NATS (22-13) BETTER THAN MARLINS TONIGHT

 seems like Bryce Harper 
 has been quieter, other 
 than that ejection 

 he yanked game-winning homer 
 though, angrily fired back up 

NATS RISE TO GLORY game forty-one

(would've preferred a pic of Matt Williams HIGH-larious

sweeping of his cleats across home plate, which was very

Billy Martin-esque, but hey, this is a nice action shot

of dickhead ump throwing dork gang sign)

Yesterday I found out there's a FM radio station the next county over (meaning receivable at my home) that carries Nats radio, which means I can sit outside at the picnic table and probably listen to games watching fireflies and shit like that. But I didn't get around to it in time yesterday night, was too busy harvesting red clover flowers for the ol' lady's herbal witchcraft shit. I tune into that shit though, and start picking wherever I hear bees, because that means it's the bomb ass flowers, while also leaving plenty for the bees, because those motherfuckers got more important shit to do with red clover flowers than I do.

Anyways, I did get inside and catch an update on the game RIGHT AS BRYCE HARPER WAS HORRIBLY EJECTED. Seriously, people upon the social medias were flipping out, so I cut on the radio real quick (the station worked!) and the radio dudes likewise were flipping out. Now understand Nationals radio, as with all home team broadcasts, probably are just ever so slightly biased, but what I took away from the situation is umpire Marvin Hudson is a huge dick who has always been a huge dick and everybody hates him and he is jealous of every man who has an actual functioning penis, so he threw Harper out to make all the children who came to see him play cry.

Of course, Matt Williams came out and got tossed too. This happened like a week ago. They ended up winning that game, so of course they ended up winning this game. Denard Span had an RBI single in the 7th that put the Nats on top, and they held that shit. But you know who is having a Harper-esque week of solid goodness? Ian Desmond, who hit his second homer of the stretch last night in the 1st inning. Also, at one point I remember being like, "WHERE IS THE OFFENSE?" but then suddenly you look, after this amazing hot stretch, and Span and Harper and Wilson Ramos and Yunel Escobar are all stroking well over .300.

And after giving up 2 to open the game, Jordan Zimmermann was again a tricky, conniving bastard on the mound. In a starting rotation of a pair of hired guns (Maximum Scherzer and Doug Fister) as well as fan favorite pair from before (Stephon Strasborg and Gio Gonzales), he might actually be considered the perfect 3rd dude glue that helps hold it all together. Like I don't ever remember thinking angrily "Fuck Jordan Zimmermann" at any point in my tacit support of these Nats. And usually I am like "fuck everybody".

Nats are 24-17, and alone atop the NL East.

Rangers 8, Blue Jays 7 (F/13); Rangers 12, Blue Jays 6: Sadness Brooms

first base coach Torey Lovullo speaks for me on this issue

John Farrell has taken a considerable amount of criticism for the pitching moves that, one could argue, ended up costing the Blue Jays the two-run led Omar Vizquel, of all people, had staked them to in the top of the thirteenth inning Saturday evening, but I have nothing to say about that other than this: if he'd burned a starter, like many thought he should have, and Josh Hamilton had still hit a walkoff, which he very well might of because he is actually the best, that would have been construed as dumb too, so whatever. What I wish to focus my attention on here instead, albeit briefly, is home plate umpire Marty Foster's ejection of Henderson Alvarez on a hip-high two-strike pitch with J. P. Arencibia set up low and inside after, I grant you, back-to-back-to-back home runs. But that last bit is circumstantial, a word that I am not really using right. It was the must egregious ejection of a Blue Jays starter since the time Roy Halladay got tossed by Phil Cuzzi for hitting a Tampa Bay (Devil) Ray in the back with a curveball in the middle of his Cy Young award-winning 2003 season, my favourite pitcher-season ever, for those of you scoring along at home (maybe Bill?). Ridiculous stuff, man; just ridiculous. I am told that on certain replays, a baffled Arencibia can be lipread as asking Foster, "Are you drunk?" I am kind of amazed he didn't get run, too, if that is indeed the case.


Then today Yu Darvish was good, not great, while Kyle Drabek was horrendous, not bad, and there you have it. 


Hell of a road trip, fellows!


KS