Feels good, doesn’t it? Two series wins in a row - impressive victories over good clubs. It sure seems like things are finally falling into place, led by a series of strong starts by our pitchers.
After an off day on Monday, the Nats came back ready on Tuesday. We beat the Braves 6-3 on the back of Ryan Zimmerman. The slumping third baseman went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double.
In the third inning, Glavine gave up back to back home runs to Zimmerman and Johnson to put the Nats ahead 2-1. In the 6th inning, Chipper Jones hit a home run off of Redding to tie the game. But the Nats answered back in the bottom of the 7th inning. Pena singled, Lopez walked and Guzman singled to load the bases. Zimmerman’s double scored Pena and Lopez. Then, with two outs, Milledge doubled to left, scoring Guzman and Zimmerman.
Tim Redding went 6 innings with 2 runs on 4 hits. Rivera and Ayala pitched two scoreless innings before Manny decided to bring in Chad Cordero for the 9th. It wasn’t a save situation, but it was a cold night. Chief gave up 2 hits before being taken out with a sore shoulder. Rauch managed to get out of the inning only allowing one of Cordero’s runners to score. The celebration was marred by a looming injury to our young closer, revealed today to be a tear in his shoulder adductor. Chief is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks. The Nationals have placed Cordero on the DL, but have not yet made a corresponding move to add someone to the roster.
We decided to check out the Red Loft on Tuesday and really enjoyed the spot. It’s great for catching up with friends and offers a pretty great view of the whole park. The prices seemed consistent with the rest of the ballpark. It’s definately a great place to catch a game.
Tonight, the Nats did it again, this time with the heroics of Felipe Lopez. We couldn’t make the 4:30 start (our first skipped home game of 2008), so we headed to Potomac for the rehab starts instead. We missed most of the game but were pleased to hear that Lopez drove in the winning run in the 12 inning after Atlanta had gotten ahead in the top of the inning.
Hill went an impressive 8 innings with only 4 hits and 1 run. Rauch and Ayala pitched well in the 9th and 10th innings. Rivera’s 11th was fine, but his struggle in the 12th allowed the Braves to score. The guys fought back hard in the bottom of the inning and Felipe showed us yet again why he belongs.
Tomorrow, the Nats start a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s Dmitri Young bobblehead night, so get there early! Odalis Perez, 0-3 (3.31) takes on Zach Duke, 0-2 (5.34) in the 7:10 start.
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