The Nationals lost last night: do these words sound familiar yet? They have now lost seven games in a row, and the team is understandably tired of it.
The Mets came through big time in the first inning, scoring four runs off of Nats’ starting pitcher Chien Ming Wang, his first start in over two years. David Murphy, Angel Pagan, Jayson Bay and Lucas Duda all had RBIs in the inning.
“I was excited and actually a little bit too happy. I was a little out of control,” Wang said through an interpreter. “The ball wasn’t getting down, so that’s what happened in the first inning. But overall I feel fine.”
New York picked up two more runs in the top of the fourth. Wang was clearly not at his best, as he surrendered an RBI single to Mets’ starter Dillon Gee.
The Nats cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning as Ryan Zimmerman scored on a fielder’s choice to second, and Michael Morse scored on a throwing error during the same play. They also pick up a run in the bottom of the fifth when Wilson Ramos scored on a sacrifice fly by Rick Ankiel.
The Mets picked up two more in the top of the sixth, though, as a pair of doubles by Ronny Pauliono and Jose Reyes scored a couple.
The Nats made it a 5-8 ballgame in the bottom of the eighth. The big hit came when Ankiel knocked in two with a single to right center. But that would be the final score as the Nats were unable to score anymore runs.
Although Wang did not pitch well, it was understandable. It would have been unfair to expect him to be as good as he was before shoulder surgery in only his first start back. And no one knows that better than Nationals’ Manager Davey Johnson, who insists that Wang will get another start this season, and many more if he continues to progress.
Hopefully Wang can return to form quickly and help a team that is really struggling right now. Johnson noted that if things do not change quickly, the team will make changes.
“We’re looking at things we can do to help the ballclub,” he said. “There’s some moves that we have available to us. We have a couple guys that are knocking on the door, pitchers in particular.”
With the trade deadline approaching on Sunday, the Nats’ roster may look very different soon.
