Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
When you look at it, Joe Ross had some amazing stuff going today. It wasn’t no-hit stuff, but it was the stuff of aces. He went 8.0 innings of 5-hit baseball with no runs, no walks, and 9 strikeouts. The only offense that Ross needed was the leadoff home run in the first inning by Kyle Schwarber who finished with 2 “Schwarbombs” and 4 RBIs. Josh Harrison was the other star as he had a 4-4 game.
This was the second shutout by the Nats this weekend against the team with the best record in baseball, and the Nats had a shutout going in the second game of the doubleheader yesterday until it was erased in extra innings. In total, the Nats gave up 3 earned runs in the last four games.
“Our bullpen was used quite a bit,” manager Dave Martinez said. “We’re now strong going into the Pittsburgh series.”
With the taxed bullpen, there was a real benefit to this 8 inning gem by Ross to only use Sam Clay to finish the 9th inning.
Winner’s Circle; Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
