GB&U: Muscled Out in Milwaukee

RESULT: Nats fall to Brewers 5-4 in 13 innings.

GOOD: John Lannan. Six innings of one-hit ball. This guy can't buy a break.

Lastings Milledge. He's been on a tear this week. Sunday he went 3-for-6 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for6, Ronnie Belliard went 2-for-5 and Cristian Guzman went 2-for-6. Austin Kearns hit his monthly home run.

BAD: Emilio! Bonifacio went 0-for-6 and is hitless in his last 17 at bats. Also, our pinch-hitters went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

UGLY: Luis Ayala. Now that Wily Mo is gone, do we need to re-name the "Ugly" award? One batter faced. One home run allowed. One Loss. ERA stands at 6.04. This is what his manager had to say about him after the game:

"We can't even hide him now," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "He comes into situations like this and he's just not making pitches."

That ain't good.

NEXT GAME: Nats try to avoid the 4-game sweep at 2:05 eastern, Garrett Mock makes the start (0-2, 4.91) facing David Bush (6-9, 4.50)

GB&U: Shooting Blanks

RESULT: Nats shut out by Brewers, 6-0.

GOOD: Ronnie Belliard. Only Nats to have more than one hit in Ben Sheets' 5-hit shut out.

BAD: Nats Bats. They've all gone quiet against two of the top starters in the N.L. the last couple of days. Really shows the value of having legitimate Number One starters, especially if you've got two of them. If the Brewers hang on and make the playoffs, they'll be tough.

UGLY: Tim Redding. Redding has been the rock of the Nats staff all year, but this one was a stinker. 5 IP, 5 ERs, 7 hits, 5 BBs and three home runs. Redding's not the type of pitcher that can play around with walking guys. He did not have his "good stuff" tonight.

NEXT GAME: Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee. Hard-luck John Lannan (6-11, 3.55) faces Manny Parra (9-5, 4.18).

GB&U: Blanked in Beer City

RESULT: Nats shut out by Brewers 5-0.

GOOD: Not much. Lastings Milledge went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Jesus Flores went 2-for-4. They combined for four of the team's five hits against Brewers starter C.C. Sabathia.

BAD: There weren't a lot of hits, but Milledge and Flores were able to get on base. Ronnie Belliard, hitting in the line-up directly behind the two however, went 0-for-3 and left 4 men on base.

UGLY: Jesus Colome. Seems like every time he pitches he gives up a run. No different last night. 2 IP, 2 BBs, solo home run to J.J. Hardy.

NEXT GAME: Tonight vs the Brew Crew at 7:05 eastern. Tim Redding (8-6, 4.44) against Ben Sheets (10-5, 3.14).

Some Love for the Moose

This is not about the Nationals, but it is about baseball. Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports has an interview with Mike Mussina, my second favorite baseball player of all-time. Please enjoy.

Mussina won his 16th game of the season last night, and has that elusive 20-win mark within his reach this season. It's completely irrational to say a player has had less of a career if he hasn't won 20 games in one season, especially in this day and age. It's a completely different game now, and pitchers need to have a lot of things go their way to win 20 games today.

He has 265 wins, a lifetime .637 winning percentage, six gold gloves, five all-star selections and has spent his entire career in the AL East.

Best of luck and health to Moose the rest of the way in. I hope he wins all of his starts -- and the Yankees still not make the playoffs.

GB&U: Just As Good Second Time Around

RESULT: Nats beat Colorado 6-3 in Game Two of double-header.

GOOD: Odalis Perez. 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 hits, 1 BB, 1 K. Looked as strong as he has all year long. Did he clear waivers? Willie Harris. 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs. Wil Nieves. 2-for-5, 2 RBIs! EMILIO! -for-5, RBI, SB.

BAD: Kory Casto. 0-for-4, .208 for the year. Pete Orr, 0-for-5. Pew!

UGLY: The Rockies claimed Livan Hernandez off waivers from the Minnesota Twins and expect him to be in uniform Friday. Look, I love Livan as much as the next guy. You gotta appreciate how he takes the ball every fifth day and throws 110 itches. But his shelf life has expired, and the Rockies are simply fooling themselves if: 1) They think he can contribute to a pennant chase; and 2) They think they are IN a pennant chase.

INJURY UPDATE: Guz pinch-hit and played short in Game 2, so it looks like he's back. Zim was 1-for-4 in the nightcap. Alberto Gonzalez still not playing. Tim Redding was hit by a ball in the leg during BP. Hopefully he can out unscathed.

NEXT GAME: Tonight at 8:05 eastern against Milwaukee. Collin Balester (2-3, 4.55) versus C.C. Sabathia (11-8, 3.28). This, my friends, is known as a "reverse lock".

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: Day Trippin'

RESULT: Nats beat Rockies 6-3 in Game 1 of double-header.

GOOD: Lastings Milliedge. Two no-doubt-about-it homers and a run scoring single. He's fairly mashing the ball these days. Jason Bergmann! Good Jason shows up in the sunshine. 7 IP, 1 ER (Holliday's homer), 7 hits, 2 BBs and 7 Ks. Good day's work. Emilio!, Zim and Belly all had two hits apiece.

BAD: Kearns, Flores and Guz (GUZ!) all 0-for-4, though Guz walked once and scored in his first start in 11 days. Word has it he needed to introduce himself to Emilio! at second base whenthe Rockies came to bat.

UGLY: Dukes to the DL. I talked about it earlier, but this is really a bummer. The team is going out of its way to say this is a calf strain, but one has to wonder if it's not related to rushing back from knee surgery less than five weeks ago. A lost season for Dukes, too. Would have been fun to watch him develop teh next 45 games. He needs those at bats.

INJURY UPDATE: In addition to the above, Boy oh boy Alberto missed again with his "glute" injury.

NEXT GAME: Already underway! Odalis got the first two, walked Holliday and grooved one to Atkins who didn't miss it. 2-0 Rocks after one full. Ubaldo Jiminez on the hill for Colorado. he needed 17 pitches in the first, so maybe this ends up one of those old fashioned Coors Field football games.

Nats Win Game One Behind Milledge, Bergmann

Denver -- The Washington Nationals had to get to work a little earlier Thursday than usual due to the rainout of Wednesday night's game against Colorado. But when you're playing good ball and on a semi-roll like the Nats are right now, you want to get back on the field as quickly as you can anyway. In game one of the afternoon double-header, the Nats rode strong starting pitching by Jason Bergmann and two home runs by CF Lastings Milledge to defeat the reeling Colorado Rockies 6-3 at Denver's Coors Field. Washington has now won five of their last six games.

Bergmann and Rockies starter Jeff Francis -- making his first start since being returned to the roster from the 15-day disabled list -- matched each other pitch-for-pitch for four innings, each being economical with hits and walks, perhaps due to the early start time after the long rain delay the previous evening. But the Nats finally got to Francis in the fifth -- in a big way. Lastings Milledge drilled a fastball over 400 feet for a home run to get the party started for the visiting Nationals. 1B Ronnie Belliard (2-for-4) followed with a double to the right field wall, and LF Willie Harris doubled him in. 2B Emilio Bonifacio (2-for-5) then smacked his third triple in a week to score Harris, and the Nats took a 3-0 lead.

Washington would continue to pound Francis (L, 3-8, 5.81) in the sixth. Ryan Zimmerman (2-for-5) led off with a bunt single, but was erased at second as RF Austin Kearns grounded into a fielder's choice. But with Kearns at first, Milledge came up and blasted his second home run of the game to deep left field, and raised the Nats lead to 5-0. The Nats scored a security run in the top of the seventh against Rockies reliever Jason Grilli. Cristian Guzman, starting for the first time in eleven days, walked and Grilli allowed Kearns to reach on a throwing error, putting men on the corners for Milledge. The center fielder delivered once again, drilling a pitch into center field, scoring Guzman to make the count 6-0. Milledge finished 3-for-4 with two home runs (10, 11) and four RBIs. It was his second career two-homer day, his first with the Nationals.

