Flores’ homer sends Lannan, Nats to win

John Lannan hasn’t exactly found himself in this position often - holding on to a slim lead in the sixth inning and tossing a shutout, yet needing to give way to a pinch hitter in an attempt to expand that lead to a more comfortable level.

A lesser pitcher might not hand over his lineup spot so willingly, might try to persuade his manager to leave him in.

Lannan, though, knew the situation Wednesday night called for a pinch hitter. The Washington Nationals get only so many opportunities to blow a game open, and Lannan gets only so many opportunities to earn a victory.

So when Jesus Flores stepped up in his place and hit a three-run homer, propelling the Nationals to a 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park, Washington’s young left-hander was first among those leading the cheers.

“That’s great,” Lannan said. “I wanted to go out there for the next inning, but I’ll take five runs any day.”

Five runs?

Lannan would have taken two runs of offensive support in most of his starts over the last month. The 23-year-old had been pitching well, posting a 3.83 ERA over his last eight starts (six of them quality starts), yet was 0-5 during that stretch because of a complete lack of help from his teammates.

The last time the Nationals scored five runs for Lannan was May 8.

Through it all, though, Lannan never complained. And even in victory Wednesday night, he was less concerned about his own personal accomplishment than in securing Washington’s first win in seven games.

“It’s great to end the losing streak,” said Lannan, who improved to 5-9. “That’s all I care about - going out there and getting a win. It doesn’t matter when I got my last win.”

The Nationals appeared to be wasting another solid performance from their starter, finding every which way not to take advantage of ineffective Arizona right-hander Micah Owings. In 5 2/3 innings, Owings (6-8) walked five batters and hit three more, including Ronnie Belliard and Paul Lo Duca in succession in the second.

Yet Washington managed to score just one run over that stretch, and that was on a bases-loaded walk to No. 8 hitter Kory Casto.

“I felt that we could have taken more advantage of his struggles on the mound today,” manager Manny Acta said.

Fortunately, Lannan was up to the challenge. The rookie pitched six shutout innings, giving up just two hits and three walks.

Sitting on 85 pitches after six innings, Lannan appeared ready for at least one more. But given the Nationals’ offensive struggles and a rare opportunity to add to a lead, Acta made the call to pinch-hit for his starter in the sixth.

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