Peña's Hollywood Homer Not Enough for Nationals
Dodgers 5, Nationals 4

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 27 -- Wily Mo Peña limped around the bases, the ball long since deposited over the fence in left, and few at Dodger Stadium couldn't help but think of Kirk Gibson. Yes, it's August. No, he didn't win the game. But dream a bit.

Peña, the Washington Nationals' newest experiment, crushed a home run off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Derek Lowe Monday night, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a lead in what ultimately -- because of a shaky outing from starter Mike Bacsik -- became a 5-4 loss. That he did it on what was, apparently, a very sore left foot made for a Hollywood moment just on the outskirts of Hollywood.

So put aside the fact that the Nationals have now lost four games in a row and that they are threatening to finish this 10-game road trip poorly. There was one indelible image Monday, and it wasn't the Nationals' other two homers -- one from Dmitri Young, one from Ryan Zimmerman.

Rather, it came on Peña's fourth homer in his week-and-a-half stint with the Nationals, and the comparisons to Gibson were too obvious to overlook. Never mind that this is not October, and never mind that the Nationals aren't in any sort of pennant race and the Dodgers are clawing to remain relevant. When Peña hobbled down the first base line, then made the turn, it was a wonder he didn't pump his fist twice as he rounded second, mimicking the all-but-crippled Gibson, who beat Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley with a shocking homer in the 1988 World Series.

Though Peña's homer wasn't nearly as dramatic -- or, for that matter, important -- it was yet another glimpse of his raw power. Peña arrived here in an Aug. 17 trade from Boston, and the Nationals knew two things about him: He will strike out at a high rate, but he can hit balls to spots where people never find them again. This homer, hit on a bum wheel, was a no-doubter, and it put the Nationals up 3-2.

Though Peña eventually made it around the bases and touched home, he used the dugout railings to lift himself down the steps. He did not return to the field, replaced by Ryan Church in the bottom of the inning. X-rays taken of his left foot were negative, and he is officially listed as day-to-day.

Zimmerman came through in the fifth with his fourth homer of this road trip, an absolutely roped line drive just to the left of straightaway center on the first pitch he saw from Lowe. The homer gives him 22 on the year and continues a second half of the season in which he has executed a nearly complete turnaround.

Zimmerman entered the all-star break hitting just .253, on pace to drive in 83 runs, which would have been a significant drop-off from the 110 RBI he had as a rookie in 2006. As people questioned whether Zimmerman would be able to handle the role for which the Nationals signed him up: go-to, middle-of-the-order run-producer.

Zimmerman, both then and now, said other people's concerns never got to him.

"If you think you're good enough," he said Monday, "when you struggle, it's not that you get upset, but you think something's wrong because you know you're better."

So he has been better. In 44 games since the all-star break, he is hitting .314 with eight homers and 32 RBI. His slugging percentage in the first half was a modest .435. In the second, it's a more robust .568. He is now on pace for 95 RBI, and with 24 in his final 30 games, he would reach 100.

To produce those numbers, Zimmerman has whittled down the number of times he swings at breaking balls -- particularly sliders -- that end up being off the plate away from him. That, he says, keeps him from falling into the "pitcher's plan."

"He's real smart about it," hitting coach Lenny Harris said. "He hears it, and you don't have to keep repeating it. I'm just trying to get him to stay inside the ball, and trying to keep him upright so he doesn't have to feel like he has to reach out there. He'll come back and say, 'Man, I hit that ball good, but I should've hit it better.' "

Neither Zimmerman nor Peña could do much about the inning that ultimately cost the Nationals the game. With the Nationals up 4-2 in the sixth, Jeff Kent led off against Bacsik with a liner to short. Felipe Lopez got a glove on it, but couldn't secure it. He then couldn't pick it up to throw out Kent. The play was scored a single, and it opened up the entire inning.

Andre Ethier followed with a single to right, and Russell Martin's single up the middle pulled the Dodgers within one and drove Bacsik from the game. Jesus Colome came on and gave up an RBI single to James Loney to tie it, a sacrifice fly to Ramon Martinez to give the Dodgers the lead.

The Nationals didn't score again, managing just one hit against three Dodgers relievers. Peña was out of the game. Zimmerman walked in his final at-bat. Hollywood, as it turned out, appeared in the previews, not the ending.