Game 43 Recap-
The Washington Nationals won an old fashioned pitching battle to salvage the final game of a 3 game interleague series at Camden Yards, beating the Balimore Orioles, 2-1 Sunday afternoon. Rookie LH starter John Lannan was the story, getting his 4th win(4-4,3.40 era) while working 7 1/3 innings, he allowed only 4 hits, a single run with 1 walk and 5 strike outs.
Orioles RH starter Jeremy Guthrie(2-4,3.86 era) also pitched well over 7 solid innings. His stat line- 5 hits, 1 run and 3 walks- clearly shows he deserved a better fate. Nationals SS Christian Guzman homered(#4) with 2 outs for the first run of the game in the 3rd . 3b Ryan Zimmerman doubled in the other run in the eighth inning off of side armer Orioles reliever Chad Bradford.
Lannan tired in the 8th, giving up a single and double. He was relieved by Luis Ayala, who escaped the jam with only 1 run scoring on a sacrifice fly. Nationals closer, the huge LH Jon Rauch, allowed a single with 2 outs then got OF Jay Payton to pop out and end the game, a Nationals 2-1 win.
Star of the Game-
Lannan- Kept the Orioles off balance all day, threw 105 pitches with 71 strikes
Orioles Notes-
Game had a 25 minute delay in the 8th inning with a weather system passing thru…Veteran ML Alex Cintron started at SS, his contract was purchased May 11th from Triple A. Regular SS Freddy Bynum pinch ran for OF-DH Luke Scott in the 8th. He took over defensively for Cintron as well…..Guthrie has allowed a homer in 7 of his 10 starts
Next Game-
Team is off Monday, starts Three game series vs the NY Yankees Tuesday at Camden Yards
