Road Trip Ends Up All Right For Nats
Lannan Proves Solid In Win Over Houston: Nationals 8, Astros 3

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 9, 2008

HOUSTON, May 8 -- When the Washington Nationals plunged into an abyss following their 3-0 start, they played bad baseball. Every night, a mistake cost them. Every night, they failed to deliver a timely hit. Every night, they lost.

They arrived here three days ago having righted themselves. But in losing two games to the Houston Astros, that lousy brand of baseball had resurfaced. They had two paths: Tighten up and win the series finale, or head back to the District with a three-game losing streak and renewed questions about their preparation and attention to detail.

So if the Nationals seemed relieved after an 8-3 victory over the Astros on Thursday night -- ending Houston's five-game winning streak -- forgive them. They know that because John Lannan allowed just one run over six innings, and because they got home runs from the most unexpected of sources -- reserves Willie Harris and Rob Mackowiak -- they prevented the start of what could have become a tailspin.

"It was very important to win," Manager Manny Acta said. "This team, they're hot. They're playing good baseball. They made two comebacks on us these last two nights. It was very important for us to go back home and go with a good feeling."

The good feeling was provided by just about every portion of a tweaked lineup that afforded a few regulars the day off on the third game during a stretch in which the Nationals play on 16 straight days. Every starting position player except second baseman Ronnie Belliard got a hit, and the second through fifth hitters -- Cristian Guzmán, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns -- reached base 10 times in 19 plate appearances, scoring six runs and driving in three.

"That's what we need," Acta said. "We need everybody to chip in whenever they get their opportunity."

They also need Lannan. The 23-year-old left-hander was coming off the shortest start of his brief major league career, a three-inning outing against Pittsburgh in which he gave up six runs. That start is now officially behind him. He didn't have his best stuff, as evidenced by his four-pitch walk of Michael Bourn to start the game. And with the Nationals up 4-1 in the sixth, he escaped serious damage in large part because Astros right fielder Hunter Pence scalded a ball directly at shortstop Guzmán, who turned it into a double play.

"A Houdini act," Acta called it.

However he got there, the end result is what the Nationals have come to hope for from Lannan, a solid outing in which the often-dormant offense has a chance for a win. In evening his record at 3-3, Lannan won for the third time in four starts and lowered his ERA to 3.40. That'll do quite nicely.

"My goal today was get a win for us, and get on the plane -- the long, long plane back home -- and have it be a little more enjoyable," Lannan said.

The trip promised to be more enjoyable because Lannan won without a sharp slider and with throwing only one curveball. He survived by placing his fastball and using an effective change-up. Acta acknowledged that not everyone can win on nights when their feel is mediocre.

"Especially when you're that young," Acta said. "Some of the guys, right away they go berserk when they don't have their pitches working and their location. . . . It says a lot about him, especially coming back from that rough outing that he had."

There were some other encouraging signs. When the Nationals host the first-place Florida Marlins this weekend -- a brief stop at Nationals Park before they head out for a seven-game road trip -- they will do so with a revived Zimmerman. The third baseman took his first game off in more than a year on Sunday. Coincidental or not, he came to Houston revived.

On Thursday night, Zimmerman struck out in his first two at-bats, but followed with three hard singles, scoring twice. That made him 8 for 14 with two homers and a double for the series, lifting his average from .217 to .252 in three days.

"I think that was huge for me," Zimmerman said.

Finally, there were the contributions from Mackowiak, who spelled Wily Mo Peña in left, and Harris, who subbed for Lastings Milledge in center. Harris hit his homer off Houston starter Brandon Backe, a solo shot in the third that put the Nationals up 2-0. After Kearns opened it up a bit with a two-run single in the sixth that made it 4-1, Mackowiak opened things up in the eighth with a two-run shot to the opposite field, his first RBI of the year.

"That's what we envisioned when we signed him," Acta said.

It's what Mackowiak -- who went 2 for 4 and added a stellar sliding catch to rob pinch hitter Darin Erstad of extra bases in the seventh -- envisioned as well. He admitted that he has had trouble adapting to playing infrequently. Thursday was just his fifth start, but his fourth since April 25.

"It's crucial to be in there once every couple days," Mackowiak said. "Sitting for two weeks, you're not going to get the job done when you get out there. Nobody can do that."

So what might have been a miserable trip turned out to be tolerable, and it would take much more to turn back toward the abyss. In one night, two sloppy losses were in the past, and nearly every member of the team could have a comfortable sleep on the flight home.