Nats Fall Flat vs Mets

Friday, August 14th

After an encouraging showing against the Cubs last night, our Washington Nationals looked anything but encouraging tonight against the Mets.

The Nationals managed only 5 hits and their 1 run was courtesy of a Mets’ error.

Robert Stock started for the Mets. He performed quite well considering his 0-2 record and 10.12 ERA at the beginning of the night. Stack lasted 4 1/3 innings giving up 3 hits and 0 earned runs with 3 walks and 5 strike outs.

Four relievers finished up for New York, surrendering a meager 2 hits and shutting out the Nats for the rest of the game.

Andrew Alvarez performed admirably for the Nationals, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits with a single walk and 4 strike outs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Jake Bird surrendered the other 2 Mets’ runs in a single inning of relief.

Washington scored first in the top of the 3rd. CJ Abrams walked and went to 3rd on a fielding error by Francisco Lindor. Brandy House later singled to right field, scoring Abrams. 1-0 Nat.

The Mets were held scoreless until the bottom of the 6th. With 2 outs Francisco Lindor hit his 12th home run to left field. Bo Bichette then reached 1st on a wild pitch third strike. Luis Robert and Carson Benge followed with singles, scoring Bichette. 2-1 Mets.

New York doubled its lead in the bottom of the 7th. Jared Young hit his 8th home run of the season to center field. Luis Torrens followed with a walk. Later in the inning, Bo Bichette singled Torrens home. 4-1 Mets.

And that was it.

The Mets have been a serious disappointment this year. They have the highest payroll in the Major Leagues and sit with a record of 54 wins and 69 losses after tonight’s victory. There’s a whole list of reasons why this season has been a disaster: injuries, poor offense, investments in players who didn’t mesh with the rest of the team, underperforming starting rotation, porous defense, etc.

And it goes without saying that I don’t feel the least bit sorry for them.

Game two of the three game weekend series at Citi Field in Queens is tomorrow afternoon at 4:10 ET

Nats Lose it in the Ninth

Saturday, August 15th

There probably isn’t anything worse for a baseball team than going into the top of the ninth with the lead in another team’s stadium and not ending up with a victory. But that’s exactly what happened to the Nationals tonight.

The Mets got out to an early lead scoring 2 in the bottom of the 1st inning. Three out of the first four New York batters drew walks, loading the bases. Jared Young then doubled to left scoring Francisco Lindor and A. J. Ewing. 2-0 Mets.

The Nationals got one back in the top of the 4th as Andrews Chaparro hit his 7th home run to left field. 2-1 New York.

Washington took the lead in the top of the 6th. Andrew Pinckney was hit by a pitch. Andrews Chaparro later walked, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Brady House then delivered a 3-run homer, his 9th, to left field. 4-2 good guys.

The Mets got closer in the bottom of the 6th as Carson Benge led off the inning with his 14th home run to right field. 4-3 Nats.

And then we come to the bottom of the 9th. Brett Baty led off the inning with a walk. Jorge Polanco then singled Baty to second. Francisco Alvarez followed with a doubled to left field, scoring Baty. Game tied. With one out, Francisco Lindor then singled to right field, scoring pinch-runner Christian Parche. Game over…Mets win.

Tough way to lose a game, no doubt.

Brad Lord had a rough outing tonight for the Nationals. In 2/3 of an inning, Lord gave up only 1 hit but walked 4.

He was replaced by Will Dion who was part of the Foster Griffin deal with the Guardians. Dion looked good going 4 1/3 innings without a hit or run while striking out 7.

Yovanny Cruz took the loss, managing only a single out while surrendering 3 hits and the winning 2 runs.

Sean Manaea started for the Mets, going 6 1/3 innings while giving up 6 hits and 4 runs while striking out 7.

The Nats try to get at least 1 win in the 3-game series tomorrow at 1:40 ET.

Mets Sweep Nationals

Sunday, August 16th

Another lackluster effort by the Washington Nationals helped the New York Mets sweep the 3-game series in the borough of Queens, New York City.

The Nats took the early lead in the top of the 2nd as Daylen Lile walked and went to 2nd base when Brady House was hit by a pitch. With 2 outs, Keibert Ruiz singled to right field scoring Lile. 1-0 Nationals

The Nationals went up by 2 in the top of the 3rd as Abimelec Ortiz hit his 5th home run to center field. Ortiz’s 5 home runs in his first 14 games in the majors is the highest total ever for a rookie in franchise history.

The Mets broke through in the bottom of the 4th. Jared Young singled to right field. Brett Baty later doubled to right sending Young to 3rd base. With 2 outs, Luis Torrens sent his 6th home run of the year over the center field wall. 3-2 New York.

New York added another run in the bottom of the 5th as Francisco Lindor led off the inning with a single to left. Bo Bichette also singled, sending Lindor to 2nd base. Carson Benge grounded into a double play, Lindor going to 3rd. Again with 2 outs, Jared Young doubled to right, scoring Lindor. 4-2 Mets.

