Nats 8, Cardinals 6
That was one of the better atmospheres we’ve seen at Nationals Park since Stephen Strasburg made his big-league debut last June 8. Nothing could match that night, of course. But for a Tuesday evening with most public schools just wrapping up for the year? Not bad as a crowd of 26,739 watched the Nats rally from 6-1 down, scoring six times in the seventh inning to pull out one of their best wins of the season. Check out the details in our game story here along with the news of first baseman Adam LaRoche’s upcoming season-ending shoulder surgery.
Okay, maybe the grand opening of the new eateries on the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk, $2 Tuesday and the presence of Albert Pujols had something to do with the larger-than-expected crowd. But whatever reason they came, fans were treated to a great game. Nothing epitomized that more than the 11-pitch at-bat Laynce Nix put together with the game tied at six in the bottom of the seventh and the bases loaded. About halfway through that at-bat, hard-throwing reliever Jason Motte and catcher Yadier Molina decided to switch tactics. Nix was ready.
“Just a battle. [Motte] was throwing hard,” Nix said. “Just stay relaxed and stay within myself and make him do the work.”
Nix thought for a second he had the go-ahead hit when he blooped a pitch just foul down the line in right. After fouling off several borderline pitches, though, Nix didn’t have to worry on No. 11. Motte missed badly with a fastball and the Nats had the lead on the walk.
“[Nix has] been doing it all year. He’s been probably our most consistent player, which is hard to do off the bench,” said third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. “He comes in as a bench guy, a couple guys get hurt. He goes out and plays every day and hits and then gets back to coming off the bench some and still hits. He’s a heck of a player, a great pick-up for our team and hopefully he can be here for a long time.”
As for Zimmerman, he said there was limited residual soreness in his first game since April 9 after surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. No issues throwing the ball even as he tries to change his throwing mechanics to prevent some of the rib and abdominal injuries he’s suffered in recent years. Zimmerman wants to use his legs and his core muscles more to prevent similar issues from cropping up. His RBI double in the seventh inning started the six-run rally.
“Having Zim back was nice. This is his team,” outfielder Jayson Werth said. “He’s the icon of the franchise and he’s the guy. Anytime you’re missing a presence like that it’s definitely good to get him back.”
Washington improved to 31-36 and built on its 6-5 road trip to the West Coast. The Nats have also won four in a row now, matching their season high, and are 9-5 over their last 14 games. They won three times in San Diego over the weekend scoring just six runs total. This time they found a way to claw back into a game they didn’t appear to have a shot at winning down 6-1 in the sixth inning.
“This team’s gritty,” Werth said. “We got a bunch of guys in here that want to win and are hungry. Just need to keep it going. We’re playing good baseball right now, bats are working. We’re doing the little things. We’re playing good defense. We’ve pitched good all year, but hopefully the bats show up here the rest of the way and who knows what could happen?”
Added Nix: “We’ve done a great job of not letting the burden of our past keep us from winning games. And we stay in the moment really well. I think the guys have shown that. And we’ll continue to win games as long as we keep going forward.”
Not a good night for Yunesky Maya. Nats manager Jim Riggleman said the organization is still learning about the 29-year-old Cuban. But they couldn’t have liked what they saw Tuesday. Maya gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He added two walks and struck out just two batters. Yes, his middle infield combination of Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa botched a potential double play in what became a three-run fifth inning for the Cardinals. But Maya wasn’t exactly mowing batters down, either. Look for Tom Gorzelanny to get the nod on Sunday against the Orioles. He is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list thanks to a sore right elbow.
One guy who did have a good night? Rookie reliever Ryan Mattheus, who made his major-league debut. He relieved Maya and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a walk and two strikeouts to keep Washington close.
“Once I was out there I actually slowed it down pretty good,” Mattheus said. “And it was the initial ‘Hey, Ryan get going’ [from the bullpen coaches] that’s when it really hit me. And then once I got out there it was definitely exciting, but I slowed it down pretty good. Better than I thought I would.”
Mattheus is from Sacramento, Calif. and his family was on hand in San Diego over the weekend when he earned the promotion. But with three consecutive tight games he didn’t get to pitch at all. Not knowing how long he’d stick with the Nats no one made the trip all the way to Washington for the expected debut. Instead, he’ll send his family the balls used for his first pitch and his first strikeout.
“They’re just a couple of baseballs to me,” Mattheus cracked. “I throw with them every day. So they’ll probably mean more to them.”
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