HR's power Nats to 6-4 victory, Perez earns second win
Jesus Flores hit a Grand Slam and Lastings Milledge hit a solo shot to give Odalis Perez his second win of the year.
The Nationals built a 6-1 lead before holding on for the 6-4 win. Perez pitched 6.1 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks for his first victory since May 12th. Jon Rauch pitched a perfect 9th to pick up his 11th save.
The win snaps the Nationals 2-game losing streak and ends the Padres 2-game win streak.
Postgame
Final Line Score
Nationals 6-11-1
Padres 4-8-0
WP-Perez (2-4)
LP- Estes (1-1)
SV-Rauch (11)
HR-Flores (2), Milledge (3), Hairston(5)
Offensive Stars
Flores: 2-4, GS(4), 4 RBI
Milledge: 1-4, HR, 2 R
Guzman: 3-5, 2B
Boone: 1-4, RBI, R
Lopez: 2-5, 2B, R
In-Game Updates
Nats Defensive Changes
Manny Acta made a few defensive changes in the 8th. Ryan Langerhans replaces Wily Mo Pena in left. Aaron Boone moves from third to first and Willie Harris is in at third.
Brian's Song
Brian Sanches earned a win in his first appearance for the Nationals last Friday vs. Milwaukee. In his two games since, he hasn't recorded an out. Sanches has faced 5 batters and given up a HR, 1B, 2 BB. An error allowed another runner to reach base.
Padres scoring, 7th inning
Odalis Perez was chased by the Padres after giving up back-to-back 1-out doubles in the bottom off the 7th.
Pinch-hitter Tony Clark's double scored Luke Carlin to make it 6-2. Brian Sanches came in and gave up a 2-run home run to Scott Hairston to make it 6-4. One of the runs was charged to Perez. After Sanches gave up a single, Luis Ayala was called in to get out of the inning. He got an out, but he hit Adrian Gonzalez to put runners on first and second. Ayala struck out Kevin Kouzmanoff to end the inning.
Perez Pulled
Odalis Perez got 1-out in the 7th before Manny Acta had seen enough. He gave up back-to-back doubles to make it 6-2. the second double came off the bat of pinch-hitter Tony Clark and Perez was replaced by Brian Sanches. Sanches gave up a 2-run home run to Scott Hairston and Perez was charged with one of the runs. Here's his final line.
6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. 99 pitches, 60 for strikes.
Nationals scoring, 7th inning
Aaron Boone's sac fly put the Nationals in front 6-1. Felipe Lopez hit a 1-out double and Cristian Guzman singled before Boone lifted a fly ball to left to score Lopez.
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
The run Odalis Perez gave up in the 5th was quickly given back by Padres reliever Mike Adams.
Lastings Milledge hit his third home run of the year, into the third deck down the left field line, to get the Nationals 4-run cushion back. Adams hung a 1-2 breaking ball to Milledge, who showed great patience by waiting on the offering, and crushed it into the seats.
Perez thru 6 innings
After giving up a run in the 5th, Perez retired the side in order in the 6th. His pitch count is getting a bit high, but he doesn't look like he's laboring at all. I think Manny Acta will send him out for the 7th, but he'll keep a close eye on him. Here's his line.
6 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 4 K. 93 pitches, 55 strikes.
Padres scoring, 5th inning
Odalis Perez got into a bit of trouble in the 5th. He gave up a lead-off single, a 1-out walk and a 2-out, broken bat single by Tad Iguchi to score a run. Perez avoided further damage when Brian Giles grounded out to end the threat.
Wild Thing
Shawn Estes will look back at the 4th inning and wonder what went wrong. He threw only one breaking ball in the first 3 innings and when he starting throwing more, he lost control. After a 1-out single and a walk, Estes threw three off-speed pitches to Lastings Milledge and none were near the plate. He eventually hit Milledge in the foot, and it looked like he couldn't find the strike zone with any pitches. When he did groove a fastball, Jesus Flores crushed the pitch into the second tier for a Grand Slam. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 5th. Here is his line for the night.
5 IP, 4 H , 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, GS. 77 pitches, 45 for strikes.
Nationals scoring, 4th inning
Jesus Flores hit his first career grand slam in the 4th, and the Nationals take a 4-0 lead.
