Oh, Those Darn Yankees!

So, what can I as a Nationals fan say about this past weekend's series between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals? In one word: Frustrating.

As a baseball fan, I loved going to the game at Nationals Park last Saturday. The weather was perfect, parking was a breeze, the sellout crowd was pumped up, and despite some issues at the Ben's Chili Bowl stand, we ate well and had fun (and we stayed for all 14 innings!).  Oh, and my wonderful husband arranged for us to meet Bob Carpenter and F.P. Santangelo (the MASN Sports broadcasters), which was a great experience!  But as a Nationals fan, the series was not fun to watch - neither in person nor on TV.

The Yankees did what they normally do - the batters worked their counts and made Nationals pitchers throw a lot of pitches, they played a solid defense, and they had clutch hits when they mattered most. Even when A-Rod and Jeter didn't produce, you had Granderson, Teixeira and Canó contributing (Teixeira got the 2RBIs in the top of the 14th at Saturday's game). The Yankees undoubtedly have the best lineup in Major League baseball, and they sure proved it this past weekend.

Despite losing all 3 games though, the Nationals hung in there and did not allow themselves to be completely humiliated. In Friday's game, Gio Gonzalez had a decent outing, Saturday's game went 14 innings, and on Sunday the Nationals lost 4-1. No 10-2 games, no major embarrassments (other than Bryce Harper striking out five times in Saturday's game - Andy Pettite, old enough to be his father, completely dominated Bryce), and no loss in the standings (the Nationals are still 4 games above the Braves in first place, thanks to the Orioles taking their series with the Braves this past weekend).

So what was the major problem in the Yankees series? I would like to place the blame on 3 guys - the ones who bat 3-5 in the batting order. In the 3-game series against the Yankees, the 3, 4, and 5 hitters went 7/39, which is completely unacceptable. Former All-Star, Gold-Glover and Silver Slugger third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (the #3 batter) is batting a lousy .229 with only 3 home runs. Outfielder Michael Morse, who has only played in the last 14 games after spending the beginning of the season on the Disabled List, has gone 12 for 57 with no home runs, despite having hit 31 homers for the Nationals last year. And Adam LaRoche, who was hot at the beginning of the season, has been sliding down the leader boards, currently batting .264. If these guys in the middle of the order don't start producing soon, the other teams in the NL East may catch up pretty quickly.

What will hopefully save the Nationals from continuing to lose is the upcoming series against the very injured Tampa Bay Rays. While this is normally a very solid baseball team, they are currently being Band-Aided together and have 9 players on the Disabled List (including Evan Longoria and Luke Scott). The Nationals need to take at least 2 of 3 from the Rays before going to visit the red-hot Orioles, which means that Zimmerman, Morse, and LaRoche need to step up their game.

So I believe our next trip to Nationals Park will be in early August to watch the Nationals host the Miami Marlins.  I'm looking forward to seeing Ozzie Guillen for the first time (hopefully he won't get ejected from the game!) and hopefully the Nationals will still be in first place.

Roberts and Strasburg and A-Rod - Oh my!

If the only baseball news you get come from my blog (because you only read my blog to be nice, not because you're a true baseball fan), there are a lot of newsworthy items that you may have missed.  First of all, the Baltimore Orioles' second baseman, Brian Roberts, returned to his team last night after being on the Disabled List for over a year due to recurring concussion symptoms.  Not only did Roberts get a standing ovation from the fans at Camden Yards, but he went 3 for 4 with one RBI.  Welcome back, Brian!
Another noteworthy event is that the Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg became the first pitcher in the Majors to reach 100 strikeouts this season.  He did so in 76 1/3 innings pitched and now has a record of 8-1.  If Strasburg is not selected to be a starting pitcher for this year's All-Star Game, I swear I will run my next marathon in my bare feet with my hands tied behind my back.  The Nationals, by the way, just finished a six-game road trip where they swept the Red Sox and Blue Jays, and are now headed home to face the Yankees this weekend with a franchise-best 38-23 record. 

Also of note (though I wish I could skip this item, but it would be irresponsible of me to do so) is that the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez tied Lou Gehrig with the 23rd grand slam of his career.  Now, I don't see this as a particularly great individual feat, because it is out of your control as a batter whether the bases are loaded or not when you hit a home run.  Now, if the bases are loaded, no pitcher in his right mind would intentionally walk a batter to walk in a run, so of course they're going to pitch to A-Rod.  On other occasions, pitchers either intentionally walk him or pitch around him ("unintentionally" intentionally walking him), so when they're forced to pitch to him, yes, he's likely to hit a home run.  Not because there are 3 guys on base, but because they don't want to walk him in this case.  So because I'm an A-Rod hater, I'm going to pooh-pooh this otherwise-wonderful feat and hope that someone with the grace and dignity of Lou Gehrig passes A-Rod on this list someday.

Let's see... what else? Oh, sorry Scott, but I have to mention how the Phillies are in LAST place by 10 games in the NL East.  Their 29-24 record is a far cry from that of victorious years past, - maybe their fans will stop being so obnoxious when they visit other ballparks.  And how about those Pirates?  They're only one game back of the Reds in the NL Central, and as much as I like the Cardinals (for having Beltrán and Molina), it's nice to see someone else in the top two spots for a change. 

So yeah, this has been an interesting week so far, and it will only get better on Saturday, when my husband and will I go down to Nationals Park for our second game of the season.  Yankees and Nationals - Jordan Zimmermann against previously-retired Andy Pettite; Harper versus A-Rod; Jeter versus Desmond; the "Curly W" versus pinstriped uniforms that haven't changed since the 1800s.  I'm looking forward to seeing Robinson Canó in person, though I hope he goes 0-4 that day.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!