Lack of clutch hitting sends Nats to defeat

By Bill Ladson / MLB.com

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals endured one of the toughest games on their final homestand as they were blanked by the Braves, 5-0, at Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon.

Washington right-hander Yunesky Maya's struggles continues since being called up Sept 7. He pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits against Atlanta.

It was the defense that did Maya in. With runners on first and second and two outs in the third, Brian McCann hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Alberto Gonzalez, who made a nice play stopping the ball. But Gonzalez threw the ball past first baseman Adam Dunn for an error, allowing Derek Lowe to score.

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Atlanta AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Infante, 2B 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 .329
Heyward, RF 5 0 1 0 0 3 2 .281
Prado, 3B 4 1 1 0 1 1 3 .306
McCann, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .274
Ross, D, C 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .274
Lee, D, 1B 2 1 1 1 2 0 0 .258
1-Freeman, PR-1B 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .118
McLouth, CF 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 .188
Gonzalez, A, SS 3 1 1 3 1 1 2 .260
Cabrera, Me, LF 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .255
Lowe, D, P 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .157
a-Hinske, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .254
Moylan, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Venters, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-Conrad, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .235
Kimbrel, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Wagner, B, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 33 5 9 4 7 8 20 .259
a-Grounded out for Lowe, D in the 6th. b-Struck out for Venters in the 8th.
1-Ran for Lee, D in the 8th.
Washington AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Morgan, CF 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .258
Bernadina, LF 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .256
Bisenius, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Balester, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-Mench, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .130
Desmond, SS 4 0 0 0 1 2 3 .278
Dunn, A, 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .265
Morse, RF 3 0 0 0 1 1 4 .296
Kennedy, A, 2B 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .251
Ramos, W, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .273
Gonzalez, Al, 3B 4 0 2 0 0 2 1 .269
Maya, P 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .167
Stammen, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .237
a-Maxwell, PH-LF 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .147
Totals 34 0 6 0 5 9 22 .255
a-Walked for Stammen in the 7th. b-Grounded out for Balester in the 9th.
BATTING
2B: Lowe, D (4, Maya), Lee, D (30, Maya).
HR: Gonzalez, A (23, 6th inning off Maya, 2 on, 1 out).
TB: Heyward; Prado; McCann; Lee, D 2; McLouth 2; Gonzalez, A 4; Cabrera, Me; Lowe, D 2.
RBI: Lee, D (74), Gonzalez, A 3 (88).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera, Me; Heyward; Conrad; Freeman.
S: Lowe, D.
Team RISP: 5-for-14.
Team LOB: 9.

FIELDING
E: Lee, D (7, fielding), McLouth (2, fielding).
DP: (Prado-Infante-Lee, D).

BATTING
2B: Morgan (16, Lowe, D), Maxwell (5, Wagner, B).
TB: Morgan 2; Bernadina; Ramos, W; Gonzalez, Al 2; Maxwell 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Morse 2; Maya; Dunn, A; Gonzalez, Al; Desmond.
GIDP: Ramos, W.
Team RISP: 0-for-10.
Team LOB: 12.

FIELDING
E: Gonzalez, Al (5, throw).
DP: (Kennedy, A-Dunn, A).

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Lowe, D(W, 15-12) 5.0 5 0 0 1 4 0 4.07
Moylan 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.95
Venters 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1.81
Kimbrel 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.53
Wagner, B 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.38
Totals 9.0 6 0 0 5 9 0 3.57
Washington IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Maya(L, 0-3) 5.1 8 5 4 3 1 1 6.43
Stammen 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 5.15
Bisenius 1.0 0 0 0 2 3 0 2.25
Balester 1.0 0 0 0 2 3 0 2.12
Totals 9.0 9 5 4 7 8 1 4.15
WP: Kimbrel, Maya.
Pitches-strikes: Lowe, D 103-64, Moylan 15-9, Venters 27-15, Kimbrel 16-9, Wagner, B 12-8, Maya 92-62, Stammen 24-15, Bisenius 22-10, Balester 22-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Lowe, D 8-3, Moylan 2-0, Venters 1-0, Kimbrel 0-1, Wagner, B 1-1, Maya 3-8, Stammen 2-1, Bisenius 0-0, Balester 0-0.
Batters faced: Lowe, D 23, Moylan 3, Venters 5, Kimbrel 4, Wagner, B 4, Maya 25, Stammen 6, Bisenius 5, Balester 5.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Adrian Johnson. 2B: Andy Fletcher. 3B: Tim McClelland.
Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, Varies.
T: 3:04.
Att: 23,824