Washington Nationals claim series win defeating Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 as Danny Espinosa improves-MLB
Switch hitter Danny Espinosa finally shines on the plate hitting a double in the sixth as he takes the Washington Nationals to a 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 21, 2012 in third game of the three match series.
Nationals clinch series win, a befitting reply to all the drama being witnessed on Tuesday. Issue of pine tar had triggered exchange of harsh statements from both the managers.
As the Nationals manager Davey Johnson was termed a coward after the incident by his counterpart, convincing victory on Thursday will do well to remind the Rays about the dominance they can show.
While Washington offence has been quiet over the last few weeks, on Thursday it stood up at a time when it matter the most.
The fact the starter Gio Gonzalez had given up two runs and thus it was likely that the Rays will take advantage from a struggling offence of the club and will go on to win.
In an exceptional show of timely wake-up, hitters rallied around the pitchers and provided due run-support.
Another area which saw the Nationals improving was number of walks they drew in the game. Normally a side which helps opposing pitchers avoids walking by showing impatience on plate as they managed six walks on Thursday.
Although the Nationals struck just seven hits, they made most of them by covering maximum possible bases and posting reasonable number of runs.
Best part of the game was the kind of fortified that the Nationals’ relievers became during later half of the game. As Gonzalez left the mound, relievers came and went through scoreless for rest of the innings.
Relief pitcher Tyler Clippard had another perfect game as he recorded 11th save of the season by throwing a scoreless ninth.
Johnson was ecstatic over the triumph, taking positives from the way players put aside off-field drama and focused on the play.
"I'm glad we're past all this other stuff. That wears me out more than anything," Davey Johnson said.
The series turned out to be great for Washington in many ways. They snapped rising losing streak and got their hitters begin capitalising on hits appropriately.
They will like to continue the same way in the games to come.
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