230 Comments
User's avatar
LEE MCDOWELL's avatar

Mark, you have TWO RFs in the lineup...

Tegwar's avatar

Yes Young will have to carry a whole lot of territory.

LEE MCDOWELL's avatar

Tegwar, he IS almost Superman after all LOL. Does a lot of flying up walls...

dennis703's avatar

The sub head also refers to the Friday night game.

Mark Zuckerman's avatar

Sigh. Sorry, not my finest performance. But everyone's entitled to an golden sombrero once in a while, right?

WilNievesWalkoff's avatar

Who gets demoted when Beeter returns? Both Schultz and Ribalta have been respectable.

Josh's avatar

Zak Kent would be the easy answer, right?

cipherlockinexile's avatar

I wondered if he still has options. I asked AI, and got an interesting answer:

Zak Kent currently does not have any of his standard three minor-league options left. However, because he missed substantial minor-league time due to injury, he is eligible for a rare fourth option year, meaning he can still be sent down to the minors without having to pass through waivers.

Josh's avatar

I genuinely misread the headline "Beeter Closer to Return" as "Better Closer to Return." Turns out it works either way!

Bob's avatar

If the second option were the true one, I would expect the article to say that the Nats are going to activate Sean Doolittle, aka “KO Stradivarius”.

Dave Nemec's avatar

I think Varland is the better "closer” this year, although there is no specific closer.

Tegwar's avatar

May have more upside.

gonatsgo1's avatar

"The challenge should be a bit stiffer tonight, because Reds starter Nick Lodolo dominated the Nats the last time he faced them, tossing a four-hit, zero-walk shutout last July in D.C."

Well, not only was it a dominant shutout, but it was a 9 inning, complete game masterpiece.

peter wood's avatar

Quite a challenge!!

BassMan's avatar

Good news regarding Beeter.

GLH aka NatsFan4Ever's avatar

I'm ready for the offense to explode like they did the last time they faced this starter! Early and often offense, decent outing by Irvin, and a tad cleaner defense this evening! GO NATS!!

Susan H aka pitchingfan's avatar

I just hope the bats don't go quiet, as they often do in a game following a big blowout.

Mark Zuckerman's avatar

We're underway in Cincinnati, where the clouds have rolled in and the temperature has dropped to 61 degrees at first pitch between the Nats and Reds. And I've fixed the typos in the subhead and lineup!

david behnke's avatar

Then tell the powers that be to throw the switch and turn on Charlie and Dave They are not on MLB tv

Skum8247's avatar

I have them via MLB tv

david behnke's avatar

They aren’t coming thru here I’ll reboot between innings

Hondo's avatar

Pregame showed Irvin warming up with a supportive/restrictive band around his upper forearm (flexor and extensor tendon masses). If I recall correctly, recently his velocity has been dropping as game progresses and he just gave up a grand slam. What’s going on?

Bob's avatar

His elbow has a toothache? Seriously, this may be trouble brewing.

Mark's avatar

His velocity has been down and was never really great.

LEE MCDOWELL's avatar

Well, that was quick. No contact.

GLH aka NatsFan4Ever's avatar

A pretty chilly non-offensive start in the top of the first.

CBinDC's avatar

That was a very uninspired inning after all that they did yesterday

Hondo's avatar

Hello, Eyore.

Dave Nemec's avatar

Irvin giving up a lot of hard contact.

Skum8247's avatar

Reds didn’t like what happened last night

CBinDC's avatar

Well they sure came out dead tonight

Hondo's avatar

Play nice, Eyore.

Skum8247's avatar

How do you feel about a GS?

GLH aka NatsFan4Ever's avatar

Totally AWESOME when it is a Nat, not so much when it is the opponent.

Dave Nemec's avatar

Every time I think Irvin has it figured out, he regresses back to usual.

Tegwar's avatar

Will Irvin get out of the first inning?