Tag Archives: Milwaukee Brewers

Pitching matchup – game 152

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Apparently, revenge is a dish best served on a warm 78-degree afternoon. And yesterday, the Washington Nationals (92-59), led by left-hander Gio Gonzalez, got their revenge on a Milwaukee Brewers (78-73) team that usurped a win in the ninth inning of Friday night’s four-game series opener.

For Gonzalez, the outing was a perfect response to an earlier July 29 outing in which the Brewers handled his repertoire by belting five runs on five hits and earned seven free passes on five walks and two hit batsmen. The fact that yesterday’s win marked number 20 for Gonzalez, who is the only pitcher to have reached that mark this year, was icing on the cake.

“This is like a dream,” Gonzalez said, “and I feel like I’m still sleeping in it.”

This afternoon, the Nationals will look to ensure, at least, a series split as they take on red-hot right-hander Yovani Gallardo. On the mound for Washington, making just his fifth start of the year is sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang. Continue reading →

20 wins and 200 strikeouts

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With a 10-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon, the Washington Nationals pushed their record to 92-59, lowering their magic number for clinching the National League East to six.

In the process, left-hander Gio Gonzalez reached a few personal milestones, joining some elite company in doing so.

Gio Gonzalez notches win no. 20

Gio Gonzalez delivers a pitch just prior to his 20th win of the season — ESPN

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Pitching matchup – game 151

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Though the Washington Nationals (91-59) suffered a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers (78-72) last night after a blown save from Tyler Clippard, the team actually managed to move a step closer towards clinching the National League East. With the Atlanta Braves’ loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Nationals’ lead stood pat at 5 1/2 games while their magic number dropped to seven. And despite a recent string of less-than-stellar performances from Clippard, manager Davey Johnson has no plans to reduce the co-closer’s role in the bullpen.

“He’ll be fine,” Johnson said. “That one just got away. One battle. He’s been pretty awfully good.”

This afternoon, all eyes will be on another Nationals pitcher as left-hander and sole 19-game winner Gio Gonzalez heads to the mound in search of his 20th win. To earn it, he will need to out-pitch Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta, who started his first major league game earlier this month. Continue reading →

Pitching matchup – game 150

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By this point, you have likely already been made aware of the Washington Nationals’ (91-58) series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers last night and the playoff implications surrounding said win. But because this is the first time the nation’s capital has been able to express what follows in 79 years, it bears repeating – the Nationals are officially headed to the postseason.

As exciting as the news is, the Nationals still have some games to win before the real celebration begins. Last night’s win clinched a Wild Card berth and as manager Davey Johnson has made clear on numerous occasions, they will settle for nothing less than a division title.

“That was fun but it’s not what I had my eye on,” Johnson said, “It’s a nice step to get here, but every manager that’s leading a division, that’s the only thing that matters – winning your division.”

The team’s magic number for clinching the National League East still sits at eight. In order to chip away at it they will need to take a few games from the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers during the four-game series that begins tonight when Brewers right-hander Shaun Marcum takes on Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson. Continue reading →

A look into the remainder of the Nationals’ regular season

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If you will, take a trip with me to September 2011. It was only a year ago that the Atlanta Braves entered September with an 8 1/2 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Wild Card, while the Boston Red Sox held an even larger nine game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League Wild Card. It would take two simultaneous disastrous collapses, collapses that rivaled the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies and the 1978 Red Sox, for either of the leaders to fall out of playoff contention. Well, in 2011, the Cardinals and the Rays took the Wild Cards in their respective leagues.

Now, back in the pseudo present, the Washington Nationals took an 8 1/2 game division lead into Turner Field on Friday night to begin a three-game series with the Braves. The good news for the Nationals was that their worst-case scenario was taking a 5 1/2 game division lead back to the district. The bad news is that they will be returning to the district with a 5 1/2 game division lead after being swept by the Braves and leaving their magic number untouched.

Before you begin wondering when Positive Mental Natitude became Negative Mental Natitude, let me say that I am in no way suggesting that the Nationals are on the verge of suffering a collapse on par with those seen last year. To do so would undermine the talent that makes up the roster and would suggest that I have failed to follow the team closely at all this season.

I am suggesting, however, that baseball is anything but predictable. With 16 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Nationals are all but assured a playoff berth – needing only to go 3-13 for the rest of the season to ensure it. But for a division win, which is more desirable than ever considering the new playoff system, the Nationals have their work cut out for them.

Having said that, let us take a look at the remaining 16 games on the Nationals’ schedule. Continue reading →

Nationals finish near-perfect road trip with an 11-10 win in Milwaukee

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After nearly four and a half hours and 11 innings, the Washington Nationals were able to hold on to a one-run lead to take the finale of a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. The win came alongside the late-inning heroics of Michael Morse and capped off a seven-game road series that saw the Nationals go 6-1 after sweeping the New York Mets and taking three of four from the Brewers.

The win also places the Nationals at the top of the majors with an overall record of 61-40.

For a full recap of the game, check out Patrick Reddington’s write-up over at Federal Baseball.

I will be back with more Nationals news tomorrow. For now, I am hard at work improving the behind-the-scenes, day-to-day of Positive Mental Natitude. A big announcement is coming tomorrow.

Hint: pmnatitude.wordpress.com will soon become pmnatitude.com — tell everyone you know.

Slow-starting Jackson starts strong, ends strong

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Against a Milwaukee Brewers team that had outscored opponents by 36 runs in the first two innings, the Washington Nationals reversed the roles by putting up four runs in the second to the Brewers’ zero last night in the first of a four-game series.  They would go on to win 8-2, notching their major-league leading 59th win and setting a franchise high of 20 games over .500.

The four runs came with two outs at the hands of a hot Nationals offense that has now scored 117 runs in the month of July – more than any other team. It did not hurt that Brewers’ right-hander Yovani Gallardo walked opposing pitcher Edwin Jackson in the frame to load the bases, bringing second baseman Steve Lombardozzi to the plate, who promptly pulled a three-run triple down the right field line.

It did not hurt either that Jackson, traditionally a slow starter, was able to locate his fastball early in the first inning and continued to do so for seven shutout innings while striking out four and giving up no runs on eight hits and one walk. Continue reading →