Game 1 - @ Long Beach (Oakland County Coliseum)
Tommy Hanson takes the hill for the Nats, Zack Greinke for the Gladiators.
Nats strike right away with two in the top of the first. Matt Holliday and Scott
Rolen each have RBI singles to make it 2-0 and the Nats leave them loaded.
Gladiators strike back right away with a two-out rally. After getting the first
two outs, Hanson allows 4 hits, a Herrera error, and back to back HBP's and LB
takes a 5-2 lead.
Nats would score single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 7th to tie it after Hanson
settled down.
Rafael Soriano takes the mound in the bottom of the 9th with the game still
tied, Adrian Gonzalez doubles, Dan Uggla reaches on an Alexei Ramirez error (Nats
3rd), and Vernon Wells singles to center. That's all she wrote for game 1. LB 6,
WAS 5.
Stars of the Game: Adrian Gonzalez (3 for 5, R, RBI), Vernon Wells (2 for 5, R,
3 RBI)
Game 2 @ Long Beach
C.J. Wilson takes the mound for Washington against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Nationals
strike first again, Scott Rolen and Posey each double to lead off the second.
Alexei Ramirez later singled Posey in for a 2-0 lead.
Gladiators finally get to C.J. with a Victor Martinez solo shot in the 4th. Nats
push the lead back to two with Jonathan Herrera's RBI single up the middle. Long
Beach answers in the bottom of the 6th with a V-Mart RBI double and a Jef Baker
RBI single to knot it at 3.
Game stays tied til the 9th. Matt Guerrier, who got two shaky outs in the 8th,
continues for the Nats. He K's Ryan Raburn. Then, as the script says, Miguel
Cairo homers to left to walkoff with a 2 game to 0 lead for the Gladiators. LB
4, WAS 3
Stars of the Game: Miguel Cairo (2 for 4, HR), Joel Zumaya (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0
R 0 BB)
Game 3 - @ Washington DC (Nationals Park)
Colby Lewis on the hill for Washington, Chris Carpenter for LB.
The story was easily the pitching. Lewis tosses 116 pitches, including 12 K, 1
BB, allowing only 6 hits over 7.1 IP and 0 runs. The only blemish for either
team was Andres Torres leadoff double off Carpenter in the 8th, and two batters
later Shin Soo Choo singles him home off K-Rod for the 1-0 lead. Soriano shuts
the door and the Nats are on the board. WAS 1, LB 0.
Stars of the Game: Colby Lewis (7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K) Shin Soo Choo (3 for
4, sole RBI)
Game 4 @ Washington DC
Tommy Hanson gets the ball on short rest as Jon Danks sees action for the first
time. While Hanson wouldn't allow an earned run, it would be the unearned runs
that gave him trouble. Nats again are on the board first in the 4th with a 2-run
homer from Jorge Posada. Scott Rolen's two-out error in the top of the 5th open
the flood gates. Bourn reaches, Carrol singles, Matsui singles, Ryan Zimmeran
grand slam. 4-2 LB. The Nats come right back in the bottom of the 5th with a
2-run shot by Scott Rolen to tie it up. Fast forward to the 8th when it's still
knotted. Matt Garza continuing in relief gets around a leadoff Posey double by
getting Rolen to GIDP. He then walks Posada and is lifted in favor of K-Rod.
Adam LaRoche then homers to right to take a 2-run lead for the Nats. Soriano
back on the mound in the top of the 9th and works around a leadoff Cairo single
to slam the door again. WAS 6, LB 4
Stars of the Game: Ryan Zimmerman (2 for 4, R, 3 RBI) Scott Rolen (2 for 4, 2 R,
2 RBI) Jorge Posada (2 for 4, 2 R, 2 RBI)
Game 5 - @ Washington DC
Zack Greinke is back on the bump for the Gladiators and Jorge de la Rosa takes
the ball for the Nats.
Washington strikes first on a Scott Rolen RBI double in the first.
That would be the only scoring until the 6th when the Gladiators had a man on
second with two outs against reliever Jason Motte. Guerrier relieves him and
allows an infield single to the OTHER Jonathan Herrera, walks Michael Bourn and
Dan Uggla launches a grand slam that just hooks around the left field foul pole.
Game changed in a hurry.
Nothing changes until the bottom of the 7th. With two outs, Alexei Ramirez
doubles, and MY Jonathan Herrera walks. Andres Torres then launches a clutch
game-tying 3-run HR to right. Tied 4-4.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Nats threatened quick. Choo walks against Veras,
Brandon Lyon comes in to face Scott Rolen. Rolen answers with a double. Joel
Zumaya enters, Posey pops out, but Jorge Posada dribbles one down the third base
line scoring Choo, who was running on contact, just beating Zimm's throw. LB
escapes further damage by getting Adam LaRoche to ground into a double play.
Soriano sets down Long Beach 1-2-3 in the 9th and the Nats take a 3-2 lead in
the series. WAS 5, LB 4.
Stars of the Game: Rolen (3 for 4, RBI) Torres (3-run HR) de la Rosa (5.0 IP, 5
H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K) Uggla (2 for 4, GS)
Game 6 - @ Long Beach
The series goes back to the left coast and a road team has yet to win.
C.J. Wilson has the ball back in his hands for the Nats. Dice-K for the
Gladiators. The Nats are hoping at this point to avoid a Chris Carpenter-Colby
Lewis rematch in Game 7. Nats score first again on a Scott Rolen RBI single in
the first. Nats make it 2-0 in the third on a 2-out Jamey Carroll error off the
bat of LaRoche. Game is still tight in the 6th when the Nats rally. Posada walk,
LaRoche single, Alexei fly out moves pinch-runner Brendan Ryan to third. The
Nats' Herrera grounds out but scores Ryan for the game's 3rd run. With 2 outs,
Andres Torres singles, Matt Holliday doubles, and Shin Soo Choo also doubles to
extend the lead to 6-0 Nats and it's getting late quick.
Choo's sac fly in the 8th and Ramirez' RBI infield single in the 9th extend the
lead further as Will Ohman and Alex Burnett mop up the final innings. WAS 8, LB
1.
Stars of the Game: C.J. Wilson (7 IP 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W) Rolen (2 for 5, R,
RBI)
MVP Ballot: Really tough. C.J. Wilson allowed 3 ER over 13.2 IP with 15 K but
only one win. Hanson allowed ER over 10.2 with 12 K but no wins. Jason Motte 2
wins in relief but only 2.1 IP in the series. Soriano 3 tight saves but only
pitched 3 innings. So, i tmust be offense. Choo and Rolen each had 9 hits,
LaRoche 2 HR's, Torres with the biggest HR and 5 runs scored and 5 RBI but only
had a .318 OBP. So, we'll give it to the guy who was in the middle of every
rally early and late in games.
Shin Shoo Choo: .450 AV, .520 OBP. He was 9 for 20 wiht a double, 3 runs, 4 RBI,
4 BB and a SB in the series. He also saved a game throwing out a runner at the
plate (that the Nats would later lose).