Weekend Update: Nats Destroy A’s 23-4…
The Washington Nationals opened up a six-game road trip last night in Sacramento with a
bang, scoring 23 runs in a rout of the A’s. This was the A’s 10th loss in a row, and, needless to
say, it was a blow out.
There were no runs until the top of the third when Curtis Mead’s double to left scored
Nasim Nunez, who had singled, and Jacob Young, who had walked earlier in the inning.
Andres Chaparro then knocked in Mead with a single to left. 3-0 Nats.
The Nationals added a run in the top of the 4th after a walk to Harry Ford and a run scoring
double to deep right off the bat of Jacob Young. 4-0 good guys.
The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the 4th after Jacob Wilson singled to right and Tyler
Soderstrom followed with a 2-run home run, his 15th, making the score 4-2 Nats.
Washington broke it wide open in the top of the 5th. Curtis Mead’s single to left was followed
by a massive 467 ft. home run to deep left field off the bat of Andres Chaparro, his 2nd of the
year. Dylan Crews walked later in the inning and scored when Harry Ford hit his 1st career
home run to center field. 8-2 Nats.
The Nats piled it on in the top of the 6th. Jacob Young and Nasim Ninez led off the inning
with singles and scored off another single from James Wood. Curtis Mead followed with a
double to center field. Andres Chaparro singled to center scoring both Wood and Mead. CJ
Abrams then doubled to center field and later scored off a single courtesy of Daylen Lile.
14-2 Washington.
Looks like the Nats weren’t finished as they tacked on 4 more runs in the top of the 7th
.
Nasim Nunez led off with a single and James Wood walked. Curtis Mead then doubled to
left field scoring Nunez. Andres Chaparro then hit his 2nd home run of the game to left field,
scoring Mead and Wood. That gave Chaparro 8 RBIs for the night. Wow! 18-2 good guys.
Things got out of hand in the top of the 9th.
Carlos Cortes, a right fielder for the A’s, came in to pitch the inning. I guess the A’s figure, why not? What do we have to lose? Andres Chaparro walked and took second base when Jose Tena followed with a single.
Dyland Crews then doubled to center scoring Chaparro. Harry Ford singled, scoring Tena. Daylen
Lile then followed with a three-home run, his 11th. That left the score 23-2.
The Nationals followed suit in the bottom of the 9th, sending third baseman Jorbit Vivas out
to the mound. That only seemed fair. The A’s promptly led off the inning with a home run by
Shea Langelier, his 22nd. Another run, unearned, later scored off a double to right field from
Henry Bolte. Final score Washington 23 and A’s 4.
Andres Chaparro obviously had a great game with 2 home runs, 4 hits, and 8 RBIs. He’s a
27-year-old journeyman from Venezuela, who’s had a difficult time staying in the major
leagues. He’s been with the Nats for a couple of years and only had 59 at bats for the
season coming into Friday’s game, but he sure made the most of his opportunity.
Speaking of opportunities, Harry Ford played in his 1st game of the year for the Nats last
night, going 2 for 5 with his 1st Major League home run. He’s a 23-year-old prospect
acquired from the Mariners last December. Nice job, Harry!
Cale Cavalli pitched the first six inning for the win. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and struck
out 9. Riley Cornelio pitched the next two innings, striking out 5.
Obviously, a great start to the road trip…let’s keep it up, guys!
A’s Come Back with a Vengeance…Beat Nats 15-1
Saturday, July 18th
Do you know one of the many great things about baseball? Every day there’s a new game
and you just never know what’s going to happen. Take Saturday’s contest for instance.
J.T. Ginn took the mound for the A’s and promptly struck out the side in the top of the 1st
.
Zack Littell started the game for the Nats and promptly gave up a home run to the A’s
leadoff hitter, Jacob Wilson, his 5th. Tyler Soderstrom then singled to left and was sent
home two batters later when Carlos Cortes doubled to deep center field. Joshua KurodaGrauer followed with another double scoring Cortes. Donovan Walton then walked.
Jonah Helm singled to center scoring Kuroda-Grauer. Walton then scored on a force out. 5-1 A’s.
The A’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the 2nd off a single by Jacob Wilson and 2 walks.
Kuroda-Grauer hit into a force out scoring Wilson. 6-0 A’s.
Two more runs for the A’s in the bottom of the 6th. Jeff McNeil got an infield hit and scored
when Tyler Soderstrom hit his 16th homer to center field. 8-0 A’s. The Nationals avoided a no-hitter when Keibert Ruiz singled in the top of the 7th. But that was it for the inning.
The A’s tacked on another run in the bottom of the 7th after Carlos Cortes hit his 7th home
run to center field. Later in the inning, two walks put Donovan Walton and Lawrence Butler
on the base paths. Walton scored on a single off the bat of Jeff McNeil. Jacob Wilson
followed with another single scoring McNeil. Tyler Soderstrom was hit by a pitch loading
the bases. Shea Langeliers then doubled to right field scoring Soderstrom, Wilson, and
McNeil. 14-0 A’s.
The Nats tried to get a run across the plate in the top of the 8th. Jorbit Vivas led off with a
single and advanced to second when Dylan Crews was hit by a pitch. Then James Wood
and Luis Garcia were both called out on strikes. Jose Tena then walked, loading the bases.
But, alas, CJ Abrams grounded out, ending the inning.
