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Strasburg was kind of shaky, but lasted long enough to benefit from 3-run bombs by Harper and the rejuvenated at age 28 Danny Espinosa. Roark and Solis finished up on the mound, ut even a pair of HR's from Justin Upton could not keep the Friars in the game.
Now, it's back home for two off-days, two games against the Yankees, and then three with the Phils.
Gio Gonzalez started with nine straight ground-ball outs and a 2-0 lead thanks to first-frame solo homers from Desmond and that guy Harper again. But the wheels came off the cart in the fourth, and the home side headed to the bottom of the fifth facing a 6-2 deficit. Forunately, Yanks starter Nathan Eovaldi also tired at that point, as a barrage of base hits brought the Nats to the brink of a tie before lefty Justin Wilson came in to induce a rally-killing 4-6-3 off the bat of a disappointed Harper. The tie was achieved an inning later however as Wilson Ramos arched a long HR many rows beyond the back of the Yankee bullpen.
A tense three innings followed but produced no change in the score as Bettances cruised and a bunch of Nats relievers did their jobs as well. Unscored upon Andrew Miller came in for the Yanks in the bottom of the tenth, but Nats fans soon went home happy, as a 1-out walk to Escobar was followed by a 2-out liner from Ryan Zimmerman that clanked off the RF foul pole for the tenth walkoff HR of his career. And a dose of chocolate syrup in the face from Max Scherzer during the post-game interview.
A single, a double, and a sac fly put Jordan Zimmermann in an unexpected 2-0 first inning hole, and the Nats would have no easy task in overcoming that deficit against a solid Adam Warren. Desmond did get one back with a line shot to center in the first and Tyler Moore was able to tie it up in the fourth by dropping a fly ball onto the flower boxes in left. Bryce Harper had meanwhile been ejected for not staying the batters box while the umpire went off to argue with Matt Williams, but J-Zimm was posting goose eggs at that point and the game would go to the bottom of the seventh knotted up at two.
Chase Headley booted a Wilson Ramos grounder after the stretch, and a tiring Warren proceeded to walk a pair to load the bases with one out. Lefty Justin Wilson was called upon again but this time Denard Span was able to spank a Mookie Wilson-esque top-spin grounder through the 5.5-hole to give the Nats the lead. They could have had more, but didn't end up needing it as Mat Grace worked around a pair of walks of his own to post a scoreless eighth and Drew Storen picked up his 12th saves by working a harmless one-hit ninth.
Now it's another day off, followed be three with the suddenly streaking Phillies.
On paper, it was quite the mismatch, as Max Scherzer squared off against little-known journeyman Sean O'Sullivan in the opener of a 3-game set. But it was the Phils who drew first blood, as even after Ryan Howard was erased on a baserunning blunder, another household name in Odubel Herrera cracked a sharp RBI double to center to make it 1-0 in the second. Bryce Harper of course got that run back leading off the bottom half as he curled an opposite field fly ball into a gaggle of excited fans in the left field corner, but it would be four more innings before anyone else would score, as both pitchers refused to give an inch.
It was Scherzer himself who led off the home half of the sixth and he battled long enough to end up guiding a sharp roller into right field for his fourth hit of the season. One out later Desmond sent a line drive off the wall just to the left of the Nats bullpen. Scherzer had read it well and was under a full head of steam as he chugged his way toward third. Bob Henley never hesitated in waving him onward toward the plate, and fortunately Scherzer was able to score standing up on his way to a well-deserved rest in the dugout.
Up 2-1, Scherzer cut his way through two more dominant innings before turning things over to Drew Storen for the ninth. The closer yielded two infield hits within the first three batters, but after getting a crucial fly to left from Grady Sizemore, he blew Odubel Herrera away with 95 mph gas at the letters that left the rookie gasping for air.
A win that shouldn't have been as tough under the circumstances, but a win nevertheless.
Continuing what has become a somewhat alarming trend, Stephen Strasburg didn't have it today while Cole Hamels definitely did. Strasburg had looked fine for two innings, but he suddenly began missing his spots and leaving everything up, where it was pounded by all sorts of Phillies batters. Two doubles and a Mikael Franco homer keyed a 4-run rally in the third and two more runs came around in the fourth when Strasburg departed with two down. Neither he nor those who followed him were helped any by the Nats embarrassing four errors on the day. It would have been five had Cesar Hernandez not been called out on an odd play for failing to tag first base on what had looked like an RBI double plus a throwing error that left him on third.
