Tune in at 7:05 PM ET as the Mets take on the Nationals. Jason Buccheri will be liveblogging for your enjoyment.
Good evening everyone, welcome to the ScoreMobile. We’ll be following a fantastic match up tonight - two of this year’s surprise NL contenders, the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals will clash at Nationals Stadium. Please feel free to join in the discussion, ask questions and state opinions. I’ll be sure to post all comments that are clean, inquisitive and informativ
Starting Pitchers:
Nationals:
Jordan Zimmermann, 6-6, 2.48 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 80 K
Mets:
Chris Young , 2-3, 4.28 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 23 Ks
Starting Lineups:
Mets:
Tejada, SS
Murphy, 2B
Wright, 3B
Davis, 1B
Duda, RF
Bay, LF
Torres, CF
Thole, C
Young, P
Nationals:
Lombardozzi, 2B
Harper, CF
Zimmerman, 3B
LaRoche, 1B
Morse, RF
Moore, LF
Espinosa, SS
Flores, C
Zimmerman, P
This young group of ball players that the Nationals have assembled are simply amazing! Currently they sit in first place in the NL East with a record of 52-36. They are 25-16 at home, and it looks like they're going to contend for the first time since they were the Expos in '94 for the NL East pennant.
The Mets on the other hand, were picked by many prognosticators to finish dead last in the NL. However, they've put together a few good streaks on the backs of a surprisingly potent offense.
Zimmerman has started off this game by inducing Tejada to pop out easily to Lombardozzi at 2B. David Murphy is at the dish.
ON the 2-1 pitch, Zimmerman gets Murphy to fly out harmlessly to shallow right. David Wright, who is 5/19 with a HR against Zimmerman, steps up.
Zimmerman jams Wright, but Wright gets his hands in and through his swing and fights off the ball, sending it down the line in RF. Morse came up gunning, but Wright just (and I mean JUST) got in there on time. 2 out and Ike Davis at the dish.
Zimmerman drops two nasty curve balls in a row to get Davis swinging to end the inning. Wright is stranded at 2nd. Due up: Lombardozzi, Harper, R. Zimmerman.
Lombardozzi lifted the second pitch he sees to deep right, but Duda tracked it down and caught it a few steps in front of the warning track.
After working the count full, Harper lifts a harmless fly to Jason Bay in LF. Zimmerman steps up.
Zimmerman gets on top of a high fastball and laces a shot down the LF line. He's on second, in scoring position with 2 out and LaRoche at the dish.
LaRoche goes first pitch swinging and lines it to Davis at first. Davis steps on the bag to end the inning. Due up: Duda, Bay, Torres.
Duda works the count full before hitting a shot to the warning track, in front of the Mets bullpen, where Harper makes a slick catch on the run to record the out.
Zimmerman records his second K with a beautiful slider on the outside corner, knee high. 2 out and Torres up.
Zimmerman gets into a another full count, the 4th of the night so far, before getting Torres to ground out to first to end the inning. Due up: Morse, Moore and Espinosa.
Morse swings at the first pitch off the end of his bat to RCF for a single. 1 on and no out for Tyler Moore.
More hits it into a 5-4-3 double play. Wright made a nice quick turn to start that one. 2 out and Espinosa at the dish.
Espinosa hits a swinging bunt down the first baseline. Young trip to scoop with his bare hand and throw all in one motion, but count make the play. Espinosa reaches with a infield single.
Let's see if Espinosa goes here. Statistically, Young, is the worst pitcher in MLB history in keeping runners from stealing.
I put the bloggers curse on Espinosa as he gets GUNNED down at second trying to steal the bag. That will end the inning, stranding Flores at the plate. Due up for the Mets: Thole, Young, Tejada.
Thole get jammed and hits a soft flare to Espinosa at short. 1 out and the pitcher, Chris Young at the dish.
Young looks like a 5 year old with a bat in his hand as he strikes out swinging for the second out of the inning. Back to the top of the order with Tejada.
Tejada scorches a shot to RF, but it was too close to Moore who makes the running grab look easy. That will end the inning. Due up: Flores, Zimmerman, Lombardozzi.
Flores pops out to Daniel Murphy with a 1-0 count.1 out and the pitcher Jordan Zimmerman at the dish.
Young gets his revenge as he strikes out his counterpart on 3 pitches. Top of the order in Lombardozzi at the plate.
@Nick they could do that. There is nothing that I've heard to suggest it could hurt his arm. However, I dont know what his effectiveness would be like without having pitched for a month. What I would do is seriously limit his pitch count over these next three months and make sure he's good to go 100% come playoff time.
Lombardozzi pops out harmlessly to third to end the inning. Due up: Murphy, Wright and Davis.
Murphy rolls over top an offspeed pitch and grounds out weekly to Lombardozzi at second. The Mets' MVP, David Wright at the dish.
Wright hit a soft liner to Moore in LF, who came charging in but couldn't squeeze the ball as he slid to his knee. Davis up with Wright on first.
4-6-3 DOUBLE PLAY! The Nats turn 2 and get out of the inning. That's why I would have had Wright running a few pitches earlier. Due up: Harper, Zimmerman, LaRoche
Harper gets a single after a great battle at the plate. He fell behind 0-2 and fought all the back to a full count before dumping a ball into CF. Zimmerman at the plate.
With the hit and run on, Zimmerman hits a fly ball to CF and Harper didnt read that one correctly. Double play 8-3. Two out and LaRoche up.
LaRoche earns a 2 out walk. The Mountain, Michael Morse, digs in to the box.
Morse hits the second pitch sharply to Wright, who fields the ball and tosses to second to get LaRoche. That end's the inning. To the 5th we go, Duda, Bay and Torres coming up.
@jays fan that would be "clown question BRO". But in a seriousness, that's a fun question to speculate on. I like Trout as well, but just because he's just got the total package and the numbers he's putting up are getting insane.
@cor.o it's nice having you back. I think Strasburg has to figure into their post-season plans.
@JC do you see any weaknesses in their team at all?
Good evening everyone, welcome to the ScoreMobile. We’ll be following a fantastic match up tonight - two of this year’s surprise NL contenders, the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals will clash at Nationals Stadium. Please feel free to join in the discussion, ask questions and state opinions. I’ll be sure to post all comments that are clean, inquisitive and informativ
Sitting in the hotel lounge watching #nats vs. #mets and imagining having a 3rd baseman like Zimmerman or Wright #oriolesby MDSS3 via twitter 7/18/2012 11:49:47 PM
