Game 54: Nats at Orioles

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

The Nats and Orioles face off for the fourth time in four days.

BALTIMORE — Chase here for Mark as he is on Baseball Show duty. Be sure to watch him tonight at 11 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet, of course.

Tonight the Nats look for a split of the four-game series between them and the Baltimore Orioles. They failed to pull out the victory last night after going up 6-2 early in the game.

Tonight Dan Haren (4-5, 5.43 ERA) takes the mound to face the Orioles, a team he's pitched against 11 times in his career. Through those matchups he is 5-3 with a 4.02 ERA in 69 1/3 total innings.

Pitching for Baltimore will be Freddy Garcia (1-2, 4.61) who is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA with one career start against the Nationals.

There is one change in the Nats' lineup from yesterday with Adam LaRoche filling in as the designated hitter and Chad Tracy playing first.

Check back for more updates and enjoy the game...

BALTIMORE ORIOLES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN 2, MLB.tv
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), WTEM (980 AM), XM 177
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 92 degrees

NATIONALS (27-26)
CF Denard Span
RF Roger Bernadina
3B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Adam LaRoche

SS Ian Desmond
LF Tyler Moore
1B Chad Tracy
C Kurt Suzuki
2B Danny Espinosa
(RHP Dan Haren)

ORIOLES (29-24)
LF Nate McLouth
3B Manny Machado
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
1B Chris Davis
C Matt Wieters
SS J.J. Hardy
2B Ryan Flaherty
DH Steve Pearce
(RHP Freddy Garcia)

UMPIRES
HP Mike Estabrook
1B Phil Cuzzi
2B Tom Hallion (cc)
3B Ron Kulpa

7:17 p.m. -- The Nationals went down in order in the top of the first. Span struck out, Bernadina flew out to deep center after attempting a bunt early in the count, and Zimmerman grounded out to second base. Garcia threw 15 pitches (9 strikes).

7:25 p.m. -- Things started off interesting for Haren who allowed a leadoff double to Nate McLouth. Machado then bunted McLouth over to third, setting up a bit of a dangerous situation. Haren, however, was able to get both Markakis and Jones to fly out and got out of the inning unscathed. He threw 13 pitches, ten of them strikes.

7:38 p.m. -- The Nats began the top of the second with two quick singles, one by LaRoche into center field and another on a really nice bunt down the line by Desmond. Tyler Moore grounded out to second, but moved both runners into scoring position. Tracy flew out to LF, but not deep enough to score LaRoche. Suzuki then popped up to end the inning. Garcia is at 33 pitches (20 strikes).

7:43 p.m. -- Dan Haren needed just nine pitches to get through the bottom of the second. He got Davis, Wieters, and Hardy all to fly out to left field. Moore made all three outs. Haren at 22 pitches (15 strikes).

7:48 p.m. -- Another fruitless inning for the Nationals who went down 1-2-3. Span almost made something happen with a line drive to the gap in right-center field, but a spectacular diving catch by Markakis took care of that. Garcia has tossed 40 pitches (25 strikes) through three.

8:02 p.m. -- The Orioles strike first in the bottom of the third off a Markakis RBI double. Flaherty began the inning with a single and scored two outs later off the big hit. Haren struck Jones out to end the inning after 20 pitches to end the frame. He's at 42 in the game, 27 of them strikes.

8:09 p.m. -- Another crisp inning for Garcia who hasn't allowed much of anything thus far through four innings. He struck out Zimmerman to get started, got LaRoche out on a hard grounder to first base, then got Desmond to whiff. He's thrown 53 pitches, 33 strikes.

8:19 p.m. -- 1-2-3 inning for Haren who is at 59 pitches (37 strikes) through four innings of work. It's still a one-run game, can the Nats get something going on offense?

8:23 p.m. -- Another inning where the Nats go down in order and Freddy Garcia has now retired 12 straight batters since allowing two leadoff singles in the second. Garcia is shutting down the Nats convincingly, he is at 66 pitches through five scoreless innings.

8:31 p.m. -- Haren puts in another solid frame, allowing only a single to McLouth. He faced four batters and needed just 13 pitches. Through five innings he's thrown 72 (59 strikes)

8:40 p.m. -- After retiring 14 straight batters, Garcia finally gave up a base hit with a two-out single off the wall in right field for Roger Bernadina. Zimmerman worked a 2-2, fouling off pitches, but the grounded out to end the inning. Garcia has 81 pitches (52 strikes) through six. Still 1-0 Orioles.

8:49 p.m. -- Haren let another guy on base with a single by Jones, but once again lets no runs score. He got Chris Davis to ground into a double play to end the frame. Still 1-0 O's as Haren has thrown 84 pitches (56 strikes) through six.

8:57 p.m. -- It's the Freddy Garcia show tonight as the Orioles' pitcher is now through seven scoreless on 94 pitches. He has six strikeouts, zero walks, and only three hits allowed. On to the bottom of the seventh.

9:12 p.m. -- After another solid inning by Haren in the top of the eighth, the Nats once again failed to get anything going against Garcia. The Orioles' starter is having a spectacular night with zero runs allowed through eight innings. He has needed 113 innings so far, we'll see if Jim Johnson is up next to close this thing out. Haren is back for the bottom of the eighth with Pearce, McLouth, and Machado due up. Still 1-0 Orioles.