Offensive Outburst Fuels Nationals 11-6 Win

Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals 11-6 win over the Chicago Cubs wasn’t a thing of beauty, but a win is a win and for a team struggling to stay relevant in a pennant race that’s all that matters. Veteran pitcher Ross Ohlendorf came off the disabled list to start for the Nats and thanks to a Jayson Werth three-run homer was able to take a 6-1 lead into the fifth inning before things went awry.

Ohlendorf was showing some signs of fatigue in the fifth inning with his pitch count climbing near triple digits when manager Davey Johnson decided to bring Tanner Roark out of the bullpen. The next time the Nats would bat the game was all knotted up at 6-6 and the Cubs had seized all of the momentum. I personally thought manager Davey Johnson used too quick of a hook and should have left Ohlendorf in to finish out the inning.

I realize it’s easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback and to dissect a manager’s decision after the fact, but I really think Davey was to quick on going to our shaky bullpen in last night’s game. Especially when you factor in how much we had to use them in the Atlanta series.

The hero of the night turned out to be the recently acquired Scott Hairston who hit a pinch-hit three run bomb in the seventh inning to break up the tie and give the Nats a 9-6 lead. Since coming to Washington, Hairston had struggled, hitting .200 with no home runs in 19 games.