"They made things happen in the fifth. That's the way it went. That's the way the whole road trip went." -- John Lannan, Sept. 2, 2009.
BOX SCORE AND RECAP
THE RESULT: Six straight San Diego Padres reached against John Lannan in the fifth inning after two outs were recorded, and five of them scored. With the way the Washington Nationals hit on the road trip, that's all that was needed.
Kevin Correia did the rest, shutting down the Nats -- recording 19 straight outs at one point -- in a 7-0 win before 14,468 Wednesday at Petco Park.
Lannan was cruising himself until the fifth inning. He'd allowed just one hit and three walks entering the frame. But an infield single and soft liner put runners on base for Adrian Gonzalez, and he slammed a shot to the wall in left that Willie Harris couldn't track down. Two batters later, Chase Headley lined a double to right field, and it was all over but the crying.
Lannan (L, 8-10, 4.09) gave up five earned runs total, on six hits and four walks, striking out three.
It wouldn't matter, however, as the Nationals hitters were still lifeless. They managed just four hits and two walks on the day, and Correia was never in trouble until the eighth, when he loaded the bases. Edward Mujica relieved and retired Alberto Gonzalez with a popup to end the inning.
THE TAKEAWAY: Interim manager Jim Riggleman gave most of the regular starters the day off. Cristian Guzman missed his third straight game with bunion problems and Josh Willingham sat to try to clear his head after his four strikeout performance Tuesday. That left Gonzalez, Pete Orr, Jorge Padilla and Justin Maxwell all in the starting lineup.
It's no wonder they mustered only four hits.
THE GOOD: Ryan Zimmerman. One of the few regulars in the lineup, he went 2-for-4,
THE BAD: Jorge Padilla. He went 0-for-3, lowering his average to .063. He is 1-for-16 since his recall.
THE UGLY: Well, that's six in a row since Nyjer Morgan's injury. And 13 losses in their last 16 games. Welcome to September.
NEXT GAME: Mercifully, off today. The Nationals return home Friday night for a three-game series with the Florida Marlins. Garrett Mock (3-6, 5.01) faces Sean West (6-5, 4.22) at 7:05 pm.
NOTES: Craig Stammen, complaining of soreness in his pitching elbow, will be evaluated and get an MRI when the team returns home.
The Nationals acquired 24-year old lefty reliever Victor Garate off waivers from the Dodgers to complete the Ronnie Belliard trade. Garate was the Dodgers’ #24 ranked prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America.
Garate has pitched in 46 games in AA-ball this season and he is 0-1 with five saves, a 2.08 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He has only allowed 36 hits while striking out 56 in 52 innings. He will be used out of the pen the remainder of the season.
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