The bats came alive for the first time in over a week. The starting pitching continues to be excellent. Just like that the Nationals have found a winning combination and stopped a nasty slide in its tracks.
Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn hit solo home runs and Ryan Zimmerman had an RBI double. Add in rookie right-hander Luis Atilano’s 5 1/3 innings of weather-delayed work and Washington took a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Nationals Park.
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The Nats improved to 33-39 and go for the series sweep on Wednesday afternoon with rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg on the mound. Willingham was 3-for-4 with two doubles and that home run – the 100th of his career. It actually left the ballpark moments before a fierce thunderstorm struck the area without warning. The crowd of 21,168 raced for cover and the game was eventually delayed for 49 minutes. Washington had a 2-0 lead and the bases loaded when the umpires suspended play. But Nyjer Morgan’s sacrifice fly added another run when play resumed. Dunn hit his team-leading 17th home run in the top of the fifth inning – a mammoth blast that smacked off the back of the batter’s eye well beyond the center-field fence. That was just enough offense for the Nat’s second win in a row after a six-game losing streak.
“Four runs is not a ton of runs,” said Willingham, who received a nice tribute commemorating his biggest home runs as a National on the big HD scoreboard when the players returned to the field after the rain ended. “But it was enough for us tonight. So hopefully we can finish them off tomorrow.”
Atilano gave Washington its fourth strong start in five games. He cruised through the first four innings before the rains hit. When he left with one out in the sixth inning Atilano had allowed just six hits and no walks. He struck out five Royals, one shy of a career high. That means the starting pitchers in the last five Nats games – including the recently demoted John Lannan – have 27 strikeouts and just one walk combined in 29 1/3 innings. For Atilano, whose stuff is far from overpowering, that kind of stat line is imperative. He has walked more than two batters in just four of his 12 starts this season.
“I’ve been working with [pitching coach Steve] McCatty between starts and what we’ve done finally worked in a game,” said Atilano, who has been trying to achieve better balance during his throwing motion to keep his arm in proper position on top of the ball as he releases it. “I was [mad] when the rain came and we walked off. I thought it was going to ruin my night. But it happens.”
Joel Peralta, recalled Monday from Triple-A Syracuse, came on for Atilano in the sixth and induced a double-play grounder with a runner on base and one out. Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard each pitched a scoreless inning to help lock down Washington’s second consecutive victory. But not before closer Matt Capps ran into trouble in the ninth. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out. After Chris Getz popped out in the infield, Scott Podsednik drove in two runs with a single to right. But Capps finally finished off his high-wire act by getting Jason Kendall to foul out to first base. It was Capps’ major-league leading 22nd save of the season.
The Nats had 20 hits total in their previous 38 innings of baseball. In just eight innings on Tuesday night they managed 11 – though they still haven’t topped four runs in a game since a 9-4 win at Cleveland on June 13.
“In games last week even when we were losing we were still hitting the ball well,” said Nats catcher Ivan Rodriguez. “Today we came back and did those same things. We’re a very positive team. It doesn’t bother us. Now we come back with [Strasburg] tomorrow and try to steal the series.”
