Announcement
Sweep Sets Up Showdown with Kings
Over the course of a season, most teams have ups and downs. Successful teams find a way to win when up and survive when down.
On Saturday the Nationals survived two games against a scrappy Angels squad, winning by scores of 4-2 and 1-0.
Sloppy baserunning hurt the Nationals all night as the team ran into 6 outs on the bases. Despite that and some defense miscues, the locals were able to squeeze out just enough offense to support strong pitching performances by starters Curt Pryal and Joe Munn.
Pryal allowed 1 earned run and 7 hits, walking 4 and striking out 7. Munn was even stronger, shutting out the Angels on 1 infield hit while walking 3 and striking out 10. Equally as impressive, Munn did not allow a single ball to reach the outfield. All outs were recorded on the infield or via strikeout.
Though the Nats had multiple scoring opportunities in game 1, few produced fruit. In the first, Jordan Stine was hit by a pitch to lead off the game and Danny Putnam followed with a single. After Joe Munn struck out, James Herkowski lined a ball that was speared by the Angels second baseman who got a force on play as a run scored. With two outs and the bases loaded, Mike Kenseth also hit a line drive, but it, too, was speared by the shortstop, preventing the Nats from breaking the game open.
The Nats were successful posting two in the third on a sac fly by Kenseth and a fielders choice groundout by Kellen Haynes, but the Angels answered with their second run of the game in the bottom half of the inning. Adam Karas RBI single scored Matt Soderlund in the fifth to close out the team's scoring and Curt Pryal closed strong, striking out 5 of the last 10 hitters he faced.
Game two was a pitchers duel. With offense at a premium - there were only 4 hits in the game - execution made the difference. The game's only run came in the second inning. After Curt Pryal led off with a single and Matt Soderlund reached on an error, Tom Donovan sacrificed them over and Jimmy Jungbauer brought Pryal home with a Sac Fly. That was all Munn needed in throwing one of the most dominant games in recent Nationals memory.
Next up are the first place Kings. Game is set for 7:30pm on Thursday at Zirkel Field in West Allis.
