The last time he walked off the mound heckles and boos rained down on John Lannan from the notorious Philadelphia faithful. Confusion best describes his emotions after becoming just the fifth player ever ejected from his major league debut.
The sound that greeted Lannan after his second big league start was so much sweeter — a warm ovation from an RFK Stadium crowd that witnessed the first win of Lannan’s young career, 7-2 over Cincinnati.
“It was tough to put it behind me because everyone was talking about it,” Lannan, 22, said of his debut, which ended after he hit Philadelphia stars Chase Utley and Ryan Howard with pitches in back-to-back at-bats last Thursday. “But I didn’t let it get to me. I’m proud that I was still able to pitch inside tonight and not worry about hitting a guy because I know I’m not like that.”
It helped that the Nationals spotted Lannan seven runs in the first two innings. He held the Reds hitless through three and scoreless through five before Cincinnati pushed two across in the sixth. Manager Manny Acta let Lannan battle his way out of trouble in the sixth when he faced sluggers Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn with runners on base. Two run-scoring hits later his night was done.
“Today was a much better scenario for John,” Acta said. “At home in a big park where he can make some mistakes and still be fine. He pitched like he’s been here before.”
The 6-foot-5 lefty was drafted out of Sienna in the 11th round in 2005 and didn’t rank among the organization’s top prospects entering the season. But he dominated in 20 combined starts in the Carolina (A), Eastern (AA) and International (AAA) leagues.
