Tampa Bay Rays’ pitcher Joel Perralta learned the wisdom of those words the hard way in the sixth inning tonight when he surrendered a two-out, two-run double to Washington Nationals’ second baseman Danny Espinosa that gave the Nats a 4-2 lead. Perralta ended up the losing pitcher as the Nationals won the game and the series from the Rays, 5-2.

Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa delivered a 2-RBI clutch hit tonight to lead Washington to a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Washington starter Gio Gonzalez (9-3) earned the win as he pitched in and out of jams for six innings, limiting the Rays, who went 3-13 with runners in scoring position, to just two runs despite giving up seven hits and two walks. Five Nationals relievers, including three to survive the seventh inning, got the final nine outs, with Tyler Clippard pitching another perfect ninth against the top of the Rays’ order for his 11th save. To add to the good news for the Nationals, both the Phillies and Marlins lost and, with the Braves and Mets idle, Washington gained ground on all four division rivals.

The game turned in the sixth inning. The Rays, trailing 2-1, tied the game on a Sean Rodriguez single that scored Ben Zobrist from second. In a move that later proved crucial, Rays manager Joe Maddon removed his starting pitcher, Matt Moore, for a pinch hitter. Moore struck out six in his five innings of work, but walked four and threw 93 pitchers.

Maddon decided Moore was finished for the evening, but his pinch hitter, Elliot Johnson, struck out to end the inning. Maddon decided to replace Moore with Nats’ fans newest arch villain, Joel Perralta.

Earlier in the day, Major League Baseball suspended Perralta for eight games for having a glove filled with pine tar. Of course, it was the Nationals, to Maddon’s great chagrin, who outed Perralta, probably from his time with the club in 2010. Perralta, however, appealed the decision and will remain eligible to pitch for the Rays until MLB hears his side of the story.

Charged with keeping the game tied, Perralta retired the first two batters, but Nats’ catcher Jesus Flores kept the inning alive with a double off the left field wall. Washington manager Davey Johnson replaced Gonzalez with his own pinch hitter, Adam LaRoche. Maddon had Perralta intentionally walk LaRoche to instead pitch to Espinosa.

A brainy manager much beloved by aficianados of baseball statistics, the move made sense, as the switch hitting Espinosa entered the game hitting .189 while batting left-handed. Playing the percentages failed when Espinosa lined a 1-1 pitch into the right field corner, scoring both runners and saddling Perralta with the loss, much to the delight of the 29,551 in attendance.

Johnson turned the game over to his bullpen. In the seventh, the trio of Craig Stammen, Mike Gonzalez, and Ryan Mattheus nearly surrendered the lead. Stammen walked two and retired two batters on pop outs. Gonzalez then walked Hideki Matsui to load the bases. Mattheus faced Rodriguez and fell behind in the count, 3-1, but rebounded to strike out the Rays’ infielder on a 92 MPH fastball that moved like a slider.

Tampa Bay manager' Joe Maddon's strategies failed tonight, as Danny Espinosa, after an intentional walk to Adam LaRoche, hit a game-winning double off of Joel Perralta. Washington prevailed, 5-2.Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Nationals added a run on a Roger Bernadina single. Burnett and Clippard, for the second game in a row, retired the Rays in order in the 8th and 9th to secure the Nats’ 40th win of the season. By comparison, Washington’s record at this point last season was 31-36. The win also gave the club a 8-4 record in their recent 12 game trek through the treacherous American League East. Three games in Baltimore this weekend are all that remain in Washington’s difficult interleague schedule.

Champ of the Game: Espinosa, who overcame his troubles against right-hand pitching with a clutch hit that has seemed to elude the Nationals this entire homestand.

For the Rays, Drew Sutton and Jose Lobaton combined to go 4-7, but failed to score or drive in a run.

Chump of  the Game: Who else but the confirmed and suspended cheater Perralta? His being the losing pitcher is a deliciously enjoyable bit of irony for Nationals fans as it likely also is for Davey Johnson and his club. Say what you will of Johnson, but his team responded to the war of words between their manager and Maddon with two victories against one of baseball’s best teams, even without injured superstar Evan Longoria.

For the Nationals, no one deserves the chump mantle, except, perhaps Gonzalez for issuing the two-out walk to Matsui that loaded the bases and put the great storyline of Perralta losing in jeopardy.

Unsung Hero: Ian Desmond, who again delivered a clutch, two-out RBI hit to give the Nats a 2-1 lead and made a great play in the field to retire Rays’ speedster Desmond Jennings.

Next Game: Friday, June 22, 7:05 p.m. at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Washington begins its final interleague series of 2012 against the surprising Baltimore Orioles, who sit in second place in the AL East with a fine 39-30 mark. Jordan Zimmermann (3-5, 2.92 ERA) faces Jason Hammel (7-2, 2.87 ERA). Hammel will be making his first start since his 1-hit gem in Atlanta this past Sunday.

To update Nationals fans that somehow missed the commotion last night, former-Nat-now-Rays-reliever Joel Peralta was found with pine tar in his glove Tuesday that caused him to be ejected from the game without even throwing a pitch in the 8th inning.  To make a long story short, Rays manager Joe Maddon was furious that Davey Johnson had ratted out the pitcher, and today before the game even declared that baseball players should “think twice” before deciding to join the Nationals club in the future.

