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USA Today Sports Images Gio Gonzalez was dominant over seven innings of 1-run ball. |
Game in a nutshell: With Gio Gonzalez and Tim Hudson on the mound, you knew there was a good chance of this turning into a pitchers' duel. The two hurlers didn't disappoint, each allowing only one run on three hits over at least seven innings. The Braves pushed across their run early on a walk, single and RBI groundout. The Nationals countered with an unearned run off Hudson, with Steve Lombardozzi hustling from first to third on Ryan Zimmerman's groundout and then scoring on Ian Desmond's two-out single to center. But it was all pitching after that, with each bullpen ultimately taking over and trying to keep the other club from scoring the go-ahead run. The Nationals had a great chance against Craig Kimbrel in the top of the ninth but squandered it. Fernando Abad came up big in the bottom of the ninth, sending this one to extra innings. But with the Nationals unable to push across a run, Henry Rodriguez surrendered the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th. Rodriguez issued two walks, let Jordan Schafer steal second without drawing a throw and then surrendered the game-winning single to the .145-hitting B.J. Upton. Thus the Nationals fell back to the .500 mark and 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta heading into Sunday's series finale.
Hitting lowlight: It's not often you get a golden opportunity against Kimbrel, so you've got to make the most of it. The
