It had been far too long since the strains of U2’s “Beautiful Day” blared from the speakers at Nationals Park.
Not since beating the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 3 had the Nationals walked off their home field to that celebratory anthem.
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For a good while on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers it appeared the stadium production crew needed Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” on tap — again. That relentless tune has accompanied every single home loss during this trying 2008 season. It was the Nats bullpen that made sure it wasn’t necessary.
Marco Estrada, Steven Shell, Saul Rivera and closer Joel Hanrahan allowed four base runners total and combined for four scoreless innings in relief as the Nats held off the Los Angeles Dodgers for a 2-1 victory.
The win snapped a six-game home losing streak for Washington (47-85). It also put another dent in the playoff hopes of the Dodgers (65-67), who have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight games.
“It’s been a while since we shook hands in the white uniform. It’s been a while since we won a game here and that’s what we were thinking,” said Nats manager Manny Acta. “And winning a close game like that, too, it shows a lot.”
The bullpen that began 2008 is nothing but a distant memory now.
During the Nats’ first three years in D.C. a group of relief pitchers, including closer Chad Cordero, set-up man Jon Rauch and the steady Luis Ayala, was the team’s unquestioned strength. But trades, injuries and ineffectiveness dissolved that unit this season. Cordero was lost for the year with a torn lat muscle and later found to have a torn labrum. Rauch was dealt to Arizona after the All-Star break and Ayala followed in a trade with the New York Mets last week.
Tuesday’s win didn’t come easy, however. The Dodgers scored just one run off Nats starter Collin Balester in the fifth despite having the bases loaded and nobody out. In the sixth, Los Angeles had first and third with nobody out when Estrada came on in relief.
He induced a force play to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who moments later snagged a lined shot from Nomar Garciaparra and tagged third to double up runner Manny Ramirez. Shell and Rivera then kept the Dodgers at bay in the seventh and eight before Hanrahan allowed a hit and a walk with one out in the ninth. It was yet another dicey situation. But he escaped with a fly out and a ground out to preserve the win.
“There was obviously no margin for error,” said Hanrahan, who took over the closer role when Rauch was traded. “But [Rivera] said something to me before the game – ‘I’m going to set up your save for you.’ – and everybody came in there and just did their job.”
Lastings Milledge homered for the Nats in the second inning and Cristian Guzman followed with an RBI single off Dodgers starter Derek Lowe in the third.
Balester (3-6, 4.70 ERA) lost his command the second time through the order. But he still managed to gut out five innings, allowing five hits, but walking two and hitting two batters. Lowe (10-11, 3.81 ERA) lost despite eight complete innings, six hits and a walk.
“I got myself into trouble kind of with my control a little bit,” Balester said. “But all-in-all I was happy to get out of those [jams] because when I needed to make a pitch I thought I made them tonight.”
Nats notes » Prior to the game, outfielder Austin Kearns was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 25 with a stress fracture of his left foot. He was seen walking around the clubhouse with the foot in a walking boot and is expected to miss two-to-four weeks. The injury is yet another blow to Kearns, 28, who missed 38 games earlier this season after undergoing right elbow surgery May 23. He had been struggling at the plate with a career-worst .217 average and 32 RBI in 86 games.
The Nats expect today to recall outfielder Elijah Dukes (right calf strain) from Triple-A Columbus, where he was on a rehabilitation assignment.
