WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals will begin a long-awaited series against the Mets on Monday in New York, the media capital of the country.
But Washington made plenty of news and headlines over the past week in the nation’s capital, which is used to being a feeding frenzy in the political realm.
Just consider:
On Monday (May 9), right-hander Stephen Strasburg was pitching against the Detroit Tigers when news broke that he had agreed to a seven-year contract extension.
After he was out of the game, Bryce Harper was ejected in the last of the ninth inning after teammate Danny Espinosa was called out on strikes. The next batter, Clint Robinson, hit a walk-off homer and Harper came on the field and hollered an expletive at home plate umpire Brian Knight.
Before Tuesday’s game, the contract extension for Strasburg was officially announced.
On Wednesday right-hander Max Scherzer tied a major league record when he struck out 20 batters in a 3-2 win over the Tigers.
“Strikeouts are sexy,” Scherzer said not once but twice after the game.
That slogan is now part of a marketing campaign by the club.
After an off day Thursday, Harper hit a two-run homer to break a tie as the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 5-3. For good measure Stephen Drew and Chris Heisey both hit pinch-hit homers — the first time the Nationals had two such homers in the same game.
On Saturday, Strasburg improved to 6-0 with a win over the Marlins.
“I felt a little different,” he said of pitching for the first time since his extension became official. “I am just excited for the next one.”
Harper then dropped his appeal and served his one-game suspension in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.
Perhaps it was no surprise that the Nationals scored just one run in their most lopsided loss of the year, 7-1, to the Marlins.
On top of that, the Nationals announced before game two that general manager Mike Rizzo had the option on his contract picked up — there had been a June 15 deadline — and will be with the team through at least 2018.
“You like to have your general manager (with a contract) longer than yours,” said manager Dusty Baker, whose is signed through 2017. “I think everyone is happy.”
Sunday was fairly calm, though the Nationals lost 5-1 to the Miami Marlins to split the four-game series. Ryan Zimmerman hit his first inside-the-park homer when two Marlins outfielders collided, and fill-in second baseman Stephen Drew of Washington lost a ball in the sun that led to two runs.
After a whirlwind of a week, what can possibly top that in New York?
Then again the starting pitcher for the Nationals against the Mets on Monday is Scherzer. The last time he pitched at CitiField, he threw a no-hitter last October.