I told you their runs would catch up with their hitting. Batting with runners in scoring position, for the most part, over the course of a season, or a career, especially when you are talking about an entire roster, tends to be exactly the same as regular batting. Believe in clutch or don’t, I’m not getting into that argument. But it’s just what the stats bear out. So now, they are scoring 5.0 runs per game, making them 5th in the NL. This is in tune with their high OBP (3rd), SLG (6th) and OPS (4th).
Also, despite my warnings yesterday, Ron Villone pitched to two righties last night. He got both of them out. The lefty he faced got a hit. Go figure.
Finally, the Double N impressed everyone with his stick-to-it-tiveness after giving up 6 runs in the first. How about just not doing that in the first inning next time? He did pitch well after that first though – 3 Ks, 1 BB, 2 Hs. Of course, the first inning happened. So his ERA is now a whopping 5.48. Bad, but you know the rest of the story. So not terrible. The other rook goes tonight, coming off the best pitching performance of the season by a Nats starter.