Motivational Speakers

Not only was the Philadelphia radio station giving away tickets to the Nationals game last week, but the seats were in the first row, right field bleachers closest to Jayson Werth.  And Werth got an earful from the Philly faithful. Every time he touched the ball it set them off.

Suze Orman couldn’t have provided more inspiration as Jayson Werth responded to all of the motivational speakers out in right field with a rally igniting double in the fourth inning.  Werth came around to score the go-ahead run two batters later and the Nationals had a lead they would not relinquish on their way to a 7-4 win.

It was hardly a one-man show.  Livan Hernandez was at his best taking advantage of a stiff wind blowing in from right field that knocked down several fly balls that looked like they were headed for the wall.  Werth ran them all down and Hernandez pitched smart baseball going six and two-thirds before leaving with a 5-1 lead.  One of the best plays of the night came in that same fourth inning rally. Livan showed what a truly marvelous athlete he is by executing the safety squeeze to perfection to provide the Nationals with a 4-1 lead.

Wilson Ramos is cut from the same cloth as Werth, the former catcher.  If ever there was a player who deserved the moniker “Rock” it is Ramos.  It was the clutch double from “Rock” Ramos that brought Werth in to score and his line for the evening–two-for-three, two runs and a RBI–was hardly shabby.

The evening provided a good filter for the Nationals front office as well.  There were players who stepped forward and those that did not.  Werth said that the game was important in defining who the Nationals are as a team, proving that they could fight back against the Phillies and win. Point taken and in assessing the play of the team on the field a couple of players left something to be desired.

Joey Cora had problems at third base and has yet to do anything with the bat.  The trade of last year’s utility player, Alberto Gonzalez, to San Diego may have netted a nice minor league arm, but watching Cora play third base and flounder with the bat, memories of Alberto’s glove and bat glowed warmer by the minute.

And Matt Stairs hasn’t made much of an impression either.  He could be Bryce Harper’s mother’s brother for all I care, but if he can no longer swing the bat with authority, there are plenty of guys in Syracuse who can and most of them can still play in the field without wearing camouflage gear. Jerry Hairston who misplayed a fly ball into a game winning hit over the weekend made the plays at third and contributed a key single in the fourth inning that plated the winning runs. He made amends for past sins and Cora and Stairs could do likewise.

But in the end the night belonged to Jayson Werth. His fifth inning solo home run was a dagger in the heart of all the boo birds that flew in from Philly. More importantly, it proved to be the winning run. The right field stands were alive with Washington fans standing and applauding their new hero every time he took the field.

But the Philly fanatics will be back tonight. One good night does not a season make.  Roy Halladay will give the boo birds voice in ways not seen since last season. There will be plenty of chances to the Nationals to prove that the change has taken, that Rock Ramos and Jayson Werth are not the only hard-nosed players taking the field for the Nationals.

There is motivation a plenty in the stands when Philadelphia is in town and it needs to spread a little farther if Washington is going to take the opening series against the NL East Champs.