Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: New Look Lineup Produces Winning Result In Colorado

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Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into last night’s game against the Colorado Rockies, the Washington Nationals were on a six game losing streak and had scored 11 runs during the four game series in which they lost all four games against the Giants. During those six losses, the Nats had been shutout three times. With the day off, manager Matt Williams decided to make even more changes to shake up the lineup.

With the new look lineup changes, which included moving Jayson Werth to the leadoff spot, Ian Desmond to the number five spot, and Wilson Ramos hitting eighth, the Nats scored more runs in their 15-6 win than they did in the previous four games vs. San Francisco.

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Out of the eight offensive starters, seven of them scored a run. The only two players that did not have hits in the win were Bryce Harper (0-for-2, four runs scored, four walks) and Ramos (0-for-5).

Plus, the Nats were able to give Jordan Zimmermann enough run support to get him his first victory since the All-Star Break. However, it wasn’t Zimmermann’s best game as he gave up four runs in the first two innings, gave up three home runs, and surrendered a 6-4 lead by giving up a run in the fifth and sixth innings. Nevertheless, the Nationals found a way to get a win and remain 4.5 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

Before Stephen Strasburg takes on Jorge De La Rosa tonight at Coors Field (8:40 PM ET, MASN2), here are my takeaways from yesterday’s 15-6 Nats win.

Next: Zimmermann Gets Win, But There Are Still Major Concerns

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Zimmermann Gets Win, But He Gives Up Three Home Runs

While last night’s game still counts as a win for Jordan Zimmermann, he definitely took a step back from his last start against the Dodgers, when he gave up one run over seven innings. While Zimmermann has had a good record at Coors Field in his career (6-0, ), he fell victim to the long ball early and often last night.

After Yunel Escobar’s two-run homer in the top of the first, Zimmermann gave up a base hit to Jose Reyes to begin the game. Two batters later, Zimmermann threw the ball away on a pickoff play, which allowed Reyes to go to second. With first base open, he elects to face Carlos Gonzalez, who then crushes a fastball over the wall in right field to tie the game. Gonzalez now has four home runs in as many games against the Nationals.

Reyes would continue the damage in the following inning when he took a 0-2 fastball and hit it over the wall in right for a solo shot to extend the Rockies lead to 4-2. While Zimmermann did settle down after that, he was not able to hold a 6-4 lead.

The Rockies would rally to tie the game on a one out double by Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the fifth and a solo shot to left by Kyle Parker to lead off the sixth. While Michael Taylor’s RBI single in the seventh got Zimmermann the win, there are still some concerns that need to be discussed.

For one, he has been a slow starter. This year, the 29-year-old right-hander has a 3.86 ERA in the first inning (highest on the team) and has allowed two home runs (second behind Max Scherzer, who has three). As a whole, Zimmermann has given up 15 home runs this year (second behind Scherzer, with seven of them coming in the second half of the year.

So, while Zimmermann finally found a way to get back in the win column thanks to help from his offense, the Nationals will need better performances from him going forward if they want to keep their playoff chances alive and well.

Next: Offense Takes Advantage Of Rockies Miscues

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Offense Takes Advantage Of Rockies Miscues

When you look at the Nationals’ offensive struggles since the regulars came back was that some of the players were trying to do too much in their at-bats. Last night, the Nationals only hit one home run, a Yunel Escobar two-run home run in the first. However, the Nats were able to pick up some runs in other ways.

The team was 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position and five of the 13 RBI’s occurred with two outs. One example of not doing too much occurred in the third inning last night. With runners at the corners and one out, Ian Desmond hit a groundball right in front of the catcher instead of trying to crush a three-run homer. Hundley was unable to make the play and the Nats tied the game at four. While Escobar deserves credit for four RBI’s last night, Ian Desmond had four RBI’s as well and went 3-for-6 with a double.

Plus, the Nationals did a great job of taking advantage of the Rockies’ mistakes. The six Colorado pitchers combined to walk ten batters and they threw three wild pitches, which runners scored on two of them.

One of the other changes that were made to last night’s lineup was putting Danny Espinosa in the number two spot at second base and giving Anthony Rendon another day off. Espinosa went 3-for-5 with two RBI’s and two runs scored. He is 7-for-26 this month, but he has eight runs scored, which is fifth on the team this month. For a guy who is a part-time player, that is impressive.

Next: Werth Shows Good Signs In Leadoff Spot

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Werth Shows Good Signs In Leadoff Spot

The major change that stood out about the Nationals lineup was that left fielder Jayson Werth was moved to the leadoff spot after hitting as low as seventh over the weekend against the Giants. The Nats have been searching for consistency out of the leadoff spot since Denard Span has been out.

In the past, Werth has had success hitting out of the leadoff spot for the Nats. Back in 2012, he was batting leadoff in 38 games and hit .309 with two home runs and 12 RBI’s to go with a .388 on-base percentage. Plus, Werth told the media after the game that hitting lead-off could help him get back to form because he gets to see more pitches:

For example, last night, Werth saw 23 pitches in five at-bats and went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and a walk. On Sunday afternoon, he only saw 13 pitches in three at-bats out of the seventh spot and went 0-for-2 with a walk.

While Yunel Escobar is hitting .315 out of the leadoff spot this season, the Nats need his bat as protection for Bryce Harper. With Werth batting leadoff, he can work a seven or eight pitch at-bat early and help set the tempo because even with his struggles this season, his plate discipline hasn’t changed. This is a good decision by Williams, at least until Denard Span comes back. By the way, last night, Span went 2-for-3 with a run scored in his second rehab game and first with low-A Hagerstown.

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