Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats
Click here to watch Nats win #15 on MASN via MLB.TV at 6:30 pm tonight with the rest of us. Just a quick reminder of what we are doing if this is your first time: As a group, we are going to be re-watching all 105 wins from the Nats 2019 season in chronological order at 6:30 pm each night. We will all try to sync up to the same point in the game, and this is a work in progress to maneuver to the same point in the game. Feel free to ask in the comments section where everyone is in the game so you can sync up. Many people are joining in at different points, and most people are not commenting — rather just following along.
The MLB.TV library is unlocked and free to everyone for the 2018-2019 season courtesy of MLB. This win #15 came in the 37th game in the 2019 season, and the Nats took a 14-22 record into this game.
After a lengthy losing streak the Nats got back in the W column in this game behind a strong showing by Patrick Corbin who clearly was behind many winning games early in this season. Anthony Rendon returned to the lineup from the 10-day IL. This game was originally played on May 9th and the team was getting back to full strength with Juan Soto not too far behind Rendon and Trea Turner after them.
For manager Dave Martinez, he was always a slow starter in his career as a player. The month of April was his worst statistical month, and he had hoped that as a manager he could come out of the gates strong this year. It almost looked like it was going to happen until Anthony Rendon got injured. If only the Nationals could have just treaded water until Rendon, Juan Soto and Trea Turner returned from the injured list, they could have gone on a run when their opening day roster was intact. Unfortunately, Martinez’s team had been sinking under the weight of the water and were 8-games under .500 at this point of time.
As their luck has it, they faced his Dodgers team with the best record in the National League in this four-game series. The week before, the Cardinals had the best record in the National League and the Nationals had to face them for three games. The Dodgers got red hot and surpassed the Cardinals for the top spot in the NL coming into this game. The Dodgers just swept the Braves and had won 16-of-their-last-23 games which followed a 6-game losing streak.
If ever the Nationals needed a hot streak after a losing streak like the Dodgers — it was now. For the Dodgers, they wanted to continue their success. The Nationals of course wanted to show great pitching beats great hitting. Will it feel like a playoff game, we will see.
“It’s a different hero every night,” Justin Turner of the Dodgers said. “A lot of guys in here are capable of changing the game with a swing of the bat.”
The Dodgers were very familiar with the former NL West pitcher, Patrick Corbin, who started this game for the Nationals. Corbin has had many successful starts in Dodger Stadium and he hoped to continue that. Corbin’s former teammate in Arizona, Gerardo Parra, we reported was set to join the team at the stadium after his release from the Giants. Parra has had a lot of career success against Dodger pitching.
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA ▼ |
OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Floro | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| Brock Stewart | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .750 | .750 | .750 | 1.500 |
| Caleb Ferguson | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Dennis Santana | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Ross Stripling | 13 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .417 | .462 | .667 | 1.128 |
| Pedro Baez | 8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .375 | .375 | .500 | .875 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 44 | 41 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | .317 | .364 | .512 | .876 |
| Kenley Jansen | 21 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | .300 | .333 | .350 | .683 |
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | 20 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .250 | .300 | .550 |
| Walker Buehler | 13 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .308 | .500 | .808 |
| Julio Urias | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 |
| Joe Kelly | 11 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .182 | .273 | .455 |
| Kenta Maeda | 20 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .158 | .200 | .211 | .411 |
| Tony Cingrani | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .143 | .000 | .143 |
| Scott Alexander | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Yimi Garcia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Rich Hill | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 180 | 172 | 48 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 35 | .279 | .311 | .390 | .701 |
The Nationals will need to make at least one roster to move to accommodate the addition of Parra to the roster. The signing makes sense for many reasons including his success on the road this season that hopefully is a positive sign that his issues were related specifically to San Francisco. For his salary, the Nats are only on the hook for a prorated portion of the league minimum. The Nationals will have to move a player off the active roster which most expect would be Andrew Stevenson as well as clearing a spot on the 40-man roster. There is the possibility the Nats could move a reliever off of the roster like Dan Jennings or Matt Grace. Stay tuned on that.
Washington Nationals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Stadium: Dodgers Stadium, Chavez Ravine, California
