Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Gio Gonzalez had a slow start to the season, but in three of his last four starts he has started to show glimpses of the form that helped him be a Cy Young contender in 2012. In the rubber game of a three game series against the Chicago Cubs, Gonzalez pitched a gem of a performance by throwing seven scoreless innings for the Washington Nationals. At the time he left the game, the Nationals were up 1-0.
Gonzalez has had a habit this season of starting off slow and giving up multiple runs in the first inning, but today against the Cubs, neither thing happened as he started the game strong, got ahead of Cubs batters, and as a result avoided going deep into counts. His efficiency and effectiveness is highlighted by the fact that he threw first pitch strikes to 15 of the 24batters he faced and only threw 86 pitches in the seven innings he worked. If Gonzalez’s struggles early in the season are just one of several that explain the inconsistencies of the Nationals this season, then the effectiveness of the bullpen and fielding are two other reasons.
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In the eighth inning, Drew Storen came in relief of Gonzalez and promptly allowed the Cubs to tie the game on a Starlin Castro RBI single. Storen’s inability to hold reflects what has been at times a very ineffective Nationals bullpen which is ninth in the National League in bullpen ERA. Then in the ninth with closer Rafael Soriano on, another one of the issues that have plagued the Nationals so far this season reared its ugly head; fielding errors. The Nationals are tied for last in the National League in fielding percentage at .978 and 14th in errors committed with 30. On a double steal attempt, catcher Kurt Suzuki would have a throwing error allowing Alfonso Soriano to score the winning run for the Cubs.
After having gotten on a bit of a roll the Nationals have lost their last two, but more disappointing for Nationals fans are the continued inconsistencies of the bullpen and the inability of the fielders to either not boot a ball or make a throwing error. What will get lost is how Gio Gonzalez has started to find a groove, and his performance on Sunday afternoon was one which he had gotten fans spoiled. He appears back on track to delivering every fifth game.
Lucas Carreras is a San Francisco 49ers writer and contributing MLB writer on Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter by following maldini3fan and connect with him on Google+.
