Nats Pitchers Put Away the Brooms
Lannan, Ayala Look Solid, Lead Washington to Win: Nationals 2, Orioles 1

By Marc Carig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 19, 2008

BALTIMORE, May 18 -- John Lannan received the bulk of the credit Sunday afternoon, when his 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball inspired plenty of compliments from his associates and lifted the Washington Nationals to a 2-1 victory, denying the Baltimore Orioles a sweep in this edition of the Beltway Series.

Said Nationals first baseman Aaron Boone: "I didn't get into any conversations over at first."

Said Manager Manny Acta: "Ridiculous good with his location."

Said catcher Wil Nieves: "There was a lot of swing and miss."

Yet the rave reviews for Lannan might not have come without an assist from right-hander Luis Ayala, the Nationals' reliever who was effective in his third straight outing.

Ayala entered in relief of Lannan in the eighth inning, with one out, Orioles runners at second and third, and the Nationals clinging to a 2-0 lead. Ayala allowed only Brian Roberts's sacrifice fly to score Adam Jones from third -- the run was charged to Lannan -- before retiring Melvin Mora to end the threat. And with that, Ayala continued on his road to recovering from a terrible string of four appearances that started May 6, in which he allowed runs each time.

"We trust him and basically that's a situation where you just got to try to get two outs before they tied the ballgame," said Acta, who kept his confidence in Ayala even during his struggles.

That support, Ayala said, did not go unnoticed.

"I never lost my confidence," he said.

From the start of the season, Washington's pitching staff has carried the load for an offense that has failed to find any punch or consistency. And an example came again when Lannan shepherded the Nationals, whose only offense came on Christian Guzmán's third-inning homer off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie and Ryan Zimmerman's RBI double down the right field line in the eighth.

"Everybody knows the state of our offense right now," Acta said. "We just keep battling and winning ballgames due to our good starting rotation right now, scratching with our defense. Hopefully when our offense comes alive, then things will be a little bit easier for us."

That's where Ayala comes into play. The Nationals have received solid starting pitching and reliever Jon Rauch -- who nailed down his eighth straight save in place of Chad Cordero -- continues to look comfortable in the closer's role. But somebody's got to bridge the gap.

Since Ayala's personal tailspin, when his ERA approached six, he has contributed to three Nationals victories, two of them by just one run. The good momentum started against the New York Mets, when Ayala allowed one hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings during back-to-back outings last Wednesday and Thursday.

"The fact that he's got three in a row now, that tells me a lot, especially those in New York, which were in tough spots," Acta said.

So Acta didn't hesitate to turn the game over to Ayala, who made his 27th appearance of the season.

At the height of the drama -- as Acta stood on the pitcher's mound after pulling Lannan for Ayala in the critical eighth inning -- the skies opened up above Camden Yards. It was the second rain delay of the game and lasted 27 minutes. But Ayala used the delay to review the videos of the batters he would face and stepped to the mound with a game plan.

Sometimes, just to himself, Ayala said he likes to call out the next play, repeating to himself the hoped-for result of an at-bat. Perhaps he'll say, "pop to short" or "fly out." But Ayala wasn't too picky against the O's: "I called for them to make outs," he said.

It was good enough for both Ayala and the Nationals.

"Any pitcher in general is going to go through a rough patch here and there," Rauch said. "It's just how quickly you work through it and how you rebound, and he's done a good job."