The Nationals could have never guessed Lannan, by virtue of a two-run homer and a single, would become the hitting star of their 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. They do know they can rely on him when he’s standing on the mound. Along with his wildly improbable homer, Lannan allowed one earned run in 6 1
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3 innings, almost single-handedly halting the Nationals’ losing skid at two games.
Jerry Hairston sealed it with a grand slam off Matt Guerrier in the ninth inning, a line drive to left field on a 3-2 fastball. Before Hairston’s game-clinching blast, Lannan had carried Washington.
Lannan’s newfound success at the plate sprung from nowhere — in his past two games, he is 4 for 6 with four RBI. His reliability on the mound is familiar. The Nationals have won 10 of the last 14 games Lannan has started, a span during which he has lowered his ERA from 5.09 to 3.51, which places in the top 20 in the National League. He is, solidly, their second-best starter.
He was, shockingly, their best offensive player Friday. When Lannan walked to the plate with two outs in the second inning and shorstop Ian Desmond on first base, he was a career .092 hitter, 18 hits in 195 at-bats. His first major league pitching coach, Randy St. Clair, told him it sounded as if in place of a bat, he used a wet newspaper.
It was not obvious, but Lannan has improved his hitting over the years. “He’s starting to get it,” Desmond said earlier this season, a claim obscured by Lannan starting the season 0 for 33. Lannan hit a homer in batting practice for the first time this year, and fellow pitchers started calling him “Longball” Lannan. A home run in game, although he did send a flyball to the warning track this season, still seemed out of the question.
After Lannan saw three pitches, Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda threw a 1-2 slider down and away. Lannan whacked it to right field, and Andre Ethier tracked it back to the warning track. He stopped and watched it fly over the fence, just to the left of the 360-foot marker. Ethier put his hands on his knees, apparently in disbelief.
He was not alone. The Nationals’ dugout exploded, a mixture of shock, amazement and jubilation. “Oh my God!” Livan Hernandez yelled, grabbing the brim of his cap with both hands.
Said Manager Davey Johnson: “[Pitching coach Steve] McCatty’s over there, you know, fainting.”
As Lannan finished his home run trot, Ivan Rodriguez aligned the Nationals on the dugout railing, away from the entrance by the top step. He frantically set up a time-honored baseball prank: the first career homer freeze-out.
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