Nats Tie it, then Lose it, in the Ninth

Friday, August 21st

After leading most of the game, then losing the late lead, the Washington Nationals used a clutch hit in the ninth off the bat of Daylen Lile to tie the game with the Marlins. Then Miami closed it out in the bottom of the inning.

Another tough loss for the Nats, but that’s just the way it’s been these past few weeks.

Both teams started off slow, as neither ballclub scored during the first five innings.

Brad Lord, Wil Dion, and Orlando Ribalta combined to shut out the Marlins through the first seven innings, giving up just one hit.

Ryan Gusto was the starting pitcher for the Marlins, and threw a scoreless 4 innings giving up 5 hits.

Washington broke up the scoreless tie in the top of the 6th courtesy of Keibert Ruiz’s 8th home run of the year. 1-0 Nats.

Then we advance to the bottom of the 8th. Everything looking good for the Nats. But it wasn’t meant to be. Jakob Marsee led off the inning for Miami with a triple to right field. Javier Sanoja then singled to right, scoring Marsee. Sanoja advanced to 2nd off a ground out and then scored when Otto Lopez singled to right field. 2-1 Marlins.

And then we had quite the dramatic moment in the top of the 9th. The first two batters struck out. Then Jacob Young worked a base on balls. Young then swiped 2nd base. The scene is set. Daylen Lile answered the call with a clutch single to left, scoring Young. Game tied 2-2.

But that little glimmer of good fortune didn’t last long.

Clayton Beeter came on to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Agustin Ramirez led off the inning with a walk and advanced to 3rd off a single from Esteury Ruiz and a throwing error by Beeter. Then Jakob Marsee was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Javier Sanoja then lined a single to center field scoring Ramirez and winning the game. 3-2 Miami.

A disheartening way to lose a game for sure.

They’ll try it again tomorrow at 4:00 ET.

Nationals Lack of Offense Continues

Saturday, August 22nd

The Washington Nationals stretched their losing streak to 3 games and have managed only 2 victories out of their last 10 contests. CJ Abrams missed his 3rd game in a row with an ankle sprain. And James Wood is still on the disabled list and has been since August 4th.

The Marlins started fast today, scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st. Griffin Conine walked and went to 3rd off a double to right by Owen Caissie. Then both runners crossed the plate courtesy of a single to right off the bat of Otto Lopez. 2-0 Miami.

Miami tacked on a run in the bottom of the 2nd as Heriberto Hernandez knocked his19th home run to left field. 3-0 Marlins.

The Nationals scratched out a run in the top of the 4th. Abimelec Ortiz walked and went to 2nd on a fielder’s choice. He then made it home on a single by Jose Tena and a throwing error from Otto Lopez. 3-1 Miami.

The Marlins got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Jakob Marsee homered to right field, his 8th, making the score 4-1 Miami.

The Nationals kept fighting and made the score 4-2 in the top of the 5th. Andrew Pinckney singled to center and was then forced out at 2nd by Daylen Lile. Lile then scored off a double to center field by Dylan Crews.

Eury Perez pitched the first 5 innings for the Marlins. He has a big arm but a little trouble with location. He has an unfair advantage due to his being 6’8” tall. Perez gave up only 3 hits and 1 run while walking 3 and striking out 4.

Jake Irwin was a real trooper for the Nationals, going 6 innings while surrendering 6 hits and 4 runs. He walked 2 and struck out 4. He threw a total of 104 pitches.

And that was it. Final score Marlins 4 Nationals 2.

Washington had another tough offensive game managing only 3 hits. After their starter, Eury Perez, left the mound the Nationals were held hitless by 4 different relievers.

Erik Tolman made his first appearance in the Major Leagues for the Nats. Tolman played his college baseball at Arizona State. He was selected in the 14th round by the Nationals in 2021 and has been struggling in the minors ever since. His perseverance paid off as he was finally called up to the majors on August 19th. He pitched an inning of scoreless relief this afternoon.

Congratulations, Erik!

It’s definitely been a rough stretch for the Nationals. With two all-stars nursing injuries and two other starters from the being of the season traded to other teams, it’s no wonder the Nats have been lacking in fire power these past few weeks. But we do press on.

Marlins Sweep Nationals

Sunday, August 23rd

The Miami Marlins finished their three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals this afternoon at LoneDepot Park. The Nationals lost their fourth game in a row and eighth out of their last ten games. CJ Abrams was once again absent from the lineup.

The Marlins struck early once again in the bottom of the 1st. Agustin Ramirez drew a base on balls and scored off of Heriberto Hernandez’s double to deep left field.

The Nationals tied it up in the top of the 4th. Daylen Lile led off the inning with a double to right. Two batters later, Dylan Crews doubled to center field, driving in Lile.

Miami struck for 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th. With 2 outs, Otto Lopez drew a base on balls. Agustin Ramirez then singled to left. Heriberto Hernandez then walked, loading the bases. Xavier Edwards followed with a single to left, scoring Hernandez and Ramirez. 3-1 Marlins.

The Nats got a little closer in the top of the 6th. Keibert Ruiz walked and scored on a deep double to right field courtesy of Jorbit Vivas. 3-2 Fish.

The Marlins scored a couple more runs in the bottom of the inning. Jakob Marsee and Griffin Conine drew walks. Joe Mack then doubled to left scoring Marsee. Otto Lopez then scored Conine on a sac fly to right. 5-2 Miami.

