Nats beat Phillies 4-3; losing streak is in the books.
Thursday night's game was a seesaw battle, but in the end, the Nationals finally got a win, a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia, and snapped their 12-game losing streak.
Austin Kearns' RBI single in the eighth proved to be the game-winner as Washington scored twice in the inning to get a much needed win.
The Phillies got a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the ninth, but Joel Hanrahan, who tossed two scoreless innings to earn his 4th save of the season, retired three straight batters to end the game. It's the first two-inning save for a Nationals pitcher since baseball returned to DC in 2005.
Tim Redding was outstanding in his six innings, but settled for another no-decision. Redding gave up one run on three hits in six great innings. He walked one, struck out five and threw 86 pitches.
Trailing 3-2, the eighth inning started off with Ryan Zimmerman singling off the bag at third. Lastings Milledge followed with a broken bat single to right. These are the kind of plays that didn't go the Nationals way during the losing streak.
Ronnie Belliard laid down a perfect sac bunt to move Zimmerman and Milledge into scoring position. It was Belliard's first sacrifice bunt of the season. Jesus Flores muscled a ball up the middle that was cut off by second baseman Chase Utley, but allowed Zimmerman to score.
Kearns followed with a single to left, scoring Milledge with the game-winner. It was Kearns' 31st RBI on the season.
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the sixth on Utley's throwing error. The Nationals had runners on first and second with one-out when Milledge hit a grounder to third. Pedro Feliz threw to Utley for the force out at second. Cristian Guzman's hard slide into the base forced Utley to throw the ball away, allowing Anderson Hernandez to score the unearned run.
Philadelphia tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Utley's two-out, RBI single. The Nationals got the run back in the seventh on Hernandez's first RBI as a National. The Phillies answered with two runs in the home half of the inning to take their first lead of the game.
Saul Rivera spelled Redding and gave up an infield single to Shane Victorino. Zimmerman fielded the chopper but threw the ball away and Victorino ended up on third. With the infield playing in, pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs grounded out to second, scoring Victorino. Hernandez did a great job to keep the ball from going into right field.
Light hitting Carlos Ruiz hit his third homer of the season to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead, their first of the game.
Postgame Notes
Anderson Hernandez, batting lead-off, went 2-5. He is now 5-9 in a Nationals uniform.
Austin Kearns' RBI was his first since August 10th.
Jesus Flores notched his 54th RBI
Cristian Guzman, playing his first game since August 13th, went 2-5
The Nationals begin a 3-game series with the Cubs Friday afternoon
Final Linescore
Nationals 4-10-1
Phillies 3-8-2
WP-Rivera (4-5)
LP-Madson (3-2)
SV-Hanrahan (4)
HR-Ruiz (3)
Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog
Nationals scoring, 8th inning
Jesus Flores and Austin Kearns came thru with big hits to put the Nationals back in front, 4-3, in the eighth.
Ryan Zimmerman got the inning started against Ryan Madson with a single that hit the third base bag. Lastings Milledge followed with a broken bat bloop hit. Ronnie Belliard's sac bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Flores hit an infield single, scoring Zimmerman with the tying run. Kearns followed with a clean base knock to score Milledge and give Washington a 4-3 lead. Madson faced five batters and retired just one. J.C. Romero relieved Madson and got the final two outs of the inning.
Phillies scoring, 7th inning
Ryan Zimmerman's throwing error allowed the Phillies to tie the game 2-2. Saul Rivera's arm let them take their first lead of the game.
With one-out, Shane Victorino hit a slow chopper to third. Zimmerman picked it cleanly, but his throw to first got by Ronnie Belliard and Victorino went all the way to third. With the infield in, Gregg Dobbs came in to pinch-hit and grounded out to second, but Victorino was able to score on the play. Carlos Ruiz stepped to the plate and hit a 1-0 fastball from Rivera into the seats in left-center, giving the Phillies the 3-2 lead. It was on the third homer of the season for Ruiz.
Nationals scoring, 7th inning
Anderson Hernandez's infield single, his second hit on the night, scored Austin Kearns with the go ahead run in the seventh.
Kearns walked to lead-off the inning and advanced to third on Willie Harris' single. Harris moved to second when right fielder Jason Werth threw to third. After pinch-hitter Aaron Boone popped out, Hernandez hit a sharp grounder to short. Jimmy Rollins fielded it cleanly, but as he spun around to make the throw, he lost the grip and dropped the ball, allowing Kearns to score.
Redding thru 6 innings
Redding retired 14 straight Phillies before giveing up a two-out double to Jason Werth and an RBI single to Chase Utley. He was in total control before the back-to-back hits in the sixth. Redding needed just 40 pitches to get out of the second thru fifth innings. He settled down and got Ryan Howard to ground out to end the inning, but threw 27 pitches in the inning.
