oh, for cryin' out loud
Morse hit great playing the OF last year – I really don’t think that’s a factor. What is a factor is to give Marrero a taste of the bigs, and the only way of doing that is to let him play first base. Every game Marrero is at first, Morse either goes somewhere else or sits. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have him in the lineup. He can play third, but another guy I want in the lineup is already there. So here are your choices: LF or bench?
It’s really not that complicated.
by d_c_guy on Aug 17, 2011 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
they're going to screw up Crane Kick....
"Lombo can wait 'til September" -by Doghouse on Aug 2, 2011
Playing............
someone because of salarie is the “Redskin Way”……….See how thats working out well……….
This is baseball, you don’t change a guys posistion after 1) He hits .320 21 75……2) you’ve spent two years wondering “where can this guy play”……… 3) When you know darn well he is not an OFer………..
This is worst then babying DEZ at Lombos expense…….DEZ is hitting .230- LaFraud is well………..A fraud.
They are playing Dez because he is the best SS they have, Lombo will most likely never be a starter anywhere.
And LaRoche won’t play again this year, but Marrero is at least as deserving as Lombo for a look in September.
Aim for the head baby Jesus
You can stop............
Replying to my comments………..We are oposed to each other in both the Harper situation and the DEZ/Lombo situation. NEITHER OF US IS CHANGING OUR MINDS.
To comment that Morse should go back to LF will thus end any relationship we may have continued.
Our counselor just quit, something about not getting paid for months...
And wanting to be "compensated" for the work they were doing. Have to sort these things out themselves.
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 Aug 17, 2011 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions
it's obviously going to happen though
they aren’t going to play laroche at first because of his contract. They’re going to play him there because he can play first and morse can play left. It’s no shot at morse, it’s not to say that laroche is a better player than morse, it’s just that morse an play left. Harper will not be up at the start of next year either. That just won’t happen. If it’s time for harper to come up, laroche will have had enough playing time to prove he’s healthy and he can be flipped and morse can move back to first. There’s not much to it.
Whats the frequency, Kenneth?
by ZimforPrez on Aug 17, 2011 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
TOO LONG?
No…….Perfect timing on that pitching change. Wang’s pitch total was only at 78. Lead run had not yet come up…….
"It kind of jammed him."
Now I’m not going to be satisfied until Zimmy hits one that lands on the CF concourse, possibly bouncing off of one of the many bats on the statue of Hondo and going for a second HR, landing on the far side of the SE freeway.
"I don't believe in luck, but it was just one of those things where it wasn't really skill, either." --Jerry, jr.
by Doghouse on Aug 17, 2011 10:06 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
In the spirit of not commenting directly to a post that you disagree with...
To suggest that Morse’s (or any player) hitting will be irreparably damaged if he is moved to left field (or some other position) is ridiculous. It borders on superstition.
by PerryMason on Aug 17, 2011 10:28 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I think it might be a factor if a player is moved to a much more difficult position defensively
since a lot of the player’s focus is changed to learning the new position and away from the normal “hitterish” things he had been doing. Lots of players have made the first-to-left transition with no problems (and Morse had done pretty well in left this year) so I don’t think it’ll be much of an issue at all for him.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
by RobBobS on Aug 17, 2011 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
True
If Jason Werth were suddenly thrust into the SS position one wouldn’t be surprised to see a a steady decline in his hitting over the next seven years
Morse played LF in spring training
And he was raking then like he is now. I just hope his knee holds up.
by UsualLine on Aug 17, 2011 11:01 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Moarse wasn't hitting worth a damn until the move to 1B - which is by far the easiest pos
After ST (which counts for exactly nothing), he struggled trying to figure out LF, and that took away from his concentration and timing at the plate. Who knows – things change, and he may be able to shift back to LF without a drop-off in offense.
One thing’s for sure, we will damn sure find out; like it or not, when ALR reurns, Mike’s going back to LF. I don’t like it worth a damn myself, but ain’t nobody in the front-office axed me.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
He also hit really well last year playing almost entirely in the OF
So … last season + Spring Training vs. six lousy weeks this spring. Which is a better indicator? Morse will be fine, and I for one would really like to see Marrero get some games in at this level – he’s earned it, and the team needs to see how he reacts to the big time. If Marrero plays, Morse sits or plays LF. Which do you prefer?
Maybe
They are going to get Marrero some AB’s at the MLB level? Thus moving Morse to Left field?
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!
oh just read the article, that does seem to be what they are doing. whoops
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!
THEY WONT SCREW UP MORSE
Worst case senario, re re-injures his knee, gets it fixed, and come back the same. and we know that maybe they should figure something else out when LaRoche come back.
Best case senario- Morse has much improved him LF defense, and Marrero shows hes ready for the MLB, and we can just put LaRoche at first next yeart ill he is traded.
I actualy like this idea alot, you get to see what you have in Marrero, you get to see if Morse can handle LF, injury wise and skill wise, and if all goes as planed you get to add a 25HR guy to the lineup at no cost till around July next year.
LET SEVERINO PITCH!
but isnt that just laynce nix?
He isn’t as split heavy as Nix is, but LaRoche’s bat isn’t that much of an improvement over a Gomes/Nix combo. Defensively yes, sure, but not sure that much is lost.
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!
but excluding defense is kind of a big deal
and saying that Gomes + Nix = LaRoche kind of says alot for LaRoche too. We just can’t forget about him because he was hurt this year
Whats the frequency, Kenneth?
Well thats not what I mean
and you can’t just randomly pick relationships. You need to measure the entire package that changes. Is Morse in LF and LaRoche at 1b that much better defensively than Gomes/Nix in LF and LaRoche at 1st.
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!
Sorry
Gomes/Nix in LF and MORSE at 1st
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!
well for one, that's assuming that they come back.
LaRoche is already going to be here. It’s not even like a long term commitment, I don’t know why everyone’s freaking out over it. It’s almost the same scenario with Marquis last year. I’d be surprised if LaRoche was still with the team at the end of next year too. It’s just for half a year, to get them both in the lineup. What we he even be around for if he was just reduced to Stairs’ role this year.
Whats the frequency, Kenneth?
Who cares
Theres no cap, that $8M wont be stoping anything if the learners spend like they say they will.
LET SEVERINO PITCH!
We're already going to be paying him that no matter what.
We can’t trade him; nobody will take him on until they see him healthy. And the only way to see him healthy is to play him. We can’t just make him and his money disappear. Not that his contract is the issue though
Whats the frequency, Kenneth?
Owners tend to have a problem grasping the concept of "sunk cost"
Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what i'm pondering?"
Pinky: "Yes, but isn't a cucumber that small called a gherkin?"
I think the Giants recognized that last year
with Aaron Rowand.
It took them a couple of years,
but better late than never. That’s pretty much the exception, though. This year they’ve stuck with Aubrey Huff, thinking he’ll find last year’s magic. Maybe the lucky red thong’s too tight…
Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what i'm pondering?"
Pinky: "Yes, but isn't a cucumber that small called a gherkin?"
If were gonna sign Fielder
that $8 million wont stop us. If we were the Pirates, than that would be different
LET SEVERINO PITCH!
Yes, but Gomes, and Nix wont be back unless they except Arb(if they have the choice)
Gomes and Nix are both good players, if you combine them to get LaRoche, that is saying good things about LaRoche
LET SEVERINO PITCH!
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