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

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