Happy birthday Dusty Baker! We don’t have to worry about who plays 3rd base after Anthony Rendon was ejected in the 12th inning, and the walk-off made it so Dusty didn’t have to reconfigure his infield for the Washington Nationals in the 13th inning. The Nats win the series 2-1 and get back to 16 games above .500 as the team wins their 41st game.
Jayson Werth said it all, “Holy sh*t…” and then he added about the people who questioned what he could do at his age,”those people can kiss my a$$.”
Those who talked about the Cubs magic just learned about the Nationals magic. It’s the only way to explain the unexplainable.
So many big time players in this game.
- Stephen Drew hits the go-ahead pinch-hit HR in the 8th
- Wilson Ramos hits the game tying run in the 9th
- Michael Taylor hits the game tying run in the 12th
- Jayson Werth walk-off in the 12th
- Danny Espinosa took one for the team in a HBP then stole 2nd and scored the tying run in the 12th inning on Michael Taylor‘s RBI single
- Ben Revere led off the game with a hit then stole 2nd and scored on a wild pitch. Revere also had an outfield assist throwing out Montero at 2nd base
- Shawn Kelley came through again in the bullpen
- Stephen Strasburg pitched 7 innings of 1 run baseball
This was Jayson Werth‘s 2nd walk-off hit in a week. Dusty’s birthday wish was for a win, and he believed he was 0-1o on his previous 10 birthdays.
Best. Birthday. Ever. pic.twitter.com/dCsSf8vxru
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 16, 2016
Dusty Baker discussed why he went with Oliver Perez against Anthony Rizzo, “Perez has handled him pretty good.” Fact is that earlier this year Perez faced Rizzo and walked him. The last time they faced each other before that Rizzo hit a HR off of Perez in 2014. Yes, Perez got Rizzo 3 years ago for 0-2 and let’s face it, Rizzo was a .233 hitter then. He became a star in 2014. Note to Dusty, don’t try this match-up again.
As far as starting the 9th inning with Matt Belisle against Kris Bryant, probably also a poor match-up. Bryant was 1-1 against him last year with a double and a walk.
Yes, these are all miniscule sample sizes, but for relievers, that is all we have to go on. If Shawn Kelley was available in the game, why not use him as the closer instead of matching up relievers who have not been successful in the past 2 years against these players.
Listen to the narrator:
