This Time with Natitude: A Washington Nationals dynasty

[ch1088]

Punchless Nats fall again, 6-1
Votto's 3 hits pave way to easy Reds win

The Nationals didn't start off their homestand very well, falling 6-1 to the Reds. Joey Votto mashed the ball every at bat, hitting a double, a home run, and a hard liner for a single. The Nationals looked lost again at the plate, tallying their only run on a sac fly in the bottom of the 9th. The NAts are back at it tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. as Jordan Zimmermann faces off against a starter TBA.

Cincinnati Reds at Washington Nationals
Apr 12, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (5-2)	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	6	10	1
Washington (5-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	1
W: Johnny Cueto (1-1) L: Gio Gonzalez (1-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CIN	WAS
CIN	2nd	S Rolen walks, J Bruce scores.	1	0
CIN	3rd	J Votto homered to right center, B Phillips and D Stubbs scored.	4	0
CIN	8th	J Bruce homered to right, J Votto scored.	6	0
WAS	9th	R Zimmerman hits Sac Fly to center, D Espinosa scored.	6	1

Cincinnati Reds
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
D Stubbs CF	5	1	0	0	0	2	0	.121
B Phillips 2B	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	.333
J Votto 1B	4	2	3	3	0	0	1	.354
J Bruce RF	4	2	2	2	0	0	1	.233
C Heisey LF	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.266
Z Cozart SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.200
D Mesoraco C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.285
R Hanigan C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S Rolen 3B	3	0	0	1	1	1	0	.172
J Cueto P	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
TEAM TOTALS	37	6	10	6	1	5	2
BATTING: 2B: J Votto (2), C Heisey (2) HR: J Votto (3), J Bruce (2) RBI: J Votto 3 (8), S Rolen (4), J Bruce 2 (3)
FIELDING: E: S Rolen (2), dropped ball.

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
I Desmond SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.343
D Espinosa 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.206
R Zimmerman 3B	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	.250
J Werth RF	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.266
C Hernandez 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.225
M Morse LF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.222
W Ramos C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.210
R Ankiel CF	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.176
G Gonzalez P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
D Storen P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
H Rodriguez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
H Matsui PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.166
C Wang P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	31	1	5	1	0	5	0
BATTING: 3B: D Espinosa (1) SF: R Zimmerman (1) RBI: R Zimmerman (4)
BASERUNNING: CS: D Espinosa (1)
FIELDING: E: I Desmond (4), throw.

Cincinnati Reds
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
J Cueto	9	5	1	1	0	5	0	6.10
TEAM TOTALS	9	5	1	1	0	5	0
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Cueto 86-64.

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
G Gonzalez (L, 1-1)	6	7	4	3	1	1	1	2.77
D Storen	1.1	2	2	2	0	2	1	5.40
H Rodriguez	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
C Wang	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9	10	6	5	1	5	2
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Gonzalez 69-47, Storen 12-11, Rodriguez 8-5, Wang 15-10

[ch1088]

Morse walks Nats off to victory
Extra inning thriller ends with homer

The Nationals rebounded from their 2 game losing streak Friday night with a thrilling walk-off victory in the 12th inning. Mike Morse homered off Ryan Madson to cap off a 4 run 12th inning to lead the Nats over Cincinnati, 7-4. The Nationals had led 3-0 up until the 7th inning until Chris Heisey doubled home a few runs and in the 9th inning, Brad Lidge blew his 2nd save of the season - hopefully a quick slump - and the Reds tied it in the 9th. Chien-Ming Wang came on in relief and went 3 innings and gave up another RBI double to Heisey in the 12th. Madson came out for the bottom of the 12th and the resilient Nats slapped around a few singles and Morse capped it with the homer. The Nationals stole 5 bases in the game and Morses home run was only the 2nd home run hit by a National 8 games into the year (Hernandez - game 2 @ CHC). The Nationals will face the Reds for game 3 of 4 in this series tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park at 1:05 p.m. (Leake (1-0), 0.00 vs. Jackson (1-0, 1.13)).

