No bullpen controversy here: The Nats win a 15-1 romp over Braves
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
Nobody’s going to criticize the way Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams used his bullpen Thursday night. That’s one of the good things about winning 15-1. The other is, well, winning 15-1.
That’s just what the Nats did, thumping the rival Atlanta Braves. This one was out of control early and stayed that way until the final out. The Nats were up 7-1 after the second inning, 10-1 after the third and 14-1 in the sixth.
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We’ve covered Bryce Harper’s odd night already. He scored four runs after taking four walks, a wonderful 0-for-0 night in which he also notched an RBI on a bases-loaded walk. The traditional offensive star was Ryan Zimmerman, who has been red-hot lately. He drove in four runs on three hits and scored two of his own. This is how hot he’s been:
The Nats had a rough start to the week, losing two games to the St. Louis Cardinals in which they blew late leads. Williams’ bullpen management came under fire and his job security was questioned. Meanwhile, it started to look less and less likely that the once-World Series favorite Nats would even make the playoffs. That still could be very true, but handing out a 15-1 drubbing numbs the pain for a night.
ROCKIES, CARGO BRUISE THE GIANTS
Elsewhere in the world of routs, the Colorado Rockies did some damage to the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies launched three homers, including two from NL home-run leader Carlos Gonzalez, and beat the Giants 11-3. Ouch.
Double ouch, because it’s the sixth straight loss for the Giants, who are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. S.F. is seven games back in the NL West, though it could have been worse because the Dodgers lost too. Speaking of which …
PADRES EDGE DODGERS IN COREY SEAGER’S DEBUT
The Dodgers finally called up top prospect Corey Seager on Thursday, giving him the start at shortstop against the San Diego Padres. Things went well for Seager, but not for the Dodgers as a whole.
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Seager was 2-for-4 with two RBIs — both of them coming on a sixth-inning single that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers would open up a 7-4 lead in the inning, but the Padres charged back and won the game 10-7.
Jedd Gyorko hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and Yangervis Solarte was 4-for-5 with two RBIs, including a homer in the seventh and RBI double in the eighth.
ROYALS WIN BIG OVER TIGERS
Yet another blowout from Thursday’s small slate of games: The Kansas City Royals hung a 15-7 loss on the Detroit Tigers. This one started like a slugfest, with the Royals leading 6-3 after the second inning and the Tigers scoring three more in the third to tie it.
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But the Royals scored two in the fourth and another six in the seventh inning. That was that. It ended as a proper sequel to Wednesday’s 12-1 K.C. win over Detroit.
Leading the way for the Royals on Thursday was Kendrys Morales, who was 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Lorenzo Cain also had three RBIs and scored three times while the Ben Zobrist had four hits and three runs.
Want to see more from Wednesday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
