Nats starter survives rough start and his teammates cash in late against Rockies
As he was getting lit up in the first inning by the Colorado Rockies, left-hander John Lannan looked like the Nats’ latest candidate for an early shower Wednesday night at Nationals Park.
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It’s been a disturbing, bullpen-burning trend for Washington. When the Nats starting pitchers have been bad, they’ve been very bad, very early.
But three days after seeing Jason Marquis go down in flames and Scott Olson follow suit on Tuesday night, the Nationals needed some innings from their ace. So Lannan battled through six laborious frames, giving the Nats long relievers some rest, and his team a chance to win.
And when their starting pitchers have done that, the Nats have obliged with timely hitting, tight defense and stingy relief pitching. That was the formula Wednesday as Washington rallied for a pair of runs in the eighth inning to subdue Colorado, 6-4.
Catcher Wil Nieves, taking the place of veteran Ivan Rodriguez, was the unlikely hero. His double to the gap in left-center broke a 4-4 tie, then Rodriguez, serving as a pinch-hitter, followed with a clutch, line-drive sacrifice fly for insurance.
“It’s huge. My number one job is to catching, calling of games, and winning games,” said Nieves. “When I have the bat I want to help the team too. I always feel good if I can do both.”
It was a game the Nats (8-7) looked destined to lose and in familiar fashion as the Rockies (7-8) got four hits in the first inning. But after surrendering two runs, Lannan got out of a bases loaded jam, setting the tone for his 107-pitch outing in which he allowed 11 hits, one short of the most he had ever given up in a game.
“I had to battle today. I didn’t have my off-speed stuff working,” said Lannan. “I knew I had to keep the game close because these guys have done a great job just putting runs up on the board. I knew if I kept the game close, we’d have a great possibility of winning the game.”
Lannan gave up four hits to Rockies leadoff hitter Carlos Gonzalez, and a home run to Brad Hawpe in the third inning, which gave Colorado a 3-0 lead. He also had to survive hard shots off either leg, both going for infield hits.
“He’s a work in progress still with his breaking ball. That being the case, he got the big outs when we needed them,” said Nats Manager Jim Riggleman. “John’s a battler. He’s a competitor. He’s gave us a chance to win and we won.”
Lannan turned the game over to the suddenly reliable arm of Tyler Clippard, who got the win, fanning three in two sparking innings of set-up work. Then, always interesting Matt Capps, fanned the first two hitters in the ninth, then allowed the next two to reach base, before whiffing pinch hitter Ian Stewart for the third out and his seventh save in as many chances, a new Nats’ record to begin a season.
“Clip started this last season. He did a nice job. But the addition of Capps has been real big,” said Riggleman. “Once we get [Brian Bruney] going, along with Capps and Clip, the way they’re throwing, it’s going to be nice feeling to go three and four innings deep with power arms like that.”
The work of the relievers set the stage for the winning rally against Colorado reliever Rafael Betancourt. After left fielder Josh Willingham led off with a single, right fielder Willie Harris sacrificed him to second. After Ian Kennedy drew an intentional walk, Nieves delivered his second hit of the night, followed by Rodriguez’s RBI liner.
“Both catchers have just been outstanding, great at-bat by both guys,” said Riggleman. “Pudge hit a really tough pitch, down and away, got us a big insurance run there. Wil did a great job behind the plate. Wil’s a pro. He handles his job as a backup catcher tremendously and gets some big hits.”
In seven innings against Colorado starter Jason Hammel, the Nats got eight hits. But Washington bunched them well, getting five in the four-run third inning. First baseman Adam Dunn had a two-run double down the first base line, past Colorado first baseman Jason Giambi, and scored on a single by Willingham, who came home on an error.
“Once you win a few of those games, you get a little confidence in yourself, you really believe you can do it,” said Willingham. “I think that’s a lot of it – having that confidence. We have it right now. We’re obviously gonna battle it out, 27 outs.”
Notes » Willingham stole his third base of the season. His career high is eight, coming with Florida in 2007. “I’ll take a stole base every now and then,” said Willingham. “If I can pick my spots, I think I can steal a few.”
