“They play good defense. We don’t, and we lose.” —Josh Bard, May 31, 2009.
THE RESULT: The Washington Nationals were not charged with any errors in the scorebook in today’s 4-2 loss to Jamie Moyer and the Philadelphia Phillies. But three plays where the Nats could not perform simple defensive tasks proved the difference in a close ball game, and the 46-year-old Moyer registered his 250th career victory.
Philadelphia scored their first run in the first inning against Nats’ starter John Lannan (L, 2-5, 4.21). With one out, Lannan gave Shane Victorino a free pass. Three pitches later, Chase Utley hit a ball to the wall in right that Adam Dunn bare-handed on the bounce, hit cut-off man Anderson Hernandez, and the second baseman fired a strike to catcher Josh Bard to nab the speedy Victorino, who was called out by home plate umpire Dana DeMuth.
Unfortunately, Bard dropped the perfect relay, and when DeMuth realized the ball was between Bard’s shin protectors and not in his glove, he changed his call to “safe.”
Nursing a 2-1 lead, the Phillies got men on first and third with one out in the fourth. Lannan induced the lead-footed third baseman Pedro Feliz to ground into a tailor-made, inning-ending six-four-three double play. Alberto Gonzalez lobbed it to Hernandez to get the force at second, but Hernandez could not get the ball out of his glove to make a throw, allowing Raul Ibanez to walk home with the third Philly run.
The Phillies added an insurance run in the seventh inning against reliever Joe Beimel. The veteran lefty walked Chase Utley with two outs and the next batter, Ryan Howard, belted a ball to straight-away center field. Austin Kearns, playing out of position in center field, took a circuitous route to the catchable ball and, at the last moment, half-heartedly threw up his glove, almost as if to protect himself.
The lumbering first baseman collected his eighth career triple by the time Kearns gathered himself and got the ball back into the infield.
Left fielder Josh Willingham had two of the Nats five hits, both solo home runs.
Lannan actually threw better than the numbers would indicate. He went five innings and allowed four hits and four walks, giving up three earned runs and struck out seven Phillies.
THE TAKEAWAY: They call these things the “Little Things,” but are they really little when they continue to add up to losses, day after day?
If any one of the three plays are made, we might be talking about a different outcome.
And it’s not like a little extra infield practice is going to make it any better. Except for Hernandez, these guys are veterans. They are what they are. Bard has made multiple mistakes in his few games. It seems like every time he starts, he makes a critical mistake.
Kearns is simply not a center fielder, but nobody on this roster is. At some point, manager Manny Acta’s just going to have to put Willie Harris in center and live with whatever offense he can contribute. He has to find somebody that will catch the ball in center.
Dunn’s a different story. Unless he—or Willingham—are traded, everyone’s just going to have to live with him kicking balls around in the outfield.
But the infield? That’s correctable. Gonzalez and Hernandez both have the physical talent, they just need to prepare and concentrate. Who should be responsible for that? The players? The position coaches? The manager? Someone in that line of command has to step up.
THE GOOD: Josh Willingham. 2-for-4 with two home runs. He’s finally seeing enough pitches to get into a groove. He’s got his average up to .252 after being below .200 for the first month-and-a-half of the season.
THE BAD: Middle of the order. Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman, and Adam Dunn were a combined 0-for-11 with one walk.
THE UGLY: The Nats have lost six in a row, 15 of 17, and 18 of 21. They are now on an even pace to tie the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the worst record in the Major Leagues since the expansion New York Mets lost 120 games in 1969.
NEXT GAME: The Nats are off until Tuesday, when they start a three-game home series with the San Francisco Giants. They will face Tim Lincecum, Randy Johnson, and Matt Cain, in order. Oh goody.
“I don’t know if there’s a word the English language has for it yet.” —Adam Dunn, May 30, 2009
THE RESULT: Ryan Howard hit two home runs, including an estimated 475-foot grand slam, off Nats starter Shairon Martis to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Washington Nationals 9-6, before 45,121 at Citizen’s Bank Park.
