Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Nationals Win 6-5
Nationals finally end second half 1-run skid at 0-13, and are now 25-20, and 1-13 in 1-run games in the second half. Nationals barely beat the Astros 6-5 and move to just one game back in the Wild Card race.
Good thing I do not rely solely on the Washington Times for my Nationals news, as the game was too "Late" for them to print what happened (I don’t have access to the internet in the morning on the way to work, so I can’t follow the Times instructions and go on-line for the results). Good old Washington Post, without them I wouldn’t instantly know the results of the game this morning. By the way, do we, as in we in the Washington DC area, have a local sports radio station? The Nationals games are on 1050 AM, which is literally impossible to hear in a car exiting RFK stadium (maybe it’s the car), and 104.1 FM, which does not always carry the game, even if it says it will in the newspaper. 1050 AM otherwise carries Federal news, and 104.1 FM otherwise carries music, so you can’t turn to them for local sporting news. 980 AM is a sports channel, but not a local sports channel. Some guy was screaming about Chad Penniton (however that’s spelled) on 980AM while I was driving to the metro station (I believe the station is affiliated with ESPN). I do not currently subscribe to the Washington Post, but I believe that I’m going to have to do so just to find out about the Nationals in the morning.
Ok, after that little rant, I’ll actually read the Washington Post recap by Barry Svrluga titled: "Nats Get Grand Coming Out: With HR, Rookie Sparks Needed Win" (note, print edition title and on-line title are different, unfortunately I do not have time to read the on-line version, so I hope that it is the same). Svrluga starts off by pointing out that the 23 year-old man wearing 00 on his jersey, Watson, started the year in AA Harisburg, and in just five short months later, he is "wearing a Nationals uniform leading off in his first big league game." Nationals won by hitting the long ball, four home-runs by Wilkerson, Schneider (yes, he is back in the line-up), Castilla, and Watson beat the Astros. Though, the Nationals had "to overcome a two-run error by shortstop Cristian [boo] Guzman" to win the game. The error brought the Astros into the game, just one run back "after they had trailed by five" runs.
Patterson only lasted 5 2/3 innings, but the Nationals offense came through for him and he picked up his sixth win, and is now 6-3. Cordero closed out the game, and picked up his major-league leading 37th save.
Oddly not mentioned in the Surluga article (though mentioned in the Nationals Notebook on another page) is the very important news that Schneider has finally returned to the line-up after being out for five games. I’m sure Bennett could use the rest.
Last Night’s Winning Line-Up:
Watson LF 2 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R .400
Vidro 2B 1 for 4, 1 RBI .263
Johnson 1B 0 for 2, 3 BB, .316
Castilla 3B 1 for 5, 1 HR (8), 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 SO .242
Wilkerson CF 1 for 2, 1 HR (8), 1 RBI, 2 BB, .258
Wilson RF 0 for 4, 3 SO .252
Schneider C 2 for 3, 1 HR (8), 1 RBI (31), 1 R, 1 BB .288
Guzman SS 0 for 4, 2 SO .188
Patterson P 1 for 2, 1 R .054
Nationals.com recap. ESPN.com recap, box score.
Tonight:
Livan Hernandez (13-4, 3.37) vs. Wandy Rodriquez (6-5, 6.11)
Nationals.com preview.
Thursday:
Skipping Armas, Ryan Drese (3-5, 4.29) vs. Andy Pettitte (908, 2.64)
Friday:
Nationals head to Denver and
Loaiza (6-8, 3.63) vs. Wright (6-12, 5.90)
NL East:
Atlanta Won
Nationals 5 ½ back, won
Philies 6 Back, won
Marlins 6 ½ back, won
Mets 7 1/2 back, lost
Good thing I do not rely solely on the Washington Times for my Nationals news, as the game was too "Late" for them to print what happened (I don’t have access to the internet in the morning on the way to work, so I can’t follow the Times instructions and go on-line for the results). Good old Washington Post, without them I wouldn’t instantly know the results of the game this morning. By the way, do we, as in we in the Washington DC area, have a local sports radio station? The Nationals games are on 1050 AM, which is literally impossible to hear in a car exiting RFK stadium (maybe it’s the car), and 104.1 FM, which does not always carry the game, even if it says it will in the newspaper. 1050 AM otherwise carries Federal news, and 104.1 FM otherwise carries music, so you can’t turn to them for local sporting news. 980 AM is a sports channel, but not a local sports channel. Some guy was screaming about Chad Penniton (however that’s spelled) on 980AM while I was driving to the metro station (I believe the station is affiliated with ESPN). I do not currently subscribe to the Washington Post, but I believe that I’m going to have to do so just to find out about the Nationals in the morning.
Ok, after that little rant, I’ll actually read the Washington Post recap by Barry Svrluga titled: "Nats Get Grand Coming Out: With HR, Rookie Sparks Needed Win" (note, print edition title and on-line title are different, unfortunately I do not have time to read the on-line version, so I hope that it is the same). Svrluga starts off by pointing out that the 23 year-old man wearing 00 on his jersey, Watson, started the year in AA Harisburg, and in just five short months later, he is "wearing a Nationals uniform leading off in his first big league game." Nationals won by hitting the long ball, four home-runs by Wilkerson, Schneider (yes, he is back in the line-up), Castilla, and Watson beat the Astros. Though, the Nationals had "to overcome a two-run error by shortstop Cristian [boo] Guzman" to win the game. The error brought the Astros into the game, just one run back "after they had trailed by five" runs.
Patterson only lasted 5 2/3 innings, but the Nationals offense came through for him and he picked up his sixth win, and is now 6-3. Cordero closed out the game, and picked up his major-league leading 37th save.
Oddly not mentioned in the Surluga article (though mentioned in the Nationals Notebook on another page) is the very important news that Schneider has finally returned to the line-up after being out for five games. I’m sure Bennett could use the rest.
Last Night’s Winning Line-Up:
Watson LF 2 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R .400
Vidro 2B 1 for 4, 1 RBI .263
Johnson 1B 0 for 2, 3 BB, .316
Castilla 3B 1 for 5, 1 HR (8), 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 SO .242
Wilkerson CF 1 for 2, 1 HR (8), 1 RBI, 2 BB, .258
Wilson RF 0 for 4, 3 SO .252
Schneider C 2 for 3, 1 HR (8), 1 RBI (31), 1 R, 1 BB .288
Guzman SS 0 for 4, 2 SO .188
Patterson P 1 for 2, 1 R .054
Nationals.com recap. ESPN.com recap, box score.
Tonight:
Livan Hernandez (13-4, 3.37) vs. Wandy Rodriquez (6-5, 6.11)
Nationals.com preview.
Thursday:
Skipping Armas, Ryan Drese (3-5, 4.29) vs. Andy Pettitte (908, 2.64)
Friday:
Nationals head to Denver and
Loaiza (6-8, 3.63) vs. Wright (6-12, 5.90)
NL East:
Atlanta Won
Nationals 5 ½ back, won
Philies 6 Back, won
Marlins 6 ½ back, won
Mets 7 1/2 back, lost
