National League Game Summary - Washington at San Francisco
(Wednesday, August 15th)
Final Score: Washington 6, San Francisco 4
San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Jayson Werth drove in three runs to back
Stephen Strasburg as the Washington Nationals posted a 6-4 victory over the
San Francisco Giants in the rubber match of a three-game set at AT&T Park.
Steve Lombardozzi collected four hits, including two doubles, and Danny
Espinosa clubbed a two-run homer for the Nationals, who concluded their road
trip with an 8-2 mark.
Strasburg (14-5) limited the Giants to two runs on four hits over six innings.
He walked four and struck out seven.
"We need to finish strong and we need to keep playing hard," said Strasburg,
who might be nearly finished for the season with an innings limit on the
horizon. "We can't focus on the finish line when we have 40-something games
left."
The Giants scored a run in the ninth, but Tyler Clippard struck out Buster
Posey to record his 25th save of the season. Pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez kept
the game alive with a two-out single and came around to score when first
baseman Adam LaRoche dropped Pablo Sandoval's infield pop up.
Tim Lincecum (6-13) gave up four runs on eight hits in four frames for San
Francisco, which learned before Wednesday's contest that outfielder Melky
Cabrera was issued a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball said Cabrera tested positive for
Testosterone, a performance-enhancing substance.
"This team will remain focused on trying to win ballgames and that's where
we're at right now," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said about the suspension.
"Sometimes you're dealt with some things that you have to handle and this is
one of them, so that's our focus."
Werth plated a pair with a bases-loaded, two-out single in the first, but the
Giants pulled even in the second on Brandon Crawford's two-run single.
San Francisco had loaded the bases with no outs on consecutive walks and a
Brandon Belt base hit. After Gregor Blanco went down swinging, Crawford sent a
Strasburg offering to right field.
Espinosa quickly untied the game with his two-out blast to center, knocking in
LaRoche, who had doubled to begin the third.
Werth singled home Michael Morse in the fifth and came home on a Kurt Suzuki
sacrifice fly two innings later, extending Washington's lead to 6-2.
The Giants got a run back in the eighth off Sean Burnett. Sandoval led off
with a single and Posey followed by going the other way with a double to
right field. After Hunter Pence grounded out to the pitcher and Belt struck
out, Sandoval scored on Blanco's ground ball to second base. Lombardozzi made
a nifty play to prevent the ball from reaching the outfield, but Blanco beat
the throw to first.
Burnett, though, fanned Crawford to end the inning.
Game Notes
The Nationals haven't lost a road series since dropping two of three in
Baltimore from June 22-24 ... Morse went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak
to 12 games.
08/15 23:57:16 ET

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