Righty limits Colorado to five hits in eight innings
Last summer Nationals pitcher Craig Stammen had two strong starts against the Colorado Rockies, but came up empty in 1-0 and 4-3 Nats’ defeats. Lack of support for the pitching staff was a continuing theme in 2009.
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But two weeks into the 2010 season, Washington has had no such issues. Backed up by improved offense and defense, the Nats pitchers are warming to the idea that their best efforts will be rewarded.
Monday night at Nationals Park, when Stammen turned in another quality start against the Rockies, the Nationals delivered him a victory. With Willie Harris hitting a three-run home run, Washington clipped Colorado, 5-2, before 11,623.
When Washington (7-6) has gotten at least five innings from its starting pitcher, the Nats have gone 7-0. When their pitcher hasn’t gone that far, the Nats have gone 0-6.
“That comes with defense and good pitching,” said Harris. “Any pitcher, once he gets a comfortable lead, he can make better pitches. He can fool around a little more with his pitches. If he makes a mistake, so what.”
Stammen (1-0) made few of them on Monday. In eight innings, the 26-year-old right-hander limited Colorado to five hits and one walk while fanning four. Mixing his 91 mph fastball with a darting slider and downward-breaking curve, Stammen got better as the game progressed, getting 14 outs from the final 13 batters.
“Later in the game, he was using his breaking ball more,” said catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who went 2 for 4. “He attacked the strike zone. He threw his pitches for strikes.”
Stammen rebounded from a terrible outing against the Phillies, lasting just one out into the second inning and giving up seven runs. But Monday he had his longest stint since a complete-game gem at Houston last July 11.
Harris (2 for 3) led the offense, hitting the ball hard in each of his four trips to the plate. His second-inning home run down the right field line gave the Nats all they would need, plating Rodriguez and Adam Dunn (double, two walks), for a 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, Harris hit a ball even farther, this time to the deepest part of center field, for a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score Dunn again. Later in the inning, Nyjer Morgan added a two-out RBI single.
The Nats also supported Stammen with strong defense. Second baseman Adam Kennedy turned a one-out, bases loaded line drive into an inning-ending double play in the fourth. Shortstop Ian Desmond also started an inning-ending double play in the sixth and robbed pinch hitter Dexter Fowler of a hit with a diving stab.
“Any time you give the other team a chance to score more runs, it puts pressure on us, pressure on the pitchers that they shouldn’t have to go through,” said third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. “We obviously addressed the need of needing to work on our defense. It’s been a big part of it this year.”
Colorado (6-7) scored in the third inning when Ian Stewart and Clint Barmes had back-to-back doubles down opposite foul lines with no outs. But Stammen got the next three hitters out to minimize the damage.
In the fourth inning, the Rockies loaded the bases with none out, but Stammen held them to a single run — keeping the next two hitters in the infield.
When the Nats face the Rockies Tuesday night in a battle of lefties, Colorado’s Jorge DeLaRosa (1-1) versus Scott Olsen (0-0), they’ll try to duplicate the formula.
“The thing here now that I see different is chemistry. It’s just a different feeling,” said Harris. “Even when we were down the other day 10 runs, we felt like we could get back in the game and we did. If you believe, in your teammates and yourself, you just never know what can happen.”