Reds at Nationals |
Apr 13, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Cincinnati (5-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0 0 1	4	9	0
Washington (6-2)	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0 0 4	7	16	2
W: Chien-Ming Wang (1-0) L: Ryan Madson (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CIN	WAS
WAS	2nd	R Bernadina singles to center, M Morse scores, W Ramos out at home plate on the throw.	0	1
WAS	3rd	R Zimmerman grounds out, I Desmond scores.	0	2
WAS	6th	M Morse doubles to left, C Hernandez scores	0	3
CIN	7th	C Heisey doubles to center, D Stubbs scores.	1	3
CIN	7th	S Rolen reaches on throwing error by I Desmond, C Heisey scores.	2	3
CIN	9th	C Heisey doubles to left center, J Bruce scores.	3	3
CIN	12th	S Rolen singles to right, P Janish scores.	4	3
WAS	12th	D Espinosa singles to center, I Desmond scores.	4	4
WAS	12th	M Morse homers to left, D Espinosa scores, R Zimmerman scores.	4	7

Cincinnati Reds
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
B Phillips 2B	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	.305
D Stubbs CF	5	0	1	0	0	2	0	.131
J Votto 1B	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.305
J Bruce RF	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	.228
C Heisey LF	5	1	2	2	0	1	0	.285
D Mesoraco C	5	0	1	0	0	2	0	.272
P Janish PR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.214
R Hanigan C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S Rolen 3B	5	0	1	1	0	2	0	.176
H Bailey P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
R Ludwick PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
J Haring PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.666
L Ondrusek P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
N Masset P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T Frazier PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
R Madson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	44	4	9	3	1	8	0
BATTING: 2B: D Mesoraco (2), C Heisey 2 (4) SAC: H Bailey (1) RBI: S Rolen (5), C Heisey 2 (5)
BASERUNNING: CS: Z Cozart (1)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
I Desmond SS	6	2	2	0	0	1	0	.342
D Espinosa 2B	6	1	2	1	0	0	0	.228
R Zimmerman 3B	5	1	1	1	1	0	0	.243
J Werth RF	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
C Hernandez 1B	6	1	3	0	0	1	0	.270
M Morse LF	5	2	4	4	1	0	1	.312
W Ramos C	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	.208
R Bernadina CF	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	.181
J Zimmermann	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
A LaRoche PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T Clippard P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
B Lidge P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
H Matsui PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.285
C Wang P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	49	7	16	7	2	2	1
BATTING: 2B: W Ramos (1), M Morse 2 (3), C Hernandez (1) HR: M Morse (1) RBI: R Zimmerman (5), D Espinosa (4), R Bernadina (1), M Morse 4 (5)
BASERUNNING: SB: D Espinosa (2), I Desmond 2 (4), C Hernandez 2 (3) CS: R Bernadina (1)
FIELDING: E: I Desmond 2 (6), throw, throw.

Cincinnati Reds
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
H Bailey	7	8	3	3	1	2	0	2.84
L Ondrusek	3.1	4	0	0	1	0	0	1.35
N Masset	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.27
R Madson (L, 1-0)	0.2	4	4	4	0	0	1	14.73
TEAM TOTALS	11.2	16	7	7	2	2	1
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: H Bailey 74-62, L Ondrusek 38-27, N Masset 6-5, R Madson 13-10

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
J Zimmermann	7	4	2	1	0	6	0	1.29
T Clippard (H, 3)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
B Lidge (BS, 2)	1	2	1	1	0	1	0	3.60
C Wang (W, 1-0)	3	2	1	1	1	1	0	1.50
TEAM TOTALS	12	9	4	3	1	8	0
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: J Zimmerman 87-64, T Clippard 11-9, B Lidge 13-10, C Wang 31-22

[ch1088]

Heisey swats Nats again, Reds win 7-6
Racks up another 3 RBI's as Nats cant build streak

Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park was a frustrating one, as the Reds toppled the Nationals 7-6. Chris Heisey got the Reds on the board early with a 3 run home run that bounced off the top of the right field wall and into the Nationals bullpen. The Nationals came back to take the lead in the 5th inning with a couple of extra base hits, but in the 6th inning it all fell apart. Edwin Jackson lost control of his fastball, and Henry Rodriguez came into the game and his first 99 mph fastball was bluntly planted into the left field bleachers by Drew Stubbs. Ian Desmond had another rough day in the field with three throwing errors. Ryan Madson came in to preserve the win, and the Nationals were hoping for another walk-off win in this one, but to no avail. The loss drops the Nationals to 6-3 on the 2012 campaign. Tomorrows game closes out the 4 game series with the Reds at 1:05 p.m. at Nationals park with Bronson Arroyo (0-0, 6.35) going for the Reds and Ross Detweiler (0-0, 1.29) making his second start of the year for the Nationals.

