Bergmann pitches gem, Nats win 1-0
Jason Bergmann picked up his first win of the year and the Nationals took 3 of 4 from the Mets.
Bergmann pitched 7 solid innings of 3-hit ball, striking out 9 en route to the 1-0 win.
Felipe Lopez hit the game winning sac fly in the 8th to score Jesus Flores, who doubled to lead-off the inning. Flores went 1-2, 2 BB.
The defense, which made 2 errors, saved the day for the Nationals. Willie Harris' diving catch with a runner on first in the bottom of the 9th prevented the runner from advancing. After Carlos Beltran stole second and advanced to third on Flores' throwing error, Carlos Delgado lined into a 3-5 game ending double play.
The Nationals begin interleague play tomorrow with a 3-game series in Baltimore.
Post Game
Final Line Score
Nationals 1-4-2
Mets 0-5-0
WP-Bergmann (1-1)
LP Pelfrey (2-4)
Sv-Rauch (9)
Series Win
The Nationals take 3 of 4 from the Mets. They improve to 18-24 and are just 6 games out of first place in the NL East after today's win.
Interleague
The Nationals start interleague play Friday at Baltimore. Last season, the Nationals swept a 3-game series from the Orioles at Camden yards.
In Game Update's
D-Fence, D-Fence
Even though the Nationals made two errors, the defense was outstanding. Willie Harris made a ridiculous diving catch on a Ryan Church fly ball in the 9th to save, not only a run, but possibly the game. Harris had to run about 90 feet to make the diving catch. If he doesn't make it, the ball gets by him for extra bases and the Mets have runners on second and third at the least, maybe even score a run or Church has an inside the park walk-off homer.
The next play saved a run for sure. With a runner on third, 1-out and the infield playing in, Carlos Delgado hit a screaming liner to first that Aaron Boone caught. Carlos Beltran was moving off the base and Boone threw to Ryan Zimmerman for the final out of the game. These two plays and the 5-3-6 double play in the 8th will be on high light reels for a long time.
Nationals scoring, 8th inning
Mike Pelfrey lost his no-hitter in the 7th when Aaron Boone led-off the inning with a single. Two batters later Boone was thrown out at second, on a hit and run, when Austin Kearns swung thru the pitch. He got out of the inning without giving up a run.
Pelfrey, batting third in the bottom of the inning, was left to hit for himself and struckout. Maybe Willie Randolph regrets the decision. In the 8th, Pelfrey gave up a lead-off double to Jesus Flores. Pinch-hitter Willie Harris sacrificed Flores to third and he scored on Felipe Lopez's sac fly to give the Nats the 1-0 lead.
Veteran Move
With speedy Jose Reyes on first with no outs in the 8th, Aaron Boone and Cristian Guzman made a verteran play. Luis Castillo laid down a perfect bunt and was thrown out at first by Ryan Zimmerman. Reyes rounded the base and was headed for third. Guzman was ahead of Reyes by a stride, Boone threw to him and he tagged Reyes for the second out before he even made it to the base. It goes down as a 5-3-6 double play. Smart play by two veteran players.
Be like Mike
Mike Pelfrey lost his no-no in the 7th, the lead in the 8th and quite possibly the game. Felipe Lopez's RBI sac fly was the only run he gave up and he stands to get the loss. He was nearly flawless in the first 6 innings, allowing just 3 walks. His line for the day.
7 2/3 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K. 100 pitches, 60 for strikes.
Brilliant
Jason Bergmann made the most out of his second chance. He tossed 7 scoreless innings of 3-hit ball, strukout 9, including the last 4 he faced, and walked two. Bergmann did an excellent job of mixing up his fastball with his breaking pitches. Here is his line.
7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 K. 103 pitches, 67 for strikes.
Pitcher's thru 6 innings
Mike Pelfrey's no-hitter is in tact after 6 innings. There has never been a no-hitter in the history of the Mets franchise, over 7000 games. Pelfrey has allowed only 3 base runners, all via walks. Only 3 balls have been hit hard and David wright's leaping catch of Rob Mackowiak's liner in the 3rd has kept the n-no safe. Pelfrey have thrown 79 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Jason Bergmann has yielded just 3, two by Luis Castillo. Only one was hit hard. The other two were a bunt single and a bloop that Austin Kearns just missed. Bergmann has struckout 6 and walked 2. He's thrown 89 pitches, 57 for strikes. Bergmann started throwing predominantly fastballs, but has been mixing it up with off-speed pitches.
