Sports Fix, The Daily Feed

Nationals drop laugher to Astros, lose 11-4

Photo courtesy of BrianMKA
Failure
courtesy of BrianMKA

The first-place Washington Nationals stumbled in the first inning on Thursday night, with Edwin Jackson giving up six hits – three of them triples – before the side was retired. The damage was done, and the Nats trailed 5-0 on the back of some shaky routes from their outfielders. A few of those triples might’ve been doubles from a more experienced and fielding-focused outfield, and might have saved a run. 

After the rough first inning, Jackson settled down to his previous self, retiring 12 of 13 in four additional innings, and notching 5 Ks on the night. After 89 pitches, he’d head for the showers just a run behind. The Nationals would score in the 2nd on a pair of singles and a wild pitch, and pick up three runs in the third on Ryan Zimmerman’s towering drive over the visiting bullpen – his first of the season, and a moon shot at 410 feet – but that wouldn’t be enough to stop the Astros.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed

Nats take night off against Houston, drop game 8-2

Livan Hernandez looks disgusted with himself
Photo by Cheryl Nichols/Nats News Network

The Nationals appeared to have left their collective team heart elsewhere Monday night when playing the Houston Astros in Washington. It’s painfully obvious at this point in September that whatever underdog grit this team had after going 20-15 to start the season is long gone.

Livan Hernandez looked sharp on the mound retiring all six of the first batters he faced, but that two inning no-hitter took a turn for the worst with some deplorable defensive plays in the fifth. The worst of it all is that the Nationals scored two runs in the top of the first. They were winning to start things off but couldn’t hold on for dear life.

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