WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nats LF Kyle Schwarber‘s home run streak ended. Did the Tampa Bay Rays figure him out? Or did my first visit to Nationals Park since September 2019 jinx him?
I feel terrible about all that.
On the other hand, I cycled up to the ballpark
in my Nats cycling jersey
and Trea Turner hit his third career cycle.
Correlation = causation? It’s science!
No one has ever had more and Turner just turned 28. Good job Peter Parker!
WASHINGTON 15 Tampa Bay 6
A rout! Even after the Rays went up 2-0 in the first. The Nats offense outscored Jon Lester! Something like the first 6 base runners scored, none on homers. Turner’s 4th inning blast put them up 7-5 and was followed later on by Jordy Mercer and Starlin Castro homers. That’s probably less likely than Turner hitting for the cycle.
Game notes
The Nats beat up on LHP Ryan Sherriff, who at 31 has now pitched slightly more innings than years he’s lived. He’s no Paolo Espino. Points off for the Nats organist not playing “I Shot the Sheriff” at all yesterday.
The Nats defense wasn’t great yesterday, it seemed they had lots of balls hit the fielders proximity only to just get by.
Solid outing by the bullpen though, one run over four innings. Andres Machado’s had 3 strikeouts over 2 in his 2021 debut. Ryne Harper and Kyle McGowin also had clean sheets. Kyle Lobstein’s first MLB appearance in five years did not go as well with a walk and single allowed.
Josh Bell had 2 hits and drove in 3. Juan Soto had 3 hits and drove in 2. Schwarber struck out thrice, but singled, walked and was hit by a pitch.
In the stands
15,552 tickets were sold. About 14,552 sat in the shade. The first base/right field side was fairly empty.
The crowd was indifferent to various suggestions for noise througout the game, but came alive when appropriate. A pleasant crowd.
Not a lot of people buying concessions, though the QR code mobile ordering was kind of nice.
A $20+ half-smoke and beer combo (bought at separate stands) has never tasted so good.
The only draft beer in the upper concourse appeared to be the Devil’s Backbone stand in left field.
Many concessions were not open and that’s just as well.
The Bicycle Valet was nearly full 25 minutes before the first pitch.
I got caught in the storm biking home. If not for a water bottle falling off on the Potomac Yard Trail, I’d have gotten back to Alexandria’s west end in an hour. Sixty-minutes is still really good and certainly a personal record.
It was great to be back at the ballpark. These Nats are fun right now.