So real quick : Too little, too late.
It's nice to sweep, especially the Phillies (for some of us, honestly I harbor no ill will toward the Phillies) but the Nats are still behind the 8-ball. I know I said no playoff talk until .500 but a quick note is not really talking is it? Noting, that's all. Anyway the Nats swept the Phils and made up one game on the Reds (and one on the Braves for that matter). Again we'll revisit this if (when) the Nats get to .500. 3 more games perhaps?
Last night's game wasn't what you want to see if you are a Nats fan - bunch of singles really (3 walks, no XBH). But the previous 2 had the walks, and the XBH (11 of each in the 2 games) That's the offense that would will a bunch of games. This is the way it's supposed to work. Desmond and Ramos have 3 straight multi-hit games, that makes up for the slumping Bryce (1 hit in series). And the slumping Bryce still got 2 walks which turns a hideous series into merely a bad one.
We'll see what happens now. If NatsEnquirer and his Back to the Future esque Sports Almanac is right, you got 12 more wins left. (why is he using it for Twitter predictions and not gambling? You saw what happened to Biff didn't you? What an empty existence he was leading)
I kinda liked Biff's life. Better than it was before stealing the almanac.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the sweep. Won't matter much in the end, but at least it keeps the quest for .500 alive.
I'll take the sweep because it's the Phillies at Nats Park. I still have a special disdain for the Phillies, and I enjoyed beating up on them with the back of the rotation.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was thoroughly enjoyable to see Jayson Werth hit a homer against the Phillies to get his 1,000th career hit. And Strasburg's first career complete game was nice to see.
At least these things leave us with something worth remembering about this season.
Good for a night of half-off Papa Johns. Two if you wanted them. Which is better than they had been going. Right now it's just a matter of evaluating people for next year, anyhow. But at least a sweep's good, and Strasburg put on a SHOW yesterday. Only thing I'd worry about is that he was up in 2-0 counts a lot. Played through some pain, went through 9. Good show.
ReplyDeleteSince May 1st, Bryce is hitting 228with 8 HR. Yikes. Perhaps as you posted earlier this is injury related. If not, 2014 may not be much better. I still think this team would do well to finish with 85 wins.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, it's good to sweep the Phillies and their nasty fans. We were sitting in the midst of a few them yesterday...barley heard a peep out of them. Woo Hoo.
ReplyDeleteHarper, I get you and the XBHs, but it was really good to see them just keep the line moving. I nearly fell out of my seat when Span lead off the game with a hard hit single. He was 2/5 with no Ks! Everyone was hitting yesterday, except Bryce and ALR. At least they both got walks.
And... Strasburg was simply awesome. Certainly his best game this year, and I think one of his best all time.
To get the 15 wins, they would have to sweep the Braves in Atlanta... what do you think the odds are of that???
I know what you meant Harper but I disagree...last night was EXACTly what I wanted to see as a Nats fan. Strasburg pitching a complete game shutout on 99 pitches, 10K's, and 6 runs all on singles, bunts, stolen bases and heads up baserunning(Desmond). If these are the new Nats, I'll take em!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun series to attend. Besides the fact that the Werth hating, Maryland trailerpark based, extra wide buttock toting Phillies fans were shut the heck up nicely, we played uncharacteristically(for this season) good ball all three games. And we saw Werth hit his 1000 career hit, and Stras' first complete game.
Loved the new guy Roark (RowArk) too!
Agree with Froggy - last night was exactly what I wanted to see. I've given up on the playoffs and am just enjoying the season one game at a time. And a great weekend for that - Jayson Werth's incredible 1000th hit and then Strasburg's first shutout. Against the Phillies. What's not to love?
ReplyDeletePlease don't mention playoffs or wildcards or anything until the Nats are over .500 and the Reds have inflicted some wounds upon themselves. It's not important because it is very unlikely and there's no need to think about it at this point. It's baseball for baseball's sake again. Just enjoy the good stories, like Strasburg, #WerthIt, and Ro-ark.
I gotta admit that I am shocked by Werth's hitting this year. I thought he might be the worst regular on the team. Oops. LaRoche would have been my second guess, then Ramos.
I was almost surprised that Harper and Werth didn't go for a full-on hug, but this ain't the Braves, I guess.
I was just reading we haven't swept the Phillies since 2003! This was one of the best baseball weekends this year!
ReplyDeleteOh... and for all those Strasburg hating Braves fans that think he is over-rated- he's 6-9 on the year, but is 8th in ERA, 5th in Ks, and 6th in WHIP in the NL!
11th in ERA in MLB!
I have a certain amount of Phillies disdain, based on the facts that:
ReplyDelete1) They're a divisional rival.
2) I absolutely want the Nats to at least finish in second place.
3) Amaro's insistence that his team was still in contention and that they weren't going to sell at the deadline annoys me just on general principles. Fans can have that kind of delusion, it's why we're fans. Baseball executives should not be hanging on to Michael Young if there's the possibility that other executives are dumb enough to give something of value for him.
I save my real rival-team rancor for the Braves, though.
I'm resigned to not making the playoffs this year, but deep down, I can't help but fantasize about what would happen if the Nats got really hot. Would be amazing to end the year on a tear and get to face the Cardinals in a one-game playoff with Strasburg on the mound.
ReplyDelete"Would be amazing to end the year on a tear and get to face the Cardinals in a one-game playoff with Strasburg on the mound."
ReplyDeleteOh lord, don't say things like that. I was just settling into the mediocrity, such that I could be happy with the little things, and then you go and put hope out there.
I will not stand for it, I tell you. No playoff talk until we're over .500 and within 5 of a spot.
@Chaz R - I read that (first sweep since '03) on ESPN also, but that 4-game sweep in Philadelphia in September of '11 is still fresh in my mind. Guess not in ESPN's.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Anon (is this our token friendly Braves fan?). I just went and checked that, we did sweep the Phillies in September 2011. Detwiler, Lannan, and Gorzo got 3 of the wins. Storen had 2 saves, and H-Rod had a save! Good grief... that WAS truly amazing.
ReplyDelete@Chaz R
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, Braves fans aren't the ones who think Strasburg is overrated. It's our own fans; the very same ones who were/are convinced that Zimmermann's first half was: (a) sustainable, and (b) tangible proof of his preeminence in the rotation. Those types notwithstanding, I think pretty much everyone recognizes that Strasburg's abilities are truly elite. Braves fans have watched enough baseball through the years to know that they'd rather face anyone else in our rotation over him.
It may be too little too late but I still enjoy watching my team play. It is what it is.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to point out an interesting stat:
ReplyDeleteAmongst teams with negative run differentials (there are 16 of them), the Nats have the second best overall record (behind the Yankees, with the same -23 run diff).
What does that say? I don't know. We do the little things well, but the big things poorly? We have very good pitching? Or only that we tend to be on the winning side of close games and the losing side of blowouts? I tend to believe the latter.
Interesting question that I'm sure someone more inclined than I can answer: How much of our negative run differential can be specifically attributed to games in which Dan Haren pitched?
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just asking for the Nats' run differential in all Haren-pitched games. I feel like it has to be pretty bad, but then my memory is clouded by that first game he pitched against Cincinnati.
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