They had lost so many games earlier in the month in excruciating fashion, whether through a lack of clutch hitting or a poor pitching performance or some little fluke that turned disastrous.
So when the Washington Nationals came to bat in the 12th inning yesterday evening, trailing the Atlanta Braves by a run, there was perhaps a sense throughout Nationals Park that it was time for fortunes to swing over in Washington’s favor at long last.
A few minutes later, the Nationals stormed back to win 3-2 behind two walks, an infield single, a fielding error and Felipe Lopez’s bases-loaded single over a drawn-in outfield.
“Life has a way of balancing things out,” manager Manny Acta said.
Washington’s third straight victory and fifth in six games didn’t come in conventional fashion.
A tense pitchers’ duel that featured eight innings of one-run ball from Shawn Hill had turned in the Braves’ favor in the top of the 12th when Mark Teixeira led off with a double off Saul Rivera and Mark Kotsay delivered the go-ahead single three batters later.
Down 2-1, the Nationals (11-17) looked done for. As it turned out, things were just getting started.
Atlanta’s Manny Acosta opened his third inning of relief by walking Austin Kearns. Willie Harris then roped a line drive off first baseman Martin Prado’s glove for a single, setting the stage for Wil Nieves to drop a sacrifice bunt.
Nieves, though, failed in his first two attempts, so Acta called the play off and instructed the backup catcher to swing away with two strikes. However, Nieves never saw the change in signs, so he went ahead, squared away and pushed the ball right back toward the mound.
“I thought I saw bunt again,” Nieves said. “But I bunted to the worst fielder, so that’s pretty good.”
Indeed, Acosta had trouble corralling the ball. And before the right-hander knew what happened, he committed a costly error that loaded the bases.
Acosta then walked pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard to force in the tying run and force Braves manager Bobby Cox to summon Buddy Carlyle from his bullpen.
To the plate strode Lopez, who two innings earlier grounded into a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded to extend the ballgame.
“It happened once earlier in the game, and I couldn’t get it done,” Lopez said. “I was just saying to myself, ’I’ve got to get it done this time.’ ”
Lopez connected on Carlyle’s first pitch and lofted the ball over left fielder Gregor Blanco’s head for the game-winner.
“If we would have lost the game, I know how the kid would have felt,” Acta said of Lopez. “Now he doesn’t have to think about the one he didn’t get.”
The late rally eased Hill’s pain a bit after his eight innings of brilliance yielded a no decision. It may have become an afterthought by evening’s end, but the outing wasn’t lost on the Nationals. Their starters totaled only 10 quality starts over 27 games, and as a result the bullpen at times has been overworked.
Hill had gone eight innings only once previously in his major league career: on April 26, 2007, when Acta let him start the ninth at Philadelphia before pulling him after issuing a leadoff walk. He probably could have gone nine again yesterday. The 27-year-old threw only 94 pitches, and he remained in control, allowing four hits while pounding the strike zone. But with the game knotted at 1-1, Acta had to send up a pinch-hitter.
“It’s big,” Hill said of his start. “I’m always trying to be efficient with my pitches. It’s something to build on for me.”
NEW SERIES
PITTSBURGH PIRATES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Today: 7:10 p.m., LHP Zach Duke (0-2, 5.34) vs. LHP Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.31).
Tomorrow: 7:35 p.m., LHP Phil Dumatrait (0-1, 3.92) vs. LHP Matt Chico (0-5, 6.68).
Saturday: 1:05 p.m., LHP Paul Maholm (2-2, 3.26) vs. LHP John Lannan (2-2, 2.64).
Sunday: 1:35 p.m., RHP Ian Snell (2-1, 4.93) vs. RHP Tim Redding (3-2, 3.55).
Series breakdown: Pittsburgh’s early season trajectory has somewhat mirrored Washington’s; after a six-game losing streak dropped the Pirates to 7-12, they have played .500 ball over their last eight games. The three games of lefty-vs.-lefty matchups (the first time that has happened in the major leagues since 1995) should give Washington’s righty-dominated lineup a break and provide an ideal setting for catcher Paul Lo Duca to come off the 15-day disabled list.
— Ben Goessling
CHAT EXCERPT
Each Wednesday beat writer Mark Zuckerman answers fans’ questions on washingtontimes.com. To submit a question, e-mail natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com and read his responses at video1.washingtontimes.com/natsmailbag.
From Ryan in Rockville: Is it just me or is Lastings Milledge a subpar center fielder? He seems to get bad jumps on balls, and (Tuesday) night he should have given way to (Austin) Kearns on that fly ball.
Mark Zuckerman: Milledge is, shall we say, a bit raw out there, just as he is in several other facets of his game. He has misread a few balls so far, including the one (Tuesday) night that he was able to compensate for and wind up making a sprawling catch. More troublesome to me is his lack of baseball-smarts in certain cases, such as the fly ball he took from Kearns (on Tuesday night). He needs to know that with a runner on second, Kearns has a better angle to make the throw to third and thus should get to make the catch. These are all things the Nationals are trying to pound into Milledge’s head, but he obviously has plenty more to learn.
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