Jason Bergmann, meanwhile, was on cruise control by that point, putting up nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard. By the time Matt Holliday reached him in the eighth inning with a solo shot (22) to center, this game was well in hand. Rookie Steven Shell tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, allowing C Yorvit Torrealba's fifth home run of the season, a two-run blast. But closer Joel Hanrahan came on to retire the side, earn his second save, and put this one in the books for DC. Bergmann finished seven innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits and two walks, striking out seven. The victory raises his season record to 2-8, 4.13.

Game two starts at 6:35 pm eastern, with Odalis Perez (4-8, 4.16) facing Ubaldo Jiminez (8-9, 3.61) for Colorado.

NATS NOTES: The win makes Washington 43-71, 19 games out of the NL East lead.

Before the game, OF Elijah Dukes was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained calf muscle. A report indicated that the MRI exam of Elijah Dukes' bothersome right calf revealed a strain far more significant than the team first believed, and as a result, Dukes, the team's starting left fielder, will miss four to six weeks.

RHP Garrett Mock was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to take Dukes' spot on the roster. This is Mock's fourth stint with the big league club this year.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

Sign of Things to Come

Noted while watching Game 1 of the doubleheader on Gamecast at "work":

--Guz returns. He's hitting second today behind Emilio! the team would be better suited all the way around with Milledge inthe 2 slot and Guz 7th or 8th, but with Dukes out Milledge needs to be further down in the order. The positive here is that Manny realizes Bonifacio needs to be the lead-off hitter and Guz does not.

--Man, does this team need to find a power-hitting first baseman to put into the clean-up spot. having that one bat would allow other players to slot in a more natural spot in the batting order.

--Extreme bummer about Dukes, but it continues the disturbing pattern of the Nats medical staff taking the player's opinion about their injury at face value instead of immediately doing MRIs to eveluate the injury, leaving the player unavailable to the manager for days until proper diagnosis. Is the team so cheap they are trying to get away with medical opinion without doing MRI until absolutely necessary? I would hope not, but...

BREAKING NEWS: Dukes to DL: UPDATE for 4-6 weeks!!!

Straight from the horse's mouth:

The Washington Nationals today placed outfielder Elijah Dukes on the 15-Day Disabled List, retroactive to August 3, with a right calf strain and recalled right-handed pitcher Garrett Mock from Columbus of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.Mock returns for a fourth stint with the Nationals this season. To date, the rookie has posted a 5.27 ERA

(8 ER/13.2 IP) in five games/two starts with Washington. During his most-recent stint with Washington, which came in late July, Mock fired 3.0 one-hit scoreless innings of relief spanning three appearances, during which did not issue a walk, fanned five and posted a batting average against of .091 (1-for-11).

The 25 year-old Mock was 6-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 19 games/17 starts for Columbus. Mock’s strikeout-to-walk ratio in the International League was a stellar 3.8/1 (96 strikeouts/25 walks), and he currently ranks fourth in the IL in ERA.

Dukes, 24, is batting .264 (48-for-182) with six home runs and 23 RBI in 54 games with the Nationals this season. Among those with 200 plate appearances, his .364 on-base percentage leads all Nationals. This is Dukes’ third trip to the Disabled List this season. His previous DL stints were due to right-hamstring and right-knee issues.

And now this from the Washington Redskins Newspaper (I mean, the Post):

An MRI exam of Elijah Dukes's bothersome right calf revealed a strain far more significant than the team first believed, and as a result, Dukes, the team's starting left fielder, will miss four to six weeks.

Bottom(feeder) Line: Ugh. Just when you think you're out, they pull you right back in...

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: The Return of Ugly!!!

RESULT: Nats Lose to Rockies 8-2.

