Ramos on hitting and super subs; Carpenter thankful for another shot in the bigs

Nationals reliever David Carpenter was outstanding Friday in shutting down a potential late inning rally against the Pirates. His hold helped the Nationals to a 4-1 victory before a sellout crowd of close to 39,000 at Nats Park.

"It was just fun to get back into that type of situation that I'm used to," Carpenter said. "Just glad that I was able to come and strand the runner on first and get the ball to Drew (Storen). That's what it's all about. If we can do that, in that order, we are going to win a lot of games."

Carpenter remembered coming into Nats Park as a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves and how tough a home field advantage this place was for the home team.ca

"It's always been those high leverage situations," Carpenter said. "It's nice to be on the right side of the crowd I guess instead of them cheering against you. It's nice to being over here and enjoy this side of it. Being familiar with the park and all that kind of stuff and familiar with who the Pirates are that's always a comfortable thing. Get your chance to get out there and get your feet on solid ground and get going the way you want to. As far as a sellout crowd that only works to our benefit. Kinda gets us amped up to come in there and throw the ball. Helps us out as much as possible. It's good to have that."

Carpenter has now not allowed a run in seven outings, four of those games with the Nationals. He is thrilled that Mike Rizzo gave him a shot with the Nationals.

"It's huge," Carpenter said. "It's a big confidence booster for me and glad I've got the opportunity to do it. There's a lot of capable arms down there that are able to do that. So just glad to be part of a good group that we're going to be able to go in there and like I said do our job and hand the ball off to Drew and let him do his job and come in here and shake hands."

Carpenter has not allowed a run since May 19 with the Yankees and he has whittled his ERA down to 4.03.

Catcher Wilson Ramos began the game with a double and a single, both run-scoring base hits as the Nationals built a 3-1 lead against Pirates A.J. Burnett. He said it was big to contribute but also build back some confidence after an 0-for-3 against the Rays Thursday night.

"That made me feel excited because I get comfort," Ramos said. "I need that comfort. 0-for-3 last night, today two RBI, double and single, so that made me feel comfort to come back here tomorrow and try to do the same. Every time we go out there and we get a hit we get more comforting. And we go to the plate more relaxed. It's not the same when we are all 0-for-4 and you go to the plate and you try to hit single, get a base hit. If you hit a single the night before, you go up there more relaxed because you don't have any pressure to try to hit singles."

Ramos also knows what it feels like to be injured when your team needs you on the field. But he is proud of how the other guys have filled in for the likes of Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg.

Ramos said Tyler Moore, Michael A. Taylor and others have filled in for those starters admirably.

"It's not easy," Ramos said. "It's not easy to see your teammates on the disabled list. I was three years ago, all three years, the disabled list is not easy. I understand those guys. I know they want to help the team and they can't. All the rest of the guys are doing a really good job.

"We have to keep doing that. If you get the opportunity to play, like those guys, not play every day but when you get a chance, I like when they do their job."