June 5, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Turnaround time for Nationals
After two awful days of rain and thunderstorms in Our Nation's Capital, including a rained-out game last night, it appears that the Nats have turned the corner, and brighter days may be ahead -- finally. In each of the first three innings against the Cardinals this evening, the Nats have scored as many or more runs than the total runs scored (2) in the four previous games [put together]!!
UPDATE: The Nationals frittered away the seven-run lead they had built by the end of the third inning, and the Cardinals' relief pitcher Mark Worrell hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning -- his very first career hit in the big leagues! In the ninth inning, Nats' closer Jon Rauch gave up two more runs, blowing the save and making it an 8-8 tie. The Nats came very close to an awful heartbreak in the tenth inning when the Cardinals took the lead on a home run by Joe Mather -- the second player to hit his first career homer in that game! But in the bottom of the tenth, Cristian Guzman got another hit (his fourth) and the spirited Elijah Dukes knocked a walk-off home run (also his fourth hit of the game) just beyond the corner in center field, winning the game, 10-9. (Whew!) The Nationals, with 16 hits altogether (a season high), thereby averted being swept in their home series with the Cardinals. See MLB.com. What a wild and crazy game!
The mail bag
I received a nice message from Russ Haslage, one of the directors of the The League Park Society, which has set up a Web site dedicated to preserving and restoring what remains of that old ballpark in east Cleveland: www.leaguepark.org. More updates on that project soon!