Few things are worse than a long flight after a bitter loss.
The Nationals could have beaten the Milwaukee Brewers in a Memorial Day matinee on Monday at Nationals Park. They had chances early against ace Ben Sheets that dried up over the final five innings against the Milwaukee bullpen.
Recommended Stories
In the end, it was the Brewers who pushed across the winning run in the 11th inning for a 4-3 victory and the Nats who endured a cross-country flight to San Diego with what-ifs rattling in their heads.
A two-out RBI single by pinch hitter Gabe Kapler in the 11th scored Prince Fielder from third. That was enough for Brewers reliever Salomon Torres, who retired Washington in order to close it out.
“We’re still not where we want to be offensively,” said Nats manager Manny Acta, whose team split the four-game series with Milwaukee. “We’re making progress — baby steps — but we need to get better.”
The Nats received a solid outing by starting pitcher Jason Bergmann, who extended his scoreless innings streak to 19 2/3 since a May 14 recall from AAA Columbus. Bergmann lasted 5 2/3 innings, gave up four hits and a walk and struck out eight.
But Sheets — other than a Cristian Guzman home run and an RBI double by Jesus Flores — kept Milwaukee close. He also wiggled free from a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fifth when Aaron Boone fouled out.
“I had pitches to hit,” said Boone, who was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. “Just a bad day all around.”
The Brewers erased a 2-0 deficit with two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth. Dmitri Young tied it for Washington, however, when his apparent triple was ruled a home run after an umpires’ conference. Television replays showed the ball bounced off a railing above the left-center field wall. But that was the only base runner allowed by four Milwaukee relievers in five innings of work.
