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Nats lack run support, get shutout for 10th time this year
STATS: By Inning | Box | Matchup | Nats Stats | Reds Stats
Pete McElroy's Nats Blog:
Kearns eyes return to face the team that drafted him [link]
The Nationals dropped their second straight game to the Reds and lost their third in a row.
Bronson Arroyo and three Cincinnati relievers combined to shutout the Nationals 3-0. Washington managed eight hits and drew three walks, but didn't get a clutch hit all afternoon. They stranded all 11 runners and failed to score a run for the 10th time this season.
The Nationals had only one runner reach third base and went 0-7 with runners in scoring position.
Their best chance to score came in the sixth. Dmitri Young led-off with a double and advanced to third on Austin Kearns' slow grounder to short. Ronnie Belliard grounded out to first and Young couldn't score. Paul Lo Duca walked to put runners on the corners, but Felipe Lopez popped out to short to end the inning.
Jason Bergmann pitched six innings, gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits and three walks. He gave up a 2-run homer to Ken Griffey, Jr in the first and that would be the only mistake he would make. Bergmann suffers the loss and falls to 1-6 on the season. Elijah Dukes' 3-base error led to an unearned run in the fourth.
Bronson Arroyo gave up five hits, walked three and struck out three in six strong innings to pick up the win to improve to 6-7.
Francisco Cordero gave up two hits in the ninth, but struck out Cristian Guzman looking to end the game.
Postgame Notes
Final Linescore
Nationals 0-8-1
Reds 3-7-0
WP-Arroyo (6-7)
LP-Bergmann (1-6)
SV-Cordero (17)
HR-Griffey, Jr (11)
Nationals News
Cristian Guzman's 5th-inning single extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Dmitri Young reached base all four times today, with two hits and two walks. He has been on base six of eight times in the two games.
Steven Shell pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Bergmann's final Line
Jason Bergmann wasn't as sharp as he was in his last three starts and he didn't get any run support. He gave up a 2-run home in the first and a 3-base error led to an unearned run in the fourth.
6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR. 106 pitches, 64 strikes.
Arroyo's final line
Bronson Arroyo tossed six scoreless innings of 5-hit ball and stranded eight Nationals. If the Reds bullpen can hold the 3-0 lead, he'll pick up his sixth win of the year.
6 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K. 95 pitches, 54 strikes.
Missed opportunity
The Nationals had a golden opportunity to get on the board in the sixth, but they couldn't get a clutch hit. Dmitri Young led-off with a double, but Austin Kearns and Ronnie Belliard couldn't get the ball out of the infield and Yound only made it to third. After a walk by Paul Lo Duca, Felipe Lopez popped out to short to end the inning. The Nationlas have left eight men on base thru six innings.
Error
Elijah Dukes 3-base error led to an unearned run for the Reds. That's the second time in this series that an error has caused a National pitcher to stay on the mound longer than he had to. Manny Acta said the word "frustrated" is not in his vocabulary, but it must be eating at him to see these kind of mistakes.
Bergmann thru 3 innings
Jason Bergmann doesn't look all that comfortable on the mound. His breaking ball is all over the place and he's already walked two batters. Maybe the rain delay is having an effect on him.
3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K. 56 pitches.
Reds scoring, 1st inning
After rain delayed the start of the game nearly two hours, Ken Griffey, Jr provided early fireworks for the Reds fans at Great American Ball Park.
Jason Bergmann gave up a 1-out double to Jay Bruce and Griffey, Jr followed with a 2-run shot to right. It was his 11th home run of the season and 604th of his career.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
CF Willie Harris
SS Cristian Guzman
LF Elijah Dukes
1B Dmitri Young
RF Austin Kearns
3B Ronnie Belliard
C Paul Lo Duca
2B Felipe Lopez
P Jason Bergmann
Reds
SS Jerry Hairston, Jr
CF Jay Bruce
RF Ken Griffey, Jr
2B Brandon Phillips
LF Adam Dunn
3B Jeff Keppinger
1B Joey Votto
C Paul Bako
P Bronson Arroyo
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Jason Bergmann (1-5, 4.26) is coming off an outstanding outing against the Orioles on June 29th. He gave up one run on six hits in seven strong innings, but wasn't around to pick up the win in the Nationals' 3-2, 12th-inning victory. The lone run came on a Luke Scott solo homer in the seventh. He threw 100 pitches, 62 for strikes, struck out three and walked one.
Bergmann has been awesome in his last three starts, but doesn't have a win. He's only given up five runs, three earned, in his last 20 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost 3-1 in that span--four walks, 11 strikeouts.
Since his return from Triple-A on May 15th, Bergmann's been on a nine game roller coaster. He had three straight games where he didn't give up a run, then had three where he gave up 18 runs, 13 earned, in just 15 2/3 innings, and then his most current three.
Bergmann is making his sixth road start of the season. He's 1-3 with a 4.06 ERA outside of DC. This is his third career appearance and first start against Cincinnati. Bergmann gave up a run on three hits in two innings vs. the Reds.
RHP Bronson Arroyo (5-7, 6.19) picked up his first win in a month, when he beat Cleveland 9-5 last Sunday. He gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks in six innings, a much better day than his previous outing. Arroyo had one of the worst games in baseball history. He gave up 10 earned runs on 11 hits in just one inning in a 14-1 loss to the Blue Jays. Three of those hits were home runs.
Arroyo is making his ninth start at Great American Ball Park. He is 1-4 with a 5.16 ERA. In his last start at home, he was rocked for six runs in 6 1/3 innings in the Reds' 6-1 loss.
In his career, four starts, Arroyo is 1-1 with a 5.95 ERA against the Nationals. Arroyo faced Washington twice last season and neither start went well. On August 1 in DC, he didn't make it out of the second inning. He gave up seven runs, all earned, in 1 2/3 innings in the Nationals 7-2 win. He gave up four runs in the first and three more in the second. Austin Kearns had an RBI double in that 4-run first and a 2-run homer in the second.
On May 21 in Cincinnati, Arroyo gave up six runs in two innings in the Nationals 8-7 win. Kearns hit a 2-run homer off him in the second.
