Nats Chat

Bullpen Game Ends in a Successful Sweep

The Nats swept the Reds on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 win in the series finale.  Al & Mark recap the unusual victory that was led by the bullpen for all 27 outs. Brad Lord pitched into the 3rd before handing the ball off to the recently acquired Will Dion. The pitching was good all weekend as Cincinnati only scored six combined runs in the three games. (09:00) Trevor Williams recorded seven outs and has been impressive in his five appearances since being activated off of the IL. (14:00) Andres Chaparro continued his hot stretch with a 2-run double to put this game out of reach in the bottom of the 8th.  Abimelec Ortiz homered to give Washington the lead in the bottom of the 3rd. (19:00) Keibert Ruiz had three hits on Sunday and his OPS this season sits at .762. (25:00) There is a chance that the Nats could call up a AAA starter this week against the Cubs.  The series begins on Tuesday and Chicago is currently in the top NL wildcard spot.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chaparro Drives in 3 Runs in Win over the Reds

The Nats topped the Reds 8-2 on Saturday night for their second straight win.  Mark & Al begin with the offense getting to Chase Burns this time, unlike when they faced him three months ago. Washington tagged Burns with five runs and knocked him out during their rally in the bottom of the 6th. (07:00) Andres Chaparro pinch-hit for DH Josh Tena with the bases loaded and delivered.  Chaparro's 2-run double in the 6th made it 5-2 Nationals and he later added a RBI single in the bottom of the 8th. Blake Butera got the better of Reds Manager Terry Francona when he inserted Chaparro right after the call to the bullpen. (15:00) Andrew Alvarez out-pitched Burns and took a shutout into the top of the 6th.  Alvarez ran into trouble and was replaced by Max Kranik, who immediately saw Cincy tie the affair at two. Why didn't they leave Alvarez in the game to handle the jam himself? (25:00) Yovanny Cruz impressed again as he tossed a scoreless top of the 7th. Cruz was part of the package that came from the Yankees for Luis Garcia Jr. (28:00) The Nationals are 4.5 games behind the Philles for the final wildcard spot. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lile & Ford Homer in Cavalli's Win

The Nats opened the homestand with a 5-3 victory over the Reds on Friday night.  Tim & Al begin by wondering if the team is still considered part of playoff contention as they trail the Phillies by 5.5 games for the final wildcard spot. (06:00) Cade Cavalli struck out out eight Reds and pitched into the 7th inning.  Cavalli is up to 141 strikeouts for the season and the question will be how many starts does he get down the stretch. He did struggle a bit though as he gave up seven hits and three of them were solo Cincinnati homers. (12:00) Yovanny Cruz rescued Cavalli in the top of the 7th to keep the two run lead intact.  Cruz, who came over as part of the Luis Garcia Jr. trade, has shown high velocity and a lot to like thus far. (17:00) All of the offense came off of a pair of homers hit by Daylen Lile & Harry Ford. Lile has now moved back ahead of Jacob Young in the OPS department (.717 vs. .706). (21:00) Tim points out an aspect to the Curtis Mead trade that has been bothering him during this pivotal stretch. (25:00) Andrew Alvarez will take the mound on Saturday night vs. Chase Burns as Washington looks to lock up the weekend series.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mikolas Gives up 12 Hits in Philly Loss

The Nats ended their difficult road trip with a whimper as they fell 7-3 in Philadelphia on Thursday night.  Mark (From Philly) & Al convene after the 1-7 trip that saw the season's fortunes change significantly for the worse.   (03:00) Miles Mikolas reached ten years of MLB service time with the start on Thursday, but allowed twelve hits during the outing. Mikolas is in jeopardy of being DFA'd in the near future just like Zack Littell was on Wednesday. Mikolas' numbers are quite grisly as his ERA sits at 5.89 in 24 appearances. (07:00) Connelly Early has forearm tightness after facing hitters this week in West Palm Beach. (15:00) Quick updates on Josiah Gray & DJ Herz. (16:30) Trevor Williams tossed a scoreless bottom of the 8th and Al poses to Mark the question of whether or not Williams rejoins the rotation. (21:00) Andrew Pinckney homered for the first time since getting called up this week from AAA.  Pinckney showed bouts of power in Rochester as he homered 20 times last season. (25:00) Jacob Young's OPS (.707) is slightly ahead of Daylen Lile (.705). (29:00) Washington was one game over .500 when they began this road trip on Thursday July 30th in Atlanta and they return from Philadelphia one week later at five games under .500.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Littell DFA'd but a RBI for Mikolas in Extra-Inning Win

The Nats ended their seven game losing streak with a hard fought 10-4 victory over the Phillies in extras on Wednesday night.  Mark (From Philly) & Al begin with the very unusual moment in the top of the 11th when Miles Mikolas of all people laid down a RBI single to give the team a 3-run lead. The offense erupted in the 11th with six runs off the back-end of the Philadelphia bullpen.  Washington lost the DH when Andres Chaparro took over at 1B for Abimelec Ortiz. (07:00) CJ Abrams 2-run triple began the rally in 11th, which led to Mikolas pinch-hitting opportunity. Abrams occupied the leadoff spot on Wednesday as James Wood was recently placed on the IL. (12:00) Brady House homered off a lefty despite usually being far more productive against a right-hander. (17:00) Jake Irvin pitched into the 6th and allowed only a pair of runs in his 2nd start back from the IL. (18:00) Two pitchers who were acquired recently in trades took the mound on Wednesday in Philly. Will Dion came over for Foster Griffin and Yovanny Cruz was part of the package from the Yankees for Luis Garcia Jr. (22:00) Brad Lord is back from the IL and only needed ten pitches to notch the final three outs in the bottom of the 11th. (26:00) Zack Littell was Designated For Assignment in order to make roster space for Lord.  This is a clear suggestion of what the organizational approach will be in the final two months of the season. The veteran struggled in Washington as he had a 4.97 ERA in 23 appearances. (34:00) Joey Wiemer, who had been in Rochester the past few months, was waived by the organization. Wiemer was struggling in AAA as his OPS was only .534. Wiemer had a great start of the season as he homered twice in Wrigley Field in late March.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.