One quarter of the season is over. Three days ago, the Nationals were one game below .500, riding a three-game winning streak and sitting alone in second place in the NL East. Cause for celebration, right? Better than anyone expected this year, right?
Then two ugly losses in Miami feel like a bit of a gut punch. After winning two out of three from the Twins at home, we dropped two out of three to the Marlins. We now share a second-place 19-22 record with both the Marlins and the Phils. After a day off, we’ll take on the Reds in Cincinnati for a three-game set.
But, let’s talk about what has been going well. Everyone is stepping up to contribute — especially on offense. Last week, the team scored a season high 15 runs to beat the Twins. Abrams hit his second career grand slam and House, Tena and Millas each piled on with home runs. The next day, Ruiz carried the team in a 7-5 victory over the Twins, going 3 for 4 at the plate, including a home run, and recording 4 RBIs.
Then it was Jacob Young’s turn in Miami. He capped off the first inning with a 2-run home run to give the Nats a 3-0 lead after their first at bat. Luckily those were all the runs that were needed to seal the curly W.
The Saturday game looked promising to start. The Nationals took a 4-0 lead into the 4th inning. Mitchell Parker, who had been delivering workmanlike relief from the bullpen, came in later in the game and gave up 5 earned runs. But, our Nats fought back, scoring 3 runs in the top of the ninth — one too few to keep the game going — and Parker got the loss with a score of 8-7.
A similar tale unfolded on Sunday (happy belated Mother’s Day to all the mothers and mothering souls out there!). In the 8th inning, against Gus Varland, the Marlins broke a 2-2 tie by scoring three runs and ultimately winning 5-2.
On Saturday, the team recorded 2 errors, one leading to an unearned run and on Sunday the team recorded 1 error, which did not result in an unearned run. The Nationals still lead the league in errors, with an average of 0.95 per game. The next closest team has only 0.72 per game. More defensive drills needed? Changing positions for some of the players needed?
And, we all know that we need upgrades at pitching, both with starters and the bullpen. As a team, the Nationals give up the second most earned runs per game, at 4.8. Houston is first at 5.39. Offense is great but not for both teams.
The team is experimenting with using an opener more often. The opener –usually a relief pitcher — starts the game to face the opponent’s best hitters in the first inning, which is traditionally the highest-scoring inning. I will delve into that deeper in the next post. I’ll also check in on the status of the pitchers at AAA Rochester.
My tripping this week took me to India, where I visited the spectacular Taj Mahal. Out of respect for the solemnity of the location, I opted for dressier attire than Nats gear, but I sported the gear all over the rest of India. Was fun to see the jerseys of the India Premier League cricket teams while we were there.
Let’s be the envy of sports!
#thenatslady #theswarm
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