West Allis NATIONALS Baseball

When the Milwaukee Angels trotted Aaron Martinez out to the hill on Tuesday night, no one on the Nationals panicked. This was because they have seen the right-hander more than any other opponent in the entire league over the last 3 years. When he came out in the 1st a little wild, there was no signs of what was to come. The Nationals loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 1st and James Herkowski blooped a 3-2 pitch into right field for a 2 run single. Those were all the runs that the Nats were able to get off Martinez as he settled down in a big way. LHP Johnny Arnold was making a start for the Nats for the first time since the road trip and he looked sharp as ever. Martinez and Arnold worked quickly and mowed down the opposing orders for the entire night. The speed bump came in the 5th inning when the Angels 1B Chris Teske hit a routine double play to second. The feed on the throw was a little off, and it caused both runners to be safe. A sacrafice bunt, base hit and wild pitch were all the Angels needed to tie the score at 2-2. The Nationals and Angels went back and forth until the bottom of the 10th, when RHP Jim Jungbauer, replacing Arnold, gave up a leadoff single. The Angels successfully dropped down a sac bunt, moving the runner to second. The next batter hit a weak groundball to third and 3Bman/DH James Herkowski's throw was a little high, and it went past the fence line, out of play. By rule, the runner on 2nd was allowed to score for the game winning run. Martinez was masterful and so was Arnold. Martinez got the win and pitched all 10 innings, which was a very impressive pheat. Arnold went 9 innings and was also extremely impressive. The hard luck loss to Jungbauer. The Nats now have time to collect their thoughts on a so far disappointing 2006 season, as they get the mid-summer break for Summerfest.