Nats win on our nations birthday

Washington’s team won in our nation’s capitol this Independence Day, five to three, over the Atlanta Braves.

The Nats were carried by their ace, John Lannan, who again put in a strong performance. The lefty pitched eight innings, scattered nine hits, allowed three earned runs, struck out one and walked one.

It seemed early that Lannan’s bulldog presence on the mound would be for nothing, as the club fell to a three to nothing deficit. It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Nats put a run on the board with an Adam Dunn solo homer (his 300^th of his career).

The performance was beginning to look like a classic Washington Nationals output, lacking everything needed to pull out the win. Atlanta turned the game over to their bullpen, and everyone, including the Braves and many Nationals fans, expected Washington to roll over.

The eighth inning however brought a holiday surprise. A rally spurred by singles and walks turned the game around for the club.

With the bases juiced and one out, club leader Ryan Zimmerman hit a two run single to tie the game. Following him Adam Dunn hit another single to nock in yet another run. The rally didn’t stop there, as Josh Willingham got in on the party, hitting in Zimmerman, giving the Nats the 5-3 lead.

MacDougal came in and shut the door for the club in the ninth, despite allowing two walks. He now has four saves and a 1.17 ERA.

Transactions

The Nationals designated Jesus Colume for assignment today. Colume had posted a dreadful 8.40 ERA in 15 innings this year. He will try and find his mechanics in Triple-A.

To fill Colume’s spot, the Nationals called up last year’s starter Colin Ballester. Ballester had excelled so far in Syracuse.