Results tagged ‘ Bryce Harper ’
Highlights: 4.11.13
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4.11.13 – Nationals 7, White Sox 4
Stat of the Game: A batter (Bryce Harper) was intentionally walked in front of Ryan Zimmerman for the second time in four years, after which Zimmerman swatted a two-run double to open up a three-run advantage.
Under-the-Radar Performance: Harper reached base four times, thanks to a pair of walks and singles, raising his batting average to .417 and on-base percentage to .447.
It Was Over When: The White Sox had closed the gap to two runs at 6-4, but Ryan Mattheus froze Paul Konerko with a 3-2 slider for strike three to strand two runners in scoring position and end the sixth inning, after which point Chicago would not threaten again.
What to Watch for: 4.10.13
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Chicago White Sox (4-3) vs. Washington Nationals (5-2)
RHP Gavin Floyd (0-1, 3.00) vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann (1-0, 1.50)
The Nationals and White Sox match up in the middle contest of a three-game set, after Washington rode four home runs to an 8-7 victory in the series opener Tuesday night. Last night’s victory marked the first ever win at home over Chicago’s American League ballclub at Nationals Park.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. LaRoche 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Suzuki C
9. Zimmermann RHP
TRIPLE DOUBLE
Adam LaRoche collected his first two hits of the season last night, as he homered in each of his final two at-bats. With the multi-homer game, LaRoche becomes the third National in just seven games this season to turn the trick, joining Bryce Harper (April 1 vs. Miami) and Wilson Ramos (April 6 at Cincinnati).
POWER PACKED
The Nationals have blasted 14 home runs in their first seven games of the 2013 season. That is a 10-homer increase on the initial seven games of last season. In fact, Washington’s previous homer high in the first seven games of a season was 10 in 2006.
I WOULD WALK 500 MORE
Jayson Werth notched his 500th and 501st career RBI last night, thanks to a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Werth is also closing in on half a thousand in another counting stat, as he needs just 23 more walks to reach 500 for his career.
The Boys of Lumber
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The calendar may have read April 10, but there was the distinct feeling of summer in the air as the Nationals began their second homestand of 2013 Tuesday night. With a first pitch temperature of 81 degrees, baseballs were flying out of Nationals Park more the way they tend to do in summertime than in spring. Or, rather, more the way they did when the Washington lineup finally returned to health last summer than the way they did with the depleted, early-season edition.
Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos are showing early signs of returning to their prior power numbers.
It can be easy to forget, what with the team’s offensive success in the second half, just how much the Nationals struggled to score runs at times while key members of their lineup were missing. Even once the team was mostly healthy, Jayson Werth’s wrist remained at less than 100 percent strength, while Wilson Ramos would not play again until Opening Day this year.
But look at this lineup right now – there are no breaks, no easy outs. Not just that, but every hitter, one through eight (and even nine, as Gio Gonzalez would have you know), can take a mistake and deposit it over the wall. Werth slugged 20 or more home runs every year from 2008-11, blasting a career best 36 in 2009. Ramos swatted 15 out of the park in less than 400 at-bats two seasons ago before his 2012 was cut short. Considering the three through seven hitters between them combined for 122 homers in under 2,800 at-bats last season (roughly one per 23 at-bats), the current Nationals lineup may well be the most daunting they’ve ever put on the field as a franchise.
Washington has already hit 14 home runs through the season’s first seven games. With the traditional “small sample size” caveat, that puts them on pace for 324 this season, after setting a franchise record with 194 last year. Five players have hit more than one home run. Three – Bryce Harper, Adam LaRoche and Ramos – already have a multi-homer game.
Last year, the Nationals had just four combined homers through seven games, and didn’t hit their 14th until Game #24 on May 2, when Ian Desmond rocked J.J. Putz for a two-out, two-run, ninth-inning, walk-off blast.
That home run ignited the first wave of offense to support the stellar pitching staff. Consider this year’s lineup already ignited.
