Guzman's Cycle, Dukes' 2 HR's pace Nats offense in 11-2 win
Cristian Guzman did something no National has done since April of 2005; he hit for the Cycle.
And Elijah Dukes picked up where he left off before his most recent stint on the disabled list, hitting two homers and driving in four as the Nationals completed the three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-2
Guzman hit a solo homer in the first and singled in the second because he was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double; he doubled in the sixth and tripled in the eighth. It's only the second Cycle in Nationals history. Brad Wilkerson did in on April 6, 2005.
Dukes, who was batting .304 with six home runs, from June 1st through July 5th, before he missed 19 games with a right calf strain, had the first multi-homer game of his career.
Dukes hit a three-run, opposite field blast in the first, breaking a 2-2 tie. In the seventh, with the game already decided, Dukes crushed a 2-2 pitch deep into the seats in left. Left fielder Manny Ramirez didn't even bother turning around to watch it land.
John Lannan settled down after a rough first inning, where he gave up two runs, to shut down the Dodgers over the next five frames and earn his eighth win of the season.
Washington, trailing 2-0 after one half inning, sent nine men to the plate and scored five times in the home half and never looked back.
Cristian Guzman hit a one-out homer, his sixth of the year, to make it a 2-1 game. After Ryan Zimmerman doubled and Lastings Milledge walked, Ronnie Belliard singled Zimmerman home with the tying run. Dukes hit the next pitch into the seats in right-center for the 5-2 lead. It was Dukes' first home run since July 3rd at Cincinnati.
Lannan retired the side in order in the second and third innings before giving up a one-out double and a two-out walk in the fourth. He struck out pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney to end the inning.
Washington scored two more in the fifth to open a 7-2 lead. Zimmerman singled to start the inning and moved to third when Ronnie billiard grounded into a double play. Dukes walked and stole second and both runners scored on Willie Harris' single.
Guzman's double in the sixth scored Anderson Hernandez to make it an 8-2 game and Dukes' second long ball of the night put the Nationals up 9-2.
Washington put the icing on the cake with two more in the eighth. Guzman's triple chased home pinch-hitter Aaron Boone, who walked to lead off the inning. Zimmerman drove home Guzman with his second double of the evening.
Postgame Notes
Cristian Guzman's cycle is the second in Washington Nationals history, 2005-present. Guzman is the 7th player in Nationals/Expos franchise history to hit for the cycle. Brad Wilkerson did it twice; once for the Nationals and once for the Expos.
Elijah Dukes' multi-homer game is the 6th by a National this season and it's the 500th home run hit by the Nationals since baseball returned to DC.
Ryan Zimmerman went 3-5 with two runs. He is hitting .328 with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 17 RBI in 17 games since August 10th.
Anderson Hernandez went 2-5 with a run scored. He is batting .429 since joining the Nationals.
The Nationals' sweep was the third at Nationals Park this season. They swept Cincinnati, August 1-3, and Atlanta, April 29-30. With the sweep of the Dodgers, they split their season series with Los Angeles.
Washington has won five of their last seven.
The Nationals' five-run first matches the most they've scored in the first inning this season. They scored five against the Phillies on April 3rd. It also marks the second time this year they hit two home runs in the first inning. Jesus Flores and Willie Harris did it vs. Philadelphia on July 30th.
Final Linescore
Dodgers 2-5-0
Nationals 11-13-0
WP-Lannan (8-12)
LP-Kershaw (2-5)
HR-Ramirez (27), Guzman (6), Dukes 2 (8)
Pete McElroy's Live GameBlog
Nationals scoring, 8th inning
Cristian Guzman's RBI triple in the eighth scored pinch-hitter Aaron Boone to give Washington the 10-2 lead. The triple gave Guzman the Cycle. He hit a homer in the first, a single in the second and a double in the sixth. He is the first National since Brad Wilkerson, on April 6, 2005, to hit for the cycle.
Ryan Zimmerman followed with an RBI double to make it an 11-2 game.
Nationals scoring, 7th inning
Elijah Dukes hit his second home run of the night, deep to left field, and the Nationals have a 9-2 lead.
Dukes crushed a 2-2 pitch off of Cory Wade for his eighth home run of the season. It was the first multi-home run game of his career.
Audio: Elijah Dukes talks about his 2 HR game in the Nats 11-2 win over the Dodgers
Nationals scoring, 6th inning
Cristian Guzman drove in Anderson Hernandez with a double to the gap in left-center to put the Nationals up 8-2 in the sixth.
Anderson hit a one-out single and scored easily on Guzman's 29th two-bagger.
Lannan's quality night
Lannan tossed another quality start for the Nationals by going six innings and giving up two runs. 18 of his 26 outings are quality starts. The only blemish was Manny Ramirez's 2-run shot in the first. He threw 110 pitches on the night, walked three and struck out two. He also hit a batter. Lannan retired 17 of the last 21 Dodgers he faced.
6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K, HR, HB. 110 pitches, 66 strikes.
