Gameday Thread: Nats @ Phils, Game 2

[citizen toxie]

damn.

[Kenz aFan]

I'm gonna be sick....

WE NEED A BIG BAT.... YESTERDAY!!!

[citizen toxie]

Cannot wait till Church and Nick are back!

[Ryan Zimmerman]

heartbreaker :cry:

 :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

[The Chief]

Well I'm really disappointed we couldn't pull this one out, but there's no denying it was a great game.

Hopefully we can get the series win tomorrow

[Kenz aFan]

The good news is, that Ayala and Cordero were able to rest their arms.

[rileyn]

I just want somebody to explain why Patterson hit in the 8th.  Leadoff man on, JP wans't coming back out to pitch, so let somebody who canhandle the bat either lay down a bunt or swing away.

[mjteggy05]

that's a frustrating loss

[Ryan Zimmerman]

I just want somebody to explain why Patterson hit in the 8th.  Leadoff man on, JP wans't coming back out to pitch, so let somebody who canhandle the bat either lay down a bunt or swing away.

This prolly' cost us the game.

ARGGGHHH!!!! :cry:

He let Patterson make the bunt but he pulled him out after...FRANK IS DA' MAN!

[Ryan Zimmerman]

The good news is, that Ayala and Cordero were able to rest their arms.

According to mlb.com

Going home:

The Nationals will be short a pitcher on Sunday. Luis Ayala is going back to Mexico to be with his grandmother, who is ill. Ayala is expected to be back with the Nationals after the All-Star break.

[ernie0326]

Sometimes you bite the dog....sometimes the dog bites you!  

tough loss, but I believe we can bounce back tomorrow!!!

GO NATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

[bramos]

Carrasco has pitched well, but tends to falter when he's asked to go for more than an inning.  Oh well, we would've been rolling the dice with Kim the next inning anyway.  You can't win when you don't score.  A fine effort by Patterson wasted yet again.

[The Chief]

A fine effort by Patterson wasted yet again.

Very true.

[Kenz aFan]

Truth is though, both starting pitchers today deserved to win, and in all honesty neither team's offense came remotely close to deserving anything close to a win.

With Ayala not being available for tomorrow's game because of his grandmother, the Nats could put him on bereavement leave (even if it is just for one game) and activate Church who has been eligible since Friday to come off the DL

[Ryan Zimmerman]

Truth is though, both starting pitchers today deserved to win, and in all honesty neither team's offense came remotely close to deserving anything close to a win.

With Ayala not being available for tomorrow's game because of his grandmother, the Nats could put him on bereavement leave (even if it is just for one game) and activate Church who has been eligible since Friday to come off the DL

That'd be a great idea...I"m kind of tired to see Cepicky play at LF. :wink:

[Kenz aFan]

Well, if they give Ayala the bereavement leave, they would still have Cepicky until Johnson comes back on Thursday. Church would simply replace Ayala for tomorrow...

[esoteric]

Eesh.  What an agonizing game.  I saw the Nats waste Patterson's great start against New York five days ago, and now they do it again, dammit! The kid goes out and pitches like a phenom half the time, and gets no credit for it.  Although Frank's probably paying attention.

Oh well.  It's the Cardiac Nats, what do you expect?  Sometimes you get the defibrillator...and sometimes you get the massive coronary.

Win the series tomorrow!

[letsgonats91]

Oh crap, we're blowing our lead in the NL East. This is not good!

By the Way, I'm the new guy around here.

[esoteric]

Oh crap, we're blowing our lead in the NL East. This is not good!

By the Way, I'm the new guy around here.

Welcome, from another new guy.  As for your post, this is the sort of talk that - seriously, no offense intended whatsoever - I find really unproductive.  Let's banish it from our vocabularies!

Face it folks, it's a Bible Truth that we're going to slip in the standings, that the Braves may overtake us, that we may have to retake the lead from them, etc., etc.  If we walk around with the expectation that we're going to sit pretty in 1st place the whole way through the season, we're merely asking for the figurative punch in the face once the Nats get swept in some series or another and the Braves step out with the lead.  I like to think of the Nats the way I thought about, I dunno, taking my LSAT.  (It's one of those Big Deal standardized tests - if you do well you're halfway to getting into a top 20 law school, if you don't you've screwed yourself.)  I set VERY low expectations at the outset, and only allow myself cautious optimism - that way if the worst happens I'm braced for it, and if the best happens (as it did/has been in both cases) it's a great upside surprise.

Point is, let's get ready to take our lumps.  The Braves ARE a strong ballclub, really scrappy like the Nats, and honestly with a hell of a lot more raw talent especially once they get healthy and their pitching comes back.  It will be nothing short of a miracle if we hold them off, but this has been a miracle season so I think it can happen.  However, it's good to remember that All Is Not Lost if we don't.

[Kenz aFan]

At the start of the season it was Loaiza who wasn't getting any run support, not its Patterson. Dead last in runs scored, dead last in home runs, it's going to take more than just one bat to help boost the offense enough so they aren't last in the major offensive categories.

[esoteric]

At the start of the season it was Loaiza who wasn't getting any run support, not its Patterson. Deal last in runs scored, dead last in home runs, it's going to take more than just one bat to help boost the offense enough so they aren't last in the major offensive categories.

I've got to believe that the readdition of Church and Johnson will change the run-scoring numbers.  The funny thing is, it actually IS hard to figure out what to add to this team for the stretch.  I mean, obviously we want more firepower, and we also need more middle relief to help take the load off some seriously put-upon guys (as for starting pitching, I think with the addition of Drese - who looks to be panning out and could possibly end up being JB's all-time smartest move - that we're fine as is, though I wouldn't object to Armas being moved aside for someone better on the road).  But which is MORE important?  We can't have both.  As sympathetic as I am, especially after a game like today's, to the "MORE BATS NOW!!" cries, I think ultimately Bowden's right to say that pitching is more important.  Good pitching, as this team has shown all season long, will beat good hitting most of the time.  The only problem is that when it doesn't, like today, it just rips your freakin' guts out. Besides, assuming that our hitting problem will be partially addressed by the return of Church and Johnson, it just makes more sense to go after a guy like Everyday Eddie Guardado.

[The Chief]

You know I was just thinking...  we're all confused by Frank's move to let Patterson bunt...  but who would have pinch-hit?  Byrd or Cordero?  They're not much better in those situations lately

[visionary]

You know I was just thinking...  we're all confused by Frank's move to let Patterson bunt...  but who would have pinch-hit?  Byrd or Cordero?  They're not much better in those situations lately

LOl, I was thinking that myself when I read the complaints...the bench is not exactly full of great hitters.  That said, are they worse than Patterson, making him go out there again...maybe...maybe not.

[Montcobaseball]

Now that Spivey is apparentely out for the year what do they do?  Take someone off the DL or bring up Short?

[esoteric]

Now that Spivey is apparentely out for the year what do they do?  Take someone off the DL or bring up Short?

Isn't it obvious?  CHURCH OFF THE DL.

What the heck is that guy doing out for three weeks on a rough catch anyway?  (Okay, that's probably not fair, but it's been a real burr in my saddle to see him out of the game right now.)