Finally, the Nationals lock down a win and take advantage of the Diamondbacks bullpen after Robbie Ray was pulled in the 2nd inning with an oblique injury. Gio Gonzalez went 7.0 full innings of 1-run baseball on 114 pitches. Gio was shaky in the 7th inning giving up a lead-off single then a walk but got to face some lefties and only gave up 1-run on a sacrifice fly.
“We have a mutual respect and a mutual understanding,” Gio Gonzalez said about his manager, Dave Martinez, who allowed him to finish the 7th inning.
The Nationals offense was powered by two home runs by Matt Wieters and Michael Taylor but was awful in RISP going 0-for-6 while they left 9 men on base. The team has to find a way to move up runners and come through in RISP spots.
For the 8th inning, Brandon Kintzler had to face the heart of the Diamondbacks order and struck-out Paul Goldschmidt on a filthy two-seamer and then got A.J. Pollock to roll into a doubleplay. Sean Doolittle got the save to close out the win.
The Pirates roll into down tomorrow for a 4-game set.