Audio: John Lannan discusses his outing in the Nats 11-2 win over the Dodgers
Nationals scoring, 5th inning
The Nationals added to their three-run lead in the fifth inning off Dodgers reliever Ramon Troncoso.
Ryan Zimmerman lead-off with an infield single. After Lastings Milledge was hit by a pitch, the second time in as many nights, Ronnie Belliard hit into the 6-4-3 double play. Elijah Dukes walked and stole second. Willie Harris dumped a single down the line in right, scoring both runners and the Nationals have a 7-2 lead.
Kershaw done in third
Clayton Kershaw didn't make it out of the third tonight; a far cry from the first time he faced the Nationals. In that start on July 27th, he tossed six scoreless innings of four hit ball. Tonight, Kershaw gave up four hits and five runs in the first inning.
2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
Lannan thru 3 innings
After a rough first inning, Lannan settled down and has retired the last eight Dodgers. He needed 23 pitches to get out of the first and just 10 in the second.
3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, BB, K, HB, HR.
Nationals scoring, 1st inning
The Nationals didn't waste any time getting the two runs back that John Lannan gave up in the top of the first. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw got the first out of the inning, but the next six Nationals reached base.
Cristian Guzman hit a one-out homer to cut the Dodgers lead in half. It was Guzman's sixth of the season. Ryan Zimmerman followed with a double to the gap in right-center and Lastings Milledge walked. Ronnie Belliard singled home Zimmerman with a single to left. Zimmerman slid in just ahead of Manny Ramirez's throw, tying the game 2-2.
Elijah Dukes, playing his second game since coming off the DL, hit the first pitch he saw from Kershaw, into the seats in right-center, for a 3-run homer and the Nationals have a 5-2 lead.
Dodgers scoring, 1st inning
John Lannan didn't have the start he was hoping for. After getting the first out, the inning got away from him, but he kept the damage to a minimum.
Andre Either singled and Manny Ramirez hit an 0-1 changeup over the wall in left for the 2-0 lead. Lannan then walked Jeff Kent and hit James Loney. He settled down and struck out Casey Blake and got Danny Ardoin to pop out to end the inning.
Starting Line-Ups
Dodgers:
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Ethier
LF Manny Ramirez
2B Jeff Kent
1B James Loney
3B Casey Blake
C Danny Ardoin
SS Angel Berroa
P Clayton Kershaw
Nationals:
2B Anderson Hernandez
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Ronnie Belliard
RF Elijah Dukes
LF Willie Harris
C Wil Nieves
P John Lannan
Game Preview
Los Angeles (65-68) at Nationals (48-85)
The Nationals go for their first series sweep tonight since winning three straight against the Reds at Nationals Park from August 1st-3rd.
Last night, Tim Redding picked up his ninth win of the season by tossing six innings of three-run ball. Joel Hanrahan earned his sixth save by getting the last four outs of the game to shut the door on the Dodgers as Washington won their second straight one-run game, 5-4.
Ryan Zimmerman ended a two and a half month power outage with his ninth home run of the season, which turned out to be the difference in the victory.
Tonight is a battle of lefties as John Lannan faces Clayton Kershaw. Lannan lost to Los Angeles in the first game of their series at Dodger Stadium in July, while Kershaw shutout the Nationals in the series finale.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP John Lannan (7-12, 3.95) wasn't that good in his last start, but he was good enough to pick up the win in the Nationals 13-5 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field last Friday.
Lannan gave up a run in the first when Alfonso Soriano stole home on a double steal. In the third Derrek Lee hit a home run for the 2-0 Chicago lead. Mark DeRosa's 2-run shot in the fourth put Lannan and the Nationals in a 4-0 hole.
After tossing a scoreless inning in the fifth, Washington scored six runs in the sixth to take the lead and they never trailed again. Lannan's line was mediocre; five runs on seven hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings.
Lannan's only career start against Los Angeles came on July 25th at Chavez Ravine. He took the loss in the Dodgers 3-2 win. Lannan was cruising thru the first five innings before Los Angeles got to him in the sixth.
The Dodgers loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batter. After a lineout, Nomar Garciaparra singled home two runs and Los Angeles led 2-1. James Loney's groundout scored the third run of the inning. It was another quality start for Lannan; three runs in seven innings.
Lannan, who has struggled at home this year, is making his 11th start at Nationals Park. He's 2-7 with a 6.27 ERA compared to 5-5, 2.71 on the road.
LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-4, 4.11) earned his first Major League win when he beat the Nationals 2-0 on July 27th at Dodgers Stadium. Kershaw tossed six scoreless innings of four-hit ball. He walked one and struck out five.
Since that victory, Kershaw is 1-1 in five starts. Four of the five outings have been quality starts and the Dodgers are 3-2 in those games. Prior to his last start, Kershaw was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four games.
In his last outing, Kershaw was roughed up from the start in the 9-2 loss at Philadelphia last Saturday. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks in just four innings. Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer in the first and doubled home a run in the fifth. Ryan Howard followed with a 2-run double of his own to chase Kershaw.
The rookie lefty is making his eighth road start of the season. He's 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA and his WHIP is 1.84; opponents are hitting an even .300 off him.
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