i got pissed and decided not to go to today's game. (esp. with us already beating the odds and not having any rain yesterday...i'm expecting some today) I'll go back tomorrow afternoon though! Less rain in the aftn usually..
a) crazy pitch Pence hit out b) redding pitched pretty well c) so did Sampson... I would've let him finish the inning...EXCEPT d) RoyO in relief! Probably just the 1 batter...so essentially like normal work for the day. I like it.
The second batter made him work a little... he looked a little gassed on the walk to the third batter. That's to be expected after a month+ of injury, and now just his second appearence since where the adrenaline won't be able to carry him as much as it did last night. But, in the end, he's throwing 97mph, has the good slider, and ends up striking out 2 by swinging thru that slider. Not bad for a guy who was considered "done" after one game into this season.
Which I still think was a ridiculous decision then. Once Phil said he was the guy, he should have been for at least a few weeks. I wonder if he comes out and throws well that first game how different the season would be.
To Garner (and the organization's) credit... it wasn't just the first game. It included a horrid spring, which was a bad taste after last year's mediocre season. And the way the Cardinals pounded him around that second game (wasn't even a save situation), you could see that Lidge had no clue about what he was doing out there, and his stuff had regressed to an all-time low. To the organization's credit... they still stuck with him. Didn't sell him for 10 cents on the dollar. Didn't outright waive him (as some here pleaded for). And when the time was right, and confidence was regained/re-instilled, he was made the closer again. Now, had they known Qualls/Wheeler would flat-out bomb as bad as they did... I'm sure they would have stuck with Lidge a little longer. But, at the time, Qualls/Wheeler were looked at as viable fill-in potentials... they obviously didn't live up to it.
Exactly how I was feeling. I looked at the box score and saw that (S, 1). It's amazing that it took this long.
I am happy for Lidge. It is unbelievable that this is his first save. I hope Purpura doesnt trade him. Jennings, Lamb, Loretta should be traded, plus anything you can get for Ensberg. I never thought this season would be this bad
I'm with you. If we trade Lidge we're gonna be spending resources in the near future to bring in his replacement.
Baffling Box Score: I didn't get to see or hear the game; did Roy O really come in from the 'pen and retire one batter??? MLB.com and Yahoo.com both have him finishing the 7th for Sampson.
yeah he came in. He was out there warming up for a short time and came in just for the 1 hitter. Looked like normal off-day work with a day off coming up. It was funny...the Nats announcers (who are horrendous) said "Well Oswalt is up, but that's just in between start work.. we're going to see the other reliever. Here comes the move for the lefty Miller.. man, I get shudders seeing Oswalt out there. Am I glad we don't have to face him this series. Wait! Is that Oswalt coming in? It is! We'll have to see about this!" --cut to commercial. Pretty funny that a lefty came up and they went to Oswalt over Miller. I personally wanted them to stick with Sampson...he didn't look bad that inning.
They talked about the reasoning on FSN. They said if Garner had brought in Miller then the Nats would have pinch hit with a right handed batter. They felt mor ecomfortable with Roy O vs. a lefty that Miller vs. a righty.
Having O coming in for a little was weird, but it worked..Good for us...Now, to close it out today is a must...
