The Quiet Assassin

What is UP, Corey Kluber?! I've seen some good pitching performances so far this summer (Masterson's game against the Yankees in the first game of the double header comes to mind), and I've seen some complete games but I don't know if I've seen a performance this year as....courageous? ...as Kluber's outing today!

Hey Washington...

First off the guy was facing Stephen Strasburg who is like the only guy to play for the Nationals that anyone outside of "the corridor" knows. He's their ace, and he pitched like one today, only giving up 1 hit to our lineup in 5 innings (he's just back from the DL).

Well, Kluber went 8 innings and while he gave up 7 hits, he struck out 8 (twice as many as Strasburg) and walked NONE. Strasburg gave up a run and 4 walks to our guys.

It's not like Kluber was mowing them down, either - and thus comes the courageous part. Only half of his innings went 1-2-3 (where he did, in fact, mow down EIGHT guys).

In the 6th he had 2 on with no out, and nearly at 100 pitches. He got out of that.

In the 7th he had the bases loaded with no outs and already past 100 pitches and he got out of that!! Wow - one of the best moments of the 2013 season thus far!

The boys made three double plays behind him, but also made two errors (Johnny Mac...ouch!) There actually would have been FOUR double plays if one hadn't been botched. Kluber pitched right through that nonsense.

Speaking of the guys behind him - they took out Swisher due to his sore arm or whatever, put Reynolds at first and John McDonald at third, just like I said they should. This didn't turn out so well, performance-wise but let's give these guys a minute to settle in at their new corners. 'n stuff.

Swisher is handing out more BROHIO shirts. Not to us, though. Just to the people in the expensive seats that have waiters (seriously, those seats have waiters. And padding.)

It was so awesome to see Kluber come out in the 8th, with 102 pitches already. You just don't see that too much anymore!  Here's a nice video wrap-up of his day.

Kluber's last outing was also 8 innings, and over 100 pitches (104). This time he had more strikeouts, fewer walks and no runs.

We got the minor-league Kluber for Jake Westbrook. You like?

Vinnie came in for the 9th and he looked kind of stressed out, but he got it done on just 11 pitches, 1 walk and no hits. Let's hope this is one of many nice closes for him!

On the other side of things today, Strasburg had our guys handcuffed too but we chased him out after 5.

Kipnis kept up his hitting streak and is now at 10 games, with 16 hits and 8 RBI. Today he went 1 for 1, because he walked twice and also had what was basically the game-clenching sac fly. He also scored what was the game-winning run after a walk, a steal and advancement on a throwing error. The Kid is making stuff happen - big time!!

Yan Gomes got a hit today and he got his first career stolen base! Hey!

In case anybody is confused that SB next to my name it actually means stolen base, it's not a typo.
— Yan Gomes (@Yan_AGomes) June 17, 2013

Santana's RBI single was for his 30th RBI, and Kipnis's sac fly was for his 34th RBI.

Michael Bourn is the other guy who got a hit, and it was a double!

Really great outing today in front of a fair number of fans - 21k. A little low for Father's Day, or so I thought, but maybe everyone was staying home to watch the game with their dad like I was? No Radio Chatter today - I was watching on TV. But kudos to the TV broadcasters for today's blog title!

I can hardly wait til tomorrow, now! I love looking forward to great baseball!

Tomorrow we start a series against the Royals, who are sneaking up behind us in the standings. It'll be Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco versus RHP 2.79. Let's hope Carrasco is over his nerves and can pitch inside again. Maybe he'll pick up some momentum from his bullpen brethern's great starts as of late. It's crucial that something good happens, though - we're just a half game ahead of the Royals.

Can't wait! See you there!