Nationals 3 Pirates 2- The difference

People have been wondering over the last week or so what the difference between the Nationals and the Pirates is. How can two teams that should be so even, as judged by talent, drive, as well as things like runs scored and runs allowed, be so different? The answer is obvious, one run games. So, it's been pondered, are the Nats simply luckier than us? Are they just more clutch? Does Chad Cordero give you that much of an improvement of Jose Mesa? Nope, tonight made the difference pretty clear, they're better coached. Tonight's game turned on two plays. Play #1, top of the 8th, one out, runners on first and second, Freddy Sanchez at the plate. Sanchez hits a hard grounder through the infield, which Marlon Byrd reaches BEFORE ROB MACKOWIAK GETS TO THIRD BASE. Despite this, John Russell windmills away. Mackowiak was out by a mile at the plate. I don't care if it's Jason Bay in left field and Ichiro running the bases, if the left fielder gets to a ball that shallow with the runner not even at third base it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that the runner is going to be out at the plate. So, play number 2 comes in the bottom of the eighth. Again, first and second, one out, this time Guillen at the plate. He rips a very fieldable ball down third that Mackowiak can't get to, only deflecting it up in the air allowing the run to score. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. ROB MACKOWIAK IS NOT A THIRD BASEMEN. As an infielder, his reaction time isn't there. As an outfielder he's fast, he gets decent breaks on the balls, and he has a cannon for an arm. As a third basemen he's a step slow. So why was he playing third tonight? Why to sneak the useless Tike Redman into the lineup, of course. Tike, as we know, appears to have A.D.D. in center field. Sometimes he's great. Most of the time he's not. He's not a better hitter than Freddy Sanchez, and playing Tike in the field weakens two positions. Mackowiak showed tonight that as cold as he's been, his bat is an asset for us in the lineup. Tike hasn't proved anything at all, all year. Maybe my argument is pointless since Jose Castillo came out of the game in the 7th, but from what I've seen this year, Bobby Hill has a better chance at making that play that Mackowiak. This is (if my memory serves me right) the third time this year Mackowiak playing third base may have cost us a game. It should be an easy solution, DON'T PLAY HIM THERE, but for the Pirates, things are never that easy.

So there you go, Bob Walk and Greg Brown said post game they just can't figure out how the Nats keep doing it. They said the bats didn't come out tonight, but any game where you take a 2+ hour break is hard on everyone. Mackowiak's first pitch homer after that enormous layoff is one of the more impressive things I've seen this year. The Nats didn't have to do anything tonight, we did it for them.