Nats' bats silenced by Sabathia, lose 1st game of series 5-0
The Nationals' two-game winning streak came to a crashing halt Friday night in Milwaukee. They ran into a buzzsaw by the name of CC Sabathia, who tossed a five-hit, complete-game shutout as the Brewers blanked Washington 5-0.
For Sabathia, it was the fourth time he went the distance, second complete game shutout and sixth win in seven starts since joining the Brew Crew. He lowered his ERA to a paper thin 1.58 and needed only 103 pitches to dispose of the Nationals.
Collin Balester suffered his fourth loss, giving up four runs, three earned, on five hits in five innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.
The Brewers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on Prince Fielder's RBI single. Mike Cameron's 18th homer of the season put Milwaukee up 2-0 in the second.
Balester got into a jam in the third and he cost himself two more runs. He gave up two consecutive singles to start the inning before striking out Fielder for the first out.
Balester tried to pick-off J.J. Hardy at second but his throw went into center field, allowing both runners to advance a base. He then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Hardy to score, making it 3-0. Corey Hart's sac fly scored Ryan Braun for the 4-0 lead.
Jesus Colome, who pitched the seventh and eighth, gave up a solo homer to Hardy in the seventh for the final run of the game.
Washington had only two runners reach second base all night, neither making it to third. The Brewers committed two errors in the ninth, one by Sabathia and the other by Hardy, but it didn't hurt as Lastings Milledge grounded out to short to end the game.
Postgame Notes
Garrett Mock, who is scheduled to start on Monday, pitched one inning in relief, walking two batters.
Lastings Milledge and Jesus Flores each had two hits. Cristian Guzman had the only other hit off Sabathia.
Final Linescore
Nationals 0-5-1
Brewers 5-6-2
WP-Sabathia (6-0)
LP-Balester (2-4)
HR-Cameron (18), Hardy (16)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Sabathia thru 6 innings
CC has scattered three singles so far and only one base runner has reached second base. He is making this look easy against a team that looked to be coming out of their shell offensively. Sabathia hasn't walked a batter and only had a three ball count twice.
6 IP, 3 H, 7 K. 71 pitches, 55 strikes.
Balester's night is finished
Collin was just replaced for pinch-hitter Kory Casto to start the sixth. He retired the last nine Brewers, but with the Nationals trailing 4-0, Manny Acta is trying to generate some offense. Balester threw only 78 pitches, 53 for strikes. He was average at best tonight. A lead-off walk hurt him in the first, he gave up a homer in the second and his error and wild pitch cost him two runs, one earned, in the third. Unless Washington can get to Sabathia, Balester will drop his fourth game of the season.
5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 4 K, HR, WP, E.
Brewers scoring, 3rd inning
Collin Balester didn't help his own cause in the third and he has put the Nationals in a deep 4-0 hole.
Balester gave up back-to-back singles to start the third. After a strikeout, he tried to pick-off J.J. Hardy at second base but his thrown went into center-field, allowing both runners to advance. Balester was charged with an error.
Balester then uncorked a wild pitch and Rickie Weeks scored standing up and Ryan Braun moved to third. Corey Hart's sac fly scored Braun and the Brewers have a comfortable lead with their workhorse on the mound. Only one run was earned.
Balester thru 3 innings
Collin Balester is having a rough outing so far. The brewers are hitting him and they hitting them hard. He hasn't helped himself either; a throwing error and wild pitch led to a 2-run third. One of the runs was unearned. His pitch count is starting to climb, 59 to this point.
3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 3 K, HR, WP.
Sabathia thru 3 innings
CC has been as good as advertised. He's allowed one hit, which easily could have been an error, and has kept the Nationals off balance the first time through the line-up. Four of his nine outs are strikeouts and only two balls have left the infield. He's consistently ahead in the count on every batter.
3 IP, H, 4 K. 32 pitches, 25 strikes
Brewers scoring, 2nd inning
Milwaukee, third in the National League with 149 home runs, just added one more to thier total, taking a 2-0 lead in the second.
Mike Cameron hit a 1-out homer, to left, to give CC Sabathia a two run cushion. The way Sabathia has been pitching since joining the Brewers, it might be enough to pick up his six win.
Brewers scoring, 1st inning
A missed call cost the Nationals in the home half of the first inning.
With Rickie Weeks on second, he walked and stole second, Ryan Braun hit a one-hop rocket to Ryan Zimmerman at third. Weeks broke for third and stopped when he saw Zimmerman with the ball. Zimmerman looked to tag Weeks before firing to first to get the double play. Third base umpire Marty Foster said Zimmerman missed the tag and ruled Weeks safe. Prince Fielder then singled to center to score Weeks and the Brewers have the early 1-0 lead.
Starting Line-ups
Nationals
2B Emilio Bonifacio
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
RF Austin Kearns
CF Lastings Milledge
C Jesus Flores
1B Ronnie Belliard
LF Willie Harris
P Collin Balester
Brewers
2B Rickie Weeks
SS J.J. Hardy
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
RF Corey Hart
3B Craig Counsell
CF Mike Cameron
C Jason Kendall
P CC Sabathia
Game Preview
Nationals (44-71) at Milwaukee (64-51)
Fresh off a doubleheader sweep of the Rockies, the Nationals begin a 4-game series with the Brewers in Milwaukee as their eight-game road trip continues.
Washington, who won three of four in Colorado and six of their last seven, sends rookie Collin Balester to face CC Sabathia, who is undefeated since joining the Brew Crew.
The Nationals got great pitching from their starters in the four games in the Mile High City. Tim Redding, John Lannan, Jason Bergmann and Odalis Perez combined to pitch 25 innings and give up nine runs.
Washington and Milwaukee split their four game series at Nationals Park over Memorial Day weekend.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Collin Balester (2-3, 4.55) snapped a four game winless streak last Sunday, beating the Reds 4-2 and helped the Nationals sweep Cincinnati in their 3-game series at Nationals Park.
Balester gave up one run on a solo homer by Joey Votto on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five to earn his second Major League victory. He threw 101 pitches, 58 for strikes. The other five hits were singles.
Balester is making his seventh start and fourth on the road. He's 1-1 with a 5.17 ERA, but opponents are hitting just .193 against him. His biggest problem is walking hitters. Eight of the 10 bases on balls he's issued have come away from Nationals Park.
The Rookie right-hander has never faced the Brewers.
LHP CC Sabathia (5-0, 1.88) has been nothing short of spectacular since joining the Brewers nearly a month ago. He's undefeated in six starts for Milwaukee.
The large lefty tossed three straight complete games and pitched into the ninth in one other start since becoming a Brewer. Sabathia has given up two earned or less in five of the six starts.
In his last start, last Saturday, Sabathia gave up two runs on six hits in 8 1/3 innings in the Brewers 4-2 win over Atlanta. He walked one and struck out nine.
Sabathia has made three starts at Miller Park, going 2-0 with a 2.91 ERA. In his one career vs. the franchise, Sabathia is 0-1, losing 3-1 to the Expos on June 21, 2002.
Leave a comment