A complete game? Whatever. Nationals starting pitcher Livan Hernandez had done that 49 times before he tossed nine easy innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. A shutout? Old hat. The veteran right-hander had done that eight times in his long career. But a pie to the face? That had never happened. Not even after pitching the Florida Marlins to the World Series title in 1997 as a rookie.
Well, teammate John Lannan got Hernandez after Wednesday’s sparkling performance. Gives you an idea of how much his teammates enjoy playing behind the big Cuban. Fans and media love watching him pitch. But not as much as his teammates enjoy playing behind him. Only three Cardinals even reached base Wednesday night as the game flew by. How does Hernandez still do it at age 36?
“This guy could pitch forever it seems like,” first baseman Michael Morse said. “He’s probably more fun to play with [than to watch]. The way he has that mound presence, those 50 miles-per-hour pitches — he’s just a great all-around athlete.”
