What a difference a few days and some fresh faces can make. This weekend fans got what they’ve been asking for all season: watchable baseball. The sweep was just a bonus. Energized by new faces Bonifacio and Gonzalez, the Nats defeated the Reds in three straight games, including a come from behind late inning win on Saturday night.
What worked? Pretty much everything.
On Friday, Odalis took the mound for 7 and 1/3 innings with a 1 run, 3 hit outing. On a day when the youngsters took all the headlines, Perez looked excellent.
The new and improved line-up really backed up his efforts. The Nats put 2 runs up in the first and another three in the second. Gonzalez and Dukes both hit doubles, Milledge hit a triple, and Flores hit a 2 RBI single. Bonifacio also swiped a base.
Saturday was one of the most exciting games of the season. For the first time, in a long time, fans were excited. You could just feel it sweep over the park. Bergmann struggled early, getting rocked in the 2nd inning with 5 runs. He battled back pitching through six innings. It was 6-2 when Manny handed the game to his bullpen. Manning, Ayala and Rivera were stellar in relief, holding the Reds quiet in the late innings.
Their good work was bolstered by game changing rallies in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings. In the 6th, Gonzalez doubled before Belliard hit a home run. Bonifacio followed up with a triple (yeah, he’s fast). In the 7th, a string of singles brought in 4 runs. Milledge added some insurance in the 8th with a solo shot, bringing the score to 10-6.
Sunday brought about more good defense, more good work by the bullpen, Joel Hanrahan’s first save and a sweep of the Reds. In 5 1/3, Balester gave up only a solo shot to Votto. He struck out five. Shell and Manning completed their frames without any problems to put the save opportunity into Hanrahan’s hands. Joel gave up a home run to Patterson but struck out two to pick up the save.
All of the offense came early in the game, jump started by Milledge’s ninth home run. The Nats capitalized on an Adam Dunn error to bring in 4 runs in the first inning. That’s all they would need to take the win.
It was a refreshing weekend for fans. Really, most of us had hit some kind of breaking point in that ugly July. We all deserved better baseball and an opportunity to get a glimpse of the future in action.
The Nats now head to Denver to take on the Rockies for a four game series. The probable pitcher is TBA, though it should be Tim Redding to face Aaron Cook (3.53, 14-6).
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