Some regulars get extra rest, and Storen makes his debut
Even the best baseball teams must find some way to take a grain of good from the worst a long major league season can deliver. Nationals manager Davey Johnson, with his team heading into a key four-game weekend series, did his best on Thursday afternoon.
David Wright homered twice and the New York Mets knocked Washington starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez from the game after just 10 outs had been recorded. The Nats’ late rally proved futile in an eventual 9-5 loss at Nationals Park.
The good? Washington finally saw the season debut of last year’s closer, Drew Storen, who had missed the first 89 games after elbow surgery. Backup catcher Sandy Leon, who injured his knee in his big league debut May 14, returned to record his first career hit. Johnson rested his left-handed relievers for the upcoming series against second-place Atlanta and got both Storen and Henry Rodriguez work. His team even fought back from a 9-1 deficit and, with one more batter reaching base, would have brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth.
– Brian McNally
| » Nationals reliever Drew Storen pitched one inning in his season debut Thursday. Storen retired all three batters he faced with two infield ground outs and a fly out to center. |
| » Shortstop Ian Desmond missed the All-Star Game with a strained oblique muscle and has not started a game since July ?14 in Miami. He made a pinch-hitting appearance Thursday, and manager Davey Johnson said Desmond will start Friday’s game against Atlanta. Desmond didn’t waste any time when he came off the bench in the eighth inning. He led off with a single, scored a run, threw out a runner from short in the ninth and was hit by a pitch in the bottom of that inning. |
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| Sandy Leon, a 23-year-old rookie catcher, was recalled from Double-A Harrisburg and took over for starter Jesus Flores in the blowout. He recorded his first big league hit. Meanwhile, fellow catcher Jhonatan Solano (left oblique strain) was placed on the 15-day disabled list. |
“It’s not always just a complete bad day,” Johnson said.
But it wasn’t a ton of fun for Gonzalez, who made the National League All-Star team after a strong first half but has faltered recently, with his ERA rising from 2.78 to 3.32. The Mets battered him for six earned runs on six hits, and Gonzalez didn’t help his cause with three walks in 31Ú3 innings. Wright hit a two-run home run to left field in the first inning and followed that with a three-run homer off reliever Craig Stammen in the fourth. Two of those runs were charged to Gonzalez.
“I was just trying to go out there and at least get a couple innings in, try and save the bullpen,” Gonzalez said. “But unfortunately that’s not what happened. So next time it’s how you do it. Just turn the page and move forward.”
Ike Davis hit a solo home run for New York in the second inning to answer a Ryan Zimmerman solo shot in the first. That run was all the Nats would get until the sixth inning, by which time Mark DeRosa had already pinch hit for Zimmerman. With four games in three days, including Saturday’s doubleheader against the Braves, Johnson sought to give his veterans some extra rest.
DeRosa doubled and Michael Morse eventually brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Morse later doubled home Ian Desmond in the eighth inning and scored a run himself on a throwing error. With the Nats down 9-4, Bryce Harper flew out with the bases loaded and two out. Roger Bernadina’s RBI single in the ninth brought the Nats even closer, but Leon struck out with runners at second and third to end it.
“We fought back even without our best guys out there, which is a good sign,” Desmond said. “I don’t know how many total pitchers they used, but for them to do that, they obviously respect us enough to realize that we’re never out of the game.”
