Center fielder homers, bunts home run in win On a day of dark clouds, bright sun, high winds and sideways rain, the Washington Nationals depended on their newfound constants — pitching and defense — Saturday at Nationals Park.
Getting a two-run home run from center fielder Rick Ankiel, solid starting work from John Lannan, quality relief from Tyler Clippard and Sean Burnett and a second straight errorless performance in the field, Washington defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-3 before 21,941 at Nationals Park.
In winning for the first time this year, Washington (1-1) also got three hits each from right fielder Jayson Werth and catcher Wilson Ramos and a second straight game of sparkling work at second base from Danny Espinosa.
There was a rain delay of 32 minutes before the first pitch and another of 55 minutes in the fourth inning. But neither fazed Lannan, whose two best innings came after the interruptions. In five frames, the left-hander limited the Braves to five hits — all singles — one walk and one run.
Lannan did it with help from Espinosa, who made diving stops in the second and third innings, helping keep the damage to one run total considering the Braves put two runners on base in each inning.
“When you play defense like we did, it makes you feel better about yourself as a ballclub,” Nats manager Jim Riggleman said.
Washington took the lead for good in the three-run third inning. Werth blasted a double off the fence in right-center, Ryan Zimmerman was hit by a pitch and Mike Morse had a sacrifice fly for the first run. Then Ankiel deposited the Nats’ first home run of the season into the first row of the bleachers in right-center.
“He’s gone through some physical things the last couple years,” Riggleman said. “He’s healthy now. He’s in an environment here with Rick [Eckstein] as his hitting coach that he’s very comfortable with.”
In the seventh inning, Ankiel brought home a key insurance run, executing a suicide squeeze by bunting home Zimmerman, who had tripled. Zimmerman reached base four times in five plate appearances.
Clippard had a second straight solid relief appearance, entering in the sixth inning with runners on second and third and one out. The right-hander fanned pinch hitter Brooks Conrad, then retired Martin Prado on a fly to left. Clippard added a scoreless seventh inning, protecting a 4-2 lead.
Left-hander Burnett, the Nats’ sixth pitcher of the game, retired all four hitters he faced to get the save.
