Craig Stammen appreciates all the run support,but was just fine on his own, thank you very
much. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
- Nationals 13, Astros 2: Was this the most satisfying Nationals game in some time? (Uh, yeah.) Nick Johnson, Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn went back-to-back-to-back in the sixth inning against Astros reliever Felipe Paulino, and the Nats pounded out 21 hits — the most since the franchise moved to D.C. from Montreal — to obliterate Houston last night. Potentially lost in the offensive explosion: a fantastic outing by rookie Craig Stammen (2-4), who went the distance for his first career complete game. While Stammen’s performance was certainly impressive, the evening belonged to the bats: Willingham was the star of the evening. The outfielder raised his season average to .303 and had ten total bases, three runs, and four RBIs. Alberto Gonzalez had a four hits — heck, even Stammen doubled in a run and scored himself. Notably absent from the run-fest? Ryan Zimmerman, who missed his first game of the season in order to be at his families’ side after the death of his grandmother. Ronnie Belliard filled in at the hot corner.
Washington close out their series in Houston with some Sunday matinee baseball — Jordan Zimmermann (3-3) will take the mound against Brian Moehler (5-5) in a matchup of .500 pitchers. A win tomorrow would keep the Nationals over .300 going into the All-Star Break. (Ooh, yay.)
