Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Sometimes you don’t need a home run to win a game. The stage was setup perfectly for the birthday boy, Carter Kieboom, last night. One out, the winning run on third base, and all you need at a minimum is a productive out to win the game.
Kieboom whiffed on three pitches to put the scales in favor of the Mets to get out of the jam after they had already blown the save to make it a 2-2 game. It wasn’t like manager Dave Martinez had a better option on his bench with Gerardo Parra, Adrian Sanchez, and Alex Avila as his available bench players.
One of the Nats best comebacks of the season was snuffed out after a Juan Soto home run made the score 2-1 in the ninth inning followed by a Ryan Zimmerman walk, and a Riley Adams double scored the pinch-running Andrew Stevenson who trucked the Mets’ catcher at the plate to jar the ball loose and tie the game.
“They got to learn and they got to learn quickly,” Martinez said. “This is the Major Leagues, and honestly, we’re here to compete and win.”
Martinez’s patience is growing thin. The mistakes and losses are piling up. The going 1-0 everyday mantra has been going 0-1 in reality. This Washington Nationals team is 15-40 since July 1. The team was 40-38 on June 30. Yes, do you remember those days of hope back on June 30? Hope has been replaced by wishful thinking.
The team is still playing hard, but on any given day something just goes wrong. Even when they make a valiant effort in a comeback and staring at a walk-off — they find a way to blow that.
Today’s game is the first game in this doubleheader with the Mets. Believe it or not, this game replaces a game postponed from the Opening Day series. Back when there was optimism in the air — that has been turned to the acceptance that this team might lose 100 games at their current pace. At a record of 55-78, the Nats would need to win 8 more games to avoid that embarrassment. Can they go at least 8-21 to finish the season?
This game favors the Mets in a matchup of Marcus Stroman vs. Erick Fedde in this one. With the new rules, this is a 7-inning game.
For those who want to have fun with numbers, look at this in winning the NL East:
How many wins will it take to win the NL East?
The race to 88 wins:
Atl 71-63 must go 17-11
Phi 69-65 must go 19-9
NYM 67-67 must go 21-7Phillies at Braves for 3 to end September
Mets at Braves for 3 to end the season https://t.co/JSYdQmvxkr— Talk Nats ⚾ (@TalkNats) September 4, 2021
While the Nats have not been mathematically eliminated, at some point they might show up as the spoiler.
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, SNY, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Lane Thomas CF
2. Alcides Escobar SS
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Yadiel Hernandez LF
6. Keibert Ruiz C
7. Carter Kieboom 3B
8. Luis García 2B
9. Erick Fedde RHP
