Washington Nationals fall 1-3 to New York Mets as Chien-Ming Wang struggles – MLB Update
Chien-Ming Wang goes through another poor start and gives up eight hits as the Washington Nationals are beaten 1-3 by the New York Mets in the third game of the three match series at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. on June 7, 2012.
The Nationals had no answer for the knuckle-ball. Mets’ starter R.A. Dickey kept batters searching for the right balance on the plate, throughout the game.
A throw which was ballooning down and going past after the hitters had swung, exposed the Nationals’ Achilles heel. The dominance which they carried all-through the season was humbled on Thursday.
Being restricted to just five hits raises questions about why the Nationals’ offence has been unable to get rid of an inconsistency, even with more than two months into the season.
While third-baseman Ryan Zimmerman being an exception, bulk of the Nationals’ line-up floundered on Thursday. Bryce Harper wasted four at-bats, bringing his batting average down to .276.
Similarly, the rookie, Stephen Lombardozzi did not connect any of the four at-bats, he came across.
In a low scoring game, two runs Wang conceded affected outcome of the game immensely.
Wang confronts a tough challenge, as regard to his existence in rotation. Ross Detwiler was demoted to bullpen after Wang returned from injury. In this context, he has yet to vindicate the decision with performance on the mound.
As Wang registered second loss of the season, he will like to restore the rhythm in upcoming games and justify the presence in the rotation.
Mets' starter, Dickey threw little more than seven innings and was scoreless. In the process, he drew eight strike-outs. The most interesting explanation of how he tricked batters on the plate came from the Nationals’ right fielder Harper.
"He throws it hard, throws it soft. Sometimes, it starts at your face and goes down through the strike zone. He's a pretty unbelievable pitcher. It was pretty fun to face him, but going 0 for 4 is not fun," Harper stated.
"You're just trying to look for something up in the zone or just trying to swing as hard as you can or something. I don't even know. This is my first time really facing a knuckleball guy like that," Harper explained.
The Mets will be pleased from the splendid show they drew from starter Dickey. The fact, in general their rotation lacks spark, they will hope rest of the pitchers take inspiration from Dickey and follow with similar kind of performances in forthcoming games.
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