Steve Lombardozzi Steps Up With Espinosa Out

Steve Lombardozzi was fired up after his bit 3-4 night, a game which he started after the Nats learned that Danny Espinosa has a broken wrist.  Lombo had the clutch hit in the ballgame, a 2 RBI double to bust open the lead for the Nats.  The Nationals went on to beat the Phillies 5-2.  After the game Julie Alexander suggested that Lombardozzi untuck his shirt, and he did...with some authority.  Here are 2 LomboGifs:

Nats Lose Again, Lineup To Change

Cardinals 2, Nationals 0

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Cardinals	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		2	8	0
Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	0

Well...the Nationals lost again.  The pattern is getting repetitive   Whenever the Nats play a decent team, they can't seem to generate any offense on a consistant basis.  On Tuesday night at Nats Park the Cards defeated the Nats 2-0 after the Nats failed to score a run.  You won't believe the stats the Nats have been putting up in losses this year.

Detwiler Gets 1st Win, Kurt Suzuki Rollin, Nats Beat Fish

Nationals 6, Marlins 1

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nationals	0	2	0	0	1	1	1	0	1		6	11	1
Marlins	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	7	1

Bryce Harper had a Jordan-esque day, Kurt Suzuki continued his hot hitting, and Ross Detwiler pitched nothing like a typical 5th starter to help the Washington Nationals defeat the Miami Marlins 6-1 on Wednesday night and take home the series victory.  The Nats offense got their mojo back and if not for a bad call by an ump at home plate, Detwiler would have picked up the shutout.

Reds Crush Nats, NEXT GAME!

Nationals 0, Reds 15

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	2
Reds	0	2	3	1	1	0	7	1	x		15	19	0

Read the full box score at ESPN

Welcome to Washington Dan Haren!  With the Nats new starter on the mound on Friday night, the Cincinnati Reds destroyed Washington at Great American Ballpark in a 15-0 beat down shutout.  The Nats didn't have much of a chance with the pitching staff giving up 19 hits and 7 homeruns to the Reds.

There was little to be exited about if you are a Nationals fan.  In their first true test of the season the Nats were embarrassed.  Haren only survived 4 innings giving up 9 hits, 6 runs, and 4 homers.  I'm not sure if he watched any of DC baseball last season, but that ain't gonna fly here.

Zach Duke was the only kind-of-bright spot out of the bullpen (5 earned runs lol) eating up 2 2/3rds middle innings after Haren's early exit to save some of the Nats pitchers.  But with Dukes departure in the 7th inning, in stepped Henry Rodriguez who gave up a walk followed by a grand slam.

Jayson Werth shows Davey Johnson that a fan reached out and touched a homerun to interfere

It is questionable that Rodriguez is on the roster, let alone being placed in actual Major League baseball games.  How can Davey have confidence to put this guy in anything that isn't an 8 run ballgame?

The recently shaved Danny Espinosa finally picked up a hit (LOL), and finished with a single and a double and the struggling Ian Desmond picked up a double on his final at bat.  Denard Span was on base 3 times with a single and two walks, and Lombardozzi came into the game to hit a double late.  Other than that, there was no offense whatsoever.  The Nats couldn't even muster a single run.

Game 4 of 162 isn't a time to panic.  These types of games happen, and a 15-0 blowout is the same as a 3-2 squeaker.  Tomorrow the Nats will have a chance to show the Reds that Friday night was a fluke.  But when this series is over we will know a little more about the Nats...

Nats Notes: The Nationals Middle Infield Starts Slow

The Nationals are off to a 3-0 start and are currently the only undefeated team left in Major League Baseball.  The pitching staff has been wonderful, the bullpen solid, the defense staunch, and the offense not so terrible.

However, lost in some of the excitement has been the slow start of the Washington Nationals middle infield, their 6th and 7th spot in the lineup, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa.

The two are a combined 1-21 with 6 strikeouts.  They have been on base only 3 times (a walk and an infield hustle single by Desmond, and an error to get Espinosa on base).

It is hard to remember that far back, but Ian Desmond was actually the Nats opening day leadoff hitter to start the 2012 season.  He batted in the opening slot for almost 40 games.  The Silver Slugger award winner had a hit in 7 of his first 8 games in 2012, starting the season off hot with 14 hits in those opening contests.

Espinosa was 3rd in the Majors with 189 K's last season (you can count em' thats all 189)

Espinosa had a hit in 9 of the first 13 games in 2012 including an nice little 6 game hitting streak in there.  After that he crashed. By May he was hitting under .200 for the season.  But Davey Johnson stuck with him and by the end of the season his average was up to .247.  (He also was third in the MLB in strikeouts with 189.)

