Lannan ends streak, so do the Nats

Sorry for the delay on this game report…. But I turned 21 last night…

Well that took the wind out of the winning streaks sails. Nothing like seeing your promising young starter get pelted for 3 innings only to be taken out only to see the good bullpen you have faith in get rattled as well. I guess it’s ok if we play like this once every five games, the Pirates were due for a win and let’s face it, the Nats were due for a loss.

Everyone on the Pirates hit well last night, it was one of those situations where nothing seemed to go right for anyone on the mound for the good guys. Five Pirates had multi hit games, including Jose Batista who tripled his homer count with two bombs. All the players I listed as having to keep quiet; Nady, Doumit, and McLoud had huge games, and despite the non stellar starting pitching for the Pirates, the bullpen shut the door.

Help! John Lannan shows mortality

Imagine having a starter who is 24 with a 19 inning scoreless streak, its easy if you try. In my life I’ve been waiting for that kind of pitcher to come along to D.C and take over the staff ace job, becoming one of the more dominant pitchers in the league. It would be a revolution for Washington baseball to say the least. John Lannan was that pitcher for the Nats in April.

Tonight he came down to earth. Was it the lousy weather? The windy conditions? Bad Beatles references? We may never know, but we do know that Lannan is capable of getting roughed up by some solid, but ultimately inexperienced hitters. I don’t think it’s time to panic, one bad start doesn’t mean much necessarily. The only thing that worries me is John Lannan was such a question mark leading into this game; how was he doing so well? This regression makes me wonder if it this is a dose of reality or an anomaly. Here’s to hoping it’s the second.

Box Score