The Features, The Nationals

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 Daily Feed

Tim Hudson Dominates The Nats Lineup, Braves Win 3-1

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courtesy of MudflapDC

The Nationals lineup was no match for Atlanta’s right-handed starter Tim Hudson who secured his second win of the season with a 3-1 Braves victory in Washington. The afternoon’s loss was Washington’s second in two days versus Atlanta.

An early throwing error by Ryan Zimmerman in the third inning cost Washington two runs when left fielder Justin Upton stole second ahead of catcher Evan Gattis’ two-out two-run homer. It wasn’t Stephen Strasburg’s strongest outing either, which didn’t help the Nats. Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Nats Beat Braves 5-4 in Thirteen Innings

Photo courtesy of oddlittlebird.
1st Place!
courtesy of oddlittlebird.

What started as Dan Uggla hesitating to make a routine play at second base turned into a 5-4 Nationals victory in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. It took four hours, twenty seven minutes, thirteen innings, and a fifty six minute rain delay, but Washington beat the Atlanta Braves and are now 30 games over .500.

Jordan Zimmermann started the night and went on to pitch five innings and 102 pitches (68 strikes) against Atlanta. The Nats offense started early behind Zimmermann with a four-hit, four-run rally in the first innings off of Braves veteran starter Tim Hudson. Continue reading

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed

Nationals lose laugher to Braves 11-2

Photo courtesy of
‘scooting through’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

April baseball can be a peculiar thing. The Nationals today displayed that peculiarity in all of its ugliness before a crowd of 22,210, surrendering 11 runs to the Braves,

Despite a month of Spring Training ball, both the Braves and Nationals made some ugly miscues in the field this afternoon.  In the bottom of the first, Braves’ veteran Chipper Jones crossed in front of Jayson Werth on the basepath, inciting a collision that threw Werth off his balance and cost him a few steps. He turned 3rd and headed for home to be thrown out, but awarded the run on obstruction.

Twice the Nationals’ outfielders ran into trouble with balls in the right-center gap, with Werth and Ankiel having some miscommunication over who was playing lead.  The biggest defensive trouble came from Danny Espinosa today, whose efforts in the fifth formally cost him an error and the Nationals a run, but that was just one of four plays on the day that hurt the Nationals in the field.

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