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Error leads to two unearned runs in 7th, Nats lose 5-3
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]
Jesus Colome, in to start the seventh, got a quick out; then things got ugly.
Pinch-hitter Corey Patterson topped a ball back to Colome, and he threw a fastball to Dmitri Young that Young couldn't handle. Patterson ended up on second. Young was charged with an error, but it should've gone to Colome.
Jerry Hairston, Jr singled to put runners on the corners and Jeff Keppinger was intentionally walked to load the bases. Charlie Manning releived Colome and struck out Ken Griffey, Jr. Luis Ayala spelled Manning and he threw one pitch to Brandon Phillips and he singled to right and the Reds took a 5-3 lead. Both runs were unearned.
Colome is charged with the loss and Johnny Cueto picked up his seventh win of the year. Francisco Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 16th save.
The Nationals, trailing 1-0 in the fourth, got an RBI double from Elijah Dukes and a run-scoring single from Austin Kearns to take a 2-1 lead. Kearns went 1-4 in his first game back since coming off the DL.
Dukes gave the Nationals a 3-1 lead with his sixth homer of the year. Dukes went 2-3 and raised his average to .262 on the season.
Cincinnati tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning. Jerry Hairston, Jr walked to lead-off the inning off John Lannan. Phillips singled to score Hairston, Jr to make it a 3-2 game and Joey Votto tied it with an RBI single.
Postgame Notes
Final Linescore
Nationals 3-8-1
Reds 5-7-0
WP-Cueto (7-8)
LP-Colome (2-2)
SV-Cordero (16)
HR-Dukes (6)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Lannan's final line
Walks have hurt Lannan. Two of the three he's issued have scored. He hung a breaking ball to Joey Votto, in the sixth, and he delivered an RBI single to tie the game 3-3. Here's his line
6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. 93 pitches, 58 strikes.
Reds scoring, 6th inning
Anyone who knows baseball will tell you that walks will kill you and that's what happened to John Lannan.
Lannan gave up three walks in six innings and two ended up scoring. Jerry Hairston, Jr walked to lead-off the sixth and scored on Brandon Phillips 2-out single. Two batters later, Joey Votto delivered an RBI single of his own and the Reds tied the game 3-3.
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
Elijah Dukes hit his sixth home run of the year, to left, and the Nationals have a 3-1 lead in the middle of the sixth.
Dukes led-off the inning with a blast to left. Dmitri Young followed with his 300th career double, but Austin Kearns, Ronnie Belliard and Jesus flores all flew out and left Young on second.
Nationals scoring, 4th inning
Johnny Cueto retired the first 10 Nationals. The next four reached base and the Reds 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 deficit.
Elijah Dukes doubled home Cristian Guzman, who legged out an infield single for the first hit for Wasington. After a balk and a walk to Dmitri Young, Austin Kearns singled to drive in Dukes to put the Nationals on top.
Lannan thru 3 innings
Lannan retired the first seven Reds before walking David Ross. Jerry Hairston, Jr's RBI single was the first hit surrendered by Lannan.
Reds scoring, 3rd inning
Jerry Hairston, Jr hit a 2-out, RBI single off John Lannan to give the Reds a 1-0 lead in the third. It was the first hit for Cincinnati. Lannan walked the eighth hitter, David Ross, who was sacrificed to second and scored on the single.
Cueto thru 3 innings
Johnny Cueto is perfect thru 3. He's only thrown 26 pitches, 20 for strikes and has struck out four. Not one ball has been hit out of the infield.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
CF Roger Bernadina
SS Cristian Guzman
RF Elijah Dukes
1B Dmitri Young
RF Austin Kearns
3B Ronnie Belliard
C Jesus Flores
2B Willie Harris
P John Lannan
Reds
CF Jerry Hairston, Jr
SS Jeff Keppinger
RF Ken Griffey, Jr
2B Brandon Phillips
3B Edwin Encarnacion
1B Joey Votto
LF Jay Bruce
C Davis Ross
P Johnny Cueto
Game Preview
Nationals (34-52) at Cincinnati (39-47)
The Nationals looked liked they were going to take two of three form the Marlins, but a rain delay ended Odalis Perez's solid afternoon, while Charlie Manning gave up a 2-run homer in the seventh and Washington lost 4-2.
