Washington Nationals' Ross Detwiler Knocked Around, New York Mets' 7-3 Win Drops Nats Ten Games Under .500.
by Patrick Reddington on Sep 2, 2011 10:09 PM EDT
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• Nation's Capital Top 5:
5. Wright's 1st: Nats' starter Ross Detwiler jams Jose Reyes with a two-strike fastball inside but the resultant grounder dribbles by the mound and rolls too far toward first for the 25-year-old left-hander to make the play. Infield single for Reyes. Justin Turner takes a 1-0 sinker to left for a line drive single to put the first two runners on, and one out later, on another 1-0 pitch, this one to David Wright, Detwiler gives up a blast that puts the Mets up 3-0 early when the New York third basemann sends it sailing out to left-center into the Red Porch seats for his 12th HR of the year and his first in 140 career plate appearances in Nationals Park. R.A. Dickey surrenders a one-out double to right by Rick Ankiel and one out later the Mets' knuckler gives up an RBI single over second by Michael Morse, who drives in the Nats first run of the night to make it 3-1 New York after one in Washington...
4. No More 1-0!!: Mets' first baseman Nick Evans gets hold of another 1-0 pitch from Ross Detwiler and this one ends up in the visitor's bullpen in left. Michael Morse takes a few steps toward the track then turns back. Solo shot, 4-1 New York. Chris Marrero takes R.A. Dickey's first pitch of the second back up the middle for a leadoff single and Wilson Ramos drops a single into short-center. The Mets' knuckler buckles down, however, retiring the next three batters in order to strand both runners and preserve New York's three-run lead through two. In the top of the third, Ross Detwiler gets up 0-2 on Lucas Duda and hangs a curve that's drilled to right for a single, and David Wright's down 0-2 when he lines a double to left. Detwiler breaks Angel Pagan's bat, but the Mets' outfielder's bloop single drops into center for a two-run single and a 6-1 New York lead.
3. Quick Hook, 9-3: Ross Detwiler's done after 3.0 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 2 K's, 2 HR's, 48 pitches, 34 strikes. Didn't have it tonight. Nats' right-hander Collin Balester throws a quick 8-pitch 1-2-3 fourth against New York, and after Washington wastes a leadoff single by Jayson Werth in the bottom of the frame, Bally's back on the mound in Nats Park and he gives up a one-out walk to David Wright. Angel Pagan flies to right and Wright must think it's gone because he goes too far around second and gets doubled up at first on a strong throw in from the track in right by Jayson Werth. 9-3 putout. And it gets the Nats going...
2. The Arm Goes Yard: Ian Desmond strokes what looks like a double to the right-center gap in the Nats' fifth, but he's thinking triple out of the box and he takes it. Desi beats the throw in from right to third, and then takes it easy on the way home courtesy of Rick Ankiel's oppo-boppo-blast to left and into the visitor's bullpen. Ankiel jacks a 3-1 fastball to left-center to get the Nats within three. 6-3 Mets after five. Collin Balester completes a third scoreless frame and after 3.0 IP in relief and 33 pitches, he's kept the Nats close enough if the offense can come back.
1. Dunn Country: Collin Balester had 3.2 scoreless before he threw a 1-0 fastball inside to Lucas Duda in the 7th. The Mets' power-hitting right fielder hits one into the second-deck in right, up into Dunn Country. The fan who caught that had no right expecting a HR ball. 7-3 NY after six and a half. Duda's 8th. The Mets' 3rd HR tonight. Brian Bixler singles to start the Nats' half of the seventh and knock R.A. Dickey out of the game. Tim Byrdak strikes Ian Desmond and Rick Ankiel out and he's replaced by Ryota Igarashi, who gives up a single to Zim but strikes out Michael Morse with a full-count splitter to end the inning. Still 7-3 NY.
0. Three-Straight: Mets' rookie Josh Stinson makes his MLB debut with a scoreless eighth in which he strikes out two Nats' batters. Still 7-3 Mets after eight. Henry Rodriguez throws a scoreless top of the ninth, with a four-pitch walk to the Mets' rookie hurler the only blemish. Alex Cora singles to start the Nats' ninth, but Roger Bernadina grounds into a double play in his first at bat after being recalled this afternoon. Two down, but Ian Desmond keeps the inning alive with a two-out single that knocks Stinson out. Daniel Ray Herrera comes on to get the last out and strikes Jonny Gomes out to end it. Swinging K. Mets win, 7-3 final. Nats drop to 10 games under .500...
• Miss The Game? So did most of the DC Faithful...Some Were Watching Though...
• Doghouse's Post Game WPA Graph: "Game 136: Friday Fireworks? UR DOIN IT RONG!":
- I see a rotation spot for Peacock: Ross Detwiler (-39.7%) coughs up 6 ER in only 3 IP.
