Nats Beat Heat And Rays In The Same Night!

Nationals 5, Rays 3

The Nationals defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday Night 5-2 in DC to take the series from the Rays and start a new winning streak.  Gio Gonzalez (9-3) struggled a bit, the bullpen walked some guys, but the offense scored a few runs and Tyler Clippard was lights out for his 11th save to lead the Nats to victory.

Gonzalez pitched just 6 innings and gave up 7 hits, but only allowed 2 runs.  It wasn't his best performance but he still picked up his 9th win as a clutch 6th inning hit by Danny Espinosa drove in  2 runs to put the Nats ahead.  A pinch hit double in the 7th by Bernadina sealed the deal.

The key pitch in the game came in the 7th inning where (back from the DL) Ryan Mattheus picked up a HUGE bases loaded, 2 out, full count strikeout to escape a jam caused by Stammen and Mike Gonzalez walking 3 combined batters to load em' up.

And Tyler Clippard...can't say enough good things about him.  Drew Storen better watch out!  Storen or Clippard at closer, what a great problem to have...(unless they trade one)...

The Nats picked up two big wins in this series after losing 4 straight at home including a sweep by the Yankees.  The team will be in Baltimore tomorrow night to face an O's team that has lost 3 straight and is falling out of first place (2.5 back of Yanks)...

Nats Can't Hit, Pitching Beats Rays

Nationals 3, Rays 2

On his 111th pitch of the night, the radar gun read 98mph as Stephen Strasburg (9-1) struck out his 10th batter, ending another great outing for the star pitcher.  Strassy pitched 7 innings of 5 hit & 2 run baseball and the Nationals went on to pick up the win against the Rays on Wednesday night by a score of 3-2.  The Nats Offense didn't help much, they got 3 hits...all in the 1st inning.

The Rays also had a great pitching performance, this one by rookie Sterling Chris Archer.  Archer was shelled in the first inning for all 3 Nats runs, but he not only settled down, but his performance closely resembled Strasburg's.  The rookie gave up only 3 hits and 2 earned runs on the night while striking out 7.  He also did it on 30 less pitches than Strassy.  Remember his name, he looked like he may one day become a great pitcher.

The Nationals offense is just awful.  No hits in 8 innings?  Plus they are not scoring enough runs.  A good team will not let up after scoring 3 in the first inning, but the Nats bats disappeared for the rest of the game.  I know the pitcher was throwing well, but I put this more on the Nats offense.

Harper & Desmond got the RBIs for the Nats and the other run was scored on a shoulda-been out at 3rd that went into the dugout allowing the Nats to score.

Joel Peralta came out in the 8th inning to a bunch of boos and nothing happened.

Tyler Clippard came in to pick up his 10 save on the year.

The Nats look to get the bats going tomorrow to finish up with the Rays...

The Iron Sheik Thinks Joe Maddon Is A Legend, But Needs To Respect The Game

If you follow the Iron Sheik on Twitter, then you know he has some issues.  The former wrestler has Twitter Tourettes and constantly tweets about Hulk Hogan, Chris Bosh, Jose Canseco and their tiny man packages.

Well tonight, Mr. Sheik has taken a few tweets off from saying the f word and talking about men's anatomy to take a few shots at Joe Maddon after apparently hearing the news about Glove-Gate.

He must have been playing the Nats Drinking Game...

So is the Sheik a Nats fan?  Is he a Rays fan?  Is he watching the game tonight?  Did he randomly see it on SportsCenter and try to cash in on some trending topic?  Is the Iranian who would throw sand in your eyes a big fan of playing by the rules?  Or is he just a huge baseball fan who demands respect for the game.

Sheik's tweeting style is like a MadLibs where he just throws in people mixed in with random cursing.  But I agree, Joe Maddon needs to respect the game!  I mean don't call Davey a P***y!

Glove-Gate! Nats Lose 4th Straight

Rays 5, Nationals 4

Well things are starting to turn the other way for the Nationals.  After winning all 6 games of a road trip against the AL East they have now lost 4 straight at home to teams from the same division.  The Rays beat the Nats 5-4 on Tuesday night behind David Price and not his best stuff after Chien-Ming Wang put up another dud effort (3 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs).

I was playing the Baseball Drinking Game so I may have dreamed the following:

A Rays pitcher, former National Joel Peralta, was ejected because Davy Johnson and the whole team knew that he used pine tar to give him advantage in the past, and the Nats manager had the umps check.  Sure enough, a foreign substance...

The umps came out, and they confiscated the glove.  The player was not allowed to pitch.  So of course the next inning Joe Maddon had the umps check the Nats reliever's glove.  Guess what ... NADA!

In his post-game presser reporters tried to get Davy Johnson to name names.  He said it was a rumor and tried to dodge questions. Finally he just said that the pitcher was once on the team, he talked to some players before the game, and the rumor was discussed.

Holy Cow, It's the WMD's that Drew Brees Was Looking For!

As for the Nats pitchers, Wang should most likely be finished as a starter.  Detwiler came in to relieve Wang and went 3 2/3 innings of hitless baseball with 3 K's.  Neither guy is the greatest option for 5th starter but Detwiler is the superior choice.  The Nats may look to add a guy in a trade or move up John Lannan, especially since Strasburg will be gone as well eventually.

Meanwhile, back at the baseball game, Zimmerman picked up his first hit in forever and Michael Morse (barely) jacked his first homer of the season.The umps took 2 minutes to review the play, came back out, the correct call was made, and life was back to normal.  See how easy that is?  Why is it not at plays at home plate yet?

Ian Desmond hit his 11th homer of the season, a career high...and we aren't even at the break.  This scares me considering my favorite player was Mark McGwire.

The Rays scored all their runs on Wang...

At one point in the game the umps stopped everything and made the Nats cover up this billboard.  Not sure if it was an ump decision or a Joe Maddon decision.

Very interesting night of managing...Let's see what happens in the next 2 games, should be some good stuff...

Series Preview: Rays @ Nationals

After a brutal series against the red hot Yankees, the Nationals look to rebound during a three game match up against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Here is how things stack up:

• Tuesday: 7:05 PM, Price (8-4) vs Wang (2-2).
• Wednesday: 7:05 PM, Hellickson (4-3) vs Strasburg (8-1).
• Thursday: 7:05 PM, Moore (4-5) vs Gonzalez (8-3).

Wang has the tough task of stopping the losing skid against David Price, who has been solid all season.  Luckily, we have Stras and Gio going Wednesday and Thursday, which will almost certainly get the Nats back on the winning track.  Game of the series is going to be Wednesday where you can  be sure Strasburg will be out to deliver another fantastic performance.

And Eva Longoria had a setback on the set of Desperate Housewives and he won't be playing in the series.

Sound of the series:  The Black Keys return to the nexus for this week.  The Nationals are dealing with being swept, instead of doing the sweeping.  Bryce Harper struck out everytime he was up last game.  These are Strange Times in DC to say the least.

Prediction Time:

Putting my reputation as a "baseball guy" on the line by predicting the outcomes of each series.  Feel free to yell at me in the comments or on twitter @dru90. 

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

Nationals WIN the series 2-1.