6 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 5 K. 86 pitches.
Phillies scoring, 6th inning
The Nationals lead certainly didn't last long. After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth, Tim Redding gave it back in the bottom of the inning.
Jason Werth hit a two-out double and scored on Chase Utley's single. Utley made up for the error that put Washington in front just a few minutes earlier.
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
Washington finally got on the board against ageless wonder Jamie Moyer. Anderson Hernandez and Cristain Guzman hit back-to-back single to start the sixth. After Ryan Zimmerman struck out looking, Lastings Milledge hit a grounder to Pedro Feliz at third. Feliz fired to second to get the force out, but Guzman's hard slide forced Chase Utley to throw off balance. Utley's throw was wide of first and Hernandez scored the unearned run.
Anderson Hernandez
Hernandez has seven at bats in a Nationals uniform. He just collected his fourth hit, all singles. Three of the hits are to the opposite field. Hernandez is doing a nice job staying within himself at the plate.
Redding thru three innings
Tim looks good a third of the way into the game. He's only thrown 39 pitches, 25 for strikes. He gave up a two-out walk in the first and a lead-off single in the second.
3 IP, H, BB, 2 K.
Starting Line-Ups
Nationals
2B Anderson Hernandez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Ronnie Belliard
C Jesus Flores
RF Austin Kearns
LF Willie Harris
P Tim Redding
Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
RF Jason Werth
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
CF Shane Victorino
3B Pedro Feliz
C Carlos Ruiz
P Jamie Moyer
Game Preview
Nationals (44-83) at Philadelphia (68-58)
Last night's 4-0 shutout loss was the 19th time the Nats have been held scoreless this season, one shy of the franchise record of 20, set by the 1972 Expos.
Their 12-game losing streak is the franchise's longest since the Expos lost 12 straight in 1976. The 12-game skid also matches the Royals for the longest losing streak in the Majors this season.
In the first two games of this series with Philadelphia, Washington is 2-20 with runners in scoring position. Wednesday night, the Nationals had two golden opportunities to push a run across, but didn't get the timely hit.
In the first inning, the Nationals got two hits, a walk and a Phillies error for another base runner, but Ryan Zimmerman was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. In the second, Washington had runners on first and second with one out, but the runners never advanced.
Tonight, Tim Redding hopes 13 is the lucky number for Washington, while the Phillies send 45-year old Jamie Moyer to the mound in looking to extend their winning streak to four games.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Tim Redding (8-8, 4.66) is looking to snap a two game losing streak as he takes the mound in the series finale vs. Philadelphia.
Redding, who lost his last start, was quick to point a finger at Lastings Milledge for miss-judging a fly ball and costing him and the Nationals a win vs. Colorado last Friday at Nationals Park.
With two-outs in the fifth, a runner on first and the Nationals leading 2-1, Matt Holliday hit a screaming liner right at Milledge. Milledge took a step in before retreating, but it was too late, as the ball went over his head for an RBI double, tying the game 2-2.
Brad Hawpe followed with a 2-run homer to put the Rockies up for good and handing Redding hiseighth loss of the season.
Redding is making his third start against the Phillies this year. He's 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA. In his first two starts vs. Philadelphia, both wins, Redding tossed 13 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. He gave up eight hits and five walks and struck out four. Washington won the games 1-0 and 4-0.
In his last start, July 30th, Redding was pounded for seven runs on 10 hits in four innings in the Phillies 8-5 win. Pat Burrell's 2-run homer gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead after one half inning. Washington scored three in the bottom of the inning for the 3-2 lead.
The fifth is when Redding fell apart. Redding allowed the first five batters to reach base on four hits and a walk. Jimmy Rollins drove in a run on a double to right. Shane Victorino followed with a 2-run single and Chase Utley finished the scoring with a 2-run homer.
In his career vs. the Phillies, Redding is 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA in nine starts. On the road this season, he's 4-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 12 starts.
LHP Jamie Moyer (11-7, 3.64) has quality starts in nine of his last 12 outings and six of his last seven. He's 5-4 in those games. In the seven games Moyer didn't get a win, the Phillies offense scored a total of 16 runs.
Moyer faced Washington on July 30th and picked up the win in the Phillies 8-5 victory. The 45-year old lefty gave up three runs in the first but shut down the Nationals the next five frames.
Willie Harris led-off with a homer and Jesus Flores hit a 2-run shot to give Washington a 3-2 lead after one inning. Moyer, who gave up four hits in the first, allowed only two hits the rest of the way. He walked three and struck out five.
Moyer is making his 19th appearance with 18 starts against the franchise. He's 8-4 with a 3.05 ERA in his career against the Nationals/Expos. At Citizens Bank Park, Moyer is 4-4 with a 4.61 ERA in 12 starts this season.
The Phillies are 15-10 when Moyer starts.
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