Moore called out although replays show he was safe (via DC Sports Bog)

This was a big weekend for the Nationals. After winning six straight (by sweeping the Red Soxs and Blue Jays), the weekend series with the New York Yankees (who were also riding a six game winning streak entering the series) were going to be a test for both first place teams. The Nationals didn’t finish with their desired result, getting swept in the three games by the New York Yankees and losing 4-1 today.

It’s not that the Nationals didn’t play competitive or at a lower level than they had previously. Despite each of the weekend starters not giving up many runs, the offense was unable to score runners or to take advantage of opportunities. There was also defensive miscues and poor reliever performances that also contributed to the losses. (Granted a missed call did factor into Saturday’s game, costing the Nationals the win and turning the game into an extra innings marathon.)

Plus, there’s the added worry of Ryan Zimmerman‘s prolonged offensive slump. The third baseman is now hitting .229 and went 0-13 with two strikeouts, one walk and no RBIs in the weekend series. (Davey just wants to get Zim in “a happy place.”)

» Continue reading “Father’s Day Notes”

This was a pretty hotly anticipated series.  Nats fans wanted to see how this team stacked up against the cream of the baseball crop, hoping that recent success would carry them through another series against a top team.

That didn’t happen.

Although the Nats have done very well against the Yankees in recent years when the team wasn’t doing so great overall, this year was different.  The Nats have developed their talent, but there is a difference between having talent and knowing how to win, and that is what this weekend came down to.

The Nats can take away a few lessons from this series:

1) Talent isn’t always enough

Leaving men on base, misjudging how to play a certain ball at a certain time, deciding when to use which pitchers…all of these little things add up to runs.  The Nats lost this series on the little things, and looked out of their league doing it.

However, they are all problems that can be fixed.  Now that the talent is developed, there is time to mold it into what will become a winner.  The Nats are new to winning, and once they get a handle on it, they won’t have performances like this.

» Continue reading “Things Nats Learned Being Swept By Yankees”

On Saturday, we got a chance to check in on our AAA prospects in Syracuse.  Yunesky Maya (remember him?) got the start for the Chiefs against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, and led the way to a 4-0 win for the Chiefs’ first ‘W’ of the season.

Everybody was looking towards center field to see what Bryce Harper would do, but instead they found Corey Brown, an outfielder who came to the Nats in the 2010 trade with the A’s for Josh Willingham.

Brown has played center field most of his career, but with the Nats trying to see how Harper could play out in center, the two are alternating between right and center fields.  Saturday was Brown’s turn at center, with Harper in right.

Both feed off of each other very well.  They communicate well in the outfield and combine for some impressive outs. Manager Tony Beasley attributes this chemistry to the pair working a lot together in spring training.

» Continue reading “Nats Farm Report: Moore Finds Stride, Harper, Brown Find Chemistry”