It is safe to say that Nationals fans at last night’s game got their money’s worth. Washington beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5, scoring five runs in the ninth inning, capped off by a walk-off home run by rookie catcher Wilson Ramos.
Washington was shut down offensively for eight innings as Mariners’ starter Doug Fister threw eight innings, allowing only three hits and one run.
“Fister had really quieted us. He was so good that everybody, every inning was saying all the right things and staying positive,” Nationals’ Manager Jim Riggleman said.
The Mariners scored in the first inning as right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and third baseman Adam Kennedy both scored.
The Mariners also scored in innings three and four as second baseman Dustin Ackley hit into a fielder’s choice to score a run, and Fister helped himself out by singling in center fielder Franklin Gutierrez from second to make it a 0-4 Mariners’ lead.
Kennedy picked up another RBI in the top of the fifth inning to put Seattle up by five.
The Nats picked up their first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, when center fielder Roger Bernadina hit an RBI single to plate shortstop Ian Desmond.
The bottom of the ninth inning began with an error by Mariners’ first baseman Justin Smoak. Bernadina followed that up with a walk. It looked as if the rally would be short lived when the next batter, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit into a double play. However, three straight singles off of closer Brandon League and reliever David Pauley, who came in after League took a line drive off the leg from first baseman Michael Morse, made it a 3-5 game. Then, to everyone’s amazement, Ramos hit a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left center field to end the game.
The five-run ninth was the largest ninth inning comeback since the team moved to Washington in 2005.
While the team had been dominated for the first eight innings, their attitude never changed.
“If we had not won that ballgame, I still felt good about the way the ballclub went about it,” Riggleman said.
But they did win, something they’ve been doing a lot of lately, nine out of the last 10 games to be exact. If the Nats win on Wednesday they will be .500 on the season, a feat they could not accomplish on Sunday against the Orioles.
blasky@theeagleonline.com
