Thursday, April 13, 2006
Game #9, Nationals lose close contest
Still waiting for new owners to be announced. Slows, no stops my desire to blog about the team.
Game 9, or HomeGame 2, was a tough pitching duel between Pedro Martinez and Tony Armas Jr. Entering the game I knew two important facts. Armas had the better ERA for the season entering the game, and Martinez is a much higher quality pitcher than Armas. Oh, and a third fact is that Armas and Martinez were involved in a trade between Boston and Montreal. Unlike the somewhat unhelpful “traded for each other” comment heard on the radio, Armas was the player to be named later part of the trade deal, and it was more of a Pavano plus player to be named later for Martinez.
Right, the game. Armas pitched six solid innings, but gave up two runs. Martinez pitched seven solid innings and gave up just one run. Zero-zero tie for the first three quick innings, but then Wright tripled to open the fourth inning, off of some somewhat sloppy outfield work. Wright immediately scored off of a single by the second batter of the inning, Floyd. Armas worked his magic, and that was the end of the scoring for the Mets in that inning. Bottom of the fourth inning: Watson leads off with a fly out (what was with all the Nationals batters trying to hit deep almost home-runs to roughly 400 feet from home-plate to center)? Vidro made up for the slight fielding miscalculations of his teammates by hitting a homer to right (anywhere else in the park, and that would have been a long out). Unfortunately, despite loading the bases with zero out in the bottom of the sixth, that was all the runs that the Nationals would be able to score. The Mets added another run off of Armas in the top of the fifth off of a Delgado double that scored Beltran with two out in the inning. Mets took the lead 2-1 and held the rest of the way, adding an insurance run in the seventh by scoring a run off of relief pitcher Felix Rodriguez.
The Mets are now 6-1 and in first place, and the Nationals are now 2-7, and barely holding on to fourth place (though they have the same number of wins as the third place Phillies).
ESPN recap, box score, play-by-play. Washington Post report on the game, Dave Sheinin notes that Martinez, when in a tight spot with the bases loaded and no outs, added some speed to his pitches and moved them up from their more normal 84-85 mph range up to 90-91 mph. Washington Times report on the game, Thom Loverro recaps the game and looks back at how great the Montreal franchise was, at least in the players (just the one mentioned) the team was able to acquire (i.e., Martinez from LA Dodgers). CBS Sportsline recap. Fox Sports recap.
Today: Nationals fall to 2-8? or Move to 3-7?
Livan Hernandez faces off with Victor Zambrano, who has yet to pitch this year (stats go back to 2001, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with whom he played from 2001-2004, when he moved over to the NY Mets and played for them from part of the 2004 season until today. Career: 44-39, 4.38 ERA). Nationals.com game preview.
Minor Leagues
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs are currently 6-1.
Players of note:
Ryan Church: in 7 games and 23 AB, Church is hitting .130, with an OBP of .259.
Kenny Kelly: in 4 games and 18 AB, Kelly is hitting .278, with an OBP of .316.
Team Roster and Stats.
AA Harisburg Senators: Currently 6-1 (tied for first).
Home-opener today.
Team Roster and stats.
A Potomac Nationals: Currently 3-4.
Team Roster and Stats.
A Savannah Sand Gnats: Currently 6-3 (tied for fourth place).
Team Roster and stats (didn't see them).
A Vermont Lake Monsters & GCL Nationals: Season starts June 20th.
---Oops, Tonight? Why did I write tonight before?-----
Game 9, or HomeGame 2, was a tough pitching duel between Pedro Martinez and Tony Armas Jr. Entering the game I knew two important facts. Armas had the better ERA for the season entering the game, and Martinez is a much higher quality pitcher than Armas. Oh, and a third fact is that Armas and Martinez were involved in a trade between Boston and Montreal. Unlike the somewhat unhelpful “traded for each other” comment heard on the radio, Armas was the player to be named later part of the trade deal, and it was more of a Pavano plus player to be named later for Martinez.
Right, the game. Armas pitched six solid innings, but gave up two runs. Martinez pitched seven solid innings and gave up just one run. Zero-zero tie for the first three quick innings, but then Wright tripled to open the fourth inning, off of some somewhat sloppy outfield work. Wright immediately scored off of a single by the second batter of the inning, Floyd. Armas worked his magic, and that was the end of the scoring for the Mets in that inning. Bottom of the fourth inning: Watson leads off with a fly out (what was with all the Nationals batters trying to hit deep almost home-runs to roughly 400 feet from home-plate to center)? Vidro made up for the slight fielding miscalculations of his teammates by hitting a homer to right (anywhere else in the park, and that would have been a long out). Unfortunately, despite loading the bases with zero out in the bottom of the sixth, that was all the runs that the Nationals would be able to score. The Mets added another run off of Armas in the top of the fifth off of a Delgado double that scored Beltran with two out in the inning. Mets took the lead 2-1 and held the rest of the way, adding an insurance run in the seventh by scoring a run off of relief pitcher Felix Rodriguez.
The Mets are now 6-1 and in first place, and the Nationals are now 2-7, and barely holding on to fourth place (though they have the same number of wins as the third place Phillies).
ESPN recap, box score, play-by-play. Washington Post report on the game, Dave Sheinin notes that Martinez, when in a tight spot with the bases loaded and no outs, added some speed to his pitches and moved them up from their more normal 84-85 mph range up to 90-91 mph. Washington Times report on the game, Thom Loverro recaps the game and looks back at how great the Montreal franchise was, at least in the players (just the one mentioned) the team was able to acquire (i.e., Martinez from LA Dodgers). CBS Sportsline recap. Fox Sports recap.
Today: Nationals fall to 2-8? or Move to 3-7?
Livan Hernandez faces off with Victor Zambrano, who has yet to pitch this year (stats go back to 2001, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with whom he played from 2001-2004, when he moved over to the NY Mets and played for them from part of the 2004 season until today. Career: 44-39, 4.38 ERA). Nationals.com game preview.
Minor Leagues
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs are currently 6-1.
Players of note:
Ryan Church: in 7 games and 23 AB, Church is hitting .130, with an OBP of .259.
Kenny Kelly: in 4 games and 18 AB, Kelly is hitting .278, with an OBP of .316.
Team Roster and Stats.
AA Harisburg Senators: Currently 6-1 (tied for first).
Home-opener today.
Team Roster and stats.
A Potomac Nationals: Currently 3-4.
Team Roster and Stats.
A Savannah Sand Gnats: Currently 6-3 (tied for fourth place).
Team Roster and stats (didn't see them).
A Vermont Lake Monsters & GCL Nationals: Season starts June 20th.
---Oops, Tonight? Why did I write tonight before?-----
