This is where the streak was ending.
The Nationals have spent the better part of two weeks finding ways to win games that at various points looked hopeless. Facing a Cy Young Award candidate on Saturday night seemed a decent bet to derail their strong second half. But apparently not even the presence of Arizona Diamondbacks ace Dan Haren could stop the good times from rolling at Nationals Park.
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Instead, Washington punched across five runs on eight hits and finally received a strong starting pitching performance of its own from Garrett Mock. The result was a clean, concise 5-2 victory. It was the Nats’ seventh win in a row – the longest streak of the season and one that matches their run last summer of seven straight between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1.
A violinist for the National Symphony Orchestra made his major league debut Saturday night, playing the national anthem on a baseball bat before the game between the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Glenn Donnellan used an electric violin that he hand-crafted from a regulation bat — Derek Jeter model — he bought at a local sporting goods store.
A dedicated musician and a baseball fan, the 39-year-old Donnellan was primed to put his two loves together.
“I went to the Sports Authority with my fiddle one day after work, held it up to the bat, and it looked about right,” Donnellan said.
Donnellan who’s played with the NSO since 1997, said he met Robert Tanenbaum, one of the Nationals’ owners, at an orchestra concert and told him he’d like to play the game-opening music on his bat-fiddle. After seeing a YouTube video of Donnellan’s spirited, solo performance, Tanenbaum thought it would be a novel pregame idea.
The YouTube post has already made Donellan something of a cyberspace star — it’s had more than 155,000 hits since he posted it last month. He can add to his audience the 25,000 or so who stood for his performance before Saturday’s game.
As anthem time approached the skies threatened, but it didn’t bother Donellan or his bat.
“I’m all battery operated, so if it rains, I won’t fry,” Donnellan joked.
Donnellan, wearing a Nationals jersey, was a hit.
Normally restless fans cheered as the “The Star-Spangled Banner” reached its crescendo and players applauded his work. Donnellan exited stage right — behind the plate. — AP
Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 2-for-4 effort. Josh Willingham, meanwhile, hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning – his 18th of the year in just 269 at-bats – and teammates Josh Bard (solo home run), Adam Dunn (RBI single) and Alberto Gonzalez (sacrifice fly) also contributed.
“When you can get an early run off a guy like [Haren] it really helps,” said Zimmerman, whose team had to overcome deficits of 3-0, 4-0, 6-0 and 5-0 in wins this week. “He’s a tough guy to face. Fortunately he made a couple mistakes and we took advantage of them. But he’s no treat to go against.”
After a brilliant display in the field during Friday’s 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks, Zimmerman made two more sparkling defensive plays at third base on Saturday, including a lunging, spinning putout of Gerardo Parra in the top of the eighth. Washington has now won 10 of its last 14 games and is 13-6 overall since July 20.
The win was especially sweet for Mock (1-4, 6.14 ERA). He earned his first career victory as a starter – and did so against the organization that drafted him. He allowed just two runs on five hits in six innings and walked three batters with seven strikeouts. The outing helped ease the burden on a bullpen now feeling the effects of 23 consecutive games without an off day.
The only mistake? A two-run home run by Arizona slugger Mark Reynolds – second in the National League with 35 homers. This one was a little unconventional. He hit a long pop fly down the line in left that not only barely had the distance, but smacked off the base of the foul pole, too.
“I yelled at Reynolds and told him he’s a turd,” said Mock, who knows Reynolds well – both were 2004 draft picks by Arizona. “I stayed away, stayed away and wanted to get a ground ball there and missed my pitch. I was just waving my arms and blowing and trying to do everything I could to get the ball to go foul.”
It didn’t happen. But that two-run shot in the fifth was all the Diamondbacks would get. This time it was relievers Sean Burnett and Jorge Sosa who helped save their tired mates in the pen, retiring all nine Diamondbacks batters they faced. Burnett pitched two scoreless innings and Sosa followed with a perfect ninth to notch his first big-league save since Aug. 6, 2006 when he pitched for St. Louis.
That also gave Mock his first win as a starter – he earned one in relief last season – and a not-so-tasty pie to the face from fellow starter John Lannan during a postgame TV interview. “It was menthol – sensitive skin,” Mock cracked when asked the flavor of his plate of shaving cream. Big leaguers don’t really bake.
“But [the pie] really was a dream come true,” Mock said. “I know that’s kind of a different explanation for it. But I was waiting a long time to get this far in the big leagues and get a win as a starter.”
Nats notes
» The seven-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest since the Nats returned to the District in 2005. It trails only the 10-game run in June of that year.
» Washington clinched the season series vs. Arizona – the first team it has done that to this season. The Nats are 4-0-2 over their last six series.
» Josh Willingham’s two-run homer in the fourth was his second game-winning hit in as many nights. He has a seven-game hitting streak and is batting .382 over his last 15 games.
» Over his last 15 games, Ryan Zimmerman is batting .446 (25-for-56) with nine homers, 19 RBI and 21 runs scored.
» Nats shortstop Cristian Guzman has topped both of them with a 14-game hitting streak. He is batting .474 (27-for-57) during that span.
» Arizona slugger Mark Reynolds played shortstop at the University of Virginia. His teammate for two seasons at third base? Ryan Zimmerman. Reynolds has hit 10 homers over his last 12 games, including two in this series. He now ranks fifth on the single-season homer list in Diamondbacks history.
» The Nats improved to 39-72 with the victory. Arizona is now 50-61.
