Another nice win

After a weekend of nail biters, loud fans and walk-off wins against the dreaded Phillies, things returned to 'normal' last night as our hometown Nationals calmly defeated the somehow-in-first place Diamondbacks 4-1.  It was a relatively ho-hum, by-the-book night of pitching, an excellent start from emerging lefty Ross Detwiler, defense, Ryan Zimmerman making 3 stellar plays, and timely hitting by Jayson Werth, whose three-run homer sealed Detwiler's win.

It was also a tidy game, as the Nats won in about 2 and half hours. It seems like every game Evan and I attend the Nats win and the game is quick (almost always 2 and half hour with not many walks or dead time).  Hard to beat.

Their recent streak - centered around Zimmerman's hot hitting and some nice found-money pitching from Detwiler and Chien-Ming Wang among others - have the Nats only 2 games under .500 at 62-64.  Washington has to merely go 19 and 17 the rest of the way to finish at 81 and 81. 

That is certainly doable since our Nats play 19 of those games in Washington.  Best of all, it's not exactly a Murderers Row of teams coming to South Capital Street, either.  We've got home stands coming up against the fourth-place Mets (3 games), fifth-place Dodgers (4 games), sixth-place Astros (3 games), and fifth-place Marlins (3). The only good teams we play are 3 more this week versus the Diamondbacks and 3 games in September versus the Braves. Assuming we win each series against the bad teams - not sweep, just win - and split the six versus the good ones, that get us 12 curly Ws.

On the road, the Nationals go to Cincinnati for 3, Atlanta for 3, Philly for 4, New York for 4 and Florida for 3. I feel good about splitting with Philly and the Mets, and not getting swept in any of the others so that gives us at least 7 road wins.

For a final total of - ta da! - 19 wins to close out the season, and a very satisfying 81 and 81 mark for 2011.  

Waiting for . . .

As some of you know, Evan has a blog called Waiting for 2012.  But recently the August 8th SweetSpot blog by David Schoenfield looked at a possible Nationals line up in 2013: 

2B Anthony Rendon
RF Jayson Werth
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Prince Fielder
LF Mike Morse
CF Bryce Harper
SS Danny Espinosa
C Wilson Ramos
 

Of course, the big news here is Fielder, news since everyone knows we are signing Pujols this winter (of course, Mike Rizzo will in reality sign whoever Scott Boras tells us to).  Espinosa to short stop is not news; he's historically been a short stop and assumes Rendon develops as expected and therefore pushes Desmond off the field.

The semi-big news is Harper in center field.  We know Werth has to stay in one of the corner outfield spots for the next 6 seasons, and Morse's emergence means he gets a corner too, so Harper gets center.  That issue will actually get settled this winter as the Nats are expected to sign a center fielder, with Morse moving to 1B in 2013 after LaRoche's contract expires.  So a more likely 2013 line up is:

CF Free agent 
2B Rendon
3B Zimmerman
1B Morse
RF Werth
LF Harper
SS Espinosa
C Ramos


I'd take either one, frankly.

In terms of pitching, it's exciting to think about Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, John Lannan, Detwiler, and someone like Brad Peacock (who'll get a call up soon; nice bit on him from Baseball America here) in 2012 or 2013. Add Tyler Clippard, Colin Balester, Ryan Matheus, Henry Rodriguez and Drew Storen and you have a legit, big-league staff.

So 81wins this year, between 85 and 90 in 2012, and who knows the limit in 2013!  Go Nats!

Why We LOVE Sports

Last night's incredible come-from-behind 8-4 win by the Nationals, capped off by Ryan Zimmerman's dizzying 2-out, full-count, bottom of the ninth, half-past midnight, against the hated Phillies and their fanatics blast was out of this world!  I urge everyone to check out the video, especially Charlie Slowes' radio call that starts at the 35-second mark.

Unbelievable!

Everything about the night was unbelievable.

1. I can't believe it was actually played.  It rained HARD for an hour and half, but the grounds crew did a great job taking care of the field.  And I NEVER gave much thought to this before, but the field at Nats Park really drains well! 
2. And kudos to Evan, for doggedly believing that they would play, and that the Nats would eventually win.
3. On a bad note, it was depressing and unbelievable how many Phillies fans were in the our house.  The ratio was at least 4-1, obnoxious fans to local and loyal fans.  Of course, that made screaming 'Go back to Philly!' that much sweeter after Zim's blast.
4. Also unbelievable, how sooooooo many Phillies fans bought tickets in right field just to heckle Jayson Werth.  Those sections were sold out last night. He may be worthless to us and them, but fans who buy a ticket just to be ass holes are below worthless.  Those folks have got to be the most pathetic fans in sports.  
5. Zim's unbelievable blast got the attention it deserved but it was a great team win by the Nationals over the best team in the National League.   Tom Gorzelanny and Sean Burnett were fantastic in holding down the fort and pitching 4 scoreless innings against the Philllies' lefty-heavy line up. 
6. Before Zim stepped up Johnny Gomes and Ian Desmond rapped RBI singles, Desmond's with 2 strikes.
7. Finally, kudos to Werth for getting the comeback started.  The former Phillies player fell behind 0-2 against Philadelphia closer Ryan Madson, but fought back during the 11-pitch at bat to stroke a single to left to start the rally.  Unbelievable.

Simply an unbelievable and exhilarating night at the ball park.  A night capped off by a grand slam - AND lots of cheering, hollering, smiling, high-fiving Evan and strangers alike, and overall happiness. 

That's why we like sports.  Where else do you go to smile and high-five strangers?  Where else to you go to CHEER?  GO NATS!