GOOD: Snakebit John Lannan. 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Made one mistake to Ian Stewart and it cost him. Other than that, had the Rocks off-balance all night. It's good to know that event he feel-good August Nationals still don't hit for Lannan.

BAD: Ronnie Belliard. Inexcusable for him to get caught at third base on a ball hit right at him. At least break for home and make Barmes throw you out instead of jsut standing there and allwoing yourself to be TAGGED out to start the unconventional 5-tag-3 double play. This just two pitches trying to get thrown out stealing third on a whiffed bunt attempt.

UGLY: Never in the history of GB&U has there been a more appropriate series of events to take this distinction. Last night's eighth inning was ugly in every sense of the word. Three pitchers. Three bloop hits. Four walks. Two HBPs. RBIs on two BBs and one HBP. U-G-L-Y. Wouldn't mind seeing less of Ayala and more of Shell right now.

INJURY UPDATE: Why the hell isn't Guzman on the freaking disabled list?!? Last night was the 11th game he's missed!!! Oh, Zim finally played (1-for-3) and Dukes ran in the OF, but no timetable for return.

OTHER "NEWS": Stan says we aren't signing all our draft picks. He better be talking about draft picks other than Crow. Look, Nieto was never going to sign, it's why he dropped all the way to the fifth round. That's not shocking. But the team and Crow's reps had better come to an agreement, or there will be hell to pay on these here internets.

NEXT GAME: Tonight's rubber game against the Rocks. Odalis Perez (4-8, 4.16) versus Jeff Francis (3-7, 5.67) fresh off the 15-day DL. Look, a team that actually uses it's disabled list!

Bullpen Implodes to Waste Lannan's Effort; Nats Lose 8-2

Denver -- For six innings, Washington Nationals starting pitcher John Lannan cruised through the Colorado Rockies line-up like it was a minor league team. He mixed his off-speed pitches with fastballs on the corners to baffle last year's National League Champions. But a mistake to pinch-hitter Ian Stewart, turned around for a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, opened the door and the rest of the Rockies came crashing through in the eighth, scoring six runs against three Nationals relievers on just three hits, and Colorado wrested a victory where before it looked like another defeat. The loss snapped Washington's modest four-game winning streak since the Major League trade deadline of July 31.

Lannan's line for the night tells the story so often repeated for him this season: seven innings pitched, two earned runs on five hits and two walks with 8 strikeouts -- but no decision. It was just another hard-luck game for Lannan, whose record stands at 6-11 with a credible 3.55 ERA this season.

"He's given us a lot of quality starts without much to show for it," manager Manny Acta said. "He hasn't been the beneficiary of a lot of run support."

After Stewart's homer -- his fifth of the season -- things got plain weird for the Nats in the bottom of the eighth. Luis Ayala relieved Lannan and retired Jeff Baker on a ground out to first, but could do no more good. Slugging OF Matt Holliday flipped a double down the right field line that landed on the chalk, 1B Garrett Atkins drew a four-pitch walk and Ayala then hit C Chris Ianetta. Manager Manny Acta had seen all he cared to of Ayala (L, 1-7, 5.81) and called for lefty Charlie Manning. Rockies OF Brad Hawpe met Manning with a bloop single to shallow center that scored both Holliday and Atkins, with Ianetta moving up to second. SS Troy Tulowitzki, batting just .238 for the season, walked to load the bases. Manning managed to strike out Stewart for the second out, and then gave way to Saul Rivera, who had pitched brilliantly the night before. But there would be no magic in his right arm Tuesday night, as he hit OF Willie Tavares, walked Jeff Baker and allowed an infield single to Holiday, each play scoring a single run and further burying the Nats.

The ugly totals for the bottom of the eighth: three hits (none hit hard), four walks and two hit-by-pitches, resulting in six earned runs and one big loss for the Nationals. "You always see something new and I don't remember the last time I saw four walks and two hit by pitches in an inning," Acta said.