The A’s kept piling it on in the bottom of the 8th. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer walked and went to
2nd after Donovan Walton was hit by a pitch. After 2 outs on deep fly balls, Jeff McNeil
singled to right, scoring Kuroda-Grauer. 15-0 A’s.
The Nats ruined the shutout in the top of the 9th after Keibert Ruis doubled to center and
was followed by a single off the bat of Daylen Lile sending Ruiz to 3rd. Ruiz then scored on a
sacrifice fly off the bat of Jorbit Vivas. But that’s all she wrote…final score A’s 14 Nats 1.
Only in baseball could a team win a game 23 to 4 one night and lose 15 to 1 to the same
team the next night. And that’s another reason we love the sport!
J.T Ginn pitched a no-hitter into the 7th, giving up just the one hit while striking out 7.
Zack Littell pitched 6 innings for the Nationals, surrendering 8 hits and 8 runs with 4 BBs,
and 4 SOs.
Series tied 1-1 heading into Sunday’s game, and I can’t wait…
Nats take Series…Defeat A’s 5-2
Sunday, July 19th
It’s anyone’s guess what today’s game will bring. So, let’s check it out and see what
happened…
Starting pitcher today for the Nats is their ace Foster Griffin.
The game was scoreless until the top of the 3rd when Nasim Nunez singled to left and
worked his way around to 3rd base. He then scored on a ground out off the bat of Curtis
Mead. 1-0 Nationals.
The A’s tied it up in the bottom of the 3rd as Alika Williams doubled to right and came around
to score on a single by Tyler Soderstrom. Game tied 1-1.
The Nats took back the lead in the top of the 4th after Dylan Crews was hit by a pitch and
came home when Harry Ford doubled to left. 2-1 good guys.
Washington tacked on a couple more runs in the top of the 5th as Curtis Mead walked and
came around to score on CJ Abrams’ deep home run to center, his 21st. 5-1 Nationals.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th.
Jeff McNeil walked and scored off a single by Jacob Wilson. But Clayton Beeter bore down and closed out the game.
Final score Washington 5 and A’s 2.
Foster Griffin had another quality start, going 7 innings allowing just 1 run. He walked only 1
and struck out 2.
So, the Nationals took the series 2 games to 1. It was quite an entertaining 3 games. The
team heads to Denver this evening to play the Colorado Rockies on Monday. Starting time
is 8:40 ET.
Washington is once again at .500 with a record of 50 wins and 50 loses.
Let’s keep it going, guys.
Dave’s Dime…After the American League struck out 15 times in the All-Star game last
Tuesday, I started hearing from some of the so-called experts on sports talk shows that the
pitcher’s mound might need to be lowered. Supposedly, those 15 Ks helped prove that
pitchers have once again taken over the game. But don’t forget, when the National League
was throwing out one ace reliever after another, that’s bound to make a difference.
The standard height of today’s Major League pitching mound is 10 inches. It’s been that
way since 1969. It was lowered by 5 inches that year due to the dominance of pitchers over
batters the following season. The year 1968 was called the “Year of the Pitcher” when Bob
Gibson posted a 22-win 9-loss season with an ERA of 1.12, 268 strikeouts, and 13 shutouts
while pitching 304 innings. He threw 28 complete games. That’s almost unbelievable.
Obviously, that year Gibson won both the MVP and Cy Young awards.
In comparison, the ERA leader in 2025 was Paul Skenes of the Pirates with a 1.97. The
leader in wins was Max Fried, of the Yankees, with 19. Shutout leaders were a group of 13
pitchers with 1 apiece. That’s right…1 apiece. I mentioned above how Bob Gibson threw 28
complete games in 1968. In 2025, MLB pitchers threw a total of 29 complete games!
The MLB batting average in the 1968 season was .237, tied for the lowest in MLB history.
This year’s MLB battling average is .244. In 2006, twenty years ago, it was .269. Why such a
drastic difference?
Well, the average speed of a Major League pitcher’s fastball is currently between 94 to 95
mph. In 2006 it was roughly 90 to 91 mph. We can only guess at what it was in 1968, since
radar guns didn’t exist, but it’s estimated to have been between 85 and 88 mph.
There are a few reasons for the rise in the speed of an MLBer’s fastball, including
biomechanics, velocity training, the role of the bullpen, and how starting pitchers are
utilized. It’s all very scientific and way above my pay grade.
And the approach to hitting has changed quite a bit as well. MLB batting used to be a
“contact and on base” approach. Now it’s all about power and a “three true outcomes”
philosophy. Batters hit a home run, walk, or strike out. It’s all about the show and the glory
of the long ball. Has that made the game better? That’s up to the individual fan.
Look up and down a current MLB roster. With the advent of the Designated Hitter, every
batter is capable of smacking a home run. No more speedy just-put-the-ball-in-play hitters.
The game has definitely changed but so has everything else in the world. Let’s just enjoy
our favorite sport as it is. A few recent rule changes like the pitch clock and outlawing
infield shifts, and the challenge system on balls and strikes have helped make the game
better for today’s fan. And that’s what counts.
And look at the scores of some of these recent games. Like the 2 contests mentioned this
past Friday and Saturday: 24 to 3 and 15 to 1. That’s a lot of runs and a lot of mediocre
pitching. Average runs scored per game per team is about 4 ½. That’s a total of 9 runs per
game. The Nationals are actually the current leaders in that category with 5.45 runs per
game.
Lowering the pitching mound? I don’t think so…
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