Miami scored their final run in the bottom of the 8th. Jakob Marsee singled to center and went to 3rd on a single from Griffin Conine. Joe Mack then knocked in Marsee with a force out grounder to 2nd base. 6-2 bad guys.

Recent first time call up for the Nationals, Jackson Kent, made his third start of the season in this afternoon’s game. He went 4 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5. He has lost 2 of those starts and has a current ERA of 8.03.

Trevor Williams pitched the next 2 1/3 innings. Williams was reinstated to the Nationals on July 29, after missing over a year while recovering from right elbow surgery and an internal brace procedure. I’ll bet that hurt. Williams gave up 2 runs on 2 hits with 3 walks and 3 strike outs.

The Nats are definitely still trying to find a few decent relievers.

Five Marlins pitchers combined for the victory while giving up a total of 2 runs on 5 hits.

It sure has been tough watching the Nationals struggle these past few weeks. What started off as a promising year, with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs, has certainly taken a turn for the worse. It’s time to call up prospects from the minors and just make the most out of a bad situation.

It used to be that major league teams could call up their entire 40-man minor league roster to join the big leagues on September 1st. That changed in 2020, and now the active rosters are allowed to expand from 26 players to 28. That’s a big difference.

The Nationals are heading home this evening and will open a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies tomorrow at 6:45 ET.

Dave’s Dime…Prognosticators

I’m sure most of us who enjoy sports also get a kick out of predicting what team will win a specific game, or who will win a division, league, conference, or tournament. It’s just part of human nature.

I do, to a point, participate in that sort of activity. I join a pool for March Madness, and I’m part of an NLF “Pickum Party” with my good buddy and some of his friends. I foolishly attempt to pick the winners in the 50 or so College Bowl Games. I love to buy those College Football magazines in June and then go back at season’s end and critique the so-called experts’ opinions concerning who would end up on the final Top 25 rankings. I chuckle at how far off they usually are. But I certainly couldn’t do any better.

I know there are tons of people who now bet on sports due to it being legal in most states. In fact, 39 states now allow online and/or retail betting. Approximately 22% of adults in the United

States bet money on sports in the past year. That’s around 60 million people.

I have to say I’m not much of a fan. I just don’t think it’s healthy. We all know what gambling can do to people. It can ruin lives. It can destroy families. It can lead to players throwing games.

I always get a kick out of these commercials on TV that promote these betting venues and then have a phone number scrolling on the bottom of the screen for people who are addicted to gambling. But we’ll definitely take your money, addicted or not. That’s just sad.

Well, now let’s have a little fun.

I looked at ESPN’s pre-season predictions on who would be the division winners and wild card teams for the American and National Leagues this year. They had thirty sports personalities participate. It’s quite interesting.

AL East: New York Yankees – 16 votes

Toronto Blue Jays – 8 votes

Boston Red Sox – 6 votes

The current division leader is the Tampa Bay Rays.

AL Central: Detroit Tigers – 23 votes

Kansas City Royals – 6 votes

Cleveland Guardians – 1 vote

The current division leader is the Chicago White Sox.

AL West: Seattle Mariners – 25 votes

Houston Astros – 3 votes

Texas Rangers – 1 vote

Sacramento A’s – 1 vote

The current division leaders are the Astros and the Rangers.

Now the Yankees are only 3 games behind the Rays, and the Mariners are 3 back of the Astros and Rangers, so there’s still a chance for the experts in those divisions. But the Tigers are 7 out in the AL Central and probably won’t even earn a wild card spot.

As far as the three wild card winners are concerned, their top three vote getters were the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Yankees.

Now the Yankees and Red Sox are pretty much guaranteed a wild card spot, but the Blue Jays? No way.

And the winner of the American League?

Seattle Mariners – 15 votes

Boston Red Sox – 6 votes

Detroit Tigers – 5 votes

New York Yankees- 3 votes

Toronto Blue Jays – 1 vote

I’d say the American League Pennant winner is pretty much up in the air. There’s no clear-cut favorite.

And now for the National League:

NL East: New York Mets – 16 votes

Philadelphia Phillies – 13 votes

Atlanta Braves – 1 vote

The current division leader is the Atlanta Braves.

NL Central: Chicago Cubs – 27 votes

Milwaukee Brewers – 3 votes

The current division leader is the Milwaukee Brewers.

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers – 29 votes

San Diego Padres – 1 vote

The current division leader is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Much better work by the experts in the National League. The Dodgers are a machine. The Brewers lead the Cubs by 6 ½ and the Braves are ahead of the Phillies by 2 ½.

Top three vote getters for a wild card spot were the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies have probably secured a wild card spot. The other two predictions are division leaders at the moment.

And the winner of the National League is…

Los Angeles Dodgers – 27 votes

Philadelphia Phillies – 2 votes

New York Mets – 1 vote

Word Series Champion:

Los Angeles Dodgers – 14 votes

Seattle Mariners – 6 votes

Boston Red Sox – 3 votes

I would agree that the Dodgers win the National League Pennant. I’d rather see someone else. Not a fan.

So, there you go! That was fun. The experts did pretty well in the National League, but the American League has a few surprises this year. The White Sox? Before the season started, Las Vegas sportsbooks listed the White Sox with +2000 odds. So, if you placed a $100 bet on the Sox to make the playoffs back in April, you’d be in for a $2000 payoff! Congrats!