Ian Desmond should be fine.  The guy won the Silver Slugger last year and had a breakout season.  As for Espinosa, Davey Johnson will stick with him again...but this season he knows that he's got a reliable guy named Steve Lombardozzi waiting in the wings...

McKayla Is Not Impressed With The Washington Nationals Rookie Women's Gymnastics Team

The Washington Nationals rookies were being hazed after their loss to the Marlins on Sunday afternoon.  The rookies were forced to dress up like the 2012 US Women's Olympics team and even ride on the train to New York wearing red leotards.

Gio Gonzalez Tweeted the following 3 photos.  Bryce Harper is really into it...

Bad Night For Nats

Nationals 0, Brewers 6

Tonight wasn't pretty as the Nationals saw their winning streak end at 6.  They lost to the Brewers tonight, giving up 6 runs without scoring a single run.  Detwiler didn't pitch that bad, but he did give up 4 runs over 4.2 innings.  Craig Stammen came in from the pen and proceeded to give up 2 more runs to get the Brewers to 6.  Cory Hart and Aramis Ramirez both homered for the Brewers.

Their isn't much to talk about on the offensive side of the coin.  Lombardozzi, LaRoche, Morse, and DeRosa all recorded 1 hit on the night, and that was all she wrote.

"Michael Morse gets what you call a thing" -Bob Carpenter

H-rod pitched well in the 8th and Storen had a solid 7th inning, although both had zero pressure on them.

Can't win them all.  The Nats are at it again tomorrow for the third game of four against the Brewers. 

Double Header Preview (7/21)

Braves vs Nationals

1:05 PM / 7:05 PM Nationals Park

MASN-1

Story Lines:

• After dropping a heart breaker last night, the Nats need to take at least one of these two games.
• John Lannan will make his first start of the season in the night game.

Pitching Match Ups:

• Ben Sheets
• 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.
• Making his second start of the season.

• Randell Delgado
• 4-9 with a 4.52 ERA.
• Easily the worst member of the Braves rotation.

• Edwin Jackson
• 5-5 with a 3.89 ERA.
• After a great start of the season, Jackson has struggled his last few times out.

• John Lannan
• 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA.
• First start of the season.  Called up from AAA.

Who to Watch:

• Michael Bourn
• After an extra inning affair last night and two games today, it will be up to the table setters to get on base and make scoring a few runs easy.
• Went 1-5 last night with 2 RBIs.

• Steve Lombardozzi
• See above.  It's all about the table setters today.
• Went 3-5 last night with 2 RBIs.

Keys to the Games:

1. Get Men on Base.  Make things easier on yourself by getting lead off guys on the bases.
2. Run Support.  Braves need to give it to Sheets, Nats to Lannan.  Build those guys' confidence.
3. E-Jax Time.  Jackson needs to eat up a healthy amount of innings tonight to save the bullpen.

Wild Night In Washington For Harper's Homeboyz

Nationals 5, Mets 4

Get it...Wild night...

In a back and forth game featuring 9th and 10th inning comebacks by Washington, the Nationals defeated the Mets 5-4 in front of a crowd that refused to leave the ballpark.  Tyler Clippard blew a save in the 9th, but a clutch Bryce Harper RBI triple and a wild pitch by the Mets in the 10th with 2 outs, 2 strikes, and the bases loaded, gave the Nats the 5-4 win at Nats Park on Tuesday night.

Screengrab from MASN

Ross Detwiler pitched a brilliant game and any time he had runners on base he pitched out of the situation unharmed.  Detwiler gave up only 5 hits through 7 innings and shutout the Mets in a performance that had the fans as well as Bob Carpenter going crazy.


Tyler Moore hit a homer in the 5th that cleared the right field fence by only a foot or two.  That was the rookie's 5th homer on the season and he has been on fire since being re-called up from the minors in early June.  He has hit in 15 and been on base in 18 out of the 22 games he has played in since returning with the team.

A Mark DeRosa stolen base followed by a Steve Lombardozzi double gave the Nats an insurance run in the 8th.

Stunner 1:  That is when the Mets stunned the crowd.  Tyler Clippard came on for the save with the 2 run lead and gave up 2 singles to put the go-ahead run at the plate. He struck out the next batter but followed that up by giving up a 3 run homerun, blowing the save.


