The #1 overall pick in the 2011 draft took the loss in this game, and the player who once was playing independent ball got the win and the shutout. Tanner Roark finished the game with 8 innings of shutout ball and lowered his ERA to 2.82 which is……wait for it……..13th best in the Major Leagues. If the All-Star game was next week, Roark would have to be on the All-Star team.
The Nats bats came alive early and often for the 6-0 win with contributions across the board, and Stephen Drew was 3-4 with 3 doubles. This bizarre play (video here) blew the game open when the score was 2-0. The Pirates continue to self-destruct in this series and the Nationals continue to capitalize.
The Nationals running game was aggressive again tonight, and the Nationals matched their 2015 season total tonight in steals (57) when Werth and Espinosa recorded steals in the game.
Honorable mention to Blake Treinen who came in for the 9th inning to relieve Tanner Roark with 2 men on and no outs. Treinen tried to induce a doubleplay but a weak grounder found a hole to make the party full with bases loaded and no outs. No problem for Treinen who then got 3 straight outs with another of his Houdini acts and preserved the shutout.
There was an oddity in the game where Gerrit Cole entered the game with a 2.77 ERA and Tanner Roark entered with a 3.01 ERA, and by the end of each pitcher’s outings, it was as if they exchanged ERA’s. Roark had a chance to get close to 2.77 if he threw the complete game shutout and Cole’s ERA shot up with 4 earned runs to a 3.11 ERA.
Most starts of at least 7 IP and 0 R in @MLB this season:
Tanner Roark – 6
Jake Arrieta – 5
Five tied – 4 pic.twitter.com/vcvoFnWmWN— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 17, 2016
