Dunn’s bat leads Nationals over Padres
After hitting two home runs on Wednesday evening in Washington, Adam Dunn saw that his team, the Washington Nationals, weren’t out of danger just yet. The Nationals were clinging to just a one-run advantage, leading the San Diego Padres 6-5.
So he hit another one.
Dunn’s third home run of the evening turned out to be the decisive one as well, as the Padres would score again in the ninth, meaning Dunn’s solo shot stood as the game winner.
Nationals’ starter J.D Martin picked up his first win on the season after dropping his first four games after a relatively strong outing. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and surrendered just two earned runs while striking out four batters and walking one, bringing his ERA to 3.35 thus far this season. From there the bullpen had to keep busy and had an iffy performance, with four pitchers pitching the last 10 outs and giving up four runs in the process. But even though he let in a run, Matt Capps picked up an impressive 23rd save on the season.
Jon Garland had a tough time for the Padres, allowing six runs over six innings and also getting teed off for three home runs during that period, including two by Dunn. His bullpen was more solid, giving up one run over the rest of the game, including Joe Thatcher allowing Dunn’s third blast before being pulled, but by then the damage had been done.
Home run duel
There was plenty of offence in a game with seven home runs. Alex Gonzalez started it off with a solo shot in the first, but Washington came back with a four-run innings capped by a three-run shot by Dunn. Gonzalez drove in another run in the 3rd, with Dunn and Ian Desmond adding more home runs before pinch hitter Chris Denorfia hit one out of the park for the Padres. Finally with the score 7-5 Matt Stairs gave Nationals fans a scare by knocking out of the park to make it 7-6 in the ninth, but that was the last run of the game.
Dunn does Padres in
Dunn said the difference in Wednesday’s game was seeing the right pitches and making better contact.
“It’s pretty cool to hit three homers, but the last one, since we won, was obviously the biggest,” Dunn said. “I don’t feel any different than I have in the past. I got pitches to hit tonight and didn’t foul them off like I’ve been doing.”
Stairs’ last blast may have been unnerving to home team fans, but Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said he was confident Capps had it under control.
“If we’ve got a three-run lead he might give up one or two, if we’ve got a one-run lead he generally puts a zero up there,” Riggleman said. “He’s right there at the top of the lead in saves, and that speaks for itself.”
After the game Garland was apologetic for his performance, saying his problem was allowing the big-run innings, like the four-run first innings Wednesday to put his team in an early hole.
“I’ve been getting killed in one inning,” Garland said. “In one inning, I’ve got to cut it down. Because of that I haven’t been giving us a chance to win ballgames.”
Nationals picking up their bats
While they sit at the bottom of the NL East division, now sporting a 38-47 record, recently the Nationals haven’t been playing like sub .500 club. They have three wins in their last four, and more importantly have shown their bats are on fire, scoring 24 runs in their last four games.
The Padres meanwhile will want to avoid a sweep Thursday night, though they still sit three games above their nearest divisional challengers, the L.A Dodgers. Still a top team getting swept by a bottom-dwelling team wouldn’t look good going towards the All-Star break, and they’ll want to pull out all the stops on Thursday.
Tags: