Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez is known for his rubber arm. But this was ridiculous.
In the first inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves, the 35-year-old Cuban needed 41 pitches to escape a potential big inning in the top of the first. Hernandez is also known for being unflappable on the mound. That proved true as well.
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Using every bit of his guile and deception, Hernandez fought his way through 5 1/3 innings, limiting the Braves to just one earned run, and watched his teammates do the rest in a 6-3 victory at Nationals Park.
Relievers Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard helped as well with 2 2/3 scoreless innings. That was more than enough to get Hernandez (4-1, 0.99 ERA) the win.
“Forty-two pitches in the first inning and only one run? I’ll take it every day,” said Hernandez. He later added “sometimes you get lucky. Better to be lucky than good. For me you don’t see too many games like this and still have a chance to win.”
It was definitely not his best game. But it was only fair that his teammates picked him up. After all, Hernandez carried them in his previous two outings when the Nats managed just three runs total on his behalf. In that endless first inning – extended in part because outfielder Roger Bernadina dropped a line drive hit right at him – Atlanta scored on a sacrifice fly from Troy Glaus. But that was all for the Braves. With the bases loaded, Hernandez induced a ground out from Melky Cabrera and escaped – even if he barely broke a sweat doing so. He almost never does.
“He was using up a lot of pitches. But [Hernandez] pitches like that,” said Nats manager Jim Riggleman. “He sees how he wants to approach a hitter – if it’s someone he wants to pitch around and go get the next guy. He tries to find out what’s working, in and out. He’s the one guy on the staff that I’m not too concerned about pitch counts.”
Washington took the lead in the second when Josh Willingham homered and Ian Desmond later laced an RBI single into center. The Braves tied the game on a massive home run to center by rookie Jason Heyward in the fourth. The Nats took the lead again when Desmond topped that one with a long homer over the Atlanta bullpen in left to make it 3-2.
Hernandez, meanwhile, shook off his shaky first. He retired six of the seven batters faced in the second and third innings. Heyward’s homer briefly tied the game in the fourth, but the veteran managed to escape the next two innings, including a first-and-second with two outs situation in the fifth. Hernandez left with one out in the sixth inning at 123 pitches overall.
“Livo does what Livo does,” said Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty. “It’s not about lighting up the radar gun or having Strasburg-esque stuff. It’s about pitching, throwing balls to spots and having people put the ball in play.”
Adam Dunn provided the Nats with some insurance when he blasted a home run into the second deck in right field. That was Washington’s third solo home run of the night and extended the lead to 4-2. Cristian Guzman added an RBI single in the seventh and Roger Bernadina added another in the eighth. He also made up for his first-inning miscue with one of the best defensive plays turned in all season by a Nats player.
With a runner at second and two outs in the third inning, Bernadina chased down a drive by Glaus headed for the out-of-town scoreboard in right. But he made a headfirst dive and snagged the ball, sliding hard across the grass. Hernandez put his hands on his head and shouted in disbelief on his way back to the dugout. One run given away, another one saved.
Burnett came on for Hernandez in the sixth, struck out Nate McClouth and got Martin Prado to ground out. Clippard pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing only a single to Heyward. He struck out two batters and extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 12 2/3. Desmond batted 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. That means 22 of his 43 career hits are for extra bases. Bernadina was 2-for-4 as well.
