Left-hander is dominant in winning series finale
Ross Detwiler was always the wild card in the Nationals’ starting rotation this season.
The former first-round draft pick swiped the No. 5 job from teammate John Lannan late in spring training. He stepped aside briefly when injured teammate Chien-Ming Wang returned from the disabled list in May but has taken full advantage since Wang went down again.
Detwiler pitched into the seventh inning for the third time in four starts Sunday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves, and his teammates provided all the support he could want in a 9-2 victory. Unlike Friday night, when Washington blew a 9-0 lead and lost, there were no givebacks this time.
| Notes |
| » Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman homered in his first two at-bats on Sunday. He is now batting 40-for-102 (.392 batting average) with 11 home runs and a 1.059 OPS since taking a cortisone shot in his right shoulder June 24. |
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| Danny Espinosa, who moved to shortstop to fill in for the ailing Ian Desmond, continues to swing a hot bat. He doubled twice and singled with a walk and also reached base via a fielder’s choice. It was his seventh multihit game this month. Equally as hot is center fielder Roger Bernadina. He was 3-for-4 on Sunday with two RBIs and a stolen base. He was even intentionally walked. Bernadina has 10 hits in his last 18 at-bats — though none for extra bases. His batting average has risen to .292. |
Detwiler allowed seven hits but walked just one batter. He was charged with one earned run. The other scored on a passed ball. Detwiler struck out three Braves as well. His big moment came in the fourth inning when three of the first four Atlanta batters reached base and slugger Brian McCann was at the plate. But Detwiler induced a comebacker to the mound for a 1-2-3 double play to escape trouble. By the end of the next inning the Braves were down 8-0.
“I felt pretty good,” Detwiler said. “I think I got lucky with them hitting the ball hard right at people a lot. But that’s kind of baseball.”
And so the Nats (55-39) earned a series split despite losing the first two games and leave for a seven-game road trip with their National League East lead back to the 3? games it was when the two teams opened play. Washington will play three games at the New York Mets beginning Monday and then has a four-game weekend series in Milwaukee. Atlanta (52-43) remains comfortably in second place in the division.
“They’ve been playing the best in the division,” Nats manager Davey Johnson said. “To win the first two and then get a split out of here, I think if I was them I’d feel deflated because you want to pick up some ground when you’re playing good.”
Detwiler’s ERA is down to 3.01 in 14 starts this season, 20 appearances overall, and he improved his record to 5-3. That ERA is lower than those of fellow starters Gio Gonzalez (3.32) or Edwin Jackson (3.73). Now 26, it has been a long road for Detwiler since he was the No. 6 pick in the 2007 draft out of Missouri State. But he finally began to put things together last summer with a 3.00 ERA overall, including 10 starts.
“[Detwiler is] learning. He’s young,” said Ryan Zimmerman, who backed him with two home runs. “I think from the beginning of the year until now, he went through that hiccup and has come back. I think he’s a little more focused and has learned from his mistakes, which is a really important thing.”
