A sleep-challenged Livan Hernandez found a good way to alter his struggling ways. After midnight Sunday morning, he headed for the movies, not arriving back home until 3 a.m.
A short sleep followed.
So, too, did a solid outing.
While he thought the movie —Poseidon — was good; it was the reviews of his game that made the Nationals smile after a 3-1 win over Baltimore Sunday.
“He had a really good plan out there,” Nats second baseman Jose Vidro said. “He looked like the Livan of old. When he fell behind he could make his pitch.”
Hernandez needed 120 pitches in seven innings and worked out of a couple jams.
But he allowed only one run, which came in the fifth despite facing Miguel Tejada, Jay Gibbons and Javy Lopez after loading the bases with no outs. And he escaped the first inning with no runs allowed for the second straight game — after posting an 18.00 ERA in the first inning of his previous starts.
Location was part of the problem. And too often his pitches were located over the fence (11 homers allowed).
But, Sunday, Hernandez (2-5) only allowed one warning-track fly ball.
“That was a real good, tough hang-in-there outing for him,” Nats manager Frank Robinson said. “He was up to the challenge. … It’s good to see him get on track; now we can count on him to give us seven innings and give us a good chance to win.”
Hernandez said he’s tinkered with his mechanics because of his knee problems, which in turn led to pitches that disobeyed his commands. But, in the past month, he’s also been able to run more between outings, helping his stamina. His velocity has improved — he was throwing 88 miles an hour late in the game.
Credit a trip to the movies for part of the change. Or, at least, a tiny portion of it.
“I’ve got to do something different,” Hernandez said. “I want to enjoy my life … I’ll never be a different guy when losing because it’s not right.
“Right now it’s going good and it’s the Livan you know. Right now I feel good and I’ve made a couple people happy.”
The Nationals (16-28) have now won three of their last four games. The start of a playoff run? Well, maybe not. But a chance to feel good for a few days? Yes.
“The most important thing,” Vidro said, “is that we’re playing good ball all the way around.”
