Gio Rebounds, Nats End Dickey's Streak

Nationals 5, Mets 2

Gio Gonzalez and the Washington Nationals stopped R.A. Dickey and his 11 game winning streak in New York on Tuesday night as the Nats defeated the Mets 5-2.  Gio rebounded after his worst game of the season with his 13th win, going 7 innings, 2-hitting the Mets, and giving up just one run in only 87 pitches.


Dickey struggled late in the game, giving up 4 runs in the 6th inning after giving up just 1 earned run (2 runs) in the first 5 innings.  The knuckleballer finished with 7 strikeouts but gave up 8 hits and 4 earned runs.

Maybe This Is What Miguel Batista Meant!

Adam LaRoche homered for the Nats and finished 2-3 with a walk.  Three other Nats who have been on fire kept smoking.  Ryan Zimmerman, Roger Bernadina, and Danny Espinosa finished a combined 7 for 13.  Morse also picked up another hit in the victory.


Another interesting night from the bullpen with Craig Mattheus only facing one batter, the same way Storen did on the previous night.  However, unlike Drew, Mattheus gave up a homer.  If this trend of facing one batter keeps up, how will it make the bullpen feel?  Will Davey figure it out soon?


Day game tomorrow in NY as the Nats go for the sweep...

Nationals @ Mets: Game Preview (7/24)

Nationals vs Mets

7:10 PM Citi Field

MASN-1

Story Lines:

• The Mets look to break a 4 game losing streak tonight behind R.A. Dickey.
• The Nats look to extend into a 4 game winning streak tonight behind Gio Gonzalez.
• Gio and Dickey faced off July 19th, with Dickey winning the matchup.

Pitching Match Up:

• Gio Gonzalez
• 12-5 with a 3.32 ERA.
• Last time facing the Mets, he went 3.1 innings and gave up 6 runs.
• Has given up the fewest homeruns (6) and the most walks (45) out of the Nats starters.

• R.A. Dickey
• 13-1 with a 2.84 ERA.
• Last time facing the Nats, he went 7.1 innings and gave up 3 runs.
• Has given up 3 runs in 14.2 innings faced against the Nats this season.

Who to Watch:

• Bryce Harper
• Came through big time with his bat in yesterday's 10 inning win.
• Batting .000 with 3 strikeouts against Dickey lifetime.
• Hitting .333 in his last 4 games against the NY Mets.

• David Wright
• Batting 1.000 with a homerun lifetime against Gio.
• Hit 2 homeruns on July 19th against the Nats.
• Hitting .471 in his last 4 games against the Nationals.

Keys to the Game:

1. Patience at the Plate.  Dickey had to come in for a relief appearance during the last series, meaning he wont be as rested tonight.  Let him throw a lot of pitches.
2. Stay Away Wright.  David Wright was outstanding the last series against the Nats, and his homerun last night shows he doesn't plan on slowing down.
3. G-G-Gio Time.  He hasn't looked quite the same since the All Star Break.  Time for him to get back on track.

Series Preview: Nationals @ Mets

After splitting the series with the Braves, the Nats hit the road to face the New York Mets.  Here is how the series breaks down:

• Monday: 7:10 PM, Zimmermann (7-6) vs Young (2-4).
• Tuesday: 7:10 PM, Gonzalez (12-5) vs Dickey (13-1).
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Strasburg (10-4) vs Hefner (1-3).

Game of the Series:  Tuesday.  Gio vs Dickey.  If this sounds familiar, that's because they faced each other on July 19th.

Sound of the Series:  Song by Kiss, about New York.  Hopefully that Nat's find their winning groove in NYC.




 
Prediction Time:
Putting what I know about America's pasttime to the test by predicting the outcomes.  Yell at me for my mistakes in the comments or on twitter @dru90.

• Nats WIN Tuesday.
• Nats LOSE Wednesday.
• Nats WIN Thursday

Nats WIN the series 2-1.  

Gio Has An Off Day, David Wright Kills Nats

Mets 9, Nationals 5

Gio Gonzalez struggled with location, and an offensive explosion helped the Mets defeat the Nationals 9-5 on Thursday afternoon at Nats Park.  The Mets took a quick 9-1 lead in the first 4 innings and the final score did not do the game justice.