The Nats got their runs courtesy of poor defense again by the Rockies. In the second inning, Austin Kearns (2-for-4) singled, took third on an error by Garrett Atkins on a bunt play by Lastings Milledge, and scored on a sacrifice fly by C Jesus Flores. In the fifth inning, Ryan Langerhans led off with a walk, took second on a sacrifice by Lannan, advance to third on an Emilio Bonifacio ground out and scored on a wild pitch by Rockies starter Jorge de la Rosa.

Washington had a chance to increase their lead in the top of the seventh. 1B Ronnie Belliard led off with a single to left field and Langerhans followed up with another clean single, putting men at first and second with no outs. Lannon struck out trying to sacrifice, but Belliard stole third base anyway to get into scoring position. However, in one of the strangest plays in a night of strangeness, Bonifacio hit a one bouncer to third right in the direction of Belliard, who couldn't decide to advance or retreat. Instead, he did neither and 3B Clint Barmes fielded the ground ball, tagged Belliard quickly and threw to first to get the speedy Bonifacio by a step. Just like that, rally over.

And that's when the real weirdness started.

The Nationals go for the rubber game Wednesday at 9:05 eastern, sending Odalis Perez (4-8, 4.16) to the hill against Jeff Francis (3-7, 5.67), making his first start in more than a month on the disabled list with inflammation of his left (pitching) shoulder.

NATS NOTES: The loss drops the Nats record to 42-71, 19.5 games behind division-leading Philadelphia.

Colorado pitcher Manny Corpas pitched one inning, allowing two hits, to earn the win. His record is 2-3, 6.55.

Washington SS Alberto Gonzalez had an MRI on his injured backside. The team announced he has a "contusion" of the hamstring and is day-to-day.

Ryan Zimmerman returned to the line-up at 3B and went 1-for-3. SS Cristian Guzman and OF Elijah Dukes did not play.

Photos (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: Breaking Rocks All Day...

RESULT: Nats beat Rockies 9-4.

GOOD: Remember back to, oh, I don't know, middle of last week when it was hard to find a "Good" and limitless on the "Bad" and "Ugly"? Nah, me either!

Emilio! Remember, one-name nickname, like the Brazilian soccer players. 3-for-5, RBI, 2 runs. Another triple. He's fast. Wee Willie! 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 runs, home run (9)! Jesus Saves! 2-for-5, homer, 2 RBIs. Boy oh boy Alberto! 2-for-3 before contusing hit foot (day-to-day).



BAD: Ryan Langerhans. 0-for-4, 4 LOB. Someone's gotta do it.

UGLY: Rockies' defense. What's up with the poor D??? The Reds kicked it around like it was a kickball game, and the Rockies can't throw to the bases! I'll take it, but it goes to the deterioration of the game at large.

INJURY UPDATE: Zim pinch-hit, Mannny says he'll be back, maybe today. Guz (9 games) and Dukes (3 games) still sit.

NEXT GAME: Tonight at Coors Field, 9:05 eastern start. John Lannan (6-11, 3.61) takes on Jorge de la Rosa (5-6, 6.94) for Colorado.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

Nats Stay Hot In Colorado; Beat Rockies 9-4

Denver -- Despite not feeling his best, Washington Nationals pitcher Tim Redding found a way to keep his team in the game and hung around long enough that his teammates picked him up with a four-run fourth inning as he earned the victory in a 9-4 win over the Colorado Rockies before 33,143 purple-clad fans at Denver's Coors Field. The Nats pounded out 14 hits, including five extra-base hits, to chase all-star starter Aaron Cook and three Rockies relievers.

It was the Nationals fourth win in a row since August 1, the day Washington released veteran C Paul LoDuca and INF Felipe Lopez and traded for SS Alberto Gonzalez and activated 2B Emilio Bonifacio from the minor leagues.