Cincinnati Reds at Washington Nationals
Apr 14, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati (6-3)	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	7	15	0
Washington (6-3)	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	6	12	3
W: Mike Leake (2-0) L: Henry Rodriguez (0-1) S: Ryan Madson (3)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CIN	WAS
CIN	1st	C Heisey homered to right, J Votto and J Bruce scored.	3	0
WAS	4th	J Flores singles to right, R Zimmerman scores.	3	1
WAS	4th	R Ankiel doubles to left center, J Werth and J Flores scored.	3	3
WAS	5th	R Zimmerman triples to right center, D Espinosa scores.	3	4
WAS	5th	J Werth doubles to right, R Zimmerman scores.	3	5
CIN	6th	B Phillips triples to left center, Z Cozart and R Ludwick scored.	5	5
CIN	6th	D Stubbs homered to left, B Phillips scores.	7	5
WAS	6th	I Desmond singles to center, R Ankiel scores.	7	6

Cincinnati Reds
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
B Phillips 2B	5	1	2	2	0	1	0	.387
D Stubbs CF	5	1	1	2	0	2	1	.139
J Votto 1B	5	1	3	0	0	0	0	.341
J Bruce RF	5	1	4	0	0	0	0	.300
C Heisey LF	5	1	1	3	0	3	1	.275
D Mesoraco C	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	.236
S Rolen 3B	5	0	1	0	0	3	0	.179
Z Cozart SS	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	.181
M Leake P	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
R Ludwick PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.600
B Bray P	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.666
S Marshall P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
R Madson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	44	4	9	3	1	8	0
BATTING: 2B: J Votto 2 (4), R Ludwick (1) 3B: B Phillips (1) HR: D Stubbs (1), C Heisey (2) RBI: B Phillips 2 (5), D Stubbs 2 (3), C Heisey 3 (8)
BASERUNNING: CS: J Bruce (1)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
I Desmond SS	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	.357
D Espinosa 2B	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.230
R Zimmerman 3B	5	2	2	1	0	1	0	.261
J Werth RF	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.275
C Hernandez 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.243
M Morse LF	3	0	0	0	1	2	0	.285
J Flores C	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.307
R Ankiel CF	4	1	3	2	0	0	0	.285
E Jackson P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.166
H Rodriguez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
B Carroll PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
T Gorzelanny P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
R Bernadina PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.166
D Storen P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	36	6	12	6	2	4	0
BATTING: 2B: J Werth (2), R Ankiel (1) 3B: R Zimmerman (1) HBP: I Desmond (1) RBI: R Zimmerman (6), J Werth (4), I Desmond (3), J Flores (1), R Ankiel 2 (3)
FIELDING: E: I Desmond 3 (9), throw, throw, throw.

Cincinnati Reds
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
M Leake (W, 2-0)	5	9	5	5	2	3	0	4.09
B Bray (H, 1)	2.1	3	1	1	0	1	0	1.50
S Marshall (H, 3)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.06
R Madson (S, 3)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.57
TEAM TOTALS	9	12	6	6	2	4	0
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: M Leake 66-46, B Bray 25-17, S Marshall 6-6, R Madson 9-7

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
E Jackson	5.1	10	6	5	0	7	1	4.05
H Rodriguez (L, 0-1)	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	1	1.69
T Gorzelanny	2	3	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
D Storen	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	4.15
TEAM TOTALS	9	15	7	6	0	11	2
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: E Jackson 89-74, H Rodriguez 6-5, T Gorzelanny 31-20, D Storen 12-11

[ch1088]

At the end of the week, we will have our 1st weekly standings recap and Power Rankings!

[brett the jet favre]

Looking pretty good man, I'm following.

[pfeifere1]

This looks great! A simple, yet exciting read! Keep it up and good luck as the season moves along.

Do you see yourself contending in the NL east?

[ch1088]

Thanks for reading guys. I think this team can definitely clinch a wild-card spot, but im definitely gunning for the division for sure!

[ch1088]

Zimmerman send Nats home winners
Walk-off homer splits series with Reds

What looked to be a disappointing sunday in D.C. turned out to be a thrilling comeback victory for the Washington Nationals. The Reds jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a leadoff homer by Drew Stubbs, and a scattering of extra base hits in the 4th inning, the Nationals found themselves down by a sizeable amount in a hurry.

