SportsLog

May 2, the Nats played the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nats were leading in the third inning, but starting pitcher Edwin Jackson gave up two runs in the fourth. Bryce Harper, the Nats’ 19-year-old rookie left fielder, hit a standup double to bring runners home.

After that, Jackson squandered the 3-2 lead in the sixth. The D-backs scored two runs and it was looking like we might lose this one.

In the ninth, Ian Desmond stepped up to bat with a man on second. His walk-off homer soared over left center field giving the Nats the 5-4 win to end a five-game slide.

I’ve never liked sports but there was always one that I was willing to tolerate and even play. Baseball is known as America’s pastime but among some teens, it’s known as a boring sport. That point made me reluctant to start following it, but I decided to immerse myself in baseball this season.
I want to know about the teams, how it’s played, and general facts about the game. It’s been a little over four weeks and I am hooked. I’ve been following the Washington Nationals and I have to say it’s been fun. The Nats were a laughing stock among baseball fans the first few seasons after moving here from Montreal. They have been turning up the heat, and this season they have as the fans like to say “Ignited their Nat-itude.” The Nationals are the best team in Major League Baseball right now with 14 wins and only eight losses. And that is with many of good players injured, including Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse, Chris Marrero, Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, and Cole Kimball.

Conquering the rules for baseball is a lengthy proses that I am still working on. Baseball has been around since the 19th century and, therefore, has collected a plethora of traditions mixed with rules. For instance, the home team lets the visiting team bat first. The pitcher faces each batter trying to get him to make three strikes at the ball. Three strikes and the batter is out. After three batters are out, the teams switch places.
The field is shaped like a diamond. Home plate is where the batter starts and the three bases advance counter clockwise. The fair play area then spreads beyond the diamond into an outfield. If the home team is on the defensive, three players are scattered in right field, center field and left field. The batter’s goal is to make it back to home plate. When he reaches home, his team receives a point. To get home, the batter hits the pitched ball with his bat and runs the bases in the correct order. The opposing team tries to stop the batter from reaching home. If a hit ball is caught before it touches the ground, the batter is out. If the ball hits the ground any defending player can pick it up and tag the batter (or the base he is running toward, but this gets complicated).

April 20, I was able to go to a Nats game and it was amazing. The game is so much easier to follow when you actually know what’s going on. Also, I was surprised at the speed of the game–before I knew it, the game was over. In person, the innings run smoothly. Music and videos play between innings, not to mention a race between Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt. The only reason baseball games seem long on TV is that commercials take up a good chunk of time. I’m excited to see what I’ll discover next in the world of baseball.

SportsLog founder Andrew Polowitz is now a freshman in college and ready to hand over his creation to new sports bloggers.
YDC is looking for a SportsLog editor and a stable of reporters who will cover the local sports scene with game recaps, profiles and opinion.
Teens who are interested in these positions should write to Christina Lee, YDC’s acting managing editor, at newsroom@youngdc.org.

On a four-game losing skid, the Washington Mystics looked to get back to winning ways Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center. In front of 10,675, the Mystics came out firing from the floor, shooting 47.5 percent. That percentage helped them to a 83-63 victory over the Tulsa Shock. Both teams entered the contest with one victory on the season. The Mystics had the lead the entire game with a lead that once grew to 24. YDC asked Mystics head coach Trudi Lacey asked what about win impressed her most. She said, “Our intensity on defense finally had a good defensive game, and we’re getting better at executing in the half-court sets.”

Some other notable stats: the Mystics three-point shots were 41.7 percent successful; they were 71 percent from the free throw line. The Mystics next home game comes Saturday as they take on Seattle at 4 p.m. at the Verizon Center.

Some other breaking news this week: Jim Riggleman stepped down after a Nationals walk-off victory over the Seattle Mariners. When Riggleman left the team Thursday, June 23, the Nats had just scored their eleventh victory in 12 games. Over the weekend, bench coach John McLaren was the interim coach, The club announced Sunday that head coach veteran Davey Johnson is going to take over the club.

In all of this coaching mess, the team is still red hot and there are games to be played. Over the weekend, the Nats won the series over the Chicago White Sox defeating them 9-5 in a 14-inning marathon on Friday. The Nats bullpen blew three saves, but they still got the W. On Saturday, they fell 1-0, then won 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a Danny Espinosa homer. The Nats now travel to Anaheim to face the Angels and to finish interleague play before returning home for July Fourth weekend against Pittsburgh. At this writing, the Nats sit at 37-35, two games over the .500 mark. They sit in third place in the NL East standings.

With a record of winning three home openers in a row at the Verizon Center, the Mystics were 1-1 on the road as they took the court against the Chicago Sky Saturday night. In front of a crowd of 11,943, the Mystics slipped down a hole early trailing by 18 in the first half.

The Mystics came out with a lot better effort in the second half and cut the lead to three. Never seizing the lead, it was too-little-too-late during the comeback. Big shots by the Sky defeated the Mystics, 84-77. The Mystics fell as they struggled on defense throughout the game. The Sky scored 60 percent from the floor and 56.3 percent from three. The Mystics only shot 45.6 percent and 30.8 percent from three.

Offensively, the Mystics leading scorer was Matee Ajavon with 24 points. She led both teams scoring. The Sky’s leading scorer was Sylvia Fowles with 23 points.

With her three-year history in the Mystics organization, this was Mystics coach Trudi Lacey’s first regular-season home game. She took over the coaching job Nov. 25, 2010. She is also the team’s general manager.

A bright spot of the evening came when the Mystics dropped its “2010 Eastern Conference Champions” banner from the rafters at the Verizon Center. The Mystics look for their first home win on Thursday as they tip off with the Connecticut Sun at 7:00 p.m.

With the weekend devoted to interleague play, just about the quarter mark of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, the Washington Nationals currently have a 20-23 record and sit in last place in the National League East Conference. However the Nats are only 4.5 games out of third place as the Atlanta Braves hold that spot, but only one game out of fourth place which the New York Mets are in.

The 15^th season of interleague play is already here and the Nats open it with the Battle of the Beltways Friday, May 20. The Nats travel to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and face the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s have almost an identical record to the Nats. They sit in last place as well, but with a record of 19-23. In game one of the three game series, Jason Marquis of the Nats takes the hill against Jake Arrieta. In game two, it’s lefty John Lannon vs. righty Jeremy Guthrie, and in the final game, Jordan Zimmermann is on the bump with Chris Tillman.

At this point of the season, the hottest hitting National is Laynce Nix who is hitting .307 with five home runs. Jason Marquis leads the Nationals pitching staff with five wins and one loss with a 3.54 ERA. When it comes to save situations, Drew Storen has been lights out with a perfect 9 for 9 so far on the season. His ERA is 0.38 with 19 strike outs.

In the last 10 games the Nats are 4-6. The Nats return to National Division play next week. Baltimore does travels to Nationals Park for round two of the Battle of the Beltways June 17, 18 and 19.