Diamondbacks 1, Nationals 5: Home is where the hurt is

(Want to begrudgingly wish kishi a happy birthday. I say begrudgingly because of said birthday, I had to recap this stinker. Though I suppose it's fair since he had to recap that one bad game against the Brewers cause I was out of town. So, whatever)

The two starters in this game, Brandon McCarthy for the Diamondbacks and Doug Fister for the Nationals, came into today's game looking to bounce-back from shortened previous outings. They both did, but as the Highlander taught us, there can be only one... starting pitcher for a team that wins the game.

McCarthy, like his previous outing, was perfect through three innings. However, unlike his Chicago adventure, he also was able to be perfect through four innings! In fact, he did not allow a baserunner until the 5th, on an infield single by Ian Desmond, so already a marked improvement for him on the mound. That's a good thing.

Another good thing was that although Doug Fister was equally good at preventing runs, the Diamondbacks got on the ledger first. Aaron Hill crushed a 3-0 pitch in the 4th from Fister into left for a 1-0 D'Backs lead.

McCarthy got into a bit of squiffiness in the 6th. Nate McClouth reached on an error by Chris Owings. He then stole second and was sac-bunted over to third. So you'd probably think with a runner on third with one out, he probably would score. That is where you are wrong! A Denard Span groundout, and a diving play by Aaron Hill to get Anthony Rendon prevented that run from scoring.

However, there is very little defense in the world that would have prevented Jayson Werth's 7th inning solo-shot that tied the game. To McCarthy's credit, he was able to get the next six outs without much fuss.

The game was still 1-1 going into the 9th. Brad Ziegler entered the game hoping to hold down the tie and give a chance for the team to win in the bottom of the inning. That did not happen. Span drew a ten pitch walk to start off the inning, and Rendon doubled to make it second and third with no outs. Werth was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring up Ian Desmond. He promptly singled to score two runs to make it 3-1. Two batters later Tyler Moore singled to make it 5-1.

Oliver Perez came in after that and more or less put out the fire. (There was a bizarre sequence in which A.J. Pollock made a diving catch in the outfield that was apparent to everyone in the stadium, save third-base umpire Jim Reynolds. It all got sorted out through review.) But, damage was done, as they say. The Diamondbacks went meekly into the 9th to lose yet another home series.

Source: FanGraphs

Yay!: McCarthy (+33.4%)
Boo!: Ziegler (-48.7%)

Not really feelin' the COTD. Remember, it's a right, not a privilege!

A day off tomorrow, then things resume against the Dodgers. Until then... Uh... Bye?