John Lannan triumphs as Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 – MLB Update
John Lannan put in a good performance as the Washington Nationals defeated Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Nationals Park, Washington on Wednesday, June 1.
The talented starting pitcher of Washington, backed by an equally good offence, pitched with flawless execution and won the team this highly anticipated victory against the Phillies. Lannan pitched brilliantly to guide his team and restrict the Phillies.
However, much that Lannan did to deal a severe blow to Phillies’ offence, Roy Oswalt was equally displeased with the decision to remove him when he pitched into the sixth inning.
"That's their decision. He's the manager of the team. I don't question too much of that, but that's the first time I've been taken out at 79 pitches," Oswalt said. "We'll see how it goes.”
Overly thrilled by the victory and mildly amused over the misspelling of his name, Lannan said, "It would be great if they got my name right. I never pitch well against them -- and today was just different. It was like it was in slow motion, him coming in
and making the catch.”
The fact remains that it was the second consecutive win for Washington and as many defeats for the Phillies, only a night after they beat Philadelphia 10-2.
Lannan had a fairly good start on Wednesday when the game commenced, attended by eager fans of the Nationals positively hoping for another win. Their team did not disappoint.
On an otherwise blisteringly hot atmosphere, Oswalt gave up two hits and allowed one run in the very first inning. It was Jayson Werth who singled left, enabling Roger Bernadina to score. This gave a favourably early 1-0 lead to Nationals, which did not
last long.
Carlos Ruiz levelled the score in the second inning for the Phillies, through an error by third baseman, Alex Cora.
While Lannan kept pitching solid innings, Laynce Nix hit the tiebreaking run in the fourth inning, giving a 2-1 lead to the Nationals.
The game then remained effectively in the hands of Lannan with his rapidly increasing pace and Drew Storen pitched a brilliant shut-out ninth inning to win a comfortable 2-1 win for the Nationals.
It will be interesting to see how the Nationals carry their winning momentum into the next game. The Phillies put in a good performance, but their offence was unable to pull off a victory.
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