That was Jason Simontacchi, folks, right-handed, thirty-three year old definition of a journeyman. This is a guy who bounced in and out of the minor league systems of the Pirates, Royals, and Twins before finally getting a shot with the Cardinals from 2002-2004; a guy who blew out his shoulder and disappeared entirely from the Major Leagues before landing in Washington this year; a guy who entered Friday’s game with a 5.61 ERA, playing for a team that was 24-36.
A textbook Twin killer, in other words.
And, yes, dammit all to hell, that was Cristian Guzman batting lead-off for the Nats, Cristian Guzman who hit .219 last year and is being paid over four million dollars this season by Washington; Cristian Guzman who, after going 4-5 with three runs scored and an RBI Friday night, is now hitting .339.
That was Jason Simontacchi. That was Cristian Guzman. Those were the fucking Washington Nationals.
And that was Carlos Silva, and that was Joe Mauer batting second, and those were the erratic, underachieving Minnesota Twins.
It wasn’t pretty.
It wasn’t pretty at all.
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