The Washington Nationals had a lead in San Francisco but lost it in the bottom of the eighth inning along with the game. They got some decent starting pitching but they ended up losing the game 6-4. They are now 38-63 this season.
Collin Balester started for Washington but couldn’t last any longer than five innings. In his five innings of work he gave up three earned runs. Balester also walked two and struck out two. Luis Ayala came on in the 8th with a 4-3 lead. When he left his club was down 6-4. Ayala is now 1-6 on the season with an ERA of 5.77.
Ryan Zimmerman helped carry the offense as he mashed out three hits, all singles. Willie Harris, Paul LoDuca, and Ryan Langerhans all had two hits for the Nationals and Langerhans had a double. Catcher Jesus Flores hit a solo home run, his sixth of the season. Once again the Nationals failed to cash in on many chances as they left 11 men on base.
On Thursday afternoon the Nationals were completely shut down by Matt Cain of the Giants as they lost 1-0. Cain threw a complete game shut out and gave up only four hits. Tim Redding started for the Nats and was almost as good. Redding last eight innings and gave up one run while striking out five. Redding is now 7-5 this season. Ryan Zimmerman and Cristian Guzman each doubled but the Nationals just didn’t have many scoring chances against Cain.
The Nationals will stay out west and start a series with the Dodgers on Friday. John Lannan is scheduled to start the opener. Game time is 10:40pm.