2011, Week 8

feel free for anyone else to discuss....

Game 45 - FLA 1, WAS 0 (31-14)
A great pitcher's duel, this game was scoreless until the bottom of the 9th when Mitch Maier drove in the winning run with a 2 out triple.
Colten Willems pitched a beautiful seven innings allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out five. The Nats were only able to collect two hits off of starter Adam Eaton.

Game 46 - WAS 10, FLA 2 (32-14)
The Nats collected 15 hits in this blowout win. Gaby Hernandez picked up his 2nd win allowing only 2 unearned runs in six innings. Marcos Vechionacci and Orlando Cabrera each enjoyed 3 for 5 days. Bill Hall hit his 3rd home run of the season. Miguel Cabrera was 2 for 4 and drove in 3 runs.

Game 47 - WAS 2, FLA 1 (33-14)
Rich Harden stayed perfect, going to 7-0 on the year. He threw a gem of a game allowing one run in eight innings and striking out 10. Harden would also deliver an RBI single to help his cause. The other run the Nats would score was a solo home run by Brian McCann, his 9th.

Game 48 - ATL 6, WAS 2 (33-15)
Things started off well in Joe Nathan's quest to go 10-0. Mike Napoli and Michael Durant homered back-to-back in the 2nd inning to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. Nathan ran into trouble in the 4th however as the inning was highlighted by an Eric Campbell home run. Former Washington farmhand Rafael Rodriguez would hold the Nats for the rest of the game as he improved to 5-1.

Game 49 - WAS 5, ATL 4 (34-15)
Marcos Vechionacci was the hitting star in this game going 3 for 5 with a home run, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Shawn Hill allowed three runs in eight innings to earn the win, improving to 5-3. Richie Wilhite did allow a run but earned his 13th save of the year.

Game 50 - WAS 4, ATL 1 (35-15)
Orlando Cabrera hit his 1st home run of the season and was one of four National players to get two hits in a balanced attack. Colten Willems was good, giving up one run in six innings to go to 6-1. Richie Wilhite picked up his 14th save.

Game 51 - WAS 7, ATL 0 (36-15)
Gaby Hernandez finally appears to have hit his groove. He threw eight scoreless innings to even his record at three wins and three losses. He would allow just five hits and a walk while striking out five. Michael Durant hit a grand slam home run in the sixth inning to break the game open and Jacque Jones hit a pinch hit home run in the 9th inning.

The Defending world champs suffered through yet another tough week hosting the Minnesota Twins and California Cutthroats, only managing one win against each and going 2-4 yet again.

The offensive stars for the week were Larry Broadway,(.333/.416/.476,1HR,3R,4RBI) who had his hit streak ended after eight games but has a streak of 14 consecutive games where he has been on base, and Jack Wilson(.391/.391/.476,1 2B,2R,2RBI).

The pitching gem of the week was game 3 against division leading California; a shutout by Jake Woods(5.2IP,4H,1BB,5K), Roberto Novoa(W,2.1,2BB,3K), and Jon Switzer(SV,1IP,0H,0BB,0K,9 pitches).

The Cardinals 1st week under new management wasn't a bad one. The Redbirds took 2 out of 3 from division foes the Houston Astros. A good outing for Dave Bush, and a solid save from Soriano gave them a 2-0 victory to start of the series. Ben Sheets went 8 innings in game 2 getting the W. Chase Utley bounced back off of the DL with a HR in this game, helping them to secure a 6-2 victory. Scott Kazmir went 6, striking out 7 in game 3 and gave up only 2 runs. But a stingy Houston pitching staff kept the Cardinals at bay for most of the night, and the first loss under the new regime came then, losing 2-1.

The second series was against National League powerhouse the New York Mets. Game 1 was a pitching duel where Josh Johnson went 7 without allowing a run. Wainwright was nasty in his inning, and Soriano got his 10th save of the season, even though he allowed 1 run. Game 2 was all kinds of ugly for the Cardinals. Every pitcher in the game gave up horrendous amounts of runs, and we fell 15-2. Game 3 was considerably better, with Bush putting up a solid 8 innings with Homeruns from Utley and Munson.

"This was a pretty good fiirst week," stated new General Manager Jacob Collins Sunday, "when you can take 2 out of 3 from quality teams like those that we faced this week, you know you can compete for a division title."

Also after Sunday's victory, Larry Walker was unofficially announced as the new St. Louis Cardinals manager. They are expected to make an official announcement later on this week. Walker played for the Nationals (then Expos), Rockies, and then ended an excellent career in St. Louis.