Washington Nationals: Tommy Milone continues fifth starter success
By Blake Finney
Despite the rotation struggles as a whole, the Washington Nationals have been surprised by their fifth starter spot. Tommy Milone was the latest to do so.
Wednesday afternoon was the Tommy Milone show for the Washington Nationals. The veteran left-hander dazzled the Mets over seven innings and could be another surprise in the fifth starter spot.
Milone gave up just one run through seven frames, allowing only three hits and striking out a whopping nine. The only run came on a Jose Reyes homer, who had the strangest series.
But back to Milone. Since the first inning in Miami where he gave up three runs, it’s been lights out for him in the big leagues this year. This despite not possessing overpowering stuff.
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He’s now followed in the footsteps of Jeremy Hellickson, Erick Fedde and, to some extent, Jefry Rodriguez as the team’s fifth starter. All surprised in the role, but Milone has definitely been the biggest.
On Wednesday, he exploited the high fastball with Mets hitters. The Atlanta Braves are next on tap for him and he’ll need to keep them off balance by getting that fastball too high to do damage with.
More bags for Tony
Boy did the Nationals miss Anthony Rendon while he was seeing to important family matters. They’re delighted to have the new father back, as he went 1 for 4 with the big blow in the third, launching a two-run bomb.
It caps off a solid 4 for 10 series and gives them a perfect power right-handed bat in the heart of the line-up. We look forward to seeing him pick up exactly where he left off, as one of the best at the hot corner in the league.
Kelley DFA’d after incident on Tuesday
In a somewhat shocking move, the Nationals designated Shawn Kelley for his actions in the ninth of Tuesday. He slammed his glove into the ground after surrendering a three-run home in the final frame.
It emerged Wednesday morning that Rizzo should Kelley showed up manager Davey Martinez. He thought that the stare back to the dugout after the long ball was either demanding Martinez’s help or implying he shouldn’t have been in the game.
In his place, the team selected the contract of Jimmy Corder, a young right-handed reliever. Cordero was flat out dominant with a 1.67 ERA in Triple-A through 43 innings and has 47 Ks. But the designation of Kelley is a real stunner.
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Now the Washington Nationals have a tricky series coming up against the Concinnati Reds. They swept them in the first series of the year, but they’re a completely new team under for Nats manager, Jim Riggleman.