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Chico Does Enough For Win
Ken Griffey Jr. isn't too happy with home plate umpire Chuck Meriweather after he was called out on a check swing in the sixth.
(By Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)
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As has become routine, Chico worked himself into and out of trouble. In each of the first four innings, Cincinnati managed to put at least one base runner in scoring position, yet Chico allowed none to come score.
He gave the crowd of 20,165 at RFK Stadium a preview of what was to come in the first inning, when he worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam. In the third, Chico allowed no runs even though the Reds had runners on first and second with just one out. He escaped unscathed again in the fourth inning though he allowed Cincinnati to start the inning with back-to-back singles.
But the Reds made Chico pay in the fifth. With two out, Adam Dunn slammed a pitch to right-center, missing a home run by a foot. Jeff Conine followed with a double into the gap in left to score Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion followed with a hard single to center, scoring Conine to make it 2-0.
Chico ended his night by getting Reds starter Bobby Livingston to fly out to center, preventing further damage before Washington's big inning. "I'm happy" with the win, Chico said. "I'm not happy with the way I pitched."
Washington led for good after responding with its five-run fifth inning, sending 10 men to the plate while chasing Livingston.
Nook Logan started Washington's rally with a leadoff single, one of his three hits on the night.
The Nationals loaded the bases for Belliard, who delivered an RBI single to drive in Logan. With the bases still loaded, Zimmerman cleared the bases by lining a curveball into the gap in right-center, to make it 4-2. Ryan Church added an RBI single to score Zimmerman.
"There's no doubt that he's had some opportunities earlier in the year where he's pitched well enough to win and we've just not given him any run support," Schneider said of Chico. "This kind of makes up for it."
Belliard completed the night with his Gold Glove-caliber play in the sixth. With Ryan Freel on first after an infield single, Jeff Keppinger bounced a ball off Nationals reliever Saul Rivera. The ball rolled toward second, where Belliard fielded it. In one motion, and with the ball still in his glove, Belliard executed a backhand flip to shortstop Felipe Lopez, who was covering second base.
The play loomed even larger as Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips later knocked in Keppinger. It could have been a two-run single, instead the Reds got only one.
"I got lucky," Belliard said. "You don't practice something like that."
