Hi Blog,

I just got back watching a couple of Giants games in the District. We were in D.C. for the Saturday and Sunday games and it marked the first time that I’ve seen baseball in D.C. — and in the new Nats’ stadium. A few quick observations from my vantage point and a few pictures to round out the post.

• Buster Posey? Yeah. He’s pretty great. Posey has clobbered the ball all month long and it didn’t stop against the Nationals. In the 2 games we saw, Buster went 5-8 with 1 2B, 1 3B, and 1 HR to go along with 5 RBIs. He also hit 2 singles and drew a walk. I’m still getting used to seeing a catcher hit a triple. I’m not sure what that was about, but I don’t think it’s premature to rename the MVP Award to the ‘Posey’.
• Jonathan Sanchez had a classic bad Sanchez start. He threw around 30 pitches (maybe more? I wasn’t keeping track) in the first inning and it went something like this: walk, stolen base, walk, double (run scores), strikeout, wild pitch (run scores), groundout. Sanchez can be maddeningly inconsistent at times and he didn’t have his best stuff in this one. Still, I generally like Sanchez a good bit and I have hope he’ll eventually get things figured out. Even if he doesn’t, he’s still a valuable member of the rotation.
• The Nats’ ballpark is pretty nice. Good sight lines, some nice food (Five Guys, Hard Times Cafe, decent brew selection) and the presidents race is pretty goofy in a good way. My only knock is that the park is a little … bland? There’s an overwhelming tone of gray and nothing really stood out to me architecturally. Still, not a bad place to catch a couple of games. I’ll definitely be heading back.
• Aaron Rowand takes a lot of abuse from G’s fans — and some of it is deserved — but his game-tying home run off of Tyler Clippard on Saturday was awesome. Rowand GAMER’d the heck of a 3-2 change up, blasting it into the LF seats to tie the game. I’ll make a deal with Rowand. If you start hitting lots of home runs, I’ll hate your contract a whole lot less.

Pics, or it didn’t happen.