courtesy of Jano Silva DC
Starting pitcher right-hander Dan Haren had an incredibly rough night on Saturday when the Washington Nationals lost to the New York Mets 11-3. Haren lasted 2 and 2/3 innings and threw 57 pitches (41 strikes). The Mets managed nine hits and seven runs off Haren and struck out three times.
Despite a turnaround from his performance earlier this season, Haren seems to have struggled in his past two starts. But the loss isn’t in Haren’s hands entirely.
Washington’s offense had five hits and a total of eleven hits off Mets starter right-hander Zack Wheeler but only managed three runs and left nine on base. The night’s game encapsulated most the team’s struggles this season: a weak outing from a starting pitcher, inconsistent offensive output, and stranded base runners.
Reliever right-hander Tanner Roark entered the game in the third inning to try and play the role of the stopper. He eventually settled in but the momentum from the rally spurred off Haren’s performance made for a shaky entrance. Roark pitched 2 and 2/3 innings and gave up three hits, one run, and walked three batters while striking out five. All the runs given up were plated in the third inning. Roark went on to hold New York in place for the rest of his outing.
Three more relievers from the Nats bullpen worked in Saturday’s game. Left-hander Fernando Abad and right-hander Drew Storen pitched clean frames but right-hander Ryan Mattheus gave up four hits and three runs in one inning of work during the eighth.
There were a couple of milestone markers for Nats players during the game though. Outfielder Denard Span, 4-for-5 with four singles, tallied a career high fourteen game hit streak and shortstop Ian Desmond, 2-for-4, hit a single as well as a his thirty-fourth double of a season, which is a career high for him.
Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.
