RESULT: Nats lose to Mets 9-7.
GOOD: Wil Nieves. 3-for-5, two run single in ninth inning to bring up tying run. Elijah Dukes. Monster 2-run shot to left, his 13th of the year. Emilio! 2-for-5 with a run and RBI. Kory Casto with two hits and an RBI. Guzman had two more hits, raising his average to .315.
BAD: Zim, 0-for-4 again. Bullpen. Bergmann, Speigner and Manning each give up a run already trailing in the game. If ANY of them do their jobs, the Nats would have had a chance last night.
UGLY: Shairon Martis. I know he's just 21, and he was rushed into this here at the end of the year due to Bergmann's stinking up the joint (Fire Jim Bowden and I see opposite sides of this issue). But Martis was awful from the start. His fastball had no movement and his other pitches were just dull. He needs at least another full year in AA honing his other pitches so on the nights when he doesn't have his good stuff he can get hitters out. His line: 3 IP, 6 ERs, 5 hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks, 3 HRs.
INJURY UPDATE: From the Nats Redundancy Department of Redundancy: Kearns, Flores, Belliard and Young all shut down for the year.
NEXT GAME: Tonight for game four at 7:10 pm. A match-up of "aces". Tim Redding (10-9, 4.54) faces Johan Santana (13-7, 2.70).
I was the last to accept the reality, but even I said after that last start against the Braves that Bergy needed to get moved out of the rotation.