The Official Washington Nationals Game Tracker-2007

[Aa3rt]

Well all good things must end... , the Nationals 6 game winning streak came to an abrupt end (but not without a fight) in San Francisco.

John Lannan pitched 7 innings and only gave up one run in the first. The Nationals had scored on the top half of the same inning, the game continuing as a 1-1 tie into the 10th, when Dimitri Young homered to give the Nationals the lead. It didn't last though, as Chad Cordero gave up the tying run in the bottom of the 10th and Luis Ayala gave up a bases loaded single in the bottom of the 11th, allowing the winning run to score.

Oh yes, for those of you tracking the Barry Bonds home run watch, Bonds walked, struck out, grounded into a double play and fouled out to Ryan Zimmerman.

[KingJ]

The Washington Nationals are in possession of 21st century Al Downing in Bacsik.

[d33ps]

The Nats were the only team that were consistently challenging Bonds and I respect them for that, saying that, I questioned Bacsik 3-2 pitch to Bonds right down the pipe at 84 mph. Anyway, still happy we came up with a Win.

[Aa3rt]

On a night when the 756th home run by Barry Bonds received ALL of the attention, the Nationals 8-6 victory has been all but overlooked.

The Nationals were trailing 6-4 when they rallied for 4 runs in the eighth, starting with an Austin Kearns double. With runners on 1st & 3rd, Nook Logan (whose hitting has improved dramatically) hit an RBI single, pinch hitter Tony Batista hit a game tying single, and Felipe Lopez gave Washington a 7-6 lead with a double. Ryan Zimmerman hit a sacrifice fly to give the Nationals a 2 run lead.

Chris Schroder gets his first major league win and Chad Cordero gets his 24th save. Homering for the Nationals were Lopez, Kearns and Brian Schneider.

Personal aside-I'd fallen asleep on the couch, only to have my bride wake me up-just in time to see Bond's record breaking home run. Oh well, I was hoping that it wouldn't happen against the Nationals, Mike Basick has his footnote in history, and the winning streak begins anew!

[TheKingofKings]

WAS (52-61) vs SF (48-63)

RHP Tim Redding (1-2, 2.43) vs RHP Matt Cain (3-12, 3.93)

Nationals vs Cain:

Lopez: 1-4, 3B
Belliard: 0-0
Zimmerman: 2-6, HR
Young: 0-0
Kearns: 2-5
Church: 0-6, 0 K
Schneider: 3-6
Logan: 0-0

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

I'm surprised Cain's managed to keep his ERA under 4.00, it's truly an amazing feat considering he's lost 12 games and won only 3.
Barry and the Giants don't seem to support the kid offensively much, and I was shocked to read some Giants fans want him out of town...hey, we'll take him Brian Sabean, how about we ship you Dmitri Young for him?

[Aa3rt]

The Nationals are held to 4 hits, Nook Logan's double being the only extra base hit and Tim Redding gives up 4 runs, including Barry Bonds' 757th home run and opposing pitcher Matt Cain's first , as the Nationals lose the third game of the series 5-0. Billy Traber also gives up 1 run in the eighth in a relief appearance.

[Aa3rt]

Joel Hanrahan gets his second major league win (2-0), Chad Cordero records another save and the Nationals hold the Giants to only 1 run, despite giving up 11 hits. A sacrifice fly by Ronnie Belliard and 2 run homer from Felipe Lopez account for the Nationals 3 runs. Hanrahan pitched 5 1/3 innings and also hit a double. He's had a hit in each of his 3 games since coming up.

Tonight the Nationals start a 3 game series with the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

[Aa3rt]

Ugh! Where do I start? 5 Washington pitchers combine to give up 11 runs (5 in the seventh and 2 in the eighth) as the Nationals go down hard in Arizona.

Despite a pretty shaky start, including walking in 2 runs, Matt Chico had a tie score of 4-4 entering the 7th inning. Then the whole thing fell apart like an 84 Yugo, with Chico, Chris Schroder, Saul Rivera, Ray King and Luis Ayala all appearing in the 7th inning and the D-backs getting 5 runs.

A three home run inning, with homers coming from Felipe Lopez, Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns, which all helped tie the game 4-4, were wasted in a losing effort.

The Nationals record against the D-backs for 2007 is now 0-5. Hopefully they can break the jinx tonight.

[Aa3rt]

John Lannan pitches 7 innings of 4 hit baseball, but the D-backs Brandon Webb was just as baffling to Nationals hitters, and the Nationals lose their sixth game this season to Arizona 1-0.

The Nationals were held to 5 hits, including a double by Ryan Church and 2 infield singles by Nook Logan. The closest the Nationals came to scoring was when Felipe Lopez made it to third in the first inning. The D-backs get their only run on a single, followed by a triple to the gap in the 4th inning.

[Aa3rt]

The Nationals FINALLY win a game against Arizona, and do it in the most unlikely fashion!

At one point, the Nationals were down 5-0, with Arizona starter Micah Owings holding Washington to just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings. However, the D-backs bullpen couldn't hold the lead as Washington scored 4 in the eighth, with an RBI triple for Ryan Zimmerman, an RBI single for Austin Kearns and capped off with a 2 run homer by Ryan Church.

The D-backs did score in the bottom of the 8th, making the score 6-5. In the top of the ninth, Jesus Flores tied the game with a home run, just inside the left field foul pole, Robert Fick followed with a triple to deep right center and scored on a Felipe Lopez sacrifice fly.