Friends and Glovers
Ryan Zimmerman and David Wright both play third base. They are also very good friends and love to compete. Both are very solid at the hot corner and today it shows.
In the third, David Wright snared a bullett off the bat of Rob Mackowiak that would've gone into the corner for extra bases. Wright got off the ground about 10 feet to make the catch. OK, maybe 2 feet, but it was a great catch.
Ryan Zimmerman, who we've seen make great plays on a regular basis, fielded a 1-hop seed from Ramon Castro for a routine out to end the 4th.
I'm sure the two will talk about their plays after the game and we'll be talking about both of them for years to come.
Unhappy Camper
Mets manager Willie Randolph can't be to happy with Luis Castillo. Playing his first game of the series, Castillo was on first with 2-out and David Wright batting. Wright hit a fly ball to right that Austin Kearns dropped for an error. Had Castillo been running hard, he would've scored. He didn't and the game remains scoreless after 3.
Pitcher's thru 3 innings
Mike Pelfrey retired the first 7 Nationals in order before walking Jesus Flores. Jason Bergmann, trying to move Flores over, struckout on his third bunt attempt. Felipe Lopez walked, but Cristian Guzman grounded out and stranded both runners. He's thrown 45 pitches, 23 in the 3rd inning alone.
Jason Bergmann has given up a two singles and a walk and almost gave up a run on Austin Kearns' error. With a Luis Castillo on first, David Wright lifted a fly to right and Kearns had the ball hit the heel of his glove and drop in. Castillo wasn't running hard and had to stop at 3rd. Bergmann got Carlos Beltran to line out to Kerans on the next pitch to get out of the inning. Bergamann has thrown 42 pitches and 28 of those have been fastballs.
Roster Moves
The Nationals placed Nick Johnson on the 15-day DL today with a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with the unjury.
Dmitri Young will likely be reinstated from the 15-day DL tomorrow and be with the team in Baltimore as Inter-League plays begins with the Orioles.
With Jason Bergmann being recalled from Triple-A Columbus and starting today, the Nationals optioned Chris Schroder to Triple-A Columbus.
Starting Line-Up's
Nationals
2B Felipe Lopez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Aaron Boone
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Austin Kearns
LF Rob Mackowiak
C Jesus Flores
P Jason Bergmann
Mets
SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Ryan Church
1B Carlos Delgado
C Ramon Castro
LF Marlon Anderson
P Mike Pelfrey
Game Preview
Nationals (17-24) at New York (20-18)
Jason Bergmann, called up from Triple-A on Tuesday, gets the starts today as the Nationals look to take 3 of 4 from the Mets.
Since Monday night's 5th inning, when the Nationals scored three runs, they are 8-24 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
Ryan Zimmerman has homered in 2 straight games and has an 8-game road hitting streak, going 14-37 (.378), 3 2B, 4 HR and 8 RBI.
With a loss, the Mets will lose their first series at Shea Stadium this season.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68) needs to make the most out of his second chance. He was sent to Triple-A Columbus on April 12 after two ineffective starts and a less than stellar relief appearance.
Bergmann had pitched well in his two starts, but couldn't avoid the big inning. In his start on April 9, he pitched 4 scoreless innings before giving up 7 runs on 6 hits in the 5th. Things were just as bad in his first start of the season. Bergmann allowed 1-run through 5 innings before giving up 6 runs in the 6th. Manny Acta sent him to the bullpen to work on his mechanics, but that didn't work out either. He gave up 4 runs in 2 innings.
Maybe facing the Mets is what Bergmann needs. In 3 career starts, he is 1-1, 3.57 and 1-0, at Shea Stadium.
Keep an eye on how Bergmann does against Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. Reyes is 3-9 (.333), with a 3B, HR, 2 RBI and Beltran 5-11 (.455), 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI career vs. the righty.
RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86), making his 7th start of the year, is looking to snap a 3-game losing and 4-game winless streak. He started the season winning his first two games, but has struggled since. In the 3 losses, Pelfrey has been touched for 12 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. Since his last win, the Mets are 0-4 in his 4 starts.
His last win came against the Nationals on April 15. He threw 7 scoreless innings of 5-hit ball in the Mets 6-0 win. In that game, Pelfrey got out of a bases loaded 1-out jam in the 3rd by getting Ryan Zimmerman to pop out to second and striking out Nick johnson.
Pelfrey is 2-1, 4.30 in 5 career starts vs. Washington, but the Nationals have a .295 batting average against him.
Watch how Pelfrey pitches to Austin Kearns. Kearns is 5-14 (.357), HR, 4 RBI in his career vs. him.
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