Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals start their longest span of games today without a day-off as they have 13-games in a row until their next day-off on May 6. The Dodgers are in D.C. for three games to finish up their season series.

The Washington Nationals walk-off win yesterday got many people talking about some of those exciting and improbable wins of 2019 and that feeling of déjà vu. Dave Jageler from the Nats’ radio booth said, “Shades of 2019 rallies here in 2024.” On Friday night, Joey Meneses was in a spot where he could have been the walk-off hero. While it didn’t happen then, he got a do-over on Saturday and took care of some RISP business in the 10th inning of a tie game.

The Washington Nationals started off their homestand with a 5-3 loss after two unsuccessful shots to walk-it-off. It is hard to hit a sprinkler head on a strikeout. Manager Dave Martinez was ejected from the game in the eighth inning which was like déjà vu back to Game 6 of the 2019 World Series — and once again was correct on his argument. The Nationals have been on the wrong side of critical calls all season it seems. The Nats record fell to 8-11 in this young season with last night’s loss.

The Washington Nationals return from a long and successful road trip on the West Coast, and this weekend celebrates the 5-year World Series win against today’s Nats opponent, the Houston Astros. Many Nats’ alumni are returning for this weekend of celebration. Each day will have some added features for the fans in attendance. With the COVID health crisis in 2020, the Nats were not able to celebrate with their fans. This might be the closest they will come to it this weekend.

The Washington Nationals came out swinging last night, and one terrible decision quickly derailed everything. Once again a miss-sized batting helmet cost the Nats. Instead of stopping at third base, CJ Abrams was a costly out at homeplate because he tried catching his batting helmet that popped off his noggin as it does every single time he runs the bases. Discretion is the better part of valor, and they make batting helmets in 1/8th sizing increments!

If Abrams stopped at third base with no outs, and trusted in his teammates, who knows what happens. That Abrams mistake as manager Dave Martinez called it, just changed everything in an instant. Jesse Winker‘s two-run homer a few innings later couldn’t save the Nats from another horrendous start from Patrick Corbin who walked four Dodgers to go with nine hits that included a booming home run. A 2.053 WHIP won’t cut it. This is Groundhog Day with Corbin who somehow saw his ERA improve to 8.06 from 8.44. That is a tongue-in-cheek joke. Corbin gave up five earnies over his 6 1/3 innings — and truth be told, the defensive and defensive positioning saved Corbin who gave up an eye-popping 66.7 percent hard hit rate. Compare that to the Dodgers’ Ryan Yarbrough who averaged 28.6 percent on his hard hit rate.

The Washington Nationals came up with a huge win last night at Dodger Stadium tonight on Jackie Robinson Day. It was the MLB debut for left-hander Mitchell Parker, and he did not disappoint Nats’ fans. Tonight it will be the veteran Patrick Corbin who got to watch the newbie dominate with basically just a fastball and a curveball, and the occasional splitter.