Tag Archives: Matt Williams

The Features, The Nationals
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Nats Fall 2-1 to Giants in Historically Long Playoff Game, Giants lead 2-0 in the NLDS

Photo Credit: Rachel Levitin

Photo Credit: Rachel Levitin

All anybody could talk about before Saturday’s Game Two of the NLDS in Washington, D.C. was the pitching match-up scheduled to start the game – San Francisco’s Tim Hudson versus Washington’s Jordan Zimmermann. Six hours and twenty-three minutes plus eighteen innings later, the longest game in recorded playoff history wrapped up and the San Francisco Giants advanced to game three with a 2-0 lead in the five-game series by beating the Nationals 2-1.

Hudson – who is notorious for his successful and often dominant outings against the Nationals – was going to be a struggle for the Nats but Washington went into the game planning to be patient with him. On the other hand, Zimmermann was fresh and just six days removed from his historical no-hitter on the final day of the 2014 regular season. The match-up made the first nine innings what they were but the final nine innings played are the reason the evening’s game turned into the longest playoff game ever played.

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The Features, The Nationals
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Jordan Zimmermann Tosses a Historic Regular Season Finale, Nats Beat Marlins 1-0 in Team’s First No-Hitter

DSC_7994 MudflapDC

A crowd of 35,085 witnessed history at Nationals Park during game 162 of the 2014 regular season when right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in the Washington Nationals’ nine year history to beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. The complete game outing was one the two-time All-Star never thought would ever happen, but it did.

“Even when I first got called up I thought that were was no way this would ever happen,” Zimmermann said after the game. “My career numbers are something like one hit per inning so I figure if I can make it out of the first [inning], the hit’s coming in the second, but [Sunday] was one of those special days.”

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The Nationals
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Nats Come Home to Beat Mets 4-2

Nats Park Fisheye Rukasu1

A crowd of 30,714 welcomed the Washington Nationals home for their first game since clinching the 2014 National League East crown on Tuesday night. And – as a “thank you” of sorts – starting pitcher Tanner Roark led his team to a 4-2 win over the New York Mets.

Roark threw 86 pitches and 58 strikes in 6 1/3 innings pitched while giving up two runs on five hits and striking out one batter in his fifteenth win of the season. The only trouble he truly encountered were the first three hits he gave up – they were all doubles.

New York scored first in the fifth inning off a pair of those doubles. Second baseman Wilmer Flores led off the inning with a double and proceeded to score off a one-out double his by outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. But thanks to a hot-hitting Adam LaRoche, the Nats answered back in the bottom half of the inning.

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The Nationals
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Nats Squeak By Atlanta, Beat Braves 2-1

Storen Delivers MudflapDC

The Washington Nationals squeaked by the Atlanta Braves in a 2-1 victory on Monday night as right-handed starter Doug Fister tallied his thirteenth win of the season. Fister threw 104 pitches and 74 strikes in seven innings pitched and gave up two hits and three walks while striking out three batters faced.

Washington took an early and necessary lead in the top of the first inning before the game turned into a pitching duel between Fister and the Braves’ left-handed starter Mike Minor. Third baseman Anthony Rendon scored on two-out single hit by shortstop Ian Desmond off Minor but the Nats wouldn’t score again until the seventh inning; Braves 0, Nats 1. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Nats Win Ninth Straight in 3-2 Walk-off Victory Against Arizona

Walkoff tbridge

Four walk-offs in five days, a nine-game winning streak, and first place in the National League East – that’s where the Washington Nationals currently stand after their 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. After a strong seven-inning shutout appearance from right-handed pitcher Tanner Roark for Washington, reliever Tyler Clippard blew the save, but the Nats came back in the form of an Anthony Rendon pinch-hit RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth with one out and two on base to win it.

“It’s a little stressful,” Rendon said of the situation, “[I’ve] probably got some grays coming in now but it’s actually [it’s] good to be on the winning side of these walk-offs for sure.”

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Sports Fix, The Features
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Gonzalez Lacks Command, Mets Beat Nats 5-2

JosephGruber_20140424_000587 Joseph Gruber

Inconsistency and lack of command haunted the Washington Nationals’ left-handed starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez on Saturday while they faced the New York Mets in D.C. Gonzalez gave up seven hits, five runs, two walks, and one homerun threw 84 pitches (48 strikes) while striking out four in the Nats’ 5-2 loss to New York. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Nats Rally in the Ninth to Beat Los Angeles 5-4

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Nationals Walk-Off Win Vs. Mets
courtesy of dmbosstone

The Washington Nationals were left with two outs and down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels when Wednesday night’s game took a positive turn. The Nats ended up beating the Angels 5-4 thanks to a walk-off RBI-single hit by first baseman Adam LaRoche sending outfielder Jayson Werth home as the go-ahead run.

Given how the rest of the night (and the series) went for Washington, that ninth inning was the turnaround they desperately needed to avoid a three-game sweep.

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Sports Fix
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Clippard Implodes, Nats Fall 4-2 to Angels

Photo courtesy of MudflapDC
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courtesy of MudflapDC

A game that was well-within the Washington Nationals’ grasp got away from them on Monday night during an eighth inning implosion from right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard allowing the Los Angeles Angels to win 4-2 in D.C.

Clippard’s 2/3 innings of work resulted in three hits, a walk, a strike out, and four unearned runs. Manager Matt Williams emphasized that he thinks Clippard is making quality pitches but he hasn’t found much consistency with his fast ball and couldn’t find his change-up either. Williams is confident that Clippard is still the Nats’ eighth inning man but with more outings like Monday night’s he’ll really have to start to find some consistency if possible. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Nats Shutout the Marlins, Beating Miami 5-0

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Batting practice fisheye
courtesy of BrianMKA

The Washington Nationals found themselves on the winning side of 5-0 game against the Miami Marlins Tuesday night thanks to a solid outing from left-handed starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez and impressive offensive efforts from first baseman Adam LaRoche and third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Gonzalez threw 101 pitches, 61 strikes, over six innings and gave up three hits while walking two batters and striking out five to secure his second win of the season.

Washington scored early, taking a one-run lead in the first inning when LaRoche drove outfielder Jayson Werth home with two-out. Manager Matt Williams’ line-up failed to score again until the sixth inning, but that’s when things got interesting.

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