Braves 6, Nationals 4
It’s the motto of every team in Major League Baseball: Just take two of three. Take a series and the wins eventually start piling up. The Nats did that over the weekend against the Mets. They did it again early this week against the Braves. But there was still a sense in the clubhouse afterwards that they let one slip away on Wednesday afternoon against Atlanta.
Chien-Ming Wang looked better in his second big-league start in two years. But his fifth-inning throwing error opened the door for a four-run inning for the Braves, including a three-run home run by clean-up batter Dan Uggla. And Washington’s comeback attempt fizzled in the sixth after a 22-minute rain delay. Atlanta’s dominant bullpen took care of the rest. You can check out the major details in our game story here.
“I didn’t complete my job today,” said Wang, through interpreter John Hsu.”I didn’t help the team win the game.”
A harsh assessment, but Wang has made it clear results matter. He isn’t up here on a rehab assignment and if he doesn’t show improvement over the next several weeks the Nats will turn to someone else. Stephen Strasburg (Tommy John surgery) will be back in a month, most likely. Youngsters Tom Milone and Brad Peacock will get a shot in September, if not sooner. And Ross Detwiler and Tom Gorzelanny – who had a scoreless inning out of the bullpen today – want their chance to start down the stretch, too.
“I think his second start and I guess as he keep throwing and pitching he’s going to make the adjustments and do it well,” catcher Jesus Flores said.
He would know. Flores himself is fighting to regain his old form after two arduous years rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Flores noted that the first task for Wang is to make sure he has command of his sinker. That’s the pitch that made him a ground-ball machine once upon a time with the New York Yankees. If that happens then everything else will take care of itself.
But it’s clear that right now Wang lacks confidence in some of his breaking pitches. Wang earned five ground outs against the Mets last Friday, three fly-ball outs and two strikeouts in four innings. Against Atlanta he recorded nine ground outs, five fly outs and just one strikeout. Better. But there’s more work to do.
“It was more pitch selection, getting beat with his second and third pitch,” Nats manager Davey Johnson said. “He had Uggla the time before and he got him to hit into the double play with the sinker… [But] I think he’s moving in the right direction.”
Nats Notes
Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 12 games – a season-best for any Nats batter. He went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run scored.
Washington’s bullpen – relievers Gorzelanny, Sean Burnett and Todd Coffey – pitched four scoreless innings and also did not allow a runner to reach base with a combined four strikeouts.
Jayson Werth is 18-for-63 (.286 batting average) with five doubles, three homers and 11 walks since July 15. He has a .391 on-base percentage during that stretch and a slugging percentage of .507. Werth was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer on Wednesday.
Rick Ankiel since July 1 is 22-for-69 (.319). His slugging percentage is .594 with a .356 on-base percentage. He added another double on Wednesday.
Attendance for the afternoon contest was 20,043. Time of game was 2:56.
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