Redding was a bit under the weather to start the game and he got roughed up in the first inning, allowing Matt Holliday's RBI double and Brad Hawpe's two-run single, all with no outs. But Redding, the team's de facto ace, bore down and retired the next three hitters to limit the damage and give the Nats a fighting chance. Redding (W, 8-6, 4.44) ended up going five innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks. He also struck out six Rockies, which was his saving grace on a night where he just wasn't as sharp as he would have liked. He even added a single, scored a run and made a nifty behind-the-back grab of a one-hop grounder by slugger Matt Holliday. The win was Redding's first since beating Houston on July 10. He had lost four straight starts since.

"After the first inning, and after the way we had been playing the last weekend, I knew if I kept the game relatively close we would come back and win," Redding said.

In the top of the second, Jesus Flores served notice that the Nats hitters would not go quietly on this evening, as he took a 2-1 fastball to deep left field for his eighth home run of the season. But the fireworks really started for the Nats in the third inning against Rockies all-start starter Aaron Cook. Redding himself started the damage, with a clean single to right field. Emilio Bonifacio (3-for-5, RBI, 2 runs) followed with a single of his own to put runners at first and second with none out. Willie Harris attempted to bunt them over, but Cook's throw to third got away, allowing Redding and Bonifacio both to score, with Harris ending up on second base.

"I should have thrown it into the stands; it would have only cost us one run," Cook said. "If I didn't throw that ball down the left-field line we would have been in the game."

Lastings Milledge then singled to left field and Harris moved up to third. Cook (L, 14-7, 3.63) walked Austin Kearns to load the bases, bringing up Jesus Flores. Flores grounded a routine ball to SS Troy Tulowitzki and the Rockies shortstop forced Kearns at second. But Kearns made a hard take-out slide and Tulowitzki air-mailed his throw to first, allowing Harris and Milledge both to score on the play. Just like that, the Nats had taken a 5-3 lead, one they would not surrender.

In fact, the Nats would add to that lead. In the sixth inning, Alberto Gonzalez singled, took second on Redding's sacrifice and third on a wild pitch. Gonzalez injured himself on the slide, categorized as a "foot contusion", and Pete Orr pinch-ran. Bonifacio tripled on the next pitch driving in Orr, and later scored on Harris' single to center. Harris would continue his hot streak, hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning -- his ninth of the year -- off reliever Matt Herges to close the scoring. Harris finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Washington faces the Rockies in game two of the three-games series Tuesday at 9:05 eastern. John Lannan (6-11, 3.61) faces Jorge de la Rosa (5-6, 6.94) for the Colorado.

NATS NOTES: After their fourth win in a row, the Nats record stands at 42-70, 19.5 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East.

Ryan Zimmerman pinch-hit for reliever Luis Ayala in the ninth inning. Manager Manny Acta hopes to be able to put Zimmerman in the line-up Tuesday night.

OF Elijah Dukes and SS Cristian Guzman both missed the game. It was Dukes' third straight and Guzman's ninth.

SS Alberto Gonzalez is listed as day-to-day with his injury. It is not considered serious.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

GB&U: Housecleaning Ends With Sweep

RESULT: Nats finish sweep of Reds 4-2.

GOOD: Collin Balestar. He looked very sharp against a struggling team. He went 5.1, allowing one earned (Votto's 14th homer) , six hits and two walks with five Ks. He moves his record to 2-3, 4.55. Lastings Milledge homered for the second day in a row. Austin Kearns was 3-for-4. Emilio Bonifacio was 2-for-4. Can we just call him Emilio, you know, like the soccer stars how they go by one name? Wouldn't that be cool?

BAD: Kory Casto. 1-for-4, three left on base. He's scuffling right now with full-time play.

UGLY: Cincy's Defense. They made just the one error today, but it was a big one: the ball that hopped over Dunn and went to the wall for two runs. The bloop by Nieves in the first should have been caught too, although Bob and Don on the TV thought it was a great piece of situational hitting, strategically hitting a weak pop fly 20 feet past the second baseman into the sun to make it an indefensible play. Ugh. No wonder only 9000 people watch on TV. And we get two more years of this?

