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Nats fall 6-3, snap 2-game winning streak
STATS: By Inning | Box | Matchup | Nats Stats | Giants Stats
Pete McElroy's Nats Blog:
Zimmerman reinstated, Pena's season is over [link]
Bengie Molina hit two home runs and drove in three to lead the Giants to a 6-3 win over the Nationals, in the process snapping their 2-game winning streak.
Jason Bergmann gave up five runs, four earned, in five innings and suffered the loss, his seventh of the year. Barry Zito pitched six innings of seven hit ball, giving up three runs, to earn his fifth win of the season.
Willie Harris continues to pound opposing pitching. He went 2-5 with his seventh home run of the season. The seven long balls match the total for his career coming into the season. Paul Lo Duca drove in the other two runs with a ground-rule double and a single.
Ryan Zimmerman went 1-3 with two walks in his first game since coming off the disabled list.
Final Linescore
Nationals 3-8-1
Giants 6-8-0
WP-Zito (5-12)
LP-Bergmann (1-7)
SV-Wilson (26)
HR- Molina 2 (8), Lewis (7), Harris (7)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Nationals scoring, 5th inning
Willie Harris continues to swing a hot bat. Harris hit his seventh homer of the season to cut the Giants' lead to 5-3 in the 5th.
Bergmann's night
Jason Bergmann didn't have his best stuff and he put the offense in a hole they are trying to get out of. He only gave up five hits, but three were homers. Bergmann was pinch-hit for in the 5th. Here's his final line.
5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3 HR. 82 pitches, 54 strikes.
Giants scoring, 4th inning
Bengie Molina hit his second homer of the night to lead-off the inning. Rich Aurilia singled and scored on Omar Vizquel's double. Jason Bergmann got Zito to ground out an avoided further damage.
Nationals scoring, 4th inning
The Nationals scored one run in the inning, but it could've been more. Austin Kearns doubled and Ronnie Belliard walked to lead-off the inning. After a ground out put them on second and third, Paul Lo Duca singled off Barry Zito's glove to score Kearns and make it a one-run game. Felipe Lopez struck out and Jason Bergmann grounded out to end the inning.
Nationals scoring, 2nd inning
Paul Lo Duca doubled home Jesus Flores to put the Nationals on the board in the second.
Flores tripled to right and came home on Lo Duca's ground rule double. A fan interfered with the ball and Lo Duca had to stay at second.
Giants scoring, 1st inning
This wasn't the start Jason Bergmann had hoped for in his first start since the All-Star break.
Fred Lewis led-off the inning with his seventh homer of the season and Bengie Molina hit a 2-run shot to put the Giants up 3-0.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
CF Willie Harris
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Austin Kearns
1B Ronnie Belliard
C Jesus Flores
LF Paul Lo Duca
2B Felipe Lopez
P Jason Bergmann
Giants
LF Fred Lewis
2B Eugenio Velez
RF Randy Winn
C Bengie Molina
CF Aaron Rowand
1B John Bowker
3B Rick Aurilia
SS Omar Vizquel
P Barry Zito
Game Preview
Nationals (38-61) at San Francisco (40-58)
Washington continues their 9-game road trip, with three games in San Francisco.
Tonight, Jason Bergmann faces Barry Zito in the series opener at AT&T Park.
The Nationals took two of three from the Braves and are on a 2-game winning streak. It was their first series win since taking two of three from the Orioles from June 27-29.
The Giants, who swept the Nationals in DC two months ago, have lost three straight games and nine of 10. They are in fourth place, eight games back in the NL West.
Washington, who pounded out 41 hits and scored 29 runs in Atlanta, is 18-31 on the road. San Francisco has lost 31 of 48 at home, so this should make for an interesting series.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Jason Bergmann (1-6, 4.03) pitched two innings of relief last Friday night against the Braves and gave up a run on two hits in two innings. He hasn't started a game since the Thursday prior to the All-Star break.
In his last start, against the Diamondbacks on July 10th, Bergmann was outstanding, but received a no-decision in the D-Backs 7-5 win in 11 innings. He retired the first 10 batters and didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning. Bergmann gave up six hits and two runs in seven innings, earning his fifth straight quality start.
Since his last win, May 15th against the Mets, Bergmann is 0-5 with five no-decisions, excluding one relief appearance. When he starts, the Nationals are just 2-11.
This is his second start against the Giants this season and hopefully it goes better than the first. San Fran scored eight runs, five earned, on 10 hits in three innings in their 10-1 victory over the Nats.
The Giants, behind Fred Lewis' 2-run single and Jose Castillo's 3-run homer, scored seven runs in the third to send Bergmann to an early shower.
LHP Barry Zito (4-12, 5.62), making his second start against the Nationals this season, aims for his second win. He beat Washington 6-3, on June 8th, but it wasn't easy. He gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings and pitched out of trouble in every inning but one.
Washington led 3-0 after three innings, before the Giants scored four in the fifth off Garrett Mock. Lastings Milledge drove in two off Zito, with a homer and an RBI single.
Zito is making his 11th start at AT&T Park, where he's been downright awful this season. He is 1-8 with a 6.66 ERA, with opponents hitting .318 off him and his walk/hits-to-innings pitched is 1.98.
This season has been a bust for Zito and the Giants, but he's pitched well in his last four starts, going 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA.
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