Cortisone Please, Nats Win Series

Nationals 8, Braves 4

On a day when Gio, Strassy, and Desmond found out they were all-stars, the Nationals defeated the Braves 8-4 behind a Ryan Zimmerman powered offense.  Zim and his cortisone shot went 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs including a crushed solo shot to left field.  With the Mets on a mission, the Nationals really needed this victory and the series win.

Gio pitched a decent game, having to get out of a few jams along the way.  He gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings (started the 6th but got 0 out) while striking out and walking 4 batters.

The bullpen came in and shut down the Braves going 4 scoreless innings.  (Stammen 2, Burnett 1, Clippard 1)

The Nats started with a 4 run first inning and added runs in the 6th, 7th, and 2 in the 9th innings to keep the Nats scoring totals hot.  How about 8, 6, 5, 5, 10, 11, 12 in the past 7 games for the Nats.  That is (open excel) an average of over 8 runs per game in the last 7!

More Davy problems:  In the 6th inning with a 6-1 lead, Gio started by walking the first 2 batters.  Freddie Gonzalez came to the plate, one of Atlanta's hottest hitters, and at 109 pitches Davey Johnson left Gio in the ballgame.  5 pitches later and the Braves had 3 runs on the board and Gio's day was over.  Another puzzling mistake by the manager.

The Nats come home for 6 games before the All-Star Break, Giants on Tuesday for the #IYNT Tweet-up & fireworks, your chance to meet the Nexus writers!

Strasburg Hot, Davey Not

Braves 7, Nationals 5

As temperatures reached close to 120 degrees (on a dollar store wall clock thermometer), the Braves outplayed the Nationals to take the 7-5 win in Hot-Lanta on Saturday afternoon.  Strasburg started the game but had to leave due to the heat and the Braves took advantage of his replacement Chein-Ming Wang.

Strasburg only made it through 3 innings, giving up 3 runs in the 3rd inning.  After the inning was over, Davy Johnson decided that Strassy was sick and removing him would be the best move, and Chien-Ming Wang came into the game to give up 4 runs in 2 innings.

Strasburg's body language on the mound made him look tired and bothered by the heat.  After giving up runs his body language dropped even more, and Davy Johnson decided that Stephen's night was over.  A view from the dugout looked like Strassy didn't want to come out, but it was his own fault because he either was exhausted by the heat or was pretending that the heat was to blame for him giving up 3 runs.

Davy said his blood pressure was up, his face was white, he wasn't talking, he was dizzy, and he was extremely dehydrated, but should be fine.  Always seems to be a lot of excuses for Strasburg, this one however may be warranted.

With the Nationals mounting a comeback bringing the score to 7-4 in the 6th inning, Davy Johnson made the biggest mistake of the game.  With runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 outs, Johnson decided to let Ankiel pinch hit for Chien-Ming Wang.  Instad of having Ankiel (or someone better at bunting) bunt over the two runners, Davy let the .225 hitter swing away.  Ankiel proceeded to ground into a double play and the Nats couldn't get any more runs in the inning.

If you don't think that Ankiel can lay down the bunt you have an entire roster of players including pitchers that you could use in that position.  Runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out would have been huge in a 7-4 game.  Instead the score remained the same and the Nats ended up losing.

Other notes:  Bryce Harper has now gone 9 at bats without a hit...Morse picked up 2 more hits...

Nats look to salvage the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:35...

Wake Up Davy!

Good Mornin, Good Mornin!  And what a lovely morning it is!  The sun has come up. Tomorrow is now today. Davy Johnson told us last night that he needed to sleep on his decision about the Washington National's closer position.  Well...

 WAKE UP DAVY!

The birds are chirping.  The sun is out (for now).  The Nats won last night.  Everything is sunshine & rainbows.  Well everything except that pesky closer position.  So who's it gonna be Davy?  You have a few choices:
Henry Rodriguez - Tyler Clippard - Sean Burnett - Craig Stammen - Committee 
Say Henry Rodriguez.  I dare you.  After H-Rod gave up a walk-off grand slam to Joey Votto and the Reds a few weeks ago, the young pitcher's time was up.  But as Davy does to a fault, he stuck with his guy.  "Yes, he's my closer."  It was too close a call on Monday night against the Phils.  He fooled you once Davy, shame on him.  If he fools you again, shame on you!
You've got Sean Burnett, but he is your only lefty (besides Gorzelanny) in the bullpen.  You are possibly going to have to use him for a matchup before the 9th inning.  But with three right handers coming up in the final frame, perhaps Burnett would fare well.
You've got Tyler Clippard, but you love having him pitch the 8th inning.  Plus he isn't pitching as well as he has in the past.  Clip has 1 career save under his belt.  Give the guy a chance!
Then you've got Craig Stammen, who has been having a career year this season.  Stammen's ERA is 1.44 and he has struck out 23 in 19 innings.  He's been pitching the 6th & 7th inning, but maybe you can leapfrog him over Clip.
I think you like your 3 inning plan.  The starter pitches 6-7 strong.  Guy C in 7th if needed.  Guy B in 8th.  Guy A in 9th.  But if you really want. you can throw out a committee.  You could Alternate Clippard & Stammen and toss in Burnett to face righties.  You could keep Clip in the 8th slot and alternate Stammen & Burnett.  Or you could just flip a three sided coin?
So as you read the morning paper today, think it over.  Think long and hard.  Because if you put in Henry to close one more time, and he can't get the job done, then your managerial skills need to be questioned.
Who's it gonna be Davy...Who's it gonna be...?...