Gonzalez was sporting the Ian Desmond Hero shirt and a new House Party fade, but he only lasted 3.1 innings, his shortest outing of the year.  Gio gave up 6 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 in the loss dropping his record to 12-5.

The last time Gio went under 4 innings was back in his first start of the season where he went 3.2 innings against the Cubs giving up 4 runs.

Craig Stammen had to come in and throw extra time, giving up 3 more runs on a David Wright 3 run shot in 3.1 innings of work.

Dickey pitched into the 8th inning before being removed from the game.  The knuckleballer was cruising towards a complete game but the Nationals eventually got to him.  Dickey gave up 10 hits and 3 runs while striking out 5.

David Wright dominated the Nats all week.  The All-Star got 7 hits in 13 at bats including 3 home runs and 6 RBIs (5 on Thursday).

The Nats had plenty of hits and Lombardozzi, Moore, DeRosa, Zimmerman, and Bernadina all had two hits.  The Nats left 12 runners on base and went 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position.  Bryce Harper had the bases loaded in the 8th inning with the Nats inching closer, but flew out to end the inning.

Davey Johnson took advantage of the Mets blowout, getting some guys some rest, getting some guys some playing time, and getting Drew Storen & Henry Rodriguez some much needed work.  Ian Desmond also came up to bat twice, getting a single and hit by a pitch, and Davey says he will be ready to go tomorrow.

Drew Storen had a 9 pitch inning and he looked ready to go.  Clippard will have a short leash.  Zimmerman also hit a homer in the game.

The Braves come to town on Friday night less than 4 games back...

Mets @ Nationals: Game Preview (7/19)

Mets vs Nationals

12:35 PM Nationals Park

MASN-1

Story Lines:

• The match up of the series, Gio vs Dickey.  If you have to, take off work to get to the park.
• The Nationals will try and complete the 3 game sweep, taking a bigger hold on 1st place.

Pitching Match Up:

• R.A. Dickey
• 12-1 with a 2.66 ERA.
• Is third in the NL with 127 strikeouts. (tied)
• Gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings during his last start.

• Gio Gonzalez
• 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA.
• Is third in the NL with 127 strikeouts. (tied) 
• Gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings during his last start.

Who to Watch:

•  Lucas Duda
• Batting .500 lifetime against Gio Gonzalez.
• Only has faced Gonzalez 3 times, reached base twice. (once on a walk)
• Went 1-4 last night with 2 strikeouts.

Keys to the Game:

1. Get to Dickey Early.  He has been hittable his last few starters...don't let him get back into his groove.
2. Complete Game.  Okay, so Gio doesn't have to pitch all nine, but having the game out of reach before the pen relieves him will help a tired looking relief core.
3. Cut Back LOB.  Nats stranded 10 last game.  With Dickey, that won't cut it.

Series Preview: Mets @ Nationals

The Nationals are coming back home for a three game series against the New York Mets.  The Mets are several games out of first place (6.5 at the time of writing) and will be looking to crawl their way back into the picture during this series.  Here is how it stacks up:

• Tuesday: 7:05 PM, Niese (7-3) vs Detwiler (4-3).
• Wednesday: 7:05 PM, Young (2-3) vs Zimmermann (6-6).
• Thursday: 12:35 PM, Dickey (12-1) vs Gonzalez (12-4).

Game of the Series:  With out a doubt Thursday.  Dickey vs Gonzalez is an all star match between two of the games best pitchers this season.  Should be a classic.  Luckily for the Nats, Dickey has been hittable in his last few starts.

Sound of the Series:  This week the song comes from Coheed and Cambria.  This series is our chance to Welcome Home our All Stars in the first home series since the All Star break.



Prediction Time:
Putting my reputation as a baseball guy on the line each week, I predict how the series is going to turn out.  Let me know how wrong I am in the comments or on twitter @Dru90.

• Nationals LOSE Tuesday.
• Nationals WIN Wednesday
• Nationals WIN Thursday.

Nationals WIN the series 2-1.  

At the Ballpark: Citi Field

Citi Field

Orioles vs Mets

June 18th

You may or may not have notice my absence from the blog last week.  Well that was because I was in the magical world of New Jersey.  I saw a Snooki and I lost money in Trump's Casino.  I also made it into NYC to catch a game at the Mets stadium when they faced the O's...