Chad Cordero gained his 26th save by holding Arizona in the home half of the ninth inning. Mike Basick started the game, giving up 5 runs and eight hits in 4 innings, with Jon Rauch gaining the win, lifting his record to 8-2.

The Nationals have today off, followed with 3 game home series against the Phillies and Mets.

[KingJ]

Shawn Hill pitched beautifully 7 Ks in 6 shutout IP, but Rauch blew the game. Still, we have a bunch of great young pitchers to go forward with and he's one of them.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

Shawn Hill pitched beautifully 7 Ks in 6 shutout IP, but Rauch blew the game. Still, we have a bunch of great young pitchers to go forward with and he's one of them.

I'm thinking more and more Tim Redding should be added to that bunch.

Just pitched a beautiful game against the Phils too!

[KingJ]

Tim Redding is in his 30s so he can't be a great young pitcher. He's a great minor league find though.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

Joel just pitched 5 innings tonight, allowing 2 runs and striking out 8!

I'm liking the way our youngsters are looking now, can you imagine how good they'll be once they've FULLY developped?

wow.

[Peorgie T]

Tim Redding is in his 30s so he can't be a great young pitcher. He's a great minor league find though.

I assumed the same thing about him; he's only 29. He's been a nice surprise though. I was at the game last night, and he looked good, although Manny should have pulled him for a PH in the 6th.

[Aa3rt]

To get us up to date on the Nationals current home stand...

Aug. 14 L Phillies 3, Nationals 2
Aug. 15 W Nationals 4, Phillies 2
Aug. 16 L Phillies 4, Nationals 2
Aug. 17 L Mets 6, Nationals 2

Once again, the Nationals return to RFK and so does the anemic hitting...

Nationals current record 55-67, .451.

Home 31-32
Road 24-35

[Aa3rt]

A second straight loss to the Mets and the Nationals are now 1-4 on their current home stand.

Nationals starter John Lannan pitches 5 2/3 inning, giving up 5 runs and 8 hits. Lannan did manage to get his first major league hit and RBI but also gave up 2 home runs to the Mets, including the first to Luis Castillo in over a year.

Newly acquired Wily Mo Pena goes 1-4 with a walk, hitting a double and scoring 2 runs.

After the game, OF Ryan Langerhans was designated for reassignment and RHP Jesus Colome was activated from the 15 day disabled list.

Over 35,000 in the stands last night (probably a large contingent of Mets fans) as there were over 69,000 at FedEx Field to see the Redskins pre-season game. A good night NOT to be on the beltway.

Final game of this 6 game home series is today (Sunday, Aug. 19th) and then the Nationals head out on a 14 game road trip to Houston, Colorado and Los Angeles.

[Aa3rt]

The Mets complete the 3 game sweep of the Nationals this afternoon with an 8-2 win.

The Nationals waste another fine pitching performance by Shawn Hill (7 IP, 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 BB, 2 SO) by giving up 4 runs in the 8th and 2 in the 9th.

Wily Mo Pena goes 1-3 with a home run in only his second game as a National at RFK. The only other Nationals run came on a Ryan Zimmerman RBI single.

Jon Rauch gets his second loss in less than a week (current record 8-4), giving up 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Chris Schroder surrenders 2 runs in the 9th on a Carlos Beltran homer (his second of the game).

The Nationals were outscored 30-16 on this 6 day homestand, losing 3-2, 4-2, 6-2, 7-4 and 8-2, the only win 4-2. After that last homestand the hitting seemed to be getting better in RFK. What happened?

Off to the Lone Star State, with a 4 game series (Aug. 20-23) against the Houston Astros.

[Peorgie T]

It's starting to look like all of those appearances Rauch has made this year are catching up to him. He hasn't had a good outing in several weeks.

[TheKingofKings]

It's starting to look like all of those appearances Rauch has made this year are catching up to him. He hasn't had a good outing in several weeks.

True, he has a 7.71 ERA in his last 10 appearances, along with 17 hits allowed in 9.1 IP.

[Aa3rt]

Tim Redding pitches 7 shutout innings, Jesus Colome pitched 2 innings in relief and the Nationals get their first shutout win since July.

Redding wasn't all that sharp, giving up six hits and walking 3, but he was good where it counted, and the Astros went 0-8 with runners in scoring position.

Wily Mo Pena gets his second homer in 2 games, and Dmitri Young hits an ankle high slider down the right field line for a 3 run homer. Ryan Church added an RBI double. 6 different players scored the 7 runs, a great team effort.

Going into tonight's game (Tuesday, Aug. 21st), the Nationals are 56-69, .448. They are tied with the Florida Marlins for 4th place in the National League East. By coincidence, the Astros are also at 56-69, fourth in the 6 team Central Division.

[Aa3rt]

Another big night of offense for the Nationals...

Ryan Zimmerman hits a triple, a home run and a single and collects 4 RBIs. Nook Logan gets 5 hits and collects 3 RBIs as the Nationals get a grand total of 14 hits. Ronnie Belliard looks like he's back in the groove as well, hitting an RBI double.

Joel Hanrahan gets the win, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and 7 hits in 5 innings.

The Nationals 18 runs in the first 2 games in Houston are 2 more runs than they scored on the 6 day homestand against the Phillies and Mets.

[Aa3rt]

After scoring 18 runs in the first 2 games of this series, the Nationals are stymied by Astros pitcher Woody Williams and only manage 6 hits and 2 runs, both from an Austin Kearns homer, and strike out 8 times against Williams in 6 1/3 innings.

Mike Basick gave up 3 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings.

[TheKingofKings]

I was quite suprised when I learned the Nats' record against NL teams out of the NL East: 18-7!