Now, back to tonight’s game.  Stephen Strasburg proved once again to be lights-out, this time against a tough Rays’ offense.  He went seven strong innings while allowing only 5 hits, 2 earned runs, and 2 walks.  Unsurprisingly, Stras also struck out 10 batters to take the win and improve his season record to 9-1.  The Rays batters obviously struggled throughout the night against the superstar right-hander, but a solo shot by catcher Jose Molina in the 2nd inning and an RBI single by Hideki Matsui in the 3rd would keep the Rays within striking distance.  Strasburg totaled a somewhat worrisome 111 pitches, but strong outings by 1-2 punch Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively, allowed Stephen to add a tally to his personal win column.

Nothing looks to be stopping the Nationals number one ace, Stephen Strasburg, for the time being. However, the clock is ticking on his 2012 season and the Nats need to continue to win if they want to make a playoff push without #37. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

One storyline to which fans probably did not pay much attention was a young pitcher the Rays called up to face the Nationals in place of the injured Jeremy Hellickson, him being Mr. Chris Archer.  Archer pitched to a measly 4-8 record and 4.81 ERA at AAA Durham this season, but despite this fact did very well against a tough first-place ballclub this evening.  His final line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 7 K.  While Archer retired 15 of the last 16 Nationals hitters he faced, his struggles would understandably come in his first Major League inning where he allowed all three Nats runs to score.  Bryce Harper drove in Steve Lombardozzi to open the game, and a Ryan Zimmerman RBI and eventual RBI single by Ian Desmond later in the inning would score the other two runs.  After the 1st, however, one could argue that Archer pitched even better than Strasburg.  The Rays management certainly saw something special in this young right-hander, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was officially added to the rotation later this week.

Champ of the Game: Certainly Mr. Strasburg for the home team, who is hitting his stride at one of the most critical points of the season.  At 84 innings pitched, he is a little over halfway to his 160-inning 2012 campaign.

For the Rays, pitcher Chris Archer looked extremely strong in this one.  After just one tough inning to start the ballgame, this man looked like an experienced veteran (despite his young looks).

Chump of the Game: It’s gotta be Danny Espinosa, who continues to struggle against right-handed pitching.  He went 0-3 with 2 Ks in this one.  Read more on the Espinosa situation in District on Deck’s most recent Roundtable.

Tough to pick a name for the Rays, but Sean Rodriguez and Ben Zobrist both failed to produce a hit against Nats pitching.

Unsung Hero:  One National that hasn’t been receiving much attention recently is reliever Sean Burnett, who now has 12 holds (three off NL lead) and poses a stellar 1.13 ERA and .92 WHIP.  Even with all the recent commotion surrounding the likes of Henry Rodriguez and Brad Lidge, Burnett has arguably been the most consistent reliever this year.

Next Game: Thursday, 7:05 PM, at Nationals Park. Matt Moore (4-5, 4.16 ERA) vs. Gio Gonzalez (8-3, 2.52 ERA).

Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang started for Washington and accomplished nothing more than fueling questions about his role on the roster and whether he or Ross Detwiler should be filling out the last spot in the starting rotation. Wang lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, while walking three. He struggled to throw strikes and is leaving most Nationals fans wondering just how much more the team is willing to tolerate.

Ross Detwiler had another strong performance out of the bullpen, causing some to wonder when he'll get the chance to start again. (Image Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

Detwiler followed in relief, a theme that has been developing of late, and pitched the next 3.2 innings, only allowing a single baserunner (he hit Carlos Pena with a pitch). Detwiler has had his own detractors this season, most getting on his case after some inconsistent outings before being removed from the rotation, but overall he’s exhibited more talent and has been more reliable than Wang on the season to date. One has to wonder just how long it will be before the Nationals swap the two pitchers in their respective roles.

Price (W, 9-4) bounced back from his worst outing of the season to pitch 7.0 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The two home runs he allowed was only the second time this season he’s permitted such damage against him.

Washington’s offense was spurned on mostly by Ian Desmond and Michael Morse.

Desmond connected in the 2nd on a solo shot to center field, his 11th on the season and a new single season career high. The shot would actually put the Nationals ahead 2-1 at the time, a lead that would prove to be short lived.

Wang’s troubles really began in the 3rd. Pena crushed a home run to center field, scoring Desmond Jennings and putting the Rays ahead 3-2. After Ben Zobrist and Jose Lobaton reached based, Elliot Johnson tripled to clear the bases and push the lead to 5-2.

Morse would limit the deficit in the 6th, homering to right-center with Ryan Zimmerman on base. It was Morse’s first home run of the season after missing the first two months with an oblique strain.

The 8th inning contained it’s own set of unique circumstances. Tampa Bay brought in reliever Joel Peralta to replace Price but before he could throw a single pitch he found himself ejected from the game. It would seem the home plate umpire Tim Tschida found a “foreign substance” on Peralta’s glove, immediately throwing the pitcher out of the game. Rays Manager Joe Maddon tried to prove a point in the following frame, asking the umpires to check Ryan Mattheus‘ glove, but nothing was found.

Champ of the Game: Detwiler and Morse will share the honors. If not for Detwiler’s relief appearance the Nationals might not have been able to stay in the game as long as they did. Morse, meanwhile, had a pair of hits and might be finally starting to show some signs of life. He reportedly had asked Davey Johnson to drop him in the lineup “for the betterment of the team” but Johnson refused.

Chump of the Game: Wang’s struggles are starting to be a concern. Of Washington’s last four non-quality starts from the rotation, Wang has been on the mound for three of them.

Next Game: Wednesday, 7:05 PM, at Nationals Park. Chris Archer (0-0, MLB Debut) vs. Stephen Strasburg (8-1).