It's tough to get an accurate read on an inconsistent team. Right now, that's the current version of the Nats - I saw them lay a giant egg on Wednesday. Of course, they follow that up by taking the Dodgers out back on Thursday (knew I should've gone to that game instead!). They follow that up by beating up on Jake Peavy the first couple of innings on Friday night and eventually prevailing with a 4-3 win in 10 innings. If you haven't been paying attention, that's pretty impressive; the Padres' bullpen doesn't give up anything. Ever, really.
And then ...well, you have the first inning of Saturday's game. I still can't (or won't) blame Speigner for that. It wasn't his fault Nook pulled a circa 1999 Andruw Jones-style play, pulling up in front of a flyball he should've caught. It wasn't his fault that Guzman on the next play thought A-Rod was behind him yelling, "HAAA!" or "MINE!" or "OMGPWNED!" or a bunch of other random things which caused him to balk at a pop fly which would've been an infield fly had he looked like he was going to, y'know, catch it. It's not his fault Zimm rushed a throw that would've gotten an out at second. Now, it is his fault he gave up all the hits after those plays, but it's not his fault he had to get six outs in one inning. Of course, none of those plays were errors, meaning that the official record blamed Speigner. It wasn't his fault.
I missed the first inning today; I should probably reword that "missed" the first inning today (air quotes!). Micah Bowie promptly ate it, as far as I can tell. Of course, the Nats did come back, only to give it back late and end the Padres series the same way they ended the Dodgers series: with a 1-2 record.
Coming up next? The Pirates, who feature a predominantly lefty rotation and no offense to speak of. I'm going to the game on Tuesday, which means that, yes - I'm seeing two Mike Bascik starts in a row.
Why'd I move here again?
