ST. LOUIS — Less than a week into the season, the Washington Nationals already have established an unwillingness to go down meekly against any opponent.
They came back late on Opening Night to beat the Atlanta Braves. They stormed back on the road to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. And they fought like crazy to do it again last night in St. Louis.
The Nationals, though, might want to try the more conventional route of taking an early lead and holding onto it for a change. They can pull off only so many comebacks, and indeed last night they came up just a tad short in suffering a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Trailing 5-1 after sleepwalking through much of the evening’s first six innings, Washington started hitting. It scored three times in the seventh inning, drawing within a run. And the Nationals had both the tying and go-ahead runs on in the ninth against closer Jason Isringhausen.
But that’s as close as they could get. Ronnie Belliard swung and missed a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner, and Felipe Lopez was caught looking at a full-count breaking ball at the knees for the final out of the game.
All told, the Nationals stranded 13 men on base.
“I thought we played a good ballgame,” manager Manny Acta said. “These guys are not going to come through in every opportunity they have with runners in scoring position. We battled.”
Cristian Guzman ignited the seventh-inning rally with a solo homer off reliever Russ Springer, and that set in motion a flurry of hits against the Cardinals bullpen. Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman each singled, forcing Tony La Russa to play matchups and summon lefty Ron Villone to face Nick Johnson. Four balls later, the bases were loaded and La Russa was back at the mound signaling for rookie Kyle McClellan.
The young right-hander managed to freeze Austin Kearns looking at a 2-2 slider for a big strikeout, but he then walked Paul Lo Duca to force in a run and watched as Belliard smoked a line drive off third baseman Troy Glaus’ glove for an RBI single that made it 5-4 and left the crowd of 37,191 restless.
Alas, the rally died there. Lopez struck out, and pinch-hitter Willie Harris grounded out to short, leaving Washington a run short of completing another comeback.
“That’s part of the game,” Acta said. “There are times when we’re going to come back, and there are times when we’re going to have a lead early and hold it. We can’t call this some type of a trend. It’s only been five games into the season.”
The failed rally left starter Odalis Perez on the hook for the loss.
Perez made the Nationals’ rotation (and earned the Opening Night nod) in large part because he showed this spring he could hit the strike zone with great frequency. Last night, he didn’t have the same control.
Perez fell behind nearly every batter he faced, and even when he threw strikes the Cardinals pounced on him.
Brian Barton led off the first with a double down the left-field line. Rick Ankiel, the former pitching prodigy-turned-outfielder, then launched Perez’s next pitch into the right-field stands for a two-run homer. Slugger Albert Pujols nearly duplicated the feat, but his swing on a 3-0 pitch from Perez merely resulted in a double off the center-field wall.
So, to recap: Nine pitches into his evening, Perez had allowed two doubles and a homer. Not exactly what he or the Nationals were looking for.
The tone for the night had been set, and it wasn’t going to change. Perez couldn’t locate throughout and wound up walking four batters (one intentionally) and hitting another. After four innings with the Cardinals up 4-1, he had thrown 95 pitches.
Acta, though, decided to let Perez take the mound for the fifth. He didn’t remain there long. Ryan Ludwick doubled, Yadier Molina singled him home and Acta took Perez out.
Perez’s final line: five runs on eight hits and four walks in four-plus innings, raising his ERA from 1.80 to 6.00.
“He just didn’t throw enough strikes,” Acta said. “He didn’t have very good command of his fastball, and he just didn’t pitch ahead enough. He’s got better command than that. He just didn’t have it today.”
SEEN AND HEARD AT BUSCH STADIUM
ST. LOUIS — Here’s a kooky ballpark promo you probably haven’t seen before. Before last night’s game, the scoreboard at Busch Stadium touted the fact that it was 48 degrees. If, however, the temperature dropped below 43 degrees at any point before the end of the game, every fan in attendance would win a free tanning session at a local parlor. Have you ever been to St. Louis? It’s perhaps the pastiest city in America. I’m not sure anyone here would even know how to get a tan if given the opportunity.
BY THE NUMBERS
4 Consecutive games in which the Nationals entered the ninth inning either tied or ahead by one run.
TODAY’S GAME
Nationals LHP Matt Chico (0-0, 5.06) vs. Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (14-12, 3.70 in 2007), 1:10 p.m., MASN, AM-1500, FM-107.7.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.