Nationals Fall To 2-8 With Matinee Loss
This entry was written by DCist contributor Jeff Beam.
This is not how the Nats wanted to start things.
After losing five of seven in New York and Houston to start the season, the Nats returned home to RFK for a mid-week tilt with the Mets. After last week’s parade of hit batsmen and subsequent suspensions, tension built between the teams to the point of a warning from the league extending the rest of the season. Fans hoping for fireworks were disappointed—there were none between Pedro Martinez and Jose Guillen, none from the Nats’ bats, and none shooting from above centerfield to celebrate a win. The good news coming from off the field was buried by the mediocrity on it.
The Tuesday afternoon home opener was only remarkable in contrast to last year. No sellout, no raucous crowd, no Presidential first pitch, and no win for the home team. Some of the comparisons are a bit unfair—the 40,000+ in attendance on a mid-week afternoon in cavernous RFK is more than the capacity of many stadiums around the league. Fan apathy could hardly be blamed, since the show on the field was far from exhilarating. Ramon Ortiz dropped to 0-2, allowing the Mets to get a 4-0 lead in his six innings, while rookie Brian Bannister again frustrated Washington, allowing three hits while getting two of his own. The top of the Mets order (Jose Reyes, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltran) combined to drive in five runs on their seven hits, including Beltran’s two-run shot off the facing of the upper deck off Felix Rodriguez in the 9th. Alfonso Soriano provided the only offense for the home team, hitting a solo homer in his first game in RFK in the 7th, as the Nats lost 7-1.
The season’s first night game on Wednesday took on a bit of a Yankees-at-Camden-Yards feel , as many among the almost 30,000 fans in attendance wore Mets jerseys and started “Let’s Go Mets” chants, as New York won again, 3-1. On the field, Tony Armas pitched well enough to keep the Nats close while Pedro plowed through the first five innings, allowing only a solo homer to Jose Vidro.
The 6th inning featured Act II of the brewing Pedro-Guillen melodrama. After getting hit twice by Martinez fastballs last week, the ever-mercurial Guillen proclaimed this week that “we used to be friends, but that relationship is over.” With the Nats down 2-1, the table for revenge was set: the Nats strung together a Schneider bloop, a Marlon Anderson walk, and a Watson bunt single to load the bases. After a Vidro strikeout, Guillen came to the plate ready for payback. After an outside ball, Martinez jammed Guillen inside to induce an inning-ending double play—Pedro 2, Jose 0. The Nats wouldn’t threaten again, as Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner cruised through the 8th and 9th.
Today’s matinee 13-4 loss featured more of the same. Livan Hernandez was lit up early, giving up three homers in the first inning alone. The New York offense never relented, piling up 16 hits against Hernandez and Joey Eishen. Down 6-0 after three, the Nats never managed to string together more than a few hits in an inning.
This being April, no one with the team is very concerned just yet, but frustration is evident. Brandon Watson continues to struggle (hitting .179), but the team feels it has no other options at leadoff. A few 390’ flyouts already have the hitters grumbling, though the Mets seemed to have no problems with the dimensions. Pitching is dangerously thin, as the Nats relievers already are among the league leaders in innings.
Amazingly enough, the best baseball news lately has come from off the field, where congressional hearings may bring an end to the Comcast-MASN standoff and Bud Selig finally seems ready to name an owner next week. At 2-8, good news can’t come quickly enough.