Nationals Shut Down by deGrom

Jacob deGrom pitched 6 scoreless innings for the Texas Rangers, surrendering only a single to Brady House in the second inning. deGrom walked just 1 batter and struck out 11.

The Rangers scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the 3rd, as Corey Seager hit his 13th home run to center field. 1-0 Texas.

Andrew Alvarez went 5 innings for the Nationals, given up 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 5.

The Rangers added their second run in the bottom of the 8th. Ezequiel Duran tripled to right field. Nicky Lopez brought Duran home with a sac fly to center field. 2-0 Texas.

And that’s the way the game ended. 2-0 Texas.

The Nationals managed only a single hit: Brady House’s single in the 2nd inning.

deGrom recorded his 2000th strike out during tonight’s outing. He became the 2nd fastest pitcher in history to reach that milestone in both games played (272) and innings pitched (1,661). Randy Johnson holds the record for games played (262) and Chris Sale holds the mark for innings pitched (1626).

All three games in the series featured shutouts by the winning team. The Rangers won Tuesday’s game 5-0. The Nationals reciprocated last night with a 6-0 victory, and Texas took the series with tonight’s 5-0 win.

CJ Abrams didn’t play for the Nats this evening. He’s nursing a sprained ankle from last night’s game and is listed as day to day…Aren’t we all…

The Nationals take off for Miami tonight and play the first of a three-game series against the Marlins tomorrow with a starting time of 7:10 ET.

**Dave’s Dime…6 and 14 in our last 20 games…how we got there.**

Cade Cavalli’s masterful performance last night cheered me up so much that I’m in the mood to discuss the team again.

So, let’s reminisce about the good old days…

The Washington Nationals were three games over .500 on June 15th with a record of 38 wins and 35 losses. This was the first time the team had been that many games over .500 since their wonderful World Series Championship of 2019.

However, the first three batters in their lineup that day, James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., and Curtis Mead were not in their starting lineup yesterday.

Of course, we all know our All-Star leadoff hitter James Wood was placed on the injured reserve list back on August 3rd with a left oblique strain. His rehab has been slower than expected, and he now isn’t due back until sometime in September. But at least he’s still with the team.

Battling second for the Nationals that day was Luis Garcia Jr. Garcia, as we also know, was traded to the New York Yankees on August 2nd. He’d been with the Nationals since 2020.

He’s been struggling with the Yankees, hitting .216 with 1 home run and 3 RBIs in 13 games. Before his trade Garcia was batting .283 with 23 home runs and 76 RBIs in 104 games.

Quite a difference. I’m thinking Garcia’s change of scenery hasn’t turned out to be that successful.

Batting third in the lineup back on June 15th was Curtis Mead. Mead was traded to the Boston Red Sox on July 26th. Unfortunately, he was injured in his first game with his new team the following day. He suffered a left wrist fracture after being hit by a pitch. He did avoid surgery and will hopefully return to the Red Sox before the end of the season. Before his trade Mead was batting .253 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs.

And don’t forget the transaction that send Foster Griffin to the Indians. Griffin’s done fairly well since the trade, going 2 and 1 with an ERA of 4.20. His last start on August 18th has been his best. He went 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 1 run while striking out 6. Good job, Foster. We miss you.

In the middle of all that activity, which resulted in the Nationals losing the top three batters in their daily lineup, and an all-star pitcher, the team started their disastrous road trip to Atlanta and Philadelphia. Those days to forget took place from July 30th to August 6th. One victory and seven defeats. That’s when it all fell apart.

Things did take a slight upturn when the Nationals returned home. The team managed to sweep the struggling Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series. A glimmer of hope?

They then traveled to Chicago and lost 2 of 3 to the Cubs. The only win was that 1-hit masterpiece, courtesy of Cade Cavalli. That glimmer dimmed just a little.

And then that glimmer blew up when the Nats traveled to New York for a 3-game series and were unceremoniously swept by the Mets.

And now they’ve split the first two games in Arlington against the Rangers. The win was yesterday and, you guessed it, Cavalli was the starting pitcher. Oh, word just in, the Nats were shut again tonight.

So, since their loss to the Blue Jays on July 29th, the Washington Nationals have won 6 games and lost 15.

The older I get the more I tend to dwell on the past. I know I’m supposed to be enjoying whatever time I have left, but, dang it, I’m having a tough time doing that.

And that’s why I’m thinking about where the Nationals would be if those three players were still batting 1-2-3 in our daily lineup.

Of course, we can’t do much concerning Wood’s injury. Poop happens. But the trades of Garcia and Mead; were they necessary? And why trade Griffin?

But, like they say, there’s always next year…but could it have been this year?

**On this day…**

On this day in 1921 the American Professional Football Association granted Green Bay, Wisconsin, a franchise. The team was originally called the Acme Packing Co. They changed their name to the Green Bay Packers the following year. I don’t know…the Acme Packing Co. does kind of have a ring to it.

In 1945, Tommy Brown became the youngest player ever to hit a home run as a Major Leaguer. Brown was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time and was 17 years and 257 days old. He played for seven years. He passed away at the ripe old age of 97.

In 1965, Eddie Mathrews and Hank Aaron became the top home run duo in history as Mathews hit his 28th dinger of the season. That was their 772nd home run as teammates. They passed two all-time greats: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Mathews had a career total of 512 home runs while playing with the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. The only player to be a member of the Braves in three different cities. He finished his career with a year in Houston and a World Series winning year with Detroit.

Hank Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs. He played with the Braves from 1954 until his retirement in 1976.

Babe Ruth’s career home run total was 714. Lou Gehrig ended his career with 493, all 17 seasons with the New York Yankees.

Ruth, as you may remember, played 15 seasons with the Yankees. He began his career with six seasons as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He finished his career by playing a single season as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

I love sports trivia…

Have a good weekend!

Dave Carter