Stunner 2:  The Nats comeback came in the bottom of the 9th.  With a surprise 9th inning appearance by Ian Desmond as a pinch runner, a hit and run put Dezzy on 3rd base with 1 out.  Tyler Moore struck out but Danny Espinosa saved the day after a great at bat, singling in Desmond to send the game to extra innings.

Stunner 3:  Mike Gonzalez gave up an RBI double in the next inning and the Nats looked like they were going to lose a tough one at home.

Stunner 4:  The Nats shocked the crowd again in the bottom of the 10th when Bryce Harper saved the day with an RBI triple.  Two intentional walks and a force at home later, the ball was at the backstop and Ryan Zimmerman was touching home plate for the win.

Closer Situation: Clip has given up 8 hits, walked 2, and gave up 4 runs in his last 5 appearances, the one on Tuesday a blown save.  Davy has said that Clip will be the man when Storen returns, but the current closer is doing a lot of things that may have Davy begin to reconsider.

Sidenote:  The Nats first round pick Lucas Giolito joined Bob & FP in the booth.  FP said the kid who just turned 18 a few days ago received a congratulatory text from Samuel L. Jackson when he was drafted. (And FP may have got the story wrong, he probably meant tweet)

The Nats face the Mets again on Wednesday night...Braves are coming...

Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try: Nats Do!

Nationals 4, Marlins 0

It was Star Wars day at Marlins Park but the Washington Nationals and Jedi-Master Stephen Strasburg refused to succomb to the Darkside of the Miami Marlins, blowing up the Miami Deathstar and shutting out the fish in a 4-0 game.

Strasburg was as wise as Yoda, he was.  Steve-37-PO gave up only 6 hits while striking out 7 through 6 innings in the shutout victory, pitching out of several jams on the day.  Aside from being an amazing pitcher, Strasburg contributed at the plate again drawing a walk and hitting an RBI single in the 5th inning.  The star pitcher is now batting .385 on the year in 26 at bats.

With Ian Desmond captured by Darth Maul, Steve Obi-Lom-bardozzi led the way with 2 hits and an RBI to continue his 8 game hit streak.  Beastbacca even got in on the action with 2 hits and an RBI of his own.

Bryce Harper went 0-4 on the day, but was once again a part of the game-story.  In the 4th inning, Harper came up to bat and pointed his bat in a way which Ozzie Guillen (Darth Vader) took exception to.  Guillen screamed across the field and past the umpire at Harper and Davey Johnson at one point yelling "F**k You Kid!" to the rookie (possibly).  You can watch the video for yourself and decide.


Tyler Clippard came in with a 4-0 lead in the 9th, gave up a single then threw 8 straight balls to start the inning with a bases loaded jam.  Clip escaped unharmed and the Nats picked up the W.


More on Ozzie-Gate will be discussed in the days and hours following.  The Nationals finish up the series tomorrow night in Miami looking for the series win.

Nats Fall Short, Wild Pitches Kill

Rockies 4, Nationals 3

The Nationals fell short despite a exciting 9th inning rally and lost to the Rockies 4-3.  Jordan Zimmermann pitched another gem today, going 7 innings of 1 run, 3 hit baseball.  The Rockies got their only run off of J-zimm in the 2nd and the Nats would take the lead in the 4th off an Ian Desmond 2 run homer.

In the 7th, Roger "the Shark" Bernadina came in and reached first base on a 2 out bunt.  He stole second and was driven in by Lombo to get the Nats an insurance run going into the 8th.  That's when the trouble started.

For the first time all season, Burnett didn't seem to have his best stuff.  He gave up a homerun and couldn't record a single out.  He left runners on the corners for a hastly warmed up Mike Gonzalez to deal with.  Gonzo would get out of the inning, but not before a wild pitch brought in the tying run from third.

The wild pitch bug was not gone as T-clip came into the 9th inning to try and keep the game tied.  Clip threw a wild one with Giambi at bat to let the go ahead run come in from third.  The Nats went to the bottom of the inning down by one.

Desmond and Bernadina both managed to reach base, and executed a double steal with two outs to give Jesus Flores a chance to win the game with a base hit.  He did not.  That Nats lost a hot one in DC, J-zimm saw another fantastic start go to waste, and the Nats failed to get to 50 wins before the break.

Still, 49 Wins ain't to shabby though, and the Nats will get some much needed rest this week before continuing their first place campaign into the second half of the schedule.  

Weekly Player Pick'em

 Last Week's Result:  Chris Won.

