Nats stymied by Sanchez, Marlins

07/19/2006
MIAMI -- Ramon Ortiz had one word to describe his reaction to what had transpired in his latest outing on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's unbelievable," Ortiz said. "It was a crazy game. Unbelievable."
'Unbelievable' seems to be an apt word to describe an outing in which Ortiz allowed just one run on six hits over seven innings and ended up taking the loss, as the Nationals fell, 1-0, to the Marlins on Wednesday.
"This might be his best outing, period," Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. "He had a very good ballgame and we just let it get away."
The only major blemish on Ortiz's outing was a solo home run he gave up to Cody Ross in the second inning.
With the loss, the Marlins took the series and the Nationals lost for the seventh time in their past nine games.
The Nationals' only hits were a pair of singles by Austin Kearns and Alex Escobar in the third and ninth innings, respectively. Anibal Sanchez (3-0) shut out the Nationals over seven-plus innings with five strikeouts and four walks to get the win. Relievers Taylor Tankersley and Joe Borowski picked up where Sanchez left off in the final two innings to seal the victory.
"The results weren't there. [There were] opportunities you've got to take advantage of," Robinson said.
With the loss, Ortiz has now dropped five of his last six starts despite tying for his longest outing of the season on Wednesday.
Ortiz felt good afterwards about his performance on the mound, but it was an empty feeling as it wasn't backed up with a victory.
"I threw good, but I'd feel good with a win," Ortiz said. "Doesn't matter how good I throw, I don't feel good."
Ortiz, unfortunately, ran into one of the hottest young pitchers in the league on Wednesday. Sanchez, who was coming off a win against Roger Clemens and the Astros in his last outing, was making just his fifth career start, but the young righty was extremely effective on the mound.
"[Ortiz] got ahead of guys and was real aggressive," Brian Schneider said. "[But Sanchez] did a good job, too. He was tough today."
Kearns said the most difficult thing was being able to get a read on the pitches Sanchez was throwing.
"I just thought he was a little deceptive with his delivery," Kearns said. "That was the biggest thing from my point of view."
Despite only tallying two hits, the Nationals had several opportunities to put runs on the board. Kearns opened the third inning with a single to center field. Then, following groundouts by Schneider and Ortiz, Kearns advanced to third with two outs. Sanchez got out of the jam, though, when Alfonso Soriano flew out to left field.
Sanchez then opened the fifth with a back-to-back walks to Marlon Anderson and Kearns, but he came away unscathed when Schneider grounded into a double play and Ortiz went down swinging.
In the ninth, with Marlins closer Joe Borowski on the mound, Ryan Zimmerman flew out to center field, snapping a 17-game hitting streak. With one out, Borowski then walked Nick Johnson and gave up a single to Escobar, putting runners on the corners.
The Nationals were unable to come through as Anderson struck out and Kearns flew out to center field for the final two outs.
"[It's] unacceptable, Major League hitters [that] can't get people in from third base," Robinson said. "That situation, you don't try to do nothing but get a good pitch and put a good swing on it. We just don't do what the situation calls for."
Robinson's frustration was clearly mirrored after the game by the Nationals hitters who can't seem to find their groove, though they're remaining optimistic.
"It's always frustrating when you're not playing well, [but] it's a long season and you just try to be as consistent as possible," Kearns said.

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