Some shaky moments, but Gonzalez delivered when needed

Five batters into Wednesday night's game, Gio Gonzalez had served up the longest home run in Nationals Park history, allowed a double and then that same player to steal third without any attempt to throw him out, and allowed a run to score on a strikeout.

Sounds like the recipe for a disastrous outing, right? Not exactly.

Despite a shaky top of the first, Gonzalez quickly rebounded and wound up going seven strong innings. He didn't earn the win, but he kept the Nationals in position to come back and beat the Brewers, and that was worthy itself of praise.

"That's exactly what I was trying to do, just keep us as close as possible," the lefty said. "Hold them down all the way as far as I could go."

Gonzalez wound up posting six zeros after that two-run first. He minimized baserunners and his pitch count, allowing him to finish his night with 102 pitches.

"They came out with a monster home run, but he kept the score right there," manager Dusty Baker said. "I mean, two runs usually isn't gonna beat this club. He did a heck of a job just keeping it to two runs."

There were some dicey moments along the way, though. The Brewers stole third base three times without drawing a throw, taking advantage of not only Gonzalez but the Nationals' willingness to give them those bases without much dissuasion, with Anthony Rendon playing well behind the bag in each case.

"We knew they were a club that steals third," Baker said. "(Rendon) had as far a run to get to third as they did to get to third. That was just heads-up play on their part."

Gonzalez attempted several pickoff throws to second base, but it made little difference.

"It was definitely talked about. They're fast," he said. "Those guys know how to run. And no matter how many times you try inside move, they knew what they wanted to do. Apparently it didn't work. All right, you ran to third. Good. I'll just try to focus on the hitter now."

Gonzalez also had a strange moment in the top of the seventh when he couldn't corral Ryan Zimmerman's throw as he covered first base on a ground ball to the right side. Gonzalez took a few steps away from the bag after missing the catch, leaving the ball on the ground only a few feet away and letting Milwaukee's Orlando Arcia advance to second base on the error.

That prompted Nationals head athletic trainer Paul Lessard to come to the mound to check on his pitcher. Gonzalez, though, insisted nothing was physically wrong with him and remained in the game to finish out the inning.

"I think they thought I crossed paths with their shortstop," he said. "It was nothing. We made no contact. It was good. It gave me a breath of fresh air. It was a good break, anyways."