MLB 09 "Road to the Show" Grinding in the Bigs - N51_rob's Blog

N51_rob's Blog

MLB 09 "Road to the Show" Grinding in the Bigs

Posted on March 18, 2009 at 04:01 PM.

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I was feeling really good coming off the Rockies game. My first win really put me in the right mindset that I can pitch and pitch well at the Major League level. I would need that confidence going froward. 3 of my next 4 starts were going to be against NL East teams. (Philies, Braves and Mets.) I was also looking forward to a game against the team that drafted me then traded me the Brewers! Shaping up to be a very interesting month.

First up. The Phillies. This was another game where I feel that I pitched well. Stuck a few guys out, gave up a couple of runs. But I kept my team in the game and never put us in a hole or forced the bullpen to do too much work. I am actually eating up some pretty good innings so far this season, which is a good thing because the rest of the rotation is pretty bad right now. I was going up against Cole Hamels and it was rough. He is very good at what he does and that is neutralize bats. When I left in the 6th it was 3-0 Philly. My squad was able to fight back and take the lead in the top of the 9th inning before giving up two runs and losing the game in the 9th. Best news ERA is going down and I wasn't saddled with the loss. Here is one of the nicer defensive plays from that game.

Covering the bag

Box Score

Next was the Braves. These guys had gotten rid of Chipper Jones and their line-up didn't intimidate me to much. They did manage to get a run in the top of the first, but I was pleased to see that when I came out to pitch in the second my team had gotten me 2 run and I was pitching with the lead. Not one to squander run support when I get it. I made mostly quick work of Atlanta. Another run would score in the 5th against me but by that time the lead had grown to 4--1 so that 2nd run did wasn't a concern. In addition to the run support I got some help from the defense, taking advantage of Atlanta being aggressive on the base paths.

Milledge fires a laser!

Win #2

Nothing like a chance to show someone or even a entire front office they made a mistake in trading you away. My next game in Milwaukee would afford me that opportunity. I was very excited by the opportunity and pitched like a guy with something to prove. Miller Park is a pitchers dream. I would've loved pitching there you really have to hit the ball if you want to get it out of the ball park. I used that to my advantage as I was lights out against the Brew-Crew in 8 innings of work. I must also mention that I LOVE having big leaguers behind me. In this game Zimmerman and 3rd and AJ Pierzynski were a blessing in this game.

Zims Range

AJ's Arm

Robbed of a hit

3 in a row

I was about as high as you could get coming into my showdown with the Mets and Johan Santana. It was going to be a pitchers duel. Seeing that this was a Sunday afternoon game and we had the next day off. Pinella decided to give most of the starters the day off. That ment no Zimmerman, Milledge, or SS Alexi Ramirez. Ramirez is hitting .297 with 5 HR and 15 RBI's. He was replaced by Willie Harris and his .150 BA. So while Santana was going against a neutered line-up I was going against the best the Mets had. Despite all that I really out-pitched Santana for 4.2 innings. I was throwing a no hitter against them and had been mowing them down to boot. Like I expected I was getting no run support at all. My team still had more hits (2) than the Mets at this point (0). Then in a 1-2 count I missed my spot with my change-up to Vladimir Cortez the NY 1B. End result was I lost my no-no, perfect game and shut-out with one swing of the bat.

Whoops

I was able to bounce back and make it through 6 innings allowing only that one hit, but that was all the Mets would need against a weakened line up on a get away day. We lost 2-0 and the Nats could only gather 5 hits. I would take my second loss of the season in this one. Did I mention my stuff was filthy in this game too? 7K's filthy.
Tough Loss

So here we are on May 9, 2011 and the Nationals are 13-19 losers of 4 straight and 8 games out of first in the NL East and 5.5 games out of the Wild Card. This is going to be a long summer I can tell already. On the bright side, my role with the team is no linger #2 SP. I am now a SP Ace! So it's not all bad. Thanks for reading guys!

Comments

# 1 42 @ Mar 19

Hey Rob, not sure if your image view is the same as mine but... based on what "I" see it seems that you loaded your picture through the default setting via Tiny Pic. Am I right?

That being said, the pictures are too big and only squeezed in the first half of your image... I would suggest you load at Website/Email or Message Board size file.

And finally, the most important part, Rich is lookin' gooooooood! How's it feel being Ace of the staff?

# 2 Vast @ Apr 2

Nice write up. that whoops vid where u gave up that homerun against the mets, you threw that pitch behind your back. Was that a glitch or was that intentional??

# 3 N51_rob @ Apr 2

Vast, it was a glitch. Sometimes it happens in the game.

# 4 horner1025 @ May 23

Yo nice job rob

i know just what its like to be just mowing batters
down and then just one pitch latter your down one and losing

tough luck

but your doing great man keep it up
gonna follow this from now on its great stuff