Good, Bad, & Ugly: Dunn's Granny Paces Nationals Over Orioles

"If they're going to walk Zimmerman, good. Let them pitch to Dunn. That's something we haven't had here in the past."

—Manny Acta, May 24, 2009

THE RESULT: Adam Dunn busted two home runs—the second one a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals held on to an 8-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles before 30,880 at Nationals Park.

Shairon Martis went six innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out two. He departed after allowing Adam Jones' tenth home run of the season in the top of the seventh.

Ron Villone (W, 2-0, 0.00) entered and shut down the O's threat in that inning, and Joe Beimel pitched a perfect eighth. Joel Hanrahan struck out Jones and Nick Markakis, pounding them with 96 MPH fastballs, and got Aubrey Huff to bounce out to second base to end the game for his fifth save.

The decisive inning started with Anderson Hernandez lining a single to right field. Willie Harris followed that with a single of his own to right. Cristian Guzman, hitting .349, then sacrificed the runners over.

Orioles Manager Dave Trembley then made the decision to intentionally walk Ryan Zimmerman to set up the lefty-lefty matchup of Jamie Walker against Dunn.

That decision proved fatal for the Orioles manager on this day.

THE TAKEAWAY: Sometimes you just have to muscle up...and Dunn did that today. The Nats got offense, some great defense, and enough pitching to notch win No. 13.

Austin Kearns made two fantastic catches today.

He chased one down in the alley and made a backhanded catch as he crashed face-first into the screen covering the out-of-town scoreboard wall in right center, and later sprinted full-out to snare one on the foul line before wiping out into the stands in the corner.

Anderson Hernandez made a terrific catch of a sinking liner, lunging to his left, and taking a hit away from Brian Roberts in the eighth inning.

THE GOOD: Joel Hanrahan.

As good as Dunn was with his two home runs, it's what is expected of him. Hanrahan has had some well-documented trouble this year, but his last couple outings have been good. Today though, he was dominant.

Facing the middle of the Orioles' potent lineup, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, and Aubrey Huff, he threw nothing but fastballs and simply overpowered Jones and Markakis with strikeouts and got Huff to bounce weakly to second to end it.

Today was the reason the Nats, and Manny Acta, have been sticking with Hanrahan.

Hopefully he has fully turned the corner and realized just how potent a weapon his 96 MPH fastball can be.

THE BAD: Ronnie Belliard.

He went 0-for-4, lowering his average to .172.

THE UGLY: Cristian Guzman made a throwing error which was the closest the O's had to ugly on a day where the hitting, fielding, and pitching all came through.

NEXT GAME: Memorial Day special in New York City. The Nats travel to Queens to face the Mets.

John Lannan (2-3, 3.63) faces John Maine (3-3, 4.53).

NOTES: Nick Johnson was a late scratch with a stomach virus.