• Dru:  Steven Lombardozzi "the man who never strikes out", went 1 for 14, had 0 RBIs and struck out a bunch.  He didn't even play in 2 of the 3 games against the Red Sox!   

• Chris: Tyler Clippard recorded 4 saves over the course of the week.  He owned Boston and crushed any hopes of me winning this week.

This week we will have to contend with a new challenger entering the race...

Chris:  Ryan Zimmerman.  Zimmerman is having a blah year.  Every game the announcers say he is starting to "heat up" but he really isn't.  But I'm going with him because of the 3 game home series against the Yankees.  That is going to be his series, and it is going to lead me to victory again.

Dru:  Danny "No Beard" Espinosa.  I've been a harsh critic of Espinosa's and his tendency to strikeout all the time, but this week I just have a good feeling about him.  Maybe it's his ability to make ridiculous plays in the field.  Maybe it's because his bat came to life during the Boston series.  Maybe it's because he shaved his beard.  All I know is, this week I am all aboard the Espinosa band-wagon!

Camilla:  Jesus "Jeus" Flores.  Camilla is picking Jesus this week because he's a catcher and she likes catchers.  Also Jesus is cool.  She doesn't seem worried that Flores didn't get a single hit against Boston last series.  She is only starting to learn about baseball, but she will probably end up winning.


Standings:
Chris: 1
Dru: 0
Camilla: 0


Think you could do better?  Leave a comment or send us a tweet and maybe YOU can be the one beating us next week.

Player of the Week: Update

We interrupt your normally scheduled Fan-Friday to bring you a quick update on how the first week of our little competition is going and offer YOU a chance to go head-to-head against us.

 

 

Dru: Steve Lombardozzi: .091, 2 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks.  Remember that thing about not striking out, he did it twice against the Mets.

 

Chris: Tyler Clippard: 2 innings pitched, 1/1 saves,  0 hits and 2 walks against.  Picking a closer was risky, but so far he gotten into games and done his job.

 

 

Right now I'd give the nod to our esteemed editor-in chief and T-clip.  Good thing there is still a whole series left.

 

Let us know on twitter (@thedugssports , @dru90) or in the comments below who you think is winning.  Also get in touch with us if you have any interest in joining the competition in upcoming weeks!

Players Of The Week

Here at the Nexus we decided to start up a friendly competition to see who really knows Nats.  To find out each week we are going predict a player who will have an MVP-type week and then go head-to-head.  Please leave your thoughts about how dumb we are in comments.

Dru:

I'm going with Steve "the Lambo" Lombardozzi.  He is rapidly becoming my favorite player on the team this season.  He's quick and plays solid defense, but the real reason I love him is the fact that he NEVER strikes out.  Seriously, he has 110 at bats this season and has only struck out 7 times.  That's ridiculous.  With his first major-league homer run out of the way, I think he is poised for a big week.  Playing the Met's top pitchers is going to make hits hard to come by, but I think if anyone on the team has a chance to consistently hit against them it's Lombo.  I don't see Boston being able to slow him down either in the weeks second series.

Chris:

Dru stole the Lombard Yard from me so I'm going with Tyler Clippard.  I'm not sure if I'm supposed to pick a pitcher, but I think the series with the Mets & Sox is going to be a close one.  This is a risky pick as Lidge could possibly return over the weekend.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball?

I don't like putting huge stock in stats, which might sound weird when talking about a game like baseball that is ALL ABOUT stats.  I prefer to judge performance out on the field using an "eye-test"  and right now my eyes are telling me that the too many Nat's are going up to the plate looking to hit a home run.  Is that true?  If so, is that such a bad thing?  I guess we'll take a quick look at the numbers:

So what's wrong with this picture...

The Nat's almost have two less homeruns than the Braves and way more homers than the Mets.  So why are the Nats the team with the fewest Runs and RBIs on this chart?   The answer seems to be fairly simple, batting average.  Now this might not be ground breaking news...you hit more, you score more, but there it is in black-and-white.

Now I'm not claiming to have a quick fix for the National's offensive woes.  I am going to say that when you have players like Danny Espinosa who is hitting .219 it probably isn't helping.  If only we had a guy who was hitting .321 or heck even a guy hitting .255 who could play 2B.  Oh hey Lombardozzi and Tracy I didn't see you guys there.

Odds are Espinosa will begin to knock a few more balls over the fence and guys like Zimmerman will start to pick up the batting average slack and everything will be right with the world.  However, if things don't get better, just remember...chicks dig the long ball, but the scoreboard does not.

No really...scoreboards HATE homers.