- Such heroism as we have: Rick Ankiel (+7.2%) is 2-4 with a double and a two-run shot in the 5th to get the Nats within 3 (+7.0%).
- Bounce back? Collin Balester (+1.0%) pitches 4 innings after Det's collapse, giving up only 1 ER, striking out two and walking one.
Nationals now 63-73.
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Just got home from Nationals Park…. to sum it up, that was brutal.
Rocky: I see three of him out there!
Paulie: Hit the one in the middle.
just got home from work and Night 1 of improv hilarity ............that and this game was like double root canals...
it sure is getting hard waiting for Detwiler to not do this regularly…
"It seems to me that DJ doesn't understand using his players to their strengths,
He only knows what strengths he wants his players to have." -by RobBobS on Aug 24, 2011
by cat daddy3000 on Sep 3, 2011 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Root canals are NO fun...two in one night...AWFUL!
I WANT to feel good about Det and have hope for him, but he’s getting into Mock territory for me.
It’s getting clearer and clearer that the team..and Rizzo and DJ have quit on the season. Not much fun for the fans.
Hey, Rizzo: It’s past time to field a REAL competitive MLB team.
"player development" should not be gladiator games. by cat daddy3000 on Aug 6, 2011
Actually, DJ has not quit on the season
He was quoted in the paper today as saying that having his young guys establish themselves as everyday players is going to be his yardstick for September. Whether that is “quitting on the season” I guess depends on how you define it. For me, I’d rather that the Nationals (whoever is managing) start working in the kids than the Riggleman “play the vets in September to honor the pennant races” philosophy.
I define quitting as no longer going all-out to win today's game
…you know, the game that you and I just paid good money to see. Yeah, that one. Not some distant game to be played sometime in 2012 or 2013 – no sir, today’s game.
But all we get in the post-games are alibis and those damn infuriating shoulder shrugs.
Blew one in April/May? Well [shrug], it’s early in the season [shrug]. It’s not like football; we play 162 games [shrug].
Tossed in a stinker in late August/September? Well [shrug] we’re not going to the playoffs y’know [shrug] so we gotta think about the future, look at the kids [shrug].
That leaves about 90 or so games in the middle of the season that we are actually trying to win – like the Mets did last night. Notice their pitching changes? Johnny and FP were astonished. “Wow, you’d think these guys were in a pennant race.” Their implication was clear: ridiculous; absurd; what can they be thinking, playing so hard to win?
Every loss is hateful, and every loss remains as a permanent stain on your record. Call me crazy, but that’s how I have always approached the ballpark. When I find out I’m paying money to see a team that doesn’t feel that way, I start to think I’m being had.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
But would you rather have in a penate race, guys coming up with ML expierence in the case of injuries
or complete unknowns?
LET SEVERINO PITCH!
There's such a thing as winning a battle and losing a war
I remember reading that Mickey Mantle’s career might have been longer if he had taken better care of himself … but also that Johnny Keane (Manager of the Yankees in the mid 60’s), every time Mickey came up lame, Keane would basically guilt him into playing that day (“we really need you in there,” etc). And the injury would never heal and often would get worse until Mantle really missed time, and may well have further shortened his career. A baseball team that plays with the “losing is like dying” mentality of George Allen (Sr) would burn itself out.
This isn’t a player injury, but it’s the same principle. Winning individual games should not be the goal of this organization. Winning championships is what should be. They cannot win one this year. So now, it’s audition time. Heck, I picked up tickets for a couple of games in September from my group not on the theory that the Nationals would be playing for the Wild Card, but to look at the kids – Strasburg coming back, maybe even Harper coming up! It didn’t work – I got tickets for the 9th and 17th, Stras is scheduled to pitch the 6th, 11th and 16th, and Harper didn’t play his way to the majors at 18. But I knew what I was in for. I’ve actually picked up more tickets for two more games this month, and possibly others as well.
Was Espinosa better this year for having a taste of the majors last year? I’d say yes – and I would definitely say that because the Nationals were able to see something they liked in him and made him the starting second baseman this year, the team is better for that. Was Zimmerman better in 2006 because he got a taste of the majors in 2005? The Nationals are better for it. And while they may win one or two more games this year if they pitch Livan instead of Peacock or Milone, play Desmond or Espinosa every day instead of giving Lombardozzi a chance to play, or play Nix and Gomes instead of Marrero, it’s actually going to hurt them next year.
Taking the short view instead of the long view is almost always counterproductive over time; just ask GM. Or Texas Instruments. Or Sony. If the team goes 10-18 in September instead of 14-14 because the Nationals want to see more of what they have in Peacock, Milone, Marrero, Lombardozzi, Detwiler and Balester than they do in Livan, Gorzelanny, Nix, Gomes, etc., I’m all for it. Because what would really make me feel like I was being had would be rooting for an organization that valued PR over the chances of winning a championship. And I’m a Redskins’ fan, so I know whereof I speak …
by d_c_guy on Sep 3, 2011 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
agree, though i reserve my right to be PO'd when they lose
by TJL on Sep 3, 2011 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Especially when I'm sitting in a section full of jubilant Mets fans.