Then, the Nats started to chip away. A single here, a walk there, and a few doubles found the Nats down 5-3 after 5. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Dusty Baker called for fire throwing lefty Aroldis Chapman. You could almost hear the collective groans roll through the stands at Nationals park as Chapman's first pitch to Chris Hernandez whizzed in at an eye popping 104 miles per hour. The fastball was no match for Hernandez, however, after fouling off several heaters, he blasted one to the bleachers in dead center field.

Singles by Wilson Ramos and Rick Ankiel then set the stage for the comeback. Davey Johnson pinch-hit for struggling pitcher Ross Detweiler and sent up Hideki Matsui to pinch hit. After a great long at bat, Matsui sliced one down the left field line to tie the game and send the crowd into an eruption.

Drew Storen came on and saved the bullpen as he pitched three stellar innings out of the bullpen, striking out five. The Nationals could not get anything across in the bottom of the 9th, and the game headed to extras. Brad Lidge had a encouraging scoreless inning and Baker send out righty Nick Masset for the 10th. Ryan Zimmerman wasted no time at all and charged the 1st pitch of the inning into the Reds bullpen for the thrilling walk-off win. It was the 2nd this series. The series ended in a tie, 2-2.

The Nationals now look ahead to tomorrow night, which kicks off another lengthy 4 game series with the Houston Astros coming to town. The Nationals have struggled of late at the plate, playing very close games. They will look to take advantage of a very young - and vulnerable - Astros pitching staff. Catch the action tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. as Aneury Rodriguez (0-1, 10.80) goes for Houston, and the Nats counter with Stephen Strasburg (1-1, 0.61). 7pm.

Reds at Nationals |
Apr 15, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Cincinnati (6-4)	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	7	1
Washington (7-3)	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	1	6	11	1
W: Brad Lidge (1-0) L: Nick Masset (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			CIN	WAS

Cincinnati Reds
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
D Stubbs CF	5	1	1	1	0	3	1	.146
B Phillips 2B	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	.311
J Votto 1B	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	.311
J Bruce RF	4	1	1	0	0	3	0	.295
C Heisey LF	3	1	0	0	1	2	0	.256
Z Cozart SS	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	.216
D Mesoraco C	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.238
J Haring PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.667
R Hanigan C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S Rolen 3B	3	0	1	2	1	0	0	.190
B Arroyo P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
A Chapman P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
N Masset P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	35	5	7	5	3	12	1
BATTING: 2B: J Bruce (3), S Rolen (3) 3B: B Phillips (2) HR: D Stubbs (2) RBI: D Stubbs (4), J Votto (9), Z Cozart (2), S Rolen 2 (7)
BASERUNNING: CS: Z Cozart (2)

Washington Nationals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
I Desmond SS	4	0	0	1	1	1	0	.326
D Espinosa 2B	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	.227
R Zimmerman 3B	5	1	1	1	0	0	1	.255
J Werth RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250
C Hernandez 1B	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	.267
M Morse LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.282
W Ramos C	3	1	2	0	1	1	0	.259
R Ankiel CF	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	.333
R Detweiler	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
C Wang P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
H Matsui PH	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	.375
H Rodriguez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
B Carroll PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.500
D Storen P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
A LaRoche PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
B Lidge P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TEAM TOTALS	36	6	11	6	2	5	2
BATTING: 2B: D Espinosa (2), M Morse (4), H Matsui (1) HR: R Zimmerman (1), C Hernandez (2) RBI: I Desmond (4), D Espinosa (5), R Zimmerman (7), C Hernandez (6), R Ankiel (4), H Matsui (1)
BASERUNNING: SB: C Hernandez (4)

Cincinnati Reds
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
B Arroyo	4.1	7	3	3	1	3	0	6.30
A Chapman	3.2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1.08
N Masset (L, 0-1)	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	11.57
TEAM TOTALS	9	11	6	5	2	5	2

Washington Nationals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
R Detweiler	4	5	5	5	2	2	1	4.91
C Wang	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1.29
H Rodriguez	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.42
D Storen	3	1	0	0	1	5	0	2.45
B Lidge (W, 1-0)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	3.00
TEAM TOTALS	10	7	5	5	3	12	1