Nationals vs Red Sox, Game 3

[The Chief]

take note offense

Shrug.  You act like the offense is intentionally NOT scoring.  I know you think they are "mailing it in" and other such nonsense, but come on.  You can't get 4 first-inning runs every time.  And for what it's worth, some of our pitchers seem to do WORSE when they're spotted an early lead.  I feel like Lannan did that a lot last year, but maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

[Minty Fresh]

best win of the year?

Would've been better if Clippard didn't suck and the Lerners weren't still cheap.     

[The Chief]

Would've been better if Clippard didn't suck and the Lerners weren't still cheap.     

Too cheap to buy Clippard better glasses so he could see where to put the ball

[DPMOmaha]

best win of the year?

Most convincing maybe, but I still think the wins in New York were bigger for this team.

[sportsfan882]

Most convincing maybe, but I still think the wins in New York were bigger for this team.

definitely. watching Lannan/Stammen pwn them was awesome.

[PANatsFan]

take note offense

take offense, note

[cmdterps44]

Most convincing maybe, but I still think the wins in New York were bigger for this team.

The New York ones were my favorite so far. Seeing Lannan run onto the field after that close game was amazing. Its like we won the division or something.

[shoeshineboy]

Shrug.  You act like the offense is intentionally NOT scoring.  I know you think they are "mailing it in" and other such nonsense, but come on.  You can't get 4 first-inning runs every time.  And for what it's worth, some of our pitchers seem to do WORSE when they're spotted an early lead.  I feel like Lannan did that a lot last year, but maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

The offense has some weak spots that have an impact depending on the lineup. And a team needs to have at least 2 of the 3 key bats in the lineup working well to generate much. When your number 3 hitter goes cold like RZ did following his hitting streak, it has an impact, especially when compared to the positive impact of the streak itself had on the offense earlier, combined with the struggles of others. These wins, though, are feeding off each other and having a positive effect.

But the offense was likely mentally worn down and under unnecessary stress due to the epic failure of the first part of the season. It's easy to get mentally out of sorts at the plate when you feel like you have to outslug the opposition to make up for the inevitable bullpen collapses. 16 blown saves thanks to horrible pitching and incompetent FO and field management. These guys can pay lip service to being professional and staying focused, but it is human nature to lose something when you see the season is an historical disaster by the end of May.  

[The Chief]

The offense has some weak spots that have an impact depending on the lineup. And a team needs to have at least 2 of the 3 key bats in the lineup working well to generate much. When your number 3 hitter goes cold like RZ did following his hitting streak, it has an impact, especially when compared to the positive impact of the streak itself had on the offense earlier, combined with the struggles of others. These wins, though, are feeding off each other and having a positive effect.

But the offense was likely mentally worn down and under unnecessary stress due to the epic failure of the first part of the season. It's easy to get mentally out of sorts at the plate when you feel like you have to outslug the opposition to make up for the inevitable bullpen collapses. 16 blown saves thanks to horrible pitching and incompetent FO and field management. These guys can pay lip service to being professional and staying focused, but it is human nature to lose something when you see the season is an historical disaster by the end of May. 

I would agree with all of that.  Were you addressing something specific that I said?

[shoeshineboy]

I would agree with all of that.  Were you addressing something specific that I said?

I was backing up the idea that there are specific reasons why the offense has tailed off. They can't be expected to score 6 or more runs every night, and you should be able to win your share of games only scoring a few. The good thing is that with this recent success against the AL East, there is reason to believe that the offense will have its share of good performances assuming key positions in the lineup heat up and Manny handles things better. All hitters have their hot and cold streaks. This team had a couple of guys cool off at the same time, and it hurt. A lineup is very dependent on productive at bats from the leadoff and number 3 slots to generate offense. 

[sportsfan882]

I was backing up the idea that there are specific reasons why the offense has tailed off. They can't be expected to score 6 or more runs every night, and you should be able to win your share of games only scoring a few. The good thing is that with this recent success against the AL East, there is reason to believe that the offense will have its share of good performances assuming key positions in the lineup heat up and Manny handles things better. All hitters have their hot and cold streaks. This team had a couple of guys cool off at the same time, and it hurt. A lineup is very dependent on productive at bats from the leadoff and number 3 slots to generate offense. 

They didn't just tail off though they completely fell apart. We reverted to an offense worse than that of previous seasons.

It wasn't just Guzman and RZ cold. Dunn and Dukes went through a rough patch too as did Hernandez.

We should be scoring more runs than we have lately. You might win once a week 3-2 or 3-1 but you need to be able to score 5-6 runs a night to win consistently.

[hammondsnats]

Would've been better if Clippard didn't suck and the Lerners weren't still cheap.     

and you wonder why the LAC is a loud and consistent group NOT TAKING THE BAIT!

[blue911]

If you field like a major league team, you don't have to score 6 runs a game to win.

[shoeshineboy]

They didn't just tail off though they completely fell apart. We reverted to an offense worse than that of previous seasons.

It wasn't just Guzman and RZ cold. Dunn and Dukes went through a rough patch too as did Hernandez.

We should be scoring more runs than we have lately. You might win once a week 3-2 or 3-1 but you need to be able to score 5-6 runs a night to win consistently.

Well, most teams don't score 5-6 runs a night consistently. Team ERAs show what teams score on average - somewhere between 3 and 5 runs. Certainly you need to be able to generate big nights to win more often than not.

I agree that they cooled off. I think we're all saying some of the same things. The offense did go cold due to a combination of players going cold at the same time (including key bats in the lineup) and the mental exhaustion of digging an insurmountable hole. It was right to expect that the offense would be impacted by the failure of the pitching and the overall record regardless of what they said. What I am saying is that they don't have to have 9 run games to win. They should be able to win semi-regularly with 3-5 runs, and with the recent stretch of games where they have gotten good SP and seen success, I think the mental attitude of the offense should adjust. They tasted some good victories and have seen some good SP. So they should feel like if they they show up and play it can pay off.

In a way, it was a blessing in disguise that Nick got hit in the shin, because it moved Willingham back over to LF and put Dukes in RF. The Willingham LF/Dunn RF combination may have produced a different outcome regardless of how well JZ pitched. I am not so sure things wouldn't have unfolded differently in some of those situations.

[tomterp]

last night, I was staring into my drink between innings, when I heard a buzz from the crowd, and looked up to see a throw sailing high over Dunn's head at first, before bouncing once and scattering the surprised crowd behind 1st base.  From the angle it came at, I"m almost certain it was Zimmerman's warmup toss that went awry. 

Considering he had a superb defensive night featuring range and leather, I found that incident to be amusing and harmless. 

Did anyone else see what I'm refering too?