‘Livan 2’
courtesy of ‘afagen’
The Nationals won back-to-back road games for the first time since May 12-13 thanks to some fine work on the mound from their youngest starter and their oldest starter against the Cincinnati Reds (53-44).
Livan Hernandez threw his second complete game of the season proving once again that the veteran’s still got it at 35 years-young. Besides helping himself out by driving in a run with the bases loaded in the second, Hernandez tossed 102 pitches, striking out five and the Reds scattering seven hits throughout the afternoon. Not only that but he didn’t walk anyone and didn’t allow any extra-base hits.
Rick Eckstein must’ve been pretty pleased with the Nats offensive performances over the past two days. Washington scored early Thursday, taking full advantage of Reds starter Edinson Volquez in his second start since reconstructive elbow surgery. The Nats bats started tallying runs in the box score in the first and continued an offensive spree in the second and the third allowing Livo to breathe and do what he does best on the mound – execute a game completely within his control to secure a 7-1 win against solid National League Central team.
The Washington offense was too hot for Volzquez to handle and he was pulled in the third. Heck, the only Nat not to reach a bag was Cristian Guzman who went 0-for-4 with 2 Ks.
Next up: Craig Stammen (2-4, 5.50) and the Nats face Chris Narveson (8-6, 5,83) and the Brewers (43-53) for three-game weekend series in Wisconsin.
Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.