Washington got within a run in the top of the 7th. Jorbit Vivas walked and got to 2nd on a ground out. Keibert Ruis then singled to right, scoring Vivas. 4-3 New York. And that’s it.

Final score New York 4, Washington 3.

Jake Irvin started for the Nationals. Before this game Irvin had a 2-7 record with a 5.80 ERA. Irvin lasted 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 8. Max Kranick and Jason Byrd both pitched an inning of scoreless relief.

Christian Scott began the game for the Mets. His record coming into tonight’s game was a 4-3 win-loss record with an ERA of 3.51. Scott pitched into the 7th inning giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 7. Three Met relievers shut out the Nats over the last 2 2/3 innings.

The Nat’s All-Star CJ Abrams went 0 for 10 over the 3-game series. The team left 18 men on base (10 in the 1st game). That big hit just didn’t happen.

The Nationals fell to 60 wins and 66 losses and are now 7 games out of the last wild card spot.

Washington is off tomorrow and then start a 3-game series in Arlington against the Texas Rangers. Game time is 8:05 ET

Dave’s Dime…Steroid Fever…

I’m probably the last person who should be talking to anyone about any kind of illegal substances because I know very little about the subject.

I haven’t even tried marijuana. I’d admit that to my students back when I taught high school during the first two decades of the 21st Century. They wouldn’t believe me. They’d say, “Mr.

Carter, you’re too chill to have never smoked weed.” I don’t know what’s more disturbing about that statement. The fact that they thought I was cool, or the fact that they thought someone had to smoke weed to be cool. And, disappointedly, that sentence is not even grammatically correct.

Now I know caffeine is considered a drug, and yes, I drink it in large quantities. But coffee is known to have quite a few health benefits, including longevity and brain health. It’s also known to lower a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes, and it’s full of antitoxins.

So, I’d say I am pretty much addicted to Folgers Classic Roast, but I’m not worried about it. My only other addiction is salty snacks. That I’m worried about.

But as far as steroids or amphetamines are concerned, I’m pretty well clueless.

I do remember, however, the steroid era of baseball: the late1980’s to the mid-2000’s.

I remember being so upset during that time period concerning the fact that more than a few players were threatening the season home run record set in 1961 by Roger Maris.

Of the four players who ended up breaking Maris’ one-season record, three of the four were know users of performance enhancing drugs.

Barry Bonds hit the unbelievable total of 73 home runs in 2001. But that record is meaningless to most people because he was so jacked-up on drugs, he looked more like a professional

wrestler than a baseball player.

Mark McGwire broke Maris’ mark twice. He hit 70 home runs in 1998 and 65 homers in 1999. But both totals are tainted since Mark was living in beast-mode at the time.

Sammy Sosa hit more than 61 home runs three times: 66 in 1998, 63 in 1999, and 64 in 2001. Sammy, however, looked like Popeye’s stunt double.

Aaron Judge became the only player to legitimately break the record with his 62 home runs in 2022. This became the true unadulterated record for home runs in a season. No asterisks, no innuendos, no questions. Judge brought integrity back to the art of hitting the long ball.

Let’s not forget last season, when Cal Raliegh hit 60 home runs for the Seattle Mariners. He set the record for homer runs by a catcher and by a switch-hitter. Another home run star with a clean record. Sadly, this season Raliegh has been plagued with injuries for the first time in his career.

The steroid age actually got its start after Major League Baseball suffered through the longest strike in the history of professional sports. The strike began in August of 1994, cancelling the rest of the season and post-season. The big issue was the owners’ desire for a salary cap. Even the 1995 season was shortened to 144 games.

So Major League Baseball had a serious problem on their hands after this extended 7-month strike. They needed to win back the disillusioned fans.

Now, of course, there had been drug use before 1994; we actually talked about that in yesterday’s article. But the plague spread dramatically starting in 1996.

Believe it or not, baseball officials cared more about peace with the players’ union, recovering economically, and filling the stadium seats, than investigating and prosecuting the use of illegal drugs. Crazy but true.

Team management had actually proposed mandatory drug testing during the 1994 negotiations to end the strike, but the Players Association disagreed. I think we all know why. Leaguewide random drug testing with penalties was not implemented until 2003.

But in the meantime, we had the 72 home runs of Bonds, the 70 home runs of McGuire, and the 66 home runs of Sammy Sosa.

What’s truly sad is that these drugged up athletes were having wonderful careers before they started using. So why did they do it? The adulation of the crowds? The enormous contracts? The feeling of being super-human? The addiction they couldn’t break?

And after it ended and the truth came out, all these once adulated athletes have left is “roid rage”, shrunken testicles, and not a single bronze plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

These drug-induced events brought back the fans, but at a huge cost. We need to remember that.