Williams on Fister, Storen and more after Nats' 2-1 win over Braves
By Dan Kolko
The division lead is up to eight. The magic number is down to 12.
Things continue to look up for the Nationals.
Doug Fister went seven scoreless innings, the Nationals managed just enough offense on Ian Desmond's RBI single and Anthony Rendon's run-scoring fielder's choice, and Drew Storen struck out the side in a dominant ninth to give the Nats a 2-1 win over the Braves.
Fister turned in an absolute gem, and while he got into a bit of trouble in the seventh, Matt Williams trusted him to face Andrelton Simmons with two runners on and two out in what was then a one-run game. And Fister delivered. He got Simmons to ground out to Desmond to end the inning, and got a huge ovation from the Nationals Park crowd as he walked off.
Here's Williams after the game.
On Fister: "He was good from the beginning. He got in a little trouble there in the last inning, but really good. Not a whole lot of breaking balls, not a whole lot of changeups. Fastballs to both sides. Threw his cutter a little bit. He was really good."
On if he considered taking Fister out when making the trek to the mound: "No, I wasn't going to take him out. I was just going out there to let him know he had this guy. He was good. He was adamant of having him, too."
On what Fister told him: "He told me yes. I asked him if he wanted this man, and he said yes. And I turned around and went back to the dugout."
On what he's looking for in Fister there: "I want to read him. I want to make sure that he's feeling OK. I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was good. So I turned around. I really had no plans on taking him out, but I want to read his eyes, too. But he was intense and wanted that last hitter."
On going with the match-ups in the eighth, bringing in Matt Thornton to face Freddie Freeman and Craig Stammen to face Justin Upton: "Well, Freddie has some pretty good success against (Tyler Clippard), especially this year. He sees him well, and we wanted to get Matt in there. Matt has faced him one other time. Freddie's got a couple of hits, but I wanted to give him a different look. He's got a lot of at-bats against Clip, not so many against Matt. So we decided to go with the match-up."
On pinch-running for Wilson Ramos in the eighth once there was one out: "We have second and third, nobody out, and we're not going on a grounder there anyway. We're gonna make the ball be through. We're making sure it's deep enough to score Willy. If not, then we're gonna pinch-run with one out in case of a short fly ball. (Jeff Kobernus) has got great speed. He can make it. So we want to make sure we get that run. They decided to walk Denard (Span) and face Anthony, but if there's a short fly ball there, we want to be able to score. So that's why we made the move."
On if he thinks Storen's stuff is playing up when he's in the ninth-inning role: "Not necessarily. His fastball velocity is still there where it has been all year. He threw a couple of really nice changeups, so that's something that's newer, as opposed to just fastball-slider. But he's coming in throwing strikes and doing well."
On the significance of this win: "Nothing. There's no significance other than we won this game. We've got a tough customer tomorrow and against a team that plays really well here. So we'll concentrate on that and go no further."
On Desmond's RBI single: "I don't even know if it's a strike, but he's got a good plan there. He wants a single to drive in the run. It's big for us to put one on the board early. We didn't get much else, but to get that one early lets Doug settle in a little bit and gets us off on the right foot, for sure. He did a nice job of just staying on the baseball and hitting it the other way."
Fister turned in an absolute gem, and while he got into a bit of trouble in the seventh, Matt Williams trusted him to face Andrelton Simmons with two runners on and two out in what was then a one-run game. And Fister delivered. He got Simmons to ground out to Desmond to end the inning, and got a huge ovation from the Nationals Park crowd as he walked off.
Here's Williams after the game.
On Fister: "He was good from the beginning. He got in a little trouble there in the last inning, but really good. Not a whole lot of breaking balls, not a whole lot of changeups. Fastballs to both sides. Threw his cutter a little bit. He was really good."
On if he considered taking Fister out when making the trek to the mound: "No, I wasn't going to take him out. I was just going out there to let him know he had this guy. He was good. He was adamant of having him, too."
On what Fister told him: "He told me yes. I asked him if he wanted this man, and he said yes. And I turned around and went back to the dugout."
On what he's looking for in Fister there: "I want to read him. I want to make sure that he's feeling OK. I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was good. So I turned around. I really had no plans on taking him out, but I want to read his eyes, too. But he was intense and wanted that last hitter."
On going with the match-ups in the eighth, bringing in Matt Thornton to face Freddie Freeman and Craig Stammen to face Justin Upton: "Well, Freddie has some pretty good success against (Tyler Clippard), especially this year. He sees him well, and we wanted to get Matt in there. Matt has faced him one other time. Freddie's got a couple of hits, but I wanted to give him a different look. He's got a lot of at-bats against Clip, not so many against Matt. So we decided to go with the match-up."
On pinch-running for Wilson Ramos in the eighth once there was one out: "We have second and third, nobody out, and we're not going on a grounder there anyway. We're gonna make the ball be through. We're making sure it's deep enough to score Willy. If not, then we're gonna pinch-run with one out in case of a short fly ball. (Jeff Kobernus) has got great speed. He can make it. So we want to make sure we get that run. They decided to walk Denard (Span) and face Anthony, but if there's a short fly ball there, we want to be able to score. So that's why we made the move."
On if he thinks Storen's stuff is playing up when he's in the ninth-inning role: "Not necessarily. His fastball velocity is still there where it has been all year. He threw a couple of really nice changeups, so that's something that's newer, as opposed to just fastball-slider. But he's coming in throwing strikes and doing well."
On the significance of this win: "Nothing. There's no significance other than we won this game. We've got a tough customer tomorrow and against a team that plays really well here. So we'll concentrate on that and go no further."
On Desmond's RBI single: "I don't even know if it's a strike, but he's got a good plan there. He wants a single to drive in the run. It's big for us to put one on the board early. We didn't get much else, but to get that one early lets Doug settle in a little bit and gets us off on the right foot, for sure. He did a nice job of just staying on the baseball and hitting it the other way."
LATEST ORIOLES NEWS
LATEST NATIONALS NEWS
About the author
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/