Rocky: I see three of him out there!
Paulie: Hit the one in the middle.
"Every loss is hateful"
You can’t go in with that attitude. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. The very best teams in the league will lose at least sixty times. They can’t, and don’t, dwell on the losses.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
by RobBobS on Sep 3, 2011 6:42 PM EDT via iPhone app up reply actions
So the point is to be a good loser? I don't know how to respond to you.
If winning isn’t everything, why analyze statistics? Hell, why even keep score?
Know what makes a good loser? Practice.
Damn right every loss is hateful. Marthoners hate to lose as much as sprinters. Checker-players hate to lose. Competitive-eaters hate to lose. I wouldn’t give a damn for a man who looses and laughs about it.
But you revert to a strawman argument yet again: I never said, or implied,that we will win every game; I merely insist that we TRY to win every game. Pursue perfection. You won’t attain it, but you will catch excellence on the way. You say I can’t go in with such an attitude? Sorry…no, I ain’t sorry: it’s the only attitude I know.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
"Mock territory"
This makes me sad. But just wait. He’ll show you! He’ll show you all!!!
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
by RobBobS on Sep 3, 2011 6:39 PM EDT via iPhone app up reply actions
Let's leave King Pyrrhus out of this
He didn’t lose the war by winning battles; he lost for the same reason everybody else losses a war: he ran out of stuff before the other guy did.
As for the Mick, was a 19-year-old rookie when he destroyed his knee in the 1951 World Series. He went on to play 17 seasons (!) on that bad knee; in constant pain, he won three MVPs, hit over 500 homers, stole bases, drag-bunted, and played 12,000 innings in center field. No wonder he drank.
And he never axed to sit. BITD everybody played hurt. There was no sports medicine, let along reconstructive surgery. DiMaggio played hurt much of his career too (and smoked a Chesterfield with half a cuppa coffee between every inning). Nobody cajoled Mantle into playing. He played because he was a champion.
George Allen Sr? Yeah, his “losing is like dying mentality” was pretty f’n up alright. After 12 seasons in the NFL without ever having a losing seasons, turning around the Rams, then the Redskins, what did he ever prove?
Winning is a habit. We don’t have it, and as long as we continue to rationalize losing, we never will.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" - Earl Weaver
You play every game to win; the GOAL is to win championships
In a season where the team is eliminated from winning championships (see, e.g., Nationals 2011), the goal of winning championships is not best served by playing fading veterans who won’t be on the team when it is possible to win a championship (i.e., 2012). Playing Livo, Gomes, Nix, Cora or probably even Pudge is not helping that goal. Play the players that might help when you have the chance at winning, let them cut their teeth on big league ball, and temper the instrument that has chance to win a championship – the 2012 Nationals. Playing the fading vets may get you a win or three down the line in 2011, but those wins mean nothing when your goal is a championship.
The “losing is like dying” mentality works well for a sport like football, played on adrenaline and emotion with one game a week. As Jim Bouton once observed, if a baseball player got that amped up for a baseball game, he’d go to the plate and swing hard – and miss. Baseball is a six month, 162 game grind. I’m not saying George Allen type coach can’t succeed – but that such a coach doesn’t succeed in baseball.
You seem to have this idea that anyone that disagrees with this point is “OK with losing,” a “good loser” or some such foolishness. Horse nostrils. Every player in the game is giving his all, and the manager and GM are trying to put the players in position to win every game they can – while serving the overall goal of winning a championship.
Here’s an analogy that might help – the primary purpose of a minor league system isn’t to win championships; it’s to produce impact big league talent. If they can win championships along the way, all the better – it’s nice for players to experience pennant pressure on a small stage, etc. But a successful minor league team isn’t one that wins minor league titles, it’s the one that produces ML talent (perhaps winning championships along the way). The Yankees fell into this trap under George Steinbrenner – he would constantly hang onto AAAA players (etc) and be able to brag about the system because of the number of playoffs they made and titles they won. That was great for the fans in Syracuse or Columbus (both stops for the Yankees’ AAA teams), but it didn’t help the Yankees win championships through the 80’s and early 90’s. When Cashman revamped the system towards producing talented ballplayers, the Yankees late 90’s dynasty was created. When George got involved again, the system fell apart again until ill health took him out of the picture. Right now the Nationals are in a position analogous to a minor league team – they can’t win a major league championship, but they can help their organization build talent that can move the team closer to doing so when they are next eligible – which won’t be until 2012 at the earliest.
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