For another game this week, Dusty Baker pieced together a line-up of regulars and September call-ups, and it turned into another Curly W! This was win number 93 on the season for the Nationals, and the Magic Number for the home field advantage for the NLDS is now at 2. The Nationals will face the Dodgers in the NLDS, and the Dodgers play the Padres tonight then they have three games this weekend to finish the season against the Giants. The Nationals have three games this weekend with the Marlins to finish the regular season.
Of the Nationals five RBIs, four of them were delivered by a combination of September call-ups which included Michael Taylor, Wilmer Difo, and Pedro Severino. Taylor had three hits in the game including a two-run single while Difo and Severino both delivered on solo home runs.
The Nationals’ starter Joe Ross gutted out four tough innings where he only gave up one run. Ross was not getting the outside pitches which were clear strikes on the pitch F/X, and that caused him to labor through some innings and also resulted in two walks on 3-2 pitches.
Call hurts #Nationals
Ball 4 should be strike 3
Top 2 Ross vs Haniger
24% call same
1.4in from edge pic.twitter.com/mZJAWWDQNi— Nats Strike Zone (@NationalsUmp) September 29, 2016
Reynaldo Lopez pitched 3 2/3 innings and was throwing his own shutout until Socrates Brito got him for a two-run home run as the third batter in the 9th inning. Mark Melancon was summoned into the game by Dusty Baker for the save as the score was 5-3 at the time, and Melancon made quick work to finish off the game for his 45th save of the season.
The weather cooperated on a day that was almost guaranteed to be a wash-out as the weather service was calling for extensive rain to measure several inches. All the worry about having to play Arizona on Monday turned out not to be an issue although last night’s game was cut short by 4 innings in a rain soaked abbreviated game that the Nats lost at a time they would have liked to hit against the Diamondbacks bullpen and never got the opportunity.