INJURY UPDATE: Dukes, Zim and Guz all sit. Nothing like a two-man bench, eh Manny?

NEXT GAME: Tonight in Colorado against the Rockies. Tim Redding (7-6, 4.34) takes the mound against all-star Aaron Cook (14-6, 3.53).

Nats Finish Sweep; Beat Reds 4-2

Washington--In a duel of rookie starting pitchers, Washington's Collin Balestar was sharper, more focused and most importantly, got more help from his teammates than his oppponent Johnny Cueto, and the Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the visiting Cincinnati Reds Sunday 4-2, before 32,939 rejuvenated fans at Nationals Park.

Balestar, 22, making his sixth career start, held the Reds to one earned run over five and one-third innings, allowing six hits and two walks, striking out five. He raised his record to 2-3 and lowered his ERA to 4.55. He allowed a solo home run to Reds 1B Joey Votto (14th of the season) in the sixth inning and then turned the game over to the bullpen. Fellow rookies Steven Shell and Charlie Manning held the Reds down for two and two-thirds innings, and newly-appointed closer Joel Hanrahan earned his first save of his career, despite allowing a solo home run to OF Corey Patterson in the ninth inning, his seventh of the year. Hanrahan struck out the final two batters for emphasis after Patterson took him deep.

"I've been waiting on the opportunity," Hanrahan said. "I finished it up the way I wanted to -- with a strikeout. That's how I envisioned it. I didn't picture the home run in there, but that's all right."

Washington's offense did all their work in the first inning, scoring four runs -- three earned -- against Reds rookie Johnny Cueto (L, 7-11, 5.00) after two were out in the frame. Cueto started out dominant, striking out 2B Emilio Bonifacio and LF Willie Harris, both swinging weakly at breaking pitches. But Cueto left a fastball in the middle of the plate to OF Lastings Milledge, and he turned it around with a no-doubt-about-it swing to left that started the rally. It was Milledge's ninth of the season, and second in as many days. Austin Kearns then reached on a ground ball that 2B Brandon Phillips knocked down behind second base but couldn't make the throw on, and Kory Casto followed with a single to left that moved Kearns up 90 feet. Pete Orr, with a rare start on Sunday, singled cleanly to left field, but the ball took a funny hop on LF Adam Dunn, and the ball bounced over Dunn's head and went all the way to wall, plating Kearns and Casto, allowing Orr to slide safely into third on the play. It was ruled a single, one RBI and a two-base error on Dunn.

The Reds have been victimized by poor fielding the entire series, and the error in the bottom of the first just re-emphasized the point. "It's very frustrating because we're making stupid mistakes," Dunn said. "We're beating ourselves. We're obviously not getting hits. They're making every single play in the field -- and we're making none."

Wil Nieves followed Orr's big play with a bloop single to right field that Phillips couldn't track in the bright sunshine, and Orr walked home to make the lead 4-0. All that was left for the Nats was to play good defense and let the pitchers take care of the rest.

Added Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker: "With that shortstop and second baseman [SS Alberto Gonzalez and 2B Emilio Bonifacio], they're a different club -- much different club than we saw last time. They have lots more energy, more life, more creativity."

The Nationals start an eight game road trip to Colorado and Milwaukee Monday night at 9:05 Eastern. Tim Redding (7-6, 4.34) takes the mound against Rockies all-star Aaron Cook (14-6, 3.53).

NATS NOTES: The win raises Washington's record to 41-70, last in the NL East and 20 games behind division-leading Philadelphia.

Washington INF Aaron Boone, on the disabled list with a strained left calf, will travel to Florida to continue his rehabilitation with no timetable for his return.

OF Elijah Dukes (leg), 3B Ryan Zimmerman (hand) and SS Cristian Guzman (thumb) were unavailable. It was Zimmerman's third missed game and Guzman's eighth that he has not batted.

Photos (c) C. Nichols 2008.