Announcement
Another Last Inning Loss Adds to Woes
Posted by Steve Elliott on
Jul 16 2004
at
05:00PM PDT
in 2019 Season
By Steve Elliott
The Nationals continued a disturbing trend Friday night, falling behind early to the Pewaukee Muskies. Starting pitcher, Nick Kibler, struggled out of the gate. Rust and a questionable interpretation of the strike zone contributed to early wildness. Pewaukee took advantage. Jumping to a 4-0 lead, they threatened to blow the game open early.
To his credit, though, Kibler weathered the storm and kept the Nationals in the game. As his pitch count increased, his command of the strike zone improved. When Chris Marks' disputed double down the right field line scored two, the team was back in the game at 4-2. In the seventh, Marks again came through. His hit-and-run double scored Alex Franson from first and the locals found themselves locked in a 4-4 game.
The ninth, however, was a microcosm of the season. Kellen Haynes led off with a single to center field. When Alex Franson reached on an infield single, the team was positioned to take the lead. Hot-hitting Chris Marks stepped to the plate. After a failed attempt to sacrifice, he flied to right, advancing the lead run to third base with one out. Brian Gibson stepped to the plate. A high bounder to the mound was snared by Muskies' pitcher, Steve Schulte, and converted into an inning-ending double play.
Nick Kibler took the mound again to start the bottom of the ninth. When the winning run reached base, Brandon Kellbach was summoned to shut the door. Kellbach, like Kibler earlier in the evening, was challenged by a questionable interpretation of the strike zone. Several potential third strikes were called balls, extending at-bats and the inning. Pewaukee's baserunner was able to advance from first to second to third when curveballs bounced away from Stengel. With the winning run on third, two outs, and two strikes on the hitter, Kellbach appeared to throw a third strike and end the inning. Called a ball, Kellbach responded with a curveball that got by Stengel, allowing the winning run to score.
Next up for the Nats are the rival White Sox. The team sits at 7-6 after suffering its third consecutive league loss (fourth overall) and is at risk to fall to fourth in the standings if it cannot reverse direction.
The Nationals continued a disturbing trend Friday night, falling behind early to the Pewaukee Muskies. Starting pitcher, Nick Kibler, struggled out of the gate. Rust and a questionable interpretation of the strike zone contributed to early wildness. Pewaukee took advantage. Jumping to a 4-0 lead, they threatened to blow the game open early.
To his credit, though, Kibler weathered the storm and kept the Nationals in the game. As his pitch count increased, his command of the strike zone improved. When Chris Marks' disputed double down the right field line scored two, the team was back in the game at 4-2. In the seventh, Marks again came through. His hit-and-run double scored Alex Franson from first and the locals found themselves locked in a 4-4 game.
The ninth, however, was a microcosm of the season. Kellen Haynes led off with a single to center field. When Alex Franson reached on an infield single, the team was positioned to take the lead. Hot-hitting Chris Marks stepped to the plate. After a failed attempt to sacrifice, he flied to right, advancing the lead run to third base with one out. Brian Gibson stepped to the plate. A high bounder to the mound was snared by Muskies' pitcher, Steve Schulte, and converted into an inning-ending double play.
Nick Kibler took the mound again to start the bottom of the ninth. When the winning run reached base, Brandon Kellbach was summoned to shut the door. Kellbach, like Kibler earlier in the evening, was challenged by a questionable interpretation of the strike zone. Several potential third strikes were called balls, extending at-bats and the inning. Pewaukee's baserunner was able to advance from first to second to third when curveballs bounced away from Stengel. With the winning run on third, two outs, and two strikes on the hitter, Kellbach appeared to throw a third strike and end the inning. Called a ball, Kellbach responded with a curveball that got by Stengel, allowing the winning run to score.
Next up for the Nats are the rival White Sox. The team sits at 7-6 after suffering its third consecutive league loss (fourth overall) and is at risk to fall to fourth in the standings if it cannot reverse direction.
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