Nats avoid sweep with impressive 9-3 win

By Dan Kolko

Nationals Orioles

May 20, 2012, 12:37pm

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The Nationals were completely outplayed through the first two innings of today's game. Stephen Strasburg looked rattled, Washington had made multiple defensive miscues and yet again fell behind the Orioles, this time by a score of 3-0. Then the Nats flipped the switch, and they didn't look back. From the third inning on, the Nats outscored the O's 9-0, outhit them 11-2 and went on to earn a 9-3 win, perhaps unleashing some pent-up frustration after three straight losses, including two to their I-95 neighbors. Strasburg bounced back from a rocky start to set down the last 10 hitters he faced (seven on strikeouts) and improve to 4-1, while Tom Gorzelanny, Tyler Clippard and Ryan Mattheus combined to pitch four shutout innings in relief. Every batter in the Nats' starting lineup with the exception of Tyler Moore reached base at least once, and Danny Espinosa, Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond all delivered multi-RBI performances. Oh yeah, and Strasburg hit his first major league home run, as well. All around, this was a big win for the Nats, who avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles and move back to seven games above .500 at 24-17.