Meanwhile, Cole Hamels tantalized the Nats with his usual frustrating combination of stuff and command. He'll make a fine get for some contender at the trade dealdine if all the scuttlebutt is to be believed. Ian Desmond did pop an eighth inning RBI double off him, but by then all the horses were long out of the barn.
All in all, quite the disappointing day for most of the 41,722 on hand, especially as it was the eighth less than stellar start from Strasburg in his just nine tries. He had proclaimed his shoulder 100% after a recent visit to a chiropractor, but if it wasn't the shoulder that was bothering him on Saturday, then there is something else that needs to be checked out.
Gio Gonzalez was hoping for better than the fourth inning meltdown than ruined his last start, but it looked for a while like the fourth inning was going to get him again. After a hit and a walk in the frame, a two-out knock from Jeff Francoeur plated a run and with a Clint Robinson bobble added in, there were runners at second and third with Cesar Hernandez leaning in. Gio whiffed him however to keep the damage to 1-0.
Robinson atoned for the error by leading off the bottom of the fourth with a ringing double to the scoreboard, and he was almost immediately cashed in by a Jose Lobaton single up the middle. After a walk and a sacrifice, the Nats had 'em at second and third with one down, but neither Span nor Desmond could come up with a key RBI. However, the solid bat of Yunel Escobar produced a lead-off triple in the fifth, and Harper promptly scorched a one-hopper up the middle that the shift turned into an out as the go-ahead run scored.
Gio made it into the seventh, but a one-out single by Herrera brought Aaron Barrett into the game. Harper then charged a liner to right as if he were going to make the catch, but took it on a hop and fired to second for the force-out. Nice play. The appearance of Chase Utley as a PH brought lefty Matt Grace into the match, and Utley was soon called out on strikes on a nice slider down and away.
Bottom-7 saw Span crunch his second double of the day to lead things off and Desmond was finally able to bunt him over to third. Span was barely able to dive ahead of the tag after Escobar ripped a sharp one-hopper that way, and that left Harper to bat with two down. Phils manager Sandberg went to lefty-killer Jake Diekman, but Harper was able to fist a little chinker off the label down the left field line to make it 3-1. With a righty warm, Sandberg let Diekman pitch to Ryan Zimmerman and he smashed a double off the boards in right. Harper was in run-till-they-tag-you mode and easily scored to make it 4-1.
The combination of Grace and newly activated Casey Janssen made quick work of the eighth, and it was again Storen who shook off a one-out double to wrap it up with a pair of convincing K's.
With the Mets losing again to the Prates on Sunday, the Nats have a 2.5 game lead in the NL East as they head out to Wrigley for three and then Cincy for three.
The debut of the Nats in the new Friendly Confines and the 2015 debut of Tanner Roark in the Nats' rotation. With the wind blowing out, it looked like it might be a wind-blowing-out day at Wrigley when Denard Span started the game with a homer and Kris Bryant socked another one as the second batter in the home half of the first. But there would be just one more run scored on the afternoon.
Roark went five solid innings and left with the tie, having used all but four of his 70-pitch allotment. Former Oriole Tsuyoshi Wada was effective also for the Cubbies, but within a couple of outs of Roark's departure, Wilson Ramos waved a long fly ball into the tarp-covered right filed bleachers to put the Nats back in front.
The bullpen was left to protect that narrow lead, and today it was Blake Treinen tossing a pair of one-hit innings in the sixth and seventh, and then the Thornton/Barrett combo working a 1-2-3 eighth. Kris Bryant was ruled to have been hit by pitch after first being called out on strikes to open the ninth, but Drew Storen didn't let it phase him. He fell behind Anthony Rizzo 2-0, but got in his kitchen there to earn a popup to Desmond. Starlin Castro followed with a fly ball to Span in medium-deep center, and Storen then burned Jorge Soler with 96 at the top of the strike zone to wrap up W #1 for Roark and S #15 for himself.
Another game to frustrate those who like a lot of hits -- there were just ten by both sides combined -- but it was still a tense, dramatic, and well played ballgame. The Nats have now won 20 of their last 25 and will be looking for more against this young, talented Cub squad Tuesday evening as they send Jordan Zimmermann to the hill to oppose Kyle Hendricks.
Is anybody else kind of done with Strasburg? I'm tired of the excuses for him.
So you were all ga-ga into Strasburg when? And judging from all the #37 jerseys and tees showing up at the ball park every day, I think you're kind of going this one alone for now.
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