|
 The Washington Nationals left-hander hadn't earned a victory
since April 18 -- and he allowed 16 runs over 12 1/3 innings in his
last three starts -- but snapped out of that funk with six shutout
innings of work in a 3-0 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park.
"It's a huge accomplishment coming back, especially with a team like
that," Gonzalez said. "The Brewers are red-hot. I wanted to make a
statement with the rotation and try to be a part of it."
Gonzalez (4-5) scattered three hits and four walks while striking
out five for his seventh quality start of the season.
He faced just one real threat all night, loading the bases with two
outs in the bottom of the third to bring up Milwaukee center fielder
Carlos Gomez, who came into the game with an 18-game hitting streak
but lined out to left, ending the inning.
"It gave the team some more life," Gonzalez said. "We got that
inning over with, now move forward."
Along with the hitting streak, Gomez had reached safely in 35
consecutive games but finished the day 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
"He was different the last couple years that we faced him," Gomez
said. "He was working with change-ups. We didn't expect him to be
working with change-ups. It was a really good pitch for him."
The Brewers came into the game with 51 runs in their previous seven
games and had won four in a row.
"We chased some balls out of the zone today but I thought Gio threw
a really good game," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He spotted
his fastball well. He always has a good curveball and he had a great
change-up today. All his change-ups were down and that made a big
difference today."
First baseman Adam LaRoche made sure Gonzalez's effort didn't go to
waste, slugging his ninth home run of the season -- a three-run shot
to center off Brewers right-hander Matt Garza.
"He just left a slider out over the plate," LaRoche said. "In that
spot, you're really just trying to hit something hard and hit
something in the air. It just happened to go out of the park. It was
one of the few mistakes he made."
Garza went seven innings and struck out seven but was a little
sluggish out of the gate before settling in.
An inning before LaRoche's home run, Garza loaded the bases with
nobody out but struck out second baseman Danny Espinosa and catcher
Jose Lobaton before getting Gonzalez to bounce into a force at
second to get out of the inning.
Center fielder Denard Span opened the third with a fly ball to right
but Garza walked third baseman Anthony Rendon then gave up a single
to right fielder Jayson Werth to bring up LaRoche.
[to top of second column] |
LaRoche worked the count full before connecting on a hanging slider
to make it 3-0 Washington.
"It was a slider, oh well," Garza said. "I wish I could take it
back, but it was the right pitch at the time. I just didn't execute
it."
He worked quickly after that, retiring 14 of 15 batters and striking
out four before giving way to right-hander Mike Fiers in the eighth.
"He threw the ball well the first few innings but that third inning
got him," Roenicke said. "After that, I thought he threw a really
good ballgame. I thought it made a difference when he started
throwing his curveball for strikes and some good sliders in the
dirt.
"Good outing, one bad pitch."
Both teams came into play Monday leading their respective divisions.
The victory gave Washington (40-35) a two-game lead over idle
Atlanta in the NL East while the Brewers' lead dipped to 4 1/2 games
over the Cardinals, who beat the Rockies, 8-0 in Denver.
NOTES: Nationals manager Matt Williams was ejected after the second
inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Mark
Wegner. ... Washington OF Bryce Harper began a rehab assignment
Monday with Class A Potomac, and he singled and walked in his two
plate appearances. He left after three innings, as scheduled.
Harper, out since April 26 with a sprained thumb, will play all
three outfield positions during his seven-game assignment, which
could put him back in the Washington lineup next week. ... Brewers
RF Ryan Braun was in the starting lineup despite tweaking his ankle
and leaving the game after eight innings Sunday at Colorado. ...
Marc Lasry, one of two New York-based hedge fund billionaires who
recently purchased the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, threw out the
ceremonial first pitch.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
