Gio Gonzalez had a gutsy 6 inning shutout and shutdown the Royals, and let the park dimensions work for him. The Nats got all the runs they needed in the 1st inning, but had many opportunities to add-on runs.
Jonathan Papelbon got the Save which was his 9th of the season and Shawn Kelley, Sammy Solis, and Oliver Perez all got Holds. Oliver Perez saw 2 batters and struck them both out. Shawn Kelley saw 2 batters and got 1 strikeout, and Papelbon struck out Infante to end the game while he could have had a K on Gordon but the foul tip wasn’t held.
The Nats worked 9 hits in the game and 2 walks. Daniel Murphy had 3 hits including another RISP hit and notched career hit #1,000 in the game. Bryce Harper checked in with a hit, and Ryan Zimmerman had 2 hits. It was Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman who had the RBIs in the game. Lobaton and Espinosa hit back-to-back hits also.
Gio deals and Murph reaches a milestone as the #Nats earn their fourth straight #CurlyW: https://t.co/cak34m1HE4 pic.twitter.com/vDLWzgYIJe
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 3, 2016
In the pre-game, there was chatter of how Hosmer, Perez and Alex Gordon had hit Gio Gonzalez well in the past. Gio worked them inside and outside and did not give in to them. To shutout the World Champions is a great accomplishment. Gio exits the game with a 1.15 ERA.
The Nats improve to 4-0 on the road trip with a lot of work ahead with 6 games remaining on this road trip.
Dusty Baker in his postgame said, “Gio was great and made some pitches when he had to. Our bullpen was outstanding. We beat a good club over there with outstanding pitching. We just have to keep doing what we are doing. This is a full team effort. This is what it is all about, picking each other up.”