Weekly Review: 4.8.13
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It was an exciting first week of the 2013 season, as next year finally arrived. The Nationals opened their campaign as defending National League East Champs against the Marlins in Washington on Monday. Bryce Harper took no time building off last year’s Rookie of the Year campaign, homering in each of his first two at-bats of the season, backing Stephen Strasburg in a 2-0 victory in front of the largest regular season crowd in Nationals Park history. Despite the star power on display, the quiet return of Wilson Ramos may have been the most impressive storyline of the day.
After an off-day Tuesday, the Nationals shut out Miami again on Wednesday, with Gio Gonzalez doing it all himself, tossing six scoreless frames and homering for the game’s first run in a 3-0 final. Meanwhile, Roger Bernadina introduced a new term into the ever-growing Shark lexicon. On Thursday, Washington rounded out a season-opening sweep with a 6-1 win, becoming just the fourth team in Major League history – and the first since the 1979 Astros – to allow just one run over its first three combined games.
The first road trip of the year began inauspiciously, as Washington was blanked, 15-0, in the series opener Friday night in Cincinnati. However, the club responded in a big way, launching five home runs, including two in the 11th inning, to capture a thrilling, nail-biting, cardiac arrhythmia-inducing victory on Saturday. Kurt Suzuki got into the offensive act with a three-run shot in the Sunday finale, but the Nats dropped the game, 6-3, and the series to the defending NL Central Champs.
Overall Record: 4-2
What to Watch for: 4.7.13
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Washington Nationals (4-1) vs. Cincinnati Reds (3-2)
RHP Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Johnny Cueto (0-0, 1.29)
The Nationals bounced back from their first loss of the season by capturing their first road win and first extra-inning triumph on Saturday, a 7-6 victory in 11 innings. Washington will square off with the Reds in a rubber match battle of aces as the Nats look for consecutive series wins to begin the season.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. Tracy 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Ramos C
9. Detwiler LHP
GREAT VENEZUELAN BALL PARK?
With a timely two-home run effort on Saturday afternoon, Wilson Ramos is now 6-for-18 (.333) with five home runs and eight RBI in five career games at Great American Ball Park. Saturday’s tilt was especially noteworthy for Ramos, as he was playing his first game at Great American Ball Park since sustaining a season-ending right knee injury here on May 12, 2012.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
At 4-1, the Nationals have established their finest five-game start since arriving in D.C. in 2005. This is the fourth time the Nationals have sported a winning record through five games (4-1 in 2013; 3-2 in 2012, 2008 and 2005).
FIFTH THIRD HOMER
Via a third-inning, two-run shot on Saturday, Bryce Harper became the first National to hit as many as three home runs in the initial five games of a season (2005-13). In fact, Harper’s three homers through five games this year are more than the entire Nationals team hit through the first five games of the 2010 (2) and 2011 (2) campaigns.
What to Watch for: 4.5.13
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Washington Nationals (3-0) vs. Cincinnati Reds (2-1)
RHP Dan Haren (0-0) vs. RHP Homer Bailey (0-0)
The defending NL East and NL Central champs battle in Cincinnati as the Nationals head out on the road for the first time following a season-opening sweep of the Marlins this week in D.C.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. LaRoche 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Suzuki C
9. Haren RHP
ZERO TOLERANCE
At 3-0, the Nationals are Major League Baseball’s lone undefeated team. It has been exactly 100 years since the last time a team from the Nation’s Capital was lone big league team without a loss. The 1913 AL Nationals won their first five games en route 90 wins and second place in the American League.
ONE AND DONE
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Nationals (via 2-0, 3-0 and 6-1 home wins over the Marlins) are just the fourth team in MLB history to allow no more than one run in the initial three games of a season. The 1979 Astros (2-1, 6-0, 2-0), ‘69 Padres (2-1, 2-0, 2-0) and ’63 Cardinals (7-0, 4-0, 7-0) were the original three clubs to turn this trick.
