Oct 8, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Mike Gonzalez (51) reacts after giving up a solo home run to St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran (3) during the sixth inning of the 2012 NLDS at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

As I discussed earlier this week, the Nationals have few internal lefty reliever options, only Zach Duke and minor league FA Bill Bray, and the free agent market is thinning fast. The only really viable free agent option left is former Ray J.P. Howell. If the Nats don’t act fast and with a competitive offer, they will be left out in the cold in terms of free agent lefties. Other teams are also surely aware of the dearth of lefties, which means interest in Howell could spike dramatically.The Nats need to lock him up, and do so quickly, or they could be in trouble.

Oct 8, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Mike Gonzalez (51) reacts after giving up a solo home run to St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran (not pictured) during the sixth inning of game two the 2012 NLDS at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 12-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

2012 Projection (ZiPS): 3-2, 4.44 ERA, 51 games, 46.2 IP, 102 ERA+
2012 Actual: 0-0, 3.03 ERA, 47 games, 35.2 IP, 132 ERA+

He didn’t have any decisions on the season, but he definitely bounced back from his 2011 season and if you look at his career averages, he could have been even better and may have had a little bit of bad luck. Gonzalez, a left-handed thrower, eats up left handed hitters but has had surprising success over his career against right handed hitters. Over his career, right handers have only a .216 average against Gonzalez. This year, it was .284. A major reason for the change is the Batting Average in Balls in Play (BABIP). Over his career, it is .285 against right-handed hitters. That is just a tick below average which hovers around .300. This season, it was above average at .360. BABIP can be linked to luck, hit quality or just a blip on the radar.

Normally you look at this as a sign of improvement after a bad season, but Gonzalez was a very serviceable member of the Nationals bullpen. He was on a minor league contract signed in May before being called up in June and has done enough to earn a nice pay raise, with at least a major league guarantee. The Nationals have some options on where to go with Gonzalez in the future but the way he was pitching, he should be back if both sides want them to.

Gonzalez pitched in one game in the NLDS and gave up a homerun in his only inning.

Season Highlight: The most important appearance for Gonzalez was June 23 against Baltimore. The Nationals were up 3-1 in the seventh inning with runners in first and second, one out and Ronny Paulino at the plate. All it took was six pitches and Gonzalez got Paulino to line out to shortstop Ian Desmond who stepped on second to double off Wilson Betemit. The Orioles didn’t score again and the game ended with a 3-1 win. It was one of seven holds Gonzalez picked up on the season.

Previous Reviews:
Xavier Nady
Chien Ming Wang
Mark DeRosa
Henry Rodriguez
Carlos Maldonado
Brad Lidge
Ryan Mattheus
Ryan Perry
Rick Ankiel
Jesus Flores
Sandy Leon
Corey Brown
Christian Garcia
Jhonatan Solano
Mike Morse
Zach Duke
Tom Gorzelanny
Chad Tracy

Curtis Granderson had a field day against the Nats’ left-handed relievers, doubling in two runs to key a four-run seventh and adding a homer for the Yankees, who have won seven straight. On the mound, Phil Hughes (7-5) allowed just one run on six hits in six innings, with the backing of some fine defense, including a double play to end a troublesome third inning.

Gio Gonzalez allowed just two runs through the first six innings Friday night against the New York Yankees, but his bullpen and defense let New York break open a close game in the seventh. The Nationals lost 7-2. Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

Michael Morse had two hits and and RBI and Jesus Flores added single and a double for the Nats, who had won six in a row coming into the game. Gio Gonzalez (8-3) allowed three runs on five hits and a pair of walks in six innings, but his bullpen and the Nats’ defense let him down as the Yankees put the game away in the seventh.

Gonzalez left trailing 2-1 after allowing Andruw Jones‘ leadoff single in the seventh. After pinch runner Dewayne Wise stole second, Brad Lidge walked Russell Martin, and Jayson Nix advanced the runners a sacrifice bunt. Lidge then put pinch-hitter Robinson Cano on intentionally to load the bases.

Derek Jeter followed with a sharply hit ground ball into the hole at short that allowed the runner on third to score. Ian Desmond fielded it cleanly, but his only play was to first, and the throw skipped by Adam La Roche, allowing the fourth run to score and Jeter to take second. Left-hander Mike Gonzalez then came on to face Curtis Granderson, but allowed him to drive a 1-2 fastball over Steve Lombardozzi‘s head in left field for a two-run double and a 6-1 New York lead.

Granderson made it 7-1 in the ninth when he pulled lefty Tom Gorzelanny‘s fastball into the Nats’ bullpen for his 20th homer of the season.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the third after Jeter doubled with one out and Mark Teixeira walked with two outs. Alex Rodriguez drove Jeter home on a ground ball through the hole at second, and Teixeiera scored on Nick Swisher‘s single to left. A-Rod rounded second on the play, but Ryan Zimmerman cut off the throw from Lombardozzi and caught Rodriguez in a rundown, tossing to Danny Espinosa for the third out.

The Nats cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded single from Michael Morse. Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper led off with back-to-back singles, and LaRoche walked with two out to load the bases. After Morse’s RBI single, the Yankees escaped when Desmond grounded Hughes’ first pitch into a 6-4-3 double play.

Washington’s second run came in the ninth, when Morse doubled off David Robertson, took third on Desmond’s groundout and scored on a groundout by Espinosa. After Flores doubled, pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel struck out and was retired at first after a dropped third strike to end the game.

Champ of the Game: Morse, who is rounding into form after missing the first two months of the season with an injury. He has now hit in four straight games and had three multi-hit games since returning to the lineup June 2 against Atlanta.

For the Yankees, it was Granderson, who feasted on pitchers who were sent into the game specifically to get him out.

Chump of the game: Co-chump awards go to Lidge and Mike Gonzalez for letting the game get out of hand in the seventh. Lidge had Martin in a 1-2 hole before losing the Yankee catcher. Gonzalez had one job to do — retire Granderson on a lefty-lefty matchup — and he didn’t do it.

For the Yankees, A-Rod’s rundown following Nix’s RBI single was a grandstand play. The run would have scored anyway and A-Rod could have set his team up for a bigger inning by staying on second.

Next Game: June 16, 1:05 p.m., at Nationals Park. Andy Pettitte (3-2, 2.81) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (3-5, 2.91).