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Ortiz Given a 'Jolt,' Helps Nats to Victory
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"I don't think they believe it," Robinson said. "They hear about the assists and say, 'Yeah, sure.' I don't think they believe he throws that well."
Apparently, the Padres were among the non-believers. Ortiz opened the fifth by -- you guessed it -- issuing walks to Dave Roberts and Brian Giles. With one out, Adrian Gonzalez hit a hard grounder through the left side for a single.
Roberts, one of the Padres' fastest runners, didn't break stride rounding third. Soriano hardly charged the ball, but he noticed Roberts's intentions and came up throwing. "I think, 'Oh, man, I got a chance,'" Soriano said.
Soriano slung the ball with his sidearm, infielder's motion, but there was never a doubt. The throw was low, on a line, directly through Zimmerman, the cutoff man. Catcher Brian Schneider took it on one hop, slightly up the first base line, but had plenty of time to come back across the plate and tag out Roberts.
There it was, his 17th assist of the season. There is no disputing the fact that Soriano has been able to rack up the total because teams have tested him. But the fact of the matter is that only two other players -- Colorado's Brad Hawpe and Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford -- entered play Friday in double figures in assists as an outfielder.
"I surprise myself with my defense," he said.
Despite the Nationals' four-run sixth inning, the game wasn't decided just then. Left-hander Micah Bowie, remarkably effective since he was called up from Class AAA New Orleans last month, retired five straight men over the seventh and eighth, but then gave up a two-out single. Jon Rauch relieved Bowie, but Barfield scorched a double to left, putting runners on second and third.
And who did the Padres send up but Mike Piazza, the likely Hall of Famer as a catcher, ready to pinch hit. On July 9, Piazza pinch hit against Nationals closer Chad Cordero in a game at RFK Stadium, and his monster home run capped a four-run ninth inning and gave the Padres a 10-9 victory.
Here, though, Piazza lofted a lazy fly ball to right, and he was retired uneventfully. The rally died, and Cordero came on to preserve the win -- and pick up his 20th save -- in the ninth. He did it, too, without Robinson having to come to the mound, to remind him that with a large lead, he might as well throw strikes.
