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Nats explode for 10 runs, get 6 RBI from Felipe Lopez, beat Mets 10-5
Live Game Blog: MASNsports.com brings you Maximum Access to the Nats with Pete McElroy's Game Blog - Live from Nationals Park. [link]
This is the type of offense Manny Acta has been waiting for all season. Hits with runners in scoring position, hits with two outs, hard hit balls, squeakers, it didn't matter, as long as the Nationals could bunch them together and bunch them they did.
The Nats scored three in the 5th, four in the 6th and three more in the 7th. They have pounded out 13 hits, earned 6 walks and got help from a NY error. When all is said and done, the Nats pounded Mets pitching and won 10-5.
Post game
Manny Acta on Felipe Lopez's grand slam
"It was a tremendous at-bat and he gave us a big inning that we've been needing."
Mike O'Connor, who got the win, on how he felt tonight
"I felt fine, I felt like I threw alright. I left a couple balls up, but other than that, I felt pretty good."
Wily Mo Pena talks about tonight's offense
"We have to break out. We have a lot of young guys and they know and we know we can hit. A couple guys started off slow and the bats are trying to wake up."
Shawn Hill on his command tonight
"It's a combination of my command is not where I want it to be yet.. off speed stuff is not all that sharp, it's decent, but it's not great yet, I'll just fight through it."
Manny Acta on Lastings Milledge, who was pulled from the starting line-up
"He showed up late to work. I love him (Milledge) and he knows it and out of all the rules I have, three rules are unbreakable. You can be the 25th guy on the team or Ryan Zimmerman. At least he gets discipline."
Milledge was asked why he was late
"That doesn't matter, I was late."
Nats Offensive Stars
Felipe Lopez: 2-4, GS, 6 RBI
Guzman, Zimmerman, Pena, Boone & Nieves all had 2 hits.
Willie Harris 3 runs scored
Pinch-Hitters: 1-1, RBI, 2 Runs, 2 BB
Live Nats GameBlog
Nats Offensive Stars
Felipe Lopez: 2-4, GS, 6 RBI
Guzman, Zimmerman, Pena, Boone & Nieves all had 2 hits.
Willie Harris 3 runs scored
Pinch-Hitters: 1-1, RBI, 2 Runs, 2 BB
Grand Style
Felipe Lopez's first home run of the season, a grand slam, couldn't have come at a better time. With the game tied at 3-3 in the 6th, Lopez hit relief-pitcher Aaron Heilman's 3-2 pitch into the seats in right to give the Nats the 7-3 lead.
Hill on the Hill
Shawn Hill's wildness led to an unearned run in the 5th. After Luis Castillo singled to right to lead-off the inning, a wild pitch moved him to second. After David Wright struckout, Hill attempted to pick-off Castillo at second, but the ball hit Castillo and allowed him to move to third. A single by Ryan Church scored Castillo to give the Mets the 3-0 lead.
Shwan Hill struggled his last three innings, throwing 24, 26 and 27 pitches respectively, and the Mets have took advantage of his wildness. He gave up two, 2-out RBI singles and trailed 2-0.
The Mets got on the board in the 3rd with a 2-out single by Luis Castillo and added a second run in the 4th on a 2-out single by pitcher Oliver Perez.
Hill's line: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, WP & E. 98 pitches, 61 strikes.
Oliver Twist
Oliver perez looked pretty good through 4 innings, then his control got the better of him. He walked the lead-off hitter, Willie Harris, gave up a single to Wil Nieves, walked pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard and felipe Lopez singled to score two. All with nobody out. The Nats tied the score on a Ryan Zimmerman ground out.
In the 5th, Perez gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning, but erased a runner on a fielders choice. After Nieves grounded out, Aaron Heilman replaced Perez, walked pinch-hitter Lastings Milledge and gave up a Grand Slam to Felipe Lopez.
Perez's line: 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. 100 pitches, 58 strikes
Hitting Pitchers
For the second night in a row, Nats pitchers have given up a hit to Mets pitchers. Shawn Hill fell behind Oliver Perez 2-0 and 3-2 and grooved a pitch that Perez drove into center field to drive in a run. Last night, Johan Santana had two doubles off Nats pitching. If the Nationals want to stay in ball games, they will have to get the opposing pitcher out.
Bag Stealers
Through 4 innings, the Mets have stolen 2 bases off Shawn Hill and Wil Nieves. Both calls were pretty close and upon looking at the replays, it could've gone either way. On the season, Nats catchers have thrown out just 1 of 18 would be base stealers. Nieves is now 1 for 8. It looks like Hill is getting to the plate quick enough, but the Mets are getting good jumps.
Game Preview: Mets (11-9) vs. Nationals (6-16)
Shawn Hill takes the mound tonight in search of his first win of the season and the Nationals are looking to snap their four game losing streak to the Mets. The Nats have scored a total of 6 runs in the four games.
A good outing by Hill won't be enough because the Nats offense hasn't been producing.
As a team, they are hitting a MLB low .227 and averaging 3.5 runs a game. Last night their 3-6 hitters went a combined 0-15, with 4 strikeouts.
Ryan Zimmerman (.215), Nick Johnson (.209) and Austin Kearns (.205) are all struggling and when the meat of your order is batting this low and not producing, you're not going to win.
Roster Moves
Prior to tonight's game, the Nationals optioned left-handed reliever Ray King to Columbus of the Triple-A International League and selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Mike O'Connor from Columbus. O'Connor was 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts with the Triple-A Clippers.
King, who addressed the media after learning of the Nats decision, has 72 hours to decide if he wants to report to Columbus or not and he isn't sure what he will do at this time.
Wil the Thrill
Wil Neives, who is making his third consecutive start at catcher, was called up when Chris Schroder was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on April 16th. I spoke to Nieves earlier today about this opportunity and what he learned from playing with the Yankees the last two seasons.
Put up your Dukes
Elijah Dukes, on the DL since March 30 with a right hamstring injury, has begun to run with no ill effects and hope to be back soon, although no timetable has been set. Dukes spoke to the media prior to the game tonight.
Starting Line-Up's
Mets
SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Ryan Church
1B Carlos Delgado
LF Angel Pagan
C Raul Casanova
P Oliver Perez
Nationals
2B Felipe Lopez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Austin Kearns
LF Wily Mo Pena
1B Aaron Boone
CF Willie Harris
C Wil Nieves
P Shawn Hill
Pitching Match-Up
Shawn Hill (0-0, 7.20) made his season debut last Saturday in Miami against the Marlins and gave up 8 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struckout 6 in the 6-5 loss. Hill didn't factor in in the decision.
Last season Hill went 4-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 16 starts and held opponents to a .235 batting average against. In 14 of his 16 starts, he allowed 3 earned runs or less and 2 or less in 11. He faced the Mets twice last season and pitched 7 innings in both games. He was 1-0, 2.57 and the teams split the games.
Oliver Perez (2-0, 2.48) is making his 5th starts of the season. In his career vs. the Nationals, Perez is 2-2, 5.26 in five starts. In his last outing, he beat the Phillies 4-2, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Perez gave up four hits, struckout 7, but walked 5. It was the third time in four starts that he didn't give up a run. His strikeout to walk ratio is almost 2/1.
Great interviews Pete! Thanks for sharing.