Shawn Estes was cruising thru the first three innings, throwing all but one fastball. When he decided to start mixing in breaking pitches, he got himself into trouble. Aaron Boone hit a 1-out single and Dmitri Young drew a walk. With Lastings Milledge at the plate, Estes' wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. That's when things got ugly for Estes. He hit Milledge to load the bases, with a breaking ball and Flores hit a 1-2 pitch into the second deck in left to clear the bases.
Pitchers thru 3 innings
Shawn Estes gave up a lead-off single in the 1st to Felipe Lopez, but he was erased on a double play. Elijah Dukes walked with one out in the 3rd, but he was forced out on a fielders choice. Estes has only faced 10 hitters thus far. Of the 36 pitches he's thrown, 35 have been fastballs. Keep an eye on how he mixes up his pitches the second and third time thru the Nationals line-up. Here's his line so far.
3 IP, H, BB, K.
Odalis Perez gave up a single and a walk in the 1st, but picked off a runner and avoided any damage. He walked a runner and gave up an infield single in the 3rd and stranded both. He's given up three long fly outs and after each one, Perez was talking to himself on the mound. One can only imagine what he's saying. Here's his line.
3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K. 41 pitches.
Pads Changes
San Diego has already made a defensive change. In the top of the 2nd, Scott Hairston moves from center field to left and Jody Gerut goes into center. Gerut replaces Justin Huber, batting 7th. Huber left with an injured back.
Picked Off
Odalis Perez picked off Tad Iguchi in the first inning. Officially it goes in the books as a caught stealing because the runner was headed towards second base. It's the 4th time this year Perez has picked a runner off first and the 6th time for the Nationals. Matt Chico and John Lannan are the other two hurlers and all three are left-handed.
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 Odalis Perez
Padres
CF Scott Hairston
2B Tad Iguchi
RF Brian Giles
1B Adrian Gonzalez
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
SS Khalil Greene
LF Justin Huber
C Luke Carlin
P Shawn Estes
Game Preview
Nationals (22-31) at San Diego (20-33)
The Nationals' 6-game road trip has started off on the wrong foot. Shawn Hill, staked to an early 2-run lead, struggled thru 5 innings, but held the Padres to 2 runs. The bullpen gave up back-to-back homers in the 7th and Washington lost the series opener, 4-2.
Tonight, Odalis Perez takes the mound and looks to get the Nationals back in the win column. Lefty Shawn Estes is on the bump for the Padres. The Nationals have lost 8 of their last 9 games when facing a southpaw.
Ryan Zimmerman will miss his third straight game with a sore left shoulder. Aaron Boone will start at third base and bat third
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Odalis Perez (1-4, 4.13), who left his last start after 5 innings because of a cut on his left thumb, is looking to even this 3-games series with the Padres. Perez only gave up one run against the Brewers, on May 23, but settled for his 6th no-decision in the Nationals 5-1 win.
This marks the 9th career start for Perez against the Padres and 5th in San Diego. He has never won in America's Finest City, going 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA. For his career, he's 1-4, 5.78. The last time Perez faced the Padres was 2004 and the last time he beat them was in 2002.
LHP Shawn Estes (1-0, 2.33) is making his 4th start of the season and he hasn't given up more than 2 earned runs in any of his previous outings. Estes missed the enitre 2007 season after recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery.
In his last start, a no-decision, Estes gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings in the Reds 3-2 win. Estes likes to keep the ball down and has close to a 2-1 groundout-to-flyout ratio, 30-16.
In his career against the franchise, 16 starts, Estes is 5-8, 3.19 ERA. The last time he faced the Nationals, 2005, he picked up the win while giving up 2 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings.
Inside the Numbers
No Walk in the Petco Park
The franchise is 3-11 all-time at Petco Park, which opened in 2004, and the Nationals are 3-8 in the downtown ballpark.
Downright Offensive
The Nationals, 3-2 in their last 5 games, are batting just .199, slugging .373 and have an on-base percentage of .244 over that span.
Pen Pals
While the offense is struggling, the pitching has been solid. The starters' ERA in the last 5 games is 3.76 and the bullpen's is 3.66.
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