Nationals rally for eighth straight win

Before the Nationals traded right-hander Tomo Ohka to the Brewers for infielder Junior Spivey on Friday, manager Frank Robinson often found himself hamstrung in the late innings because he was short a position player.
That wasn't the case Friday night after the deal for Spivey was made. Robinson was able to use every position player except for Gary Bennett, and it paid off as the Nationals pounded the Mariners, 9-3, in front of 28,704 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

The Nationals have won eight consecutive games and 11 out of their last 12. They are a season-high nine games over .500 at 35-26. The last time the organization won that many games in a row was 1997, when it was known as the Expos. That year, the Expos won 10 straight from June 6-16.

It was a combination of the starters and the reserves that won the game for the Nationals in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday.

With the score tied at 3, the Nationals went to work on two relievers by scoring six runs. With the bases loaded, one out and Mariners reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa on the mound, Brian Schneider singled to right field to drive in Jose Guillen and Nick Johnson to make it a 5-3 game.

Jamey Carroll, filling in for Cristian Guzman at short in the late innings, followed with a bunt single to drive in Spivey to make it 6-3.

Matt Thornton entered the game and walked Brad Wilkerson to force in Schneider.

Ryan Church then walked to bring home Carroll. Tony Blanco, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Luis Ayala, scored the last run of the game on a groundout by Guillen.

"We used everybody except for Bennett. It certainly gave us the flexibility that we needed tonight," Robinson said. "We were kind of freewheeling tonight because I knew we had some extra people. It came out good for us. Everybody contributed to tonight's win."

The bench wasn't just used in the eighth inning. With the Nationals down, 3-1, Robinson had Rick Short pinch-hit for right-hander Sun-Woo Kim. Short, making his Major League debut after 1,235 hits in 11-plus years in the Minor Leagues, collected his first big league hit off Joel Pineiro to drive in Schneider and cut the lead to 3-2.

"That was a big RBI. It put some life into us. After that, it was everybody doing the job," Robinson said.

Short wasn't nervous in his big league debut. Short said he learned to stay calm after playing before large crowds in Japan in 2003. After the hit, Short received a warm ovation when he went back into the dugout.

"I managed to stay short on the last swing and lined it to left. It got us going," Short said. "It's an accomplishment to get here and it's an accomplishment that's appreciated by everybody here. It's quite a feeling to be welcomed out there."

The Nationals tied the score off reliever Ron Villone in the seventh inning. With Spivey on third, pinch-hitter Marlon Byrd hit a routine grounder to shortstop Mike Morse, who had a tough time getting the a ball out of his glove. By the time his throw reached first baseman Richie Sexson, Byrd was on first and Spivey scored the tying run. Byrd was given a base hit and an RBI on the play.

"That's what we were talking about earlier. We have a manager that knows how to utilize the players that we have," interim general manager Jim Bowden said. "But this is a real team. Frank has some pieces to work with now. We have a little bit more speed than what we started with. We have some flexibility and some depth. It's a fun clubhouse."

Ohka was suppose to start for the Nationals on Friday, but after he was dealt, Kim became the emergency starter. Kim didn't know he was going to pitch until Robinson informed him Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Kim went on to pitch five solid innings and gave up two runs on five hits.

"Kim was good. It was his first start. He got us in an area where we could use the bullpen and everybody got a little work out there. We came away with a win," Robinson said. "We would have been in trouble if he didn't get far in the game."

Kim, who had been in Robinson's doghouse for not throwing strikes on a consistent basis the last two years, was grateful that his skipper showed confidence in him the last minute.

"When I came in, I was getting something to eat, when Frank told me I was the starting pitcher. I'm always ready to pitch -- starting or relieving. I'm happy that we won tonight and I thank Frank for believing in me," Kim said.

Those two runs Kim gave up were scored in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Sexson singled to left to drive in Randy Winn.

Raul Ibanez followed and hit a line shot to first baseman Nick Johnson, who had a hard time handling the ball. He managed to get the out at first, but Adrian Beltre scored.

Pineiro pitched six solid innings and he gave up two runs on six hits.

Source: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/