Not everything has gone right for the Nationals in the first six innings here, but it’s pretty close. They’re up 3-0 heading into the seventh, looking at a possible series win over the Yankees.
The Nationals scored two in the fourth inning off Joba Chamberlain, who’s continued to struggle throwing strikes through the middle innings of this game. He’s walked four batters, including three in the fourth inning.
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And Craig Stammen has continued to get through an aggressive (or antsy) Yankees lineup very quickly. He’s thrown 62 pitches in six innings, getting nine ground ball outs to this point.
Washington has also made a couple of slick defensive plays—Ryan Zimmerman’s diving stop in the fourth and Anderson Hernandez going deep in the hole behind second to deny Johnny Damon a hit in the sixth. Austin Kearns also threw out Nick Swisher as the right fielder tried to stretch a single into a double in the fifth. Had Swisher reached, he probably would have scored on Hideki Matsui’s ensuing single.
That’s not to say the Nationals have been perfect. They’ve already left four runners in scoring position, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth.
But they’re into the seventh with the lead for the third night in a row at Yankee Stadium. That has to count for something.
