Felipe Lopez sprinted away from his teammates, who wanted nothing more than to mob him, and towards the dugout. Perhaps he wanted nothing more than to get home.
Not that he was feeling bad; he had just delivered the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly. But, after playing 13 innings and four hours and 16 minutes, who could blame Lopez if he was a bit gassed?
In truth, though, Lopez and the Nats couldn’t have minded working a bit extra for this 5-4 win over visiting Philadelphia. It beat the alternative. Besides, they received a quality pitching performance from starter Jason Bergmann, as well as a three-run homer from Brian Schneider in the second inning.
In the 13th, Chris Snelling led off with a single and moved to second on Michael Restovich’s second hit of the night, his first hits with Washington (5-10) after being promoted from Columbus. Snelling then scored on Lopez’s fly to medium left field.
Bergmann lasted 6 1/3 innings, mainly because he was often ahead in the count. Of the 25 batters he faced, Bergmann threw a first-pitch strike to 14 of them.
He allowed two hits in the seventh before being removed.
That’s when his bullpen, which had been reliable before last night, let him down. First, Saul Rivera allowed two inherited runners to score. Then Chad Cordero allowed a run in the top of the ninth on two hits, tying the score at 4.
In the game, the teams combined to use 15 pitchers, who threw a combined 409 pitches in this affair.
Diamond dust
» Phillies manager Charlie Manuel wore a black Virginia Tech ballcap, a day after the entire Nationals team wore hats from the university in a tribute to the victims of the shooting rampage at the school.
» Until closer Chad Cordero blew the save by allowing a run in the ninth, Nats starter Jason Bergmann was in position for his first win since Sept. 15, 2005.
— AP
