For the second consecutive night in a row the Washington Nationals could not find their offense and for the second consecutive night they were shutout by the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 2-0. Any good cheer from the Nationals beating their NL East rivals the Philadelphia Phillies and going on a three-game win streak has been pretty much erased.
Nationals Livan Hernandez took his seventh loss of the season and was yet again left out to dry. He went seven innings giving up two earned runs on four hits. In the first-inning Stephen Drew hit his second triple of the series scoring Kelly Johnson and Xavier Nady doubled in the seventh to plate Chris Young. Regardless, Hernandez turned in a performance more than ample to win most ballgames.
The Nationals offense only recorded four hits on the night. Jerry Hairston Jr. claimed two hits with the others belonging to Laynce Nix and Rick Ankiel. D-Backs starter Joe Saunders was more than hittable, but the Nationals simply could not put runs across the plate. They had opportunities. They had the bases loaded in the first inning, but catcher Wilson Ramos flew out to Chris Young. Then in the third-inning Jerry Hairston Jr. led off the inning with a double, but the Nationals left him there.
An incredible lack of offense the past two games now have the Nationals only being able to leave this series with Arizona with a draw and only if they win Sunday afternoon's game. However, as they are learning the hard way, you need both great pitching AND runs to win games.
The Nationals are now 25-33 and last in the NL East standings.