Executive Summary
The Cardinals' Jason Marquis looked dominating on the mound, the Nats' Pedro Astacio was serviceable but not a puzzle to the Cards early. The only scoring of the game came in the 2nd and 3rd innings and the Cards did it all. Nats looked better in the field than I have seen them.
Details
There was a ball hit sharply by [a Cardinal] just a couple inches past the glove of the diving 3rd baseman Damian Jackson and down the 3rd base line. Soriano didn't get to a fly ball that dropped in left field fairly close to the left field line, but he did catch a Yadier Molina fly ball in left center field proficiently. I remarked to the older gentleman sitting next to me (behind the plate at Roger Dean Stadium) that when the Cards hit fly balls they would drop in for hits, but when the Nats hit fly balls they would be caught for outs. I made that remark right after So Taguchi moved barely a half step to his right to catch a fly ball. It was just like that much of the game today. (This same gentleman has been a regular at Spring Training games going back to the earlier Expos days, and he helped me out with the first name of Chris Duncan in one of my audio reports.)
Nick Johnson looked solid defensively at 1st base. The first two outs of the game by Cards batters were grounders to 1st and Johnson got the glove on them cleanly, although as he picked up the potential out #2 there was a lapse as he was counting on Astacio to cover 1st and Astacio was barely loafing off the mound when it came time to throw; somehow, Johnson put that runner out all by his lonesome.
I did not see the genesis of what happened in the top of the 1st inning when Nick Johnson was tagged out halfway between 1st and 2nd base with the bases loaded. I gather that Yadier (not Benjy) Molina threw down there, he was called safe but he thought he was out and sauntered away a few feet, at which point he realized he was in big trouble and ran down towards 2nd, then back towards 1st where he was tagged out. Mental lapse? Poorly communicated umpire's call? Read Svrluga/Ladson/Loverra to find out more.
Ryan Church came in to replace Watson in the 5th inning. I found it notable that he was sitting on the field bench behind the plate next to Frank Robinson and a couple coaches later in the game, which is one of the cool things about Spring Training. Things are much less strict here.
In the later innings Castillo came in to catch and LeCroy played first base (despite the scoreboard reporting him as the catcher), other substitutions were made to give some other guys a look.
The Nats did not stink up the field, which is saying something considering other Spring Training games, so I hope that when they feel the intensity of the regular season that they can kick it up a notch and put on a respectable showing at the major league level. Ryan Zimmerman's comments the other day might have made Frank cringe, but they ring true: these guys are ready to come north and play games that count.
I heard it said on XM today that those teams that do well in Spring Training are showing off the talent of their minor league systems. The converse is left as an exercise to the reader.
I look at the upcoming season as one of rebuilding, of biding time until the new ownership group is named. In the meantime, I will be keeping a weather eye on the Nationals Farm Authority, as that will be where our future lies if the new owner has any sense.
I'm just happy that we can say what Red Sox fans said for so many, many years: maybe next year. We couldn't say that for 33 baseball seasons, but now we can. That's a good feeling.
Below: Frank recruits the Cardinals' bat boy to play left field for the Nats, as a worried Soriano looks on in disbelief.
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