The home runs were the headliner, but the more pivotal play happened in the bottom of the sixth, with the Phils up just one run, 7-6. With two outs and the bases loaded with Phillies, Ron Villone got Howard to quietly ground to second baseman Anderson Hernandez, which should have ended the inning.
Instead, Hernandez booted the routine ground ball, and two more runs came in, sealing the Nats fate Saturday night.
Martis (5-1, 5.62) was shaky, lasting just four innings and giving up seven runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out just one batter. But he was no worse than Philly starter Cole Hamels, who got the win (3-2), simply by allowing just one less run. Hamels gave up six earned on eight hits and one walk in six innings pitched.
Howard finished 2-for-5 with the two home runs and five driven in. Philadelphia also stole five bases, two apiece off relievers Jesus Colome and Kip Wells.
The Nats got a pinch-hit, two-run home run by Ronnie Belliard, a two-run double from Wil Nieves and an RBI triple from Alberto Gonzalez, recalled earlier in the day when Justin Maxwell was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse.
Unfortunately, three straight Nationals hitters struck out after the triple, leaving Gonzalez standing at third.
THE TAKEAWAY: The Nats have lost five in a row and 14 of their last 16 games. Ten of the last 11 losses have been by three runs or fewer. For the season, the record stands at 13-35-1.
THE GOOD: Alberto Gonzalez. He gave Cristian Guzman the night off to rest a sore thumb, and he went 2-for-3 with a run scored, and the RBI triple.
THE BAD: Ryan Zimmerman went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, leaving two runners on.
THE UGLY: Though he didn’t contribute negatively to the scorebook, except for making his pitcher throw more pitches, Adam Dunn made two more errors in right field.
NEXT GAME: Today at 1:35 pm. John Lannan (2-4, 4.11) squares off against ageless Jamie Moyer (3-5, 7.42).
NATIONALS CLUB FIVE HOMERS, PHILLIES HIT TWO GRAND SLAMS
THE RESULT: Garrett Mock and Joel Hanrahan conspired to allow six earned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Nats waste 11 runs and lose the opener to the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-11.
The Nationals hit five home runs and pounded out 12 hits against six Phillies pitchers, but it was to no avail.
Mock started the eighth by striking out catcher Lou Marson. It went downhill quickly. Pedro Feliz singled, Jimmy Rollins doubled, and Shane Victorino hit a sacrifice fly to plate Feliz.
With two outs, Mock gave up a single to Chase Utley, driving in Rollins, and manager Manny Acta went to Hanrahan. Hanrahan then walked Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth.
The first pitch to Raul Ibanez was a fastball right down the middle of the plate from Hanrahan, and the veteran outfielder made no mistake, clearing the bases with a grand slam.
THE TAKEAWAY: You can’t lose scoring 11 runs in a game. You. Just. Can’t. Someone has to lose his job over this, and it’s probably going to be Hanrahan. How can Acta give him the ball in a high-leverage situation right now? He was completely incapable of throwing strikes tonight.
Hanrahan has talent, but he needs to get his head on straight, because a team with shaky starters and cruddy defense CAN’T have a closer giving games away.
In the post game press conference, Acta said they would have to “think it through” whether Hanrahan was still his closer.
THE GOOD: Ryan Zimmerman, et al. Zim went 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs. Nick Johnson, Adam Dunn, and Elijah Dukes all homered as well.
THE BAD: Shairon Martis. The rookie gave up seven earned on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts in five innings. The Phillies have some hitters, and they took advantage of a rookie finding his way tonight.
THE UGLY: Joel Hanrahan. He was flat-out terrible. He walked Howard on five pitches, including a wild pitch. He walked Jayson Werth on five pitches. And he wasn’t even close. This wasn’t pitching too fine; he had zero control. Acta can’t go to him in a high-leverage situation until he gets straightened out.
NEXT GAME: Tomorrow against these same Phillies. John Lannan (0-2, 4.43) against Cole Hamels (0-2, 9.69).
