Late HRs sink Nats 4-2, drop Game 1
Shawn Hill looked like a shell of himself, but he did enough to keep the Nationals in the game. Hill only lasted 5 innings, throwing 112 pitches, nearly half of them balls, but only surrendered 2 runs.
Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit home runs on consecutive pitches in the 7th off Charlie Manning and Joel Hanrahan, respectively. Manning was charged with the loss.
The Nationals' offense got a 2-run home run from Aaron Boone, starting for Ryan Zimmerman, who missed his second straight game with a sore left shoulder, in the 1st off Padres starter Randy Wolf, but nothing the rest of the way.
Game 2 is tomorrow night at 10:00pm on MASN 2.
Post-Game
Final Line Score
Nationals 2-7-0
Padres 4-8-1
WP-Bell (1-3)
LP-Manning (0-1)
SV-Hoffman (10)
HR-Boone (5), Gonzalez (15), Kouzmanoff (8)
In-Game Updates
Homer Happy
Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back homers off the Nationals bullpen to give San Diego the 4-2 lead in the 7th.
Gonzalez hit a 2-out blast to left field off Charlie Manning to break the 2-2 tie. It was Gonzalez's 15th of the season. Joel Hanrahan relieved Manning and Kouzmanoff hit Hanrahan's first pitch into the seats in left to make it a 4-2 game.
Up Hill Climb
Shawn Hill didn't look like his usual self. He threw 112 pitches and only 58 for strikes in just 5 innings. He gave up 2 earned runs on 5 hits and 5 walks.
Wolf thru 6 innings
Randy Wolf has settled down in the middle 3 frames. His pitch count is growing, but he has been in control since the 3rd. Here's his line thru 6.
6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. 93 pitches.
Padres scoring, 3rd inning
It's obvious that Shawn Hill is not completely healthy. He is throwing pitches at an alarming rate and he's thrown more balls than strikes thru 3 innings.
Hill walked the bases loaded with 2 outs and gave up a 2-run single to Paul McAnulty and the Padres tied the game 2-2.
Pitchers thru 3 innings
Randy Wolf has been hit around, but has managed to get out of a few jams. He left runners on second and third in the 2nd and a runner on third in the 3rd. He did give up Boone's 2-run HR in the 1st. Here is his line.
3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 K, HR. 50 pitches.
Shawn Hill has struggled with his command and it appears his elbow may be bothering him a bit. He walked the bases loaded in the 3rd, before giving up the game-tying hit. His pitch count is extremely high. Here's his line.
3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He's thrown 82 pitches, 38 strikes and 44 balls.
Nationals scoring, 1st inning
Aaron Boone is making a serious case to be in the starting line-up on a daliy basis.
His 2-run home run in the first gives the Nats the lead before the Padres come to the plate. Cristian Guzman hit a 1-out double before Boone, who is starting in place of an injured Ryan Zimmerman at third base, ripped his 5th bomb of the season into the seats in left.
Ryan Zimmerman talked about his injured shoulder and why he's not in the line-up prior to tonight's game.
Shawn Hill, who is not 100%, said he'll pitch tonight and see how he feels tomorrow.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
2B Felipe Lopez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Aaron Boone
1B Dmitri Young
CF Lastings Milledge
C Jesus Flores
LF Wily Mo Pena
RF Elijah Dukes
P Shawn Hill
Padres
CF Jody Gerut
2B Tad Iguchi
RF Brian Giles
1B Adrian Gonzalez
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
SS Khalil Greene
C Michael Barrett
LF Paul McAnulty
P Randy Wolf
Game Preview
Nationals (22-30) at San Diego (19-33)
Washington's road trip begins with a 3-game series vs. the Padres, the worst team in the National League.
The Padres are 3-4 on their current 10-game homestand. The Nationals just wrapped up a 7-game homestand of their own, going 3-4. San Diego is 11-14 at Petco Park. The Nationals are 9-15 on the road. Both teams have had trouble scoring runs this season, 200 for Washington, 182 for the Padres. That's just 3.8 and 3.5 runs per game, respectively.
Shawn Hill faces Randy Wolf in the series opener tonight.
Ryan Zimmerman, who sat out Monday's game with a sore shoulder, is not in the starting line-up tonight.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Shawn Hill (0-1, 4.08), missed his last start because of a sore right elbow. He had a cortisone shot on May 17 and should be ready to go tonight.
Hill, with no-decisions in his first 5 outings, is coming off a 5-3 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore on May 16th. He gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 8 hits in 5 innings. Hill walked 2 and struck out 3 while throwing 99 pitches.
This is Hill's 7th start and 4th on the road. Pitching outside of DC hasn't been kind to the righty. His ERA is nearly three times higher on the road than at home, 6.46 to 2.25.
Hill's career numbers on the road are just as scary. Check out these numbers at home vs. on the road. (16 at home vs. 15 on the road)
ERA: 3.42 vs. 5.53. Opp Avg: .243 vs. .292. w/ RISP: .274 vs. .333. Opp SLG: .349 vs. .467.
Pitching at night is even worse, 5.75 to 1.80. If you're a stat geek, this doesn't look good for Hill or the Nationals.
Hill is making his second career start against the Padres. Last season, San Diego beat him 3-0 at Petco Park. He gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in 6.1 innings.
LHP Randy Wolf (3-4, 4.76) is coming off his first win in more than a month. He beat the Reds 8-2 on May 22, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings. Wolf matched his season high with 9 strike outs.
In his 4 losses, Wolf's ERA is a whopping 8.85. In his other 6 starts, 3 wins and 3 no-decisions, it's 2.56. The Padres are 4-6 when Wolf takes the mound. At home, he's 2-1, 3.00 ERA in 4 starts.
Wolf has faced the franchise 18 times in his career and is 9-4 with a 4.66 ERA. He has 11 career complete games and 7 shutouts. 3 of those CG's and 2 SHO's have come against the Nats/Expos. He last faced the Nationals in 2006 and went 1-0, 7.20 in two starts.
This season, Wolf hasn't given up a ton of hits, but they come at the wrong time. Check out opponents' average in the following situations.
Bases Empty: .242. Runners On: .273. RISP: .318. Ouch!
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