Chad Billingsley shines as Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Washington Nationals 3-1 – MLB Update
Chad Billingsley washed away the Washington Nationals batting line-up with his devastating sinkers and bunters to take the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 win at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 24 to take the three-game series 2-1.
After conceding a lead-off single to the Nationals’ Michael Morse in the top of the first inning utilised his bombing throws to rule out the opposing batters. The right-hander six-foot pitcher punched-out ten batters, allowing only two walks and two hits
over seven innings.
Despite having an inconsistent record in 2011 season, the Ohio state resident did not let the spectators sit silently on their seats. He tossed 73 strikes of 115-pitch count to improve his record to 9-8 with 3.92 ERA.
Pitching coach Tick Honeycutt made an unusual early visit to Billingsley in the first inning. It was an embarrassing situation for a 5-year veteran ball thrower but he kept his head cool and did not give the coach another chance to enter the field.
"I wasn't really in a panic mode," Billingsley said. "I felt good out there and I thought I had good stuff. It was just a matter of making pitches when I needed to. Then I was able to settle down and get deep into the game."
After Billingsley completed his spell and handed the ball to reliever Kenley Jansen in the top of the eighth inning, manager Don Mattingly felt satisfied. He also impressed Aaron Miles, who scored an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to take his
team into 2-1 lead.
Miles said, "Bills won that game for us today and really showed a low of heart in that first inning. When you are looking at bases loaded, nobody out, you are thinking the worst. And for him to just shut the door like that and just cruise the rest of the
way, that was huge."
James Loney scored the third run in the bottom of the third inning but the Nationals’ starter Jason Marquis also struggled hard to restrict the Dodgers. He tossed six innings, allowed five hits and four walks to bear his fifth loss of the season.
His reliever Sean Burnett and closer Todd Coffey also pitched perfectly to provide a chance to their batters.
It was the 45th win for the Dodgers in the Majors and the 25th at home. With this win, they are now at fourth position in National League Western. San Diego Padres is the only team who is chasing them with 44 wins and 58 losses in the
2011 MLB regular season.
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