Category archive: Pitching

Congratulations, Christian Garcia

By Jenn | Published September 5, 2012
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Last night’s 11-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs had many highlights, including six home runs by the good guys and a monster night by Adam LaRoche, who went 4 for 4 with a walk and two dingers.

But my favorite highlight was a different one: Christian Garcia’s major-league debut.

I love major-league debuts, and Garcia’s accomplishment is one to stand up and cheer for. At 27, Garcia has overcome two Tommy John surgeries and a third surgery to shave down a bone spur. He first pitched in the minor leagues in 2004.

On Monday, Garcia took the mound at Nationals Park and threw three pitches to retire Cubs catcher Welington Castillo on a popup to LaRoche.

Congratulations, Christian. Welcome to Washington.

Photos: (1) Christian Garcia pitches in his major-league debut; (2) Garcia in the dugout after pitching.

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Way to go Gio!

By Jenn | Published September 1, 2012
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That was a blast! Congratulations to Gio Gonzalez on his first complete game shutout. In a 10-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Gonzalez recorded eight strikeouts, while allowing 5 hits and 3 walks.

I recorded a lot of screaming and yelling for Gio.

Photo: Gio Gonzalez in motion on his 119th, and final, pitch in a complete game shutout over the Cardinals on August 31.

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Every start is must-see!

By Jenn | Published August 22, 2012
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Count me among those who are fine with the coming shutdown of Stephen Strasburg. Sure, it’d be nice to see him pitch into October, but I also want to see him pitch for years to come.

For now, I plan to savor every start, like last night’s dominant effort against the Atlanta Braves. Strasburg threw ten wonderful strikeouts in six innings, while allowing only 4 hits, one walk, and one earned run.

Before the rain, as the rain began to fall, and after the rain delay, Stephen was terrific. As were the Nationals, who beat the Braves 4-1, and in so doing increased their lead in the NL East to 7 games.  This is fun!

Photo: Stephen Strasburg earns another curly W (his 15th this year) with a 10-strikeout effort against the Atlanta Braves on August 21.

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What do you mean we can’t win them all?

By Jenn | Published August 19, 2012
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Last night, Edwin Jackson struck out eleven while allowing only two hits and one walk in seven innings. That’s some pretty slick pitching, but it wasn’t enough and the Nationals lost 0-2 to the New York Mets.

I’m tempted to joke that the Nats offense thought it was a Jordan Zimmerman start, but sometimes you just gotta tip your hat to the other guy, the Mets’ Jon Niese, who also pitched a pretty good game.

Photo: Edwin Jackson leaves the field after giving up a walk and a home run in the top of the seventh inning on August 18. The two runs that scored were all the Mets needed to beat the Nats.

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Welcome home, John Lannan

By Jenn | Published July 22, 2012
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What a fun game yesterday!

In the better half of a split double-header, the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2, and John Lannan threw 7 innings of 5-hit, 2 run baseball. The lefty struck out 3 and walked 2 in his first major-league start of 2012.

Lannan also helped the team with his bat, hitting a single and a sacrifice bunt. It’s just one game, but as long as he’s hitting 1.000, I think he should needle Stephen Strasburg (.357 BA), just a little.

Thank you, John, for a terrific evening. I could not have been happier for you.

Photos: (1) John Lannan threw 7 innings and earned a win for the Nationals in his 2012 major-league debut; (2) In the bottom of the 3rd, Lannan records the first Nationals hit of the game; (3) In recognition of his performance, Lannan gets some Gatorade love from teammates (and once again, MASN’s Kristina Akra also gets a bath)

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