August 16, 2024 [LINK / comment]
Young Nationals keep performing unevenly
This has been another trying year for Washington Nationals fans, as their team full of youthful talent keeps showing great promise, but just when you think they're on the right track, they completely fall apart. And vice versa! After ending the month of July getting swept in Arizona, the Nats began August back home in Washington, hosting the Milwaukee Brewers, who have been leading the NL Central Division for most of the season. The Nats lost the first game 6-4, extending their losing streak to five (the third such streak this year), but then recovered and bounced back on Saturday. Four Nats runs in the first inning gave D.J. Herz a nice cushion, and he just made it through five innings to get credit for the win. Final score: Nats 6, Brewers 4. On Sunday, Luis Garcia hit a long solo homer to center field in the first inning, continuing his recent hot streak. In the sixth inning, James Wood sliced a triple to the left field corner, scoring three runs, just enough to win the game, as the Nats prevailed, 4-3. And thus, the Nats took two games out of three from the division-leading Brewers.
Then came a mostly-disappointing four-series against the San Francisco Giants. The Nats lost on Monday the 5th, but came roaring back with an 11-5 victory the next day, as C.J. Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, and James Wood all hit home runs. Mackenzie Gore, who has struggled as a pitcher this year, was credited with the win in that game. In the final game of that series (Thursday afternoon), D.J. Herz was replaced on the mound in the third inning, and the bullpen performed magnificently until the ninth inning, when Kyle Finnegan allowed 3 runs to score (2 earned), giving the Giants a 5-2 lead. As the usual closing pitcher, he's not accustomed to pitching in non-save situations such as that. The situation seemed bleak for the Nats until Luis Garcia hit a game-tying 3-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Wow! But then Robert Garcia allowed 4 runs to score in the top of the tenth inning, and the Nats failed to get anybody across the plate after that. Giants 9, Nats 5.
Then the Los Angeles Angels came to town, marking the first appearance of former Nat third baseman Anthony Rendon in Nationals Park since the 2019 World Series. The crowd gave him a warm, fond welcome, which was nice. The Angels held a slim 2-1 lead for most of the game, but in the bottom of the eighth inning, Juan Yepez (the Nats' new first baseman) hit a clutch RBI fly ball to tie the game. After Kyle Finnegan got through two tense innings of relief, Alex Call hit an RBI single to win the game in the bottom of the tenth. The game on Saturday was quite similar: Washington tied the game in the seventh inning, thanks to an RBI double by James Wood and then an RBI single by Jose Tena, who was just called up from the minors. In the bottom of the tenth, that same guy almost hit a walk-off home run to left-center field, but the one run that scored was all the Nats needed to win, 5-4. A new rookie hero in D.C.! On Sunday, the Angels got to Mackenzie Gore and scored 5 runs in the fourth inning. The Nats rallied with 2 runs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't quite send it to extra innings for a fourth straight game. Angels 6, Nats 5.
After a day of rest, the Nats headed to Baltimore and stunned the Orioles with an offensive outburst: 14 hits and 9 runs, against just 3 runs for the home team. James Wood got 4 hits in 5 at bats, while another new player -- Andres Chaparros -- hit 3 doubles. Nobody homered, though. Could the Nats beat the Orioles again and win the season series for the first time in years? Not quite. They fell flat again on Wednesday and lost, 4-1.
On Thursday the Nats began a four-game series in Philadelphia, and the first-place home team pounced on the young visiting team right away, scoring 4 runs in the first inning off Mitchell Parker. He did much better for the next two innings, but then the Phillies pounced again, and he left the game with 9 earned runs, not even getting a single out in the fourth inning. The Nats bravely battled back with one run each in the next three innings, but the Phillies piled on 4 more runs after that, winning by a score of 13-3.
Remarkably, the Nats are behind the Phillies by almost the same margin (16.5 games) as they were six weeks ago! That reflects the relative slump the Phillies have been in; they were in a 7-game losing streak during late July and early August. But at least they're not as bad off as the Chicago White Sox, who recently tied an American League record with a 21-game losing streak!! (The Baltimore Orioles lost their first 21 games of the 1996 season.) With a 29-93 win-loss record right now (.238), the White Sox are on track to finish with a 39-123 record, even worse than the 1962 New York Mets (40-120).
Mini-road trip
While the Nationals prepare for Game 2 in their tomorrow, I will be passing by in close proximity to Citizens Bank Park, en route to the Big Apple. The Yankees are out of town, and I'm not sure about taking a tour of New Yankee Stadium. Over in Queens, the Mets will be playing this weekend, but I have already seen a game in Citi Field, so I don't think I'll go there either. My main baseball goals will be to visit the former site of the Polo Grounds, and possibly the site of Hilltop Park, where the precursors of the Yankees -- the Highlanders -- played from 1903 to 1912. Maybe if I'm real lucky I'll get to see the former site of Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey.