Enter Sandman, Exit Loss

Well the magic from game one was good while it lasted. Brian Bannister was great in 6 innings, pitching a no-hitter for 5 1/3 innings. Bannister was wild at times too. Bannister walked 4, hit 2, almost hit another 2 or 3, but for a first MLB career start, he did pretty good. He gave up 2 hits in the sixth inning, but it proved to be fatal. A single by Jose Vidro got rid of the no-no, just as Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez got finished talking about it. With two men on, and Nick Johnson up, he smacked a Bannister fastball the other way for a 3-run shot, putting Washington right back in the game.

To start the game, Jose Reyes worked a great 10-pitch at-bat, and then hits a single to left field. Reyes even drew a walk, and stole a base last night. I also seen him taking a little off his throws when he doesn't need full velocity on them. Looking good Jose. Following Reyes, Lo Duca drew a walk, but went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Beltran struck out next, but went 0 for 2 with 2 runs scored, 3 walks, but still, no hits. Delgado struck out, but he went 2 for 4 with a 2 run shot which he hit in the third. He drew a walk also. David Wright came up with an RBI single, scoring Reyes. That was his only hit, going 0 for 4 the rest of the way. Cornelius went 1 for 4 with a K and a walk, and is batting .143 to begin the season. He didn't hit the home run he promised he would on TRL on Tuesday. Way to go Cliffy. X went 1 for 5 with a solo shot in the second, pushing his season average to .556. Anderson Hernandez still only has 1 hit in his career, going o for 4 with the sombrero, 3 strikeouts. He did have a fanta-cular catch in the 8th inning in which he got the wind knocked out of him when he hit the ground. Bannister, who was a 2nd baseman walk-on with USC, went 0 for 2 and 2 strikeouts.

John Patterson gave up 2 runs and threw over 60 pitches in the first two innings, but he only struck out the side in both those innings. Interesting. Jon Rauch, the tallest baseball player in MLB history at 6'11", relieved Patterson of his duties. Talk about one of the most ugliest and fattest teams in the MLB. John Patterson and Jon Rauch had full beards. Matt LeCroy, Nick Johnson, and Mike Stanton are just some of the fatty's on the Nats.

In the ninth, the Mets were up 4-3. When Ryan Zimmerman worked a 3-2 count against Billy Wagner, Billy tried to get a heater up and in, but got it up. Zimmerman took it, and deposited it in the left field stands. I was heartbroken. So 4-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. Bases loaded and 2 outs for Lo Duca, but nothing special. In the 10th, Julio blew it apart. He gave up four hits, five runs, and two earned in 2/3 of an inning. He walked one and struck out two, but that doesn't really matter. The fact is that he did terrible, and it was gut wrenching to watch it.

**
W- Chad Cordero (1-0) 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA.

L- Jorge Julio (0-1) 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 27.00 ERA.