Nats 5, New York Mets 3
Hard to believe the Mets pulled off a triple play and an inside-the-park home run at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. Harder to believe outfielder Angel Pagan hit one and made a diving catch to start the other. Hardest to believe? The Nats won the game anyway. One of the more memorable games of the season ended with a victory as Adam Kennedy hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 3-2 Washington. Cristian Guzman added what proved to be a critical RBI triple and Ryan Zimmerman tacked on an insurance single to make it 5-2. Rookie Drew Storen earned his first career win in relief after holding the Mets in the seventh inning. Starter Livan Hernandez – who volunteered to pitch on three days rest after the Nats had to play a doubleheader last Saturday in Colorado – did his job. He pitched into the seventh inning and gave his team a chance to win it. Check out The Washington Examiner’s game story here
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“No one in here was surprised,” Kennedy said about Hernandez asking for the ball last weekend when he realized there was a need. “Livo has the respect of everyone in this room.”
It wasn’t easy. The Nats didn’t get home from their game at St, Louis on Tuesday night until almost 4 a.m. Hernandez wasn’t asleep until almost 5 a.m. He then slept like a teenager, waking up at 2 p.m., and didn’t arrive at the ballpark until almost 5 p.m. – well after his normal schedule. But he needed the rest and got it.
“I was ready to go,” he said.
The 35-year-old didn’t get the win. That went to an apologetic Storen. But the right-handed veteran is now 4-2 with a 1.62 ERA in eight starts. More important – he did what an ace is supposed to do by helping his club snap a five-game losing skid. Nats manager Jim Riggleman said the only thing he would have done differently is pull Hernandez after six innings – especially since he was ready to make a change if anyone got on base anyway. That’s exactly what happened.
“But it’s hard to take [Hernandez] out,” Riggleman said. “He’s done such a good job and you feel as confident with him as anybody you have. So we let him go back out there and sure enough [Mets catcher Henry Blanco] got a hit and they put a man in scoring position. But that’s when [Storen] did his job and kept us in there.”
Indeed, the Nats showed confidence in their young rookie pitcher. He’s just 22, but already has the approach of a veteran. After admitting it was hard to keep his focus during his debut in St. Louis on Monday night, Storen said he felt more comfortable this time. The Mets hit the ball hard twice with a runner at second in the seventh inning. But Storen kept them on the ground and let his infielders make the plays.
“[Storen] pitched the other day in tough situation. And he pitched in tough situation today,” Hernandez said. “He’s going to learn more and more as the season goes far. I think he’s got good stuff. He can pitch. All the pitches he has are good. More important, he throws strikes.”
Pagan’s triple play and inside-the-park homer were the main topics of conversation afterwards. Hernandez was in no laughing mood when asked about the plays. Despite his strong start – and the team’s victory – they both clearly irked him. Ironically, the game where Pagan hit his career first inside-the-park homer also featured a triple play. That one – Aug. 23 of last season – went against New York, however, when Philadelphia second baseman Eric Bruntlett caught a line drive and tagged out both runners for an unassisted triple play that actually ended the game. Bruntlett, of course, is now in the Nats’ system at Triple- A Syracuse.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time one team turned a triple play and had an inside-the-park homer in the same game was Sept. 25, 1955. It was also the last time the player who hit the homer also started the triple play. Philadelphia shortstop Ted Kazanski hit the home run in the bottom of the fifth. He then began the triple play in the ninth, snaring a line drive with his team up 3-1 on the New York Giants and two runners on base. That play also ended the game.
“It just shows our character,” said outfielder Nyjer Morgan, one of the two runners caught when Pagan made his diving catch in the fifth. “We’ve got a great group of guys here. We know we’ve got a good team. Here. We’re definitely not running on full cylinders yet. But we know we can play with anybody in the league.”
Nats Notes
» Washington is now 19-0 when leading after eight innings this season.
» Guzman batted 2-for-4 with his RBI triple in the seventh and scored two runs. Since May 2 he is 20-for-55 (.455 batting average) with three doubles, that triple , 6 RBI and 9 runs scored.
» The last time the Nats/Montreal Expos franchise hit into a triple-play was on July 28, 2002 against the Florida Marlins
» Nats star prospect Stephen Strasburg made his third start for Triple-A Syracuse since a promotion earlier this month. He pitched 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball to improve to 3-0 with the Chiefs. Check out my extended thoughts on that performance here. The Associated Press also has more from Rochester here. Strasburg has not allowed a run in 18 1/3 AAA innings. His combined ERA at Syracuse and Double-A Harrisburg is 0.89. That’s 4 earned runs inh 40 1/3 innings. Good god.
» New York fell to 19-22 with the loss and is in last place in the National League East. At 21-20 the Nats are in third place, one game behind the Florida Marlins (22-19) and four behind first place Philadelphia (24-15).
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