Every start is must-see!

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.

Posted in Hitting, Pitching | Tagged

Chaditude!

Photo: Chad Tracy hits a walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Nationals a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves

Posted in Hitting | Tagged

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

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.

Posted in Pitching | Tagged

Grand slam beast mode!

Woooo hoooo! It’s Michael Morse with a beastly grand slam off Johan Santana.

As a pitching-and-defense-loving fangirl, I have to concede that offense can be fun too.

How fun? I got a big hug from Peter, the sometimes-grumbling season ticket holder who sits in front of me at Nationals Park.

Nats 6, the New York Metropolitans 4. Record another curly W for the major-league-leading, 74-wins-and-counting, Washington Nationals.

Photo: Michael Morse and his RBIs celebrate Morse’s grand-slam home run on August 17. Left to right: Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Morse, and Bryce Harper.

Posted in Hitting | Tagged , , ,

Who needs sleep?

Ryan Zimmerman reads to the kidsRaise your hand if you’ve been dragging at work because of late nights watching Nationals baseball.

Weeknight games in the Pacific time zone are brutal, but who needs sleep when our Nats are playing fantastic baseball.

Eight wins and 2 losses on a 10-game road trip? Pinch me.

Photo: Ryan Zimmerman reads to kids (both young and not-so-young) during Picnic in the Park on August 4, 2012.

Posted in Fans, fangirls & family | Tagged