Successful audition continues for pitcher With every start, Nationals right-handed pitcher Chien-Ming Wang is validating the team’s decision to bring him into the organization 19 months ago despite a serious shoulder injury.
On Sunday afternoon against the Florida Marlins, Wang pitched into the seventh inning — his longest outing in 10 starts since returning to the big leagues — and watched his bullpen do the rest in a 4-3 Washington win at Nationals Park.
| Nationals notes |
| » Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman reached base three times, including a pair of doubles. He also scored a run. |
| » Florida’s bullpen finished the three-game series with 11 consecutive scoreless innings. |
| » The Nats improved to 72-79 with the win. They would need to go 9-1 down the stretch to secure the franchise’s first winning season since moving to the District from Montreal in 2005. |
The Nats signed Wang on Feb. 19, 2010, even though he was just starting an intensive rehab program after right shoulder surgery to repair a torn capsule the summer before. It is an injury more common to football players than pitchers, and he was nowhere near ready to pitch. In all, Washington spent $3 million hoping Wang could become the pitcher he was with the New York Yankees from 2005 to 2009 when he had two 19-win seasons. But he is a free agent after the season and can sign with any team.
“As far as I’m concerned, ever since [Wang] started throwing again he’s a keeper — if we can keep him,” Washington manager Davey Johnson said.
Wang had his longest game since returning to the big leagues July 29. He pitched 62Ú3 innings against the Marlins, allowing three runs on six hits with a season-high five strikeouts and no walks. The only real mistake was a slider to Brett Hayes in the seventh inning that was ripped over the wall in left for a two-run homer. That cut the Nats’ lead to 4-3. Earlier, Florida’s Gaby Sanchez hit a solo home run on what was actually a pretty nice sinker from Wang. But Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen combined to retire the final seven Marlins batters to secure the win.
“Every game I have to make bigger adjustments,” Wang said. “But today I thought I was pretty good because I got first strikes and then the breaking ball actually was good. So I think that was a good outing.”
Washington again had a terrible time producing against Florida’s bullpen, which pitched seven scoreless innings in a 13-inning win on Saturday. Only one Nats player reached base after the fourth inning, and that came on an error. But they had already done enough.
Rookie Chris Marrero continued to produce with a second-inning sacrifice fly. And in the fourth, Danny Espinosa drove in one run with a single and watched another score during that same play on an error by Florida center fielder Bryan Petersen. Marrero followed with another RBI double. That helped Wang improve to 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA — not dominant but seemingly enough to generate interest in a return if he’s willing to re-sign with Washington.
“Hopefully I can come back here, but the decision is the team’s. Personally I would like to come back,” Wang said. He later added that “I really appreciate for their patience in the last two years. Hopefully in the future I can win more games for them.”
