Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Nats320HOW THE CHIEF IS GOING TO KILL ME!!



Nats320
HEART ATTACK NATS!!
Last night, our Nationals beat their Nemesis, The Atlanta Braves, in Atlanta 5-4, but in usual Nats fashion, they could not close out the game until the very last pitch of the night. The Braves have owned Chad Cordero since early in 2005. Andruw Jones has hit 2 game winning homers off him, Chipper Jones one and everyone remembers last month's Jeff Francouer GRAND SLAM with 2 outs in the bottom of the night on the same field that gives Atlanta their confidence. The Chief continued his HOUDINI WAYS in this one, coming on in the 9th and easily retired Brayan Pena on a lazy fly to left (Soriano, after catching the ball, turned to the fans in LEFT FIELD and gave them a TOMAHAWK CHOP--you knew right then--the Nationals were in trouble!!). Marcus Giles comes up and lines a sharply hit grounder down the 3rd base line that Brendan Harris makes a fine backhand snare and STRONG throw to first to get Giles. 2 outs and things looked good, but THE CHIEF decided to make things waaaaaaay too interesting--AGAIN. Chad said after the game he lost all command of his 3 pitches. NO KIDDING. Cordero looked lost and NERVOUS as this inning continued. And, with those 2 outs, Renteria, on a full count, drilled a double to right center. Up comes Chipper Jones (also on a full count) walks setting up Andruw Jones, and you just knew the game was going to end soon and not in the Nats Favor. Randy St.Claire came out of the dugout to talk to Chief, and Cordero promptly walked A Jones on 4 straight pitches. Frank Robinson, in the dugout, WAS FUMING!! I swear you could see the steam coming out from under his navy blue cap!!!
With the base loaded, Adam LaRoche comes up and keeps fouling off outside pitches. Finally on Chad's 33rd pitch of the inning, LaRoche DRILLS one, FORTUNATELY, right at Vidro on one hop, who blocks the ball with his chest and throws out LaRoche to end the game!! I jumped so high off the sofa that I hit my hand on the ceiling fan--THAT WAS MOVING. I was uninjured.
You could see a HUGH CLOUD LIFTING OVER CORDERO"S HEAD. He was excited as anyone could be and the HIGH 5 hand slaps on the field were with great conviction. 5 Wins in a row, 13 of 18--Baseball in Washington is fun again. Of course,LaRoche hits that ball almost anywhere else and the BRAVES WIN. I love the Chief, but he is scary!!. He is a very talented pitcher that tends to not bare down when he needs to. The Braves give him weak knees, but last night was a step in the right direction. He was able to overcome a situation that had destroyed him in the past. It should give him more confidence. And that's only good for the Nationals.
Sohna had to go to the top level of our townhouse to get away from my 9th inning moans, groans and sarcastic pissed off commentary. She says there is NO WAY anyone can take every Nats game as seriously as I do. I AGREE!!

1 comment:

Bang the Drum Natly said...

That's why we call him 'Cardiac Cordero!'