Blog post

July 31, 2024 [LINK / comment]

Nats' lousy month comes to an end

In the final game of the series against the Padres in Washington last Thursday, the Nationals put in a valiant effort to avoid being swept, but it was all in vain. Patrick Corbin had one of his best outings of the season, giving up only 3 runs over seven full innings, but as has been the case so many times this year, he just didn't get any run support. In fact, he didn't get any "hit support" either! Yes, sports fans, for only the third time in Nationals Park history there was a no-hitter thrown on South Capitol Street, but this time it was by the visiting team. The Padres' All-Star pitcher Dylan Cease dominated the hapless Nats batters. The closest the home team came to getting a hit was when the phenomenal Juan Yepez punched a "Texas League" blooper that was bobbled by the second baseman, but the center fielder was able to grab the ball to complete the out. Unfortunately, that put an end to Yepez's 15-game hitting streak. He had gotten a hit in every single game he played with the Nationals until then, setting a team record for new players.

The Nationals lost in a no-hitter for the very first time nearly a year ago: August 9, 2023 in Philadelphia. (Phillies 7, Nationals 0.)

After getting rudely swept at home by the San Diego Padres, the Washington Nationals quickly gathered their wits and turned a trick on the Cardinals in St. Louis. Mackenzie Gore gave up 5 runs in the second inning, but the Nats clawed their way back and tied it 6-6 in the top of the seventh. The game went into the tenth inning, when Jacob Young hit a bases-loaded triple and then scored to give the Nats a four-run lead. Since the bullpen was already depleted, Kyle Finnegan came in in the bottom of the tenth even though it wasn't a save situation. Paul Goldschmidt hit a 2-run homer, but that was it, as the Nats hung on to win a glorious comeback victory, 10-8.

On Saturday, the Nats continued to rack up runs, with a homer by Keibert Ruiz and four hits in five at-bats for James Wood. Final score: Nats 14, Cards 3. On Sunday, the Nats briefly took the lead in the sixth inning, but the Cardinals soon tied it as the game went into the bottom of the ninth. That's when Paul Goldschmidt hit a leadoff walk-off home run, spoiling the Nats' hopes for a series sweep. Overall, nevertheless, the Nationals' performance in that series was very encouraging.

The series against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix got off to a great start, as the Nats scored 5 runs in the first inning. After eight innings they were ahead 8-2, and Mitchell Parker was anticipating a win. The D-backs narrowed the gap to four runs going into the ninth inning, when for some reason manager Davey Martinez put Kyle Finnegan on the mound again even though it wasn't a save situation. Unlike the situation on Friday, there were other pitchers available in the bullpen. For whatever reason, Finnegan just wasn't up to the task of getting outs, and he gave up two-run homers to both Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll. The latter was a walk-off dinger, as the crowd went wild. Final score: D-backs 9, Nats 8. Extremely annoying!

That game seemed to energize the Diamondbacks, who came out swinging in the game on Tuesday night. Nats' starter Patrick Corbin gave up 2 runs in the first, 7 in the second, and 2 more in the third, as the home team built a virtually unassailable lead, 11-0. The D-backs tacked on 6 more runs in the latter innings, and the final score of 17-0 was the worst defeat (in terms of run deficit) in Washington Nationals history! Today's game was an improvement, but Mackenzie Gore gave up the lead in the sixth inning, and his replacement Jacob Barnes allowed 3 more runs to score, putting the Nats in a 5-1 hole. They came back with a run in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth, but Riley Adams grounded out with the bases loaded to end the game. D-backs 5, Nats 4.

And so, the Nationals racked up a record of 10 - 16 for the month of July, their worst monthly performance this year. (See the newly-updated Washington Nationals page.) Despite their overall record sinking to a mediocre 49-60, the Nats remain just 16 1/2 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, who also had a rather poor month. Meanwhile, the New York Mets are threatening to surge ahead of the Atlanta Braves.

As expected, the Nationals were "sellers" as the trade deadline approached. Earlier in the month (July 14) they traded away relief pitcher Hunter Harvey to the Kansas City Royals, who are a contending team this year. On Sunday, left fielder Jesse Winker was traded to the New York Mets for relief pitcher Tyler Stuart. Jesse was a solid contributor to the Nats this year, and his departure will sting a little. Goodness knows the Nats' bullpen needs help! Finally, right fielder Lane Thomas was traded to the Cleveland Guardians for three supposedly high-quality prospects. Lane was a popular guy who was considered the core of the Nationals' rebuilding effort, but for some reason his hitting slackened off a bit this year. The Nats acquired him from the Cardinals three years ago in a trade for relief pitcher Jon Lester, a deal that ended up being a steal for the Nationals. We'll see how this deal pans out...

Stadium orientations

On Facebook early today I was involved in a discussion about the possibility that Exhibition Stadium (home of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 until mid-1989) might have been adapted for baseball in a much different way that was carried out in real life. Someone suggested that the third base line should be roughly parallel to the pre-existing grandstand that was built for football games. (That is exactly what I suggested with a hypothetical diagram on that page.) This discussion, in turn, led to a broader discussion about stadium orientations, which are summarized on the Stadium statistics page, which will soon be updated. So, I added up the number of stadiums in each of nine different orientations, both the current ones as well as the stadiums of the past. Here is my compilation:

"Stadium orientation" as used herein refers to the compass direction of straightaway center field relative to home plate.