HARPER’S DREAM DOZEN
With two more hits in Thursday’s finale, Bryce Harper has now hit safely in a career-high 12 straight regular season games dating to September 24 of last season. The 12-game hitting streak is currently tied with Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki for the longest active streak in MLB. During Harper’s current 12-gamer, which spans 13 contests (he pinch ran in Washington’s 2012 season finale vs. Philadelphia, but did not bat), he is 21-for-45 (.467) with four doubles, a triple, five home runs and 10 RBI. Harper’s OPS during the streak is 1.444 and he has scored 13 runs.
A Healthy Start
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So far, so good in 2013. Washington is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in five seasons and stands alone atop the NL East. And before you go belittling the fact that the only team they’ve beaten so far is the Marlins, think back for a moment to the beginning of last year.
The Nationals also got off to a good start in 2012, but they were unable to fully put away any of their early season opponents, setting themselves up to sweep a series 10 times before finally sealing the deal. Of course, considering the litany of injuries the team weathered, particularly through the season’s first half, it was impressive that the Nationals were ever in a position to be able to sweep anyone in the first place.
Wilson Ramos is one of many Nats now healthy after missing significant time last year.
Just look back at the roster in the beginning of the 2012 season. Mark DeRosa was the Opening Day left fielder. Brad Lidge was the closer. Bryce Harper was still in Syracuse. Michael Morse and Drew Storen did not come back to Washington until mid-season, while watching Ian Desmond, Wilson Ramos, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman all hit the disabled list before their return.
The story has been much different so far this year (knock on wood). The Opening Day lineup most fans envisioned when they saw the club for the first time this year at NatsFest was the actual Opening Day lineup on the field in D.C. on April 1. With the young and untested Marlins first up on the schedule, a sweep was almost expected, as unfair as that may be.
And yet, the Nats lived up to that expectation. At the end of four days of play, they are the lone remaining undefeated team in Major League Baseball.
Of course, the season is long, and will no doubt take its twists and turns, with players missing time here and there for the various bumps and bruises that come with the territory of a 162-game slate. The jokes about 162-0 will soon be forgotten, whenever the team drops its first contest of the year.
Washington encounters its first true test tonight, facing off with the defending National League Central Champion Reds in Cincinnati. With a lineup of mashers, especially from the left side, it seems unlikely that the Nationals will be able to count on allowing only a single earned run over three games in this series. It will be a tough first assignment for Dan Haren, but one that he no doubt welcomes as he – and the Nats – hit the road healthy here at the outset of the season.
Highlights: 4.3.13
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4.3.13 – Nationals 3, Marlins 0
Stat of the Game: Gio Gonzalez outscored the Marlins on his own, launching his second career home run in the fifth inning while tossing six scoreless frames to earn the victory.
Under-the-Radar Performance: Ryan Zimmerman picked up his first two hits and first RBI of the season, tripling in the sixth, then singling home Bryce Harper in the eighth for Washington’s third and final run.
It Was Over When: Harper’s insurance run helped, but the Marlins weren’t done until Rafael Soriano got Justin Ruggiano – representing the game-tying run – to fly out to Denard Span for the final out of the game.
What to Watch for: 4.3.13
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Miami Marlins (0-1) vs. Washington Nationals (1-0)
RHP Kevin Slowey (0-0) vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez (0-0)
The Nationals and Marlins had Tuesday off following Opening Day on Monday. Washington rode a pair of blasts off the bat of Bryce Harper and a combined, three-hit shutout from Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano to a 2-0 victory in the first game of the regular season.
