John Lannan went seven strong, and the Nats got back to .500 with a win against theBrewers. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Nationals 5, Brewers 3: Last season, the Nationals won five games in all of April. Considering that, a celebration of getting to .500 after ten games doesn’t seem like such a ridiculous idea. Ace John Lannan appears to have shaken off the rust, and the offense delivered some clutch hitting in the bottom of the eighth inning to overturn a deficit against Milwaukee. Lannan was fantastic, getting big outs when he needed them, and Matt Capps remained perfect with his fifth save in five chances. Reliever Brian Bruney picked up the win, but it really belonged Lannan, who dropped his ERA from 8.31 to 5.75 with a 103-pitch effort.
Lacking Ryan Zimmerman (relegated to a pinch-hitting role with a bad hamstring) and Adam Dunn — ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes — the Nationals played a lot of small ball. Smart hitting and bunting by Adam Kennedy and Ian Desmond led the rally in the eighth and the Nats played solid defense, stole bases, and performed most of the fundamentals the right way. It was a departure from the usual brand of Nationals baseball, which has normally been of the club-you-more-than-you-club-us-and-hope variety. Asked what having Zimmerman and Dunn out meant to him, manager Jim Riggleman said, “if you pitch good, you’ve got a chance anyway.” Of course, a homer and a diving double play by the post-game silver-wigged Josh Willingham doesn’t hurt, right skip?
