Nats fall to Astros as Lannan breaks down in 6th, defense still bad
You’d much rather read the post from last night about their win in yesterday’s make-up game.
Nats’ Defense Is Astros’ Best Offense – The Post
I don’t believe Chico Harlan thinks much of Adam Dunn’s defense in left field.
Often, his defense costs them bases. And that’s just on the good nights. Thursday, Dunn’s defensive deficiencies — unsightly, probably costly — were again on naked display, most painfully during the big inning that engineered the Houston Astros’ 9-4 rallying victory against the Nationals at Minute Maid Park.Dunn’s defense, granted, wasn’t the only problem. John Lannan got knocked around, the offense couldn’t build on its early-inning productivity, and Cristian Guzmán continued to play shortstop as if wearing dumbbells instead of cleats. Still, until Washington’s pitchers somehow invent a way to direct every batted ball toward center fielder Nyjer Morgan, they must confront the fact that Dunn is a liability.
So after a winning in an unusual way, the Nats seem to lose in a typical way. Lannan had his first bad start in a long time too.
Lannan falters as Nats tumble – The Wash. Times
More on Dunn’s unorthodox fielding:
With a runner at third after Jason Michaels struck out, Michael Bourn shot one off the left-field fence. Dunn stood about 15 feet away from the wall, trying to make Bourn start into a home run trot.Only it rebounded hard off the scoreboard. Dunn wasn’t in line to intercept it, and didn’t catch up to it until it was well down the left-field line. Bourn beat his throw to third, a run scored and the Astros had their second triple of the inning.
“I didn’t want him to be running hard out of the box, because I knew it was going to hit off that wall,” Dunn said. “That’s kind of why I tried to deke him a little bit. It just hit that metal thing and took off.”
Are you buying that explanation?
Washington Nationals, Nats, Houston Astros
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