Werth
courtesy of oddlittlebird.

An evening that started out with such promise turned sour right around the top of the 4th inning when Jordan Zimmermann lost his control of the strike zone and then lost his command in it. With the Nats leading 1-0 in the top of the 4th and having won the first two games of this series, to send the Phillies to last place, Jordan Zimmermann walked Shane Victorino ahead of a Hunter Pence blast that would give the Phillies a lead they would not look back from.

During that same inning Nix would score on a Polanco single, but the truly damaging Polanco single was yet to come. In the 6th inning with 2 out and none on Polanco would would hit a shallow fly ball that Werth would try to make a sliding catch on but missed with his glove caught in the turf and bent his wrist backwards. The extent of Werth’s injury is still unknown but it is fitting that a couple days before Zimmerman is due off the DL and LaRoche back in the line-up that the Nats would lose another key player.

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Holtby Bats puck
courtesy of clydeorama

After a triple overtime loss on Wednesday night, the danger existed the the Capitals would stumble, break a leg and get blown away by the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Caps came out of the gate strong, fought through a weak second period, and finally crossed the finish line ahead, winning the game and tying up the series at two games apiece.

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… by this video.

I think I am going to apply similar principles as a way of encouraging tourists not to disregard the “do not throw coins in the fountain” signs at monuments. Specifically, when they throw in a coin I will beat them with a sock full of quarters.

Ross Detwiler in the windup
courtesy of afagen

They’re talkin’ baseball in the District of Columbia, but it isn’t about Willie, Mickey, or the Duke although sports fans in the nation’s capital but want to come on down to 1600 South Capitol and say hey to the new kid in town. Bryce Harper is of course that kid and he hasn’t played like a 19 year old kid awestruck by the majors. In the evening’s contest against the Diamondbacks Harper once again showed of a number of baseball’s tools.

Before the game Davey Johnson moved Harper into the number three spot in the line-up and as he has before Harper ate up the pressure like it was a delicious side of bacon. He showed no lack of hustle or hint of being overwhelmed, and lets fact it. This is a kid who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 16. If he was going to be consumed by pressure he would have by now.

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Bryce Harper – Arizona at Washington – 5/1/12
courtesy of dmbosstone

There are fives tools in baseball; hit for average, hit for power, speed, defense, and throwing arm. Bryce Harper has them all, and all were on display Wednesday night in the Nats 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Harper nearly had two homers on the evening and would have if the weather was a little warmer. Instead he had to settle for two monster doubles with two runs scored the final of which being the game tying run on Ian Desmond’s walk-off homer.

Not to take anything away from Desmond, who has surprisingly been the second best short stop in the NL East this season trailing only Ruben Tejeda of the Mets in overall WAR, but this was Bryce Harper’s night. Harper has shown in his short time in the majors that he has no intention of being sent back down. In order to understand the prodigious talent of Bryce Harper one only needs to look at the fourth inning of this game.

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