NATIONALS LINEUP:
1. Span CF
2. Werth RF
3. Harper LF
4. Zimmerman 3B
5. LaRoche 1B
6. Desmond SS
7. Espinosa 2B
8. Suzuki C
9. Gonzalez LHP
OPEN SESAME
Washington blanked Miami, 2-0, in Monday’s season opener at Nationals Park. Stephen Strasburg earned his first Opening Day win with 7.0 scoreless innings, during which he allowed just three hits, walked none, struck out three and required just 80 pitches. Bryce Harper homered twice to account for both Nationals runs. Rafael Soriano struck out a pair during a perfect ninth to notch the save in his Nationals debut. Ryan Zimmerman started his 8th straight opener at third base for
Washington and he kept the Fish off the scoreboard with a dazzling play to end the first inning. The Opening Day shutout was the first registered by a team from Washington since 1971, when the final incarnation of the Senators blanked the A’s, 8-0, at RFK. The game was played in front of the largest regular season crowd (45,274 – sellout) in Nationals Park’s six-year history.
HARPER’S HISTORY MAKER
Not only did Harper become the youngest player in MLB history to homer twice on Opening Day, he did so by going deep in his first two at-bats of the season. Thus, he became the first player to homer in his first two at-bats of a season since the Pirates’ Garrett Jones turned the trick in 2010. Harper also became just the third defending Rookie of the Year to blast two home runs on Opening Day (Boston’s Carlton Fisk Carlton in 1973, Los Angeles (NL)’s Raul Mondesi in 1995).
GO GO GIO
Gio Gonzalez makes his 2013 debut at Nationals Park after throwing the home opener in D.C. last season. In that game, against the eventual NL Central Champion Cincinnati Reds, Gonzalez allowed just two hits without a walk, fanning seven over 7.0 scoreless frames to earn the first of his MLB-high 21 victories.
Recovery Act
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Opening Day brought Nationals fans plenty of early-season excitement, from Bryce Harper’s power display, to Stephen Strasburg’s quiet dominance, culminating in Rafael Soriano’s closing introduction.
Each of those performances were thrilling in their own way, but going back to the beginning of Spring Training, none were as unexpected and inspiring as Wilson Ramos earning the Opening Day start behind the plate.
Quietly, Wilson Ramos’s return was perhaps the most impressive story on Opening Day.
When pitchers and catchers reported to Viera, Florida on February 11, Ramos was just easing his way into action after recovering from a right knee injury suffered last May in Cincinnati. The damage required two surgeries, with the repair to his anterior cruciate ligament not taking place until July 18 – leaving just seven months until the start of camp.
With such a brief amount of recovery and rehabilitation time, the common question was not whether Ramos would able to start on April 1 against the Miami Marlins, but if he had progressed enough to land on the Major League roster or instead would begin the year on the disabled list.
Slowly but surely, Ramos began erasing doubts. The 25-year-old Venezuelan caught his first bullpen session on February 14, then participated in sliding drills on March 2. He made his first in-game catching appearance March 5 during a Spring Training contest against the Houston Astros, then caught a full game for the first time on March 22 – just 10 days before Opening Day.
His breakthrough occurred with five days to go. In a March 27 split-squad game against the Atlanta Braves, Ramos belted two mammoth home runs, driving home four runs in the 11-2 victory. No longer saddled with concerns about his knee, Ramos was able to cut loose with his swing, displaying the power that made him one of baseball’s top hitting catchers during the 2011 season. He was almost all the way back.
Then, at 1:09 p.m. on Monday, it became official. Given a “carrot for hard work” by manager Davey Johnson, Ramos found himself catching Strasburg’s gem and batting eighth in Johnson’s lineup. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance, then singled sharply through the hole on the left side of the infield in his second. He masterfully blocked balls in the dirt. He caught a laser of a throw from Harper in the seventh inning, then fired to first base, trapping Placido Polanco in a rundown. Eventually, he tagged out Giancarlo Stanton trying to score to complete the rare 7-2-3-4-2 double play, helping Strasburg out of his only jam of the afternoon.
Ramos will rest every other day to start the season, sharing time with Kurt Suzuki and continuing to build up strength. But now, unlike the beginning of spring, the common question is not whether or not Ramos will play, but what he might be able to accomplish now that he’s back behind the plate.
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