Tonight, the Nationals are in Cincinnati and begin a 4-game series with the Reds. Washington is 1-2 on the current 7-game road trip.
Washington activated right-fielder Austin Kearns from the disabled list and optioned Kory Casto to Triple-A Columbus.
The Reds, last in the NL Central and losers of two straight, are coming off a 9-5 loss to the Pirates.
This is the first of seven games the two teams will play this season. The Nationals have a 6-game winning streak over the Reds. Last year, they won six of seven and three of four in Cincinnati.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP John Lannan (4-9, 3.54) is coming off one of his worst outings of the season. Not only did he not pitch well, but his fielding error led to two unearned runs in a 3-run third inning. He gave up seven runs, four earned, in just five innings in the Nationals 9-1 loss to the Orioles on June 28th.
Lannan hasn't won since May 28th, when he beat Baltimore 2-1 at Camden yards. Prior to his latest set-back, Lannan had been outstanding; but a lack of offense has kept him from the win column.
The Nationals are averaging a measly 2.38 runs a game for Lannan and just 1.78 in his last nine starts. He's 1-6 in those games with a respectable 3.64 ERA.
In just his second Major League start, Lannan faced the Reds on August 1st, 2007 and picked up his first career win in the Nationals 7-2 victory. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings.
Lannan is pitching for the first time at Great American Ballpark. He is 3-4 with a 2.33 ERA in nine starts on the road this season, compared to 5.50 at home. That's a 3.17 difference, the third largest in baseball.
RHP Johnny Cueto (6-8, 4.68) snapped a 3-game losing streak with a dominating performance over the Indians in Cleveland on June 28th. He tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits, while walking three and striking out two in the Reds 5-0 win.
The 22-year-old rookie has had an up and down season. He won in his MLB debut, allowing one run on one hit in seven innings, while striking out 10. The run came on a solo homer.
Cueto then went 1-5 in his next nine starts, before reeling off three straight victories. He lost the next three games, where the Reds scored a total of two runs. Had the offense backed him, he easily could've won two of them. Then came the latest gem, and he saw his ERA dip below 5.00 for the first time since late April.
Cueto is making his 10th start at home this season. He is 4-3 with a 4.11 ERA, while holding opponents to a .221 average, but he's 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in his last two games at Great American ballpark
He has never faced the Nationals.
Inside the Numbers
Walk this way
The Nationals and Reds are tops in baseball when it comes to walk-off wins, Here are the Top 4 teams with the most wins.
Nationals 8
Reds 8
Marlins 8
Rays 7
Slow Start
Both Washington and Cincinnati are in the Bottom 5 in wins when their opponent scores first. Here are the teams with the lowest winning percentage.
Indians 6-29 .171
Nationals 8-36 .182
Blue Jays 8-33 .195
Mariners 10-37 .213
Reds 12-39 .235
Road warrior
Felipe Lopez has struggled at home this year, but on the road, he's been very good. Here are the Top 5 players with biggest difference in batting average.
Mark Ellis, Oak .193 home, .344 road -.151
Aaron Rowand, SF .230 home, .344 road -.114
Felipe Lopez, Was .191 home, .303 road -.112
Jhonny Peralta, Cle .201 home, .307 road -.106
Jeremy Hermida, Fla .214 home, .316 road-.102
Red Hot
Since June 18th, only a few players have been hotter than the Reds Brandon Phillips. Here are the Top 4 NL players with the highest batting averages since then.
Aaron Miles, StL .421
David Wright, NYM .404
Matt Holiday, Col .396
Brandon Phillips, Cin .386
Reds & Nationals
The Reds have lost nine of their last 12 home games. The Nationals have lost 10 of their last 15 games, including five of six on the road. Washington is 0-7 in Lannan's last seven starts. The Nationals have the worst batting average in the majors this season, .239, while the Reds have the second worst, .246.
