Washington Nationals Win, Snag Series From The New York Mets

The Washington Nationals pitching staff came to play Wednesday night as they kept an injured but powerful Mets line up to four hits, winning 3-1.

Craig Stammen started the game for the Nats trying to match his teammate, John Lannan, who completed the shutout the night before. Stammen would not get a shutout but would record yet another quality start as he pitched seven and one-third strong innings, allowing only four hits and one run.

This start was Stammen’s fifth consecutive quality start, hopefully a sign for Nationals fans that their young rookie has turned the corner. In the month of July, Stammen is 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP and only three walks.

The bullpen came in as Bergmann and Beimel recorded the last two outs of the eighth inning. Mike MacDougal came in to slam the door on the Mets for his sixth consecutive save.

At the plate, the Nationals managed to convert three runs out of eight hits.

Josh Willingham played up his trade value as he went 4-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored. The home run, Willingham’s 13th, was his first non-solo shot of the year.

The Nationals will go head-to-head today with the St. Louis Cardinals in a one-game make up for a rain out earlier in the year.