Nationals’ 10-Game Win Streak Snapped by Giants
By Pablo Roa
Aug 22, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher
Doug Fister(58) pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
After an incredible, 10-game win streak that made the Nationals the talk of baseball for the last week, the streak finally came to an end Friday night as the Nationals fell to the Giants, 10-3.
Doug Fister got the start for the Nationals as the right-hander looked to earn his 13th win of the season. Fister has been the Nationals’ best starter all season and the team had won seven of his previous eight starts. Unfortunately for the Nationals, things didn’t go quite as well for Fister Friday night against the Giants.
Fister’s night got off to a strong start as the right-hander pitched three scoreless innings. But things took a turn for the worst in the fourth when, after allowing back-to-back, two-out singles to Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse, Fister surrendered a three-run homer to Joe Panik, giving San Francisco a 3-1 lead. The Giants added another run in the sixth inning on a home run by Buster Posey.
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It wasn’t a terrible start for Fister, by any means, but it was strange to see the usually dominant right-hander struggle to get through six innings. Tonight’s game was the first time Fister has given up two home runs since June 15, which was also the last time he allowed more than three runs. On the night, Fister allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings on 107 pitches.
The Nationals, on the other hand, weren’t able to get much going against Giants starter and longtime foe, Tim Hudson. Hudson held the Nationals to two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. After taking a temporary, 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Anthony Rendon scored on an error, the Nationals’ only other run against Hudson came in the fourth inning on a home run by Jayson Werth, his 13th of the year.
The Giants put the game out of reach in the eighth inning after adding two insurance runs on a double by Travis Ishikawa, giving San Francisco a 6-2 lead. The Giants scored four more runs in the top of the ninth.
While the Nationals have been no strangers to the late-inning comeback in recent games, that was not the case on Friday. The Nationals scored their third run of the game on an RBI double by Wilson Ramos in the ninth, but by then San Francisco had already taken a commanding lead.
With tonight’s loss, the Nationals are 73-54 and lead the Braves by 6 1/2 games in the NL East, pending the result of tonight’s game between the Braves and the Reds.
Next Game: Jordan Zimmermann (8-5, 2.97 ERA) and the Nationals look to start another win streak against Tim Lincecum (10-8, 4.48 ERA) and the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.