Nationals hold off Giants’ rally in 9th in 4-2 win

The Giants lost for the 11 time in 13 games and, to make matters worse, the Dodgers rallied from a 7-3 deficit to win and close the margin in the N.L. West to one game. Buster Posey pinch-hit and drew a walk.

Then again, it’s not often that somebody does what Ryan Zimmerman did to end the inning.

Zimmerman stepped on first base to double off Posey. Denard Span, the Giants’ baserunner at third base, had gift-wrapped his former club the unlikeliest of plays by darting home unaware that Zimmerman had caught the line drive.

“That about sums it up right there”, losing pitcher Jeff Samardzija said.

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon, in his excitement, hurled the ball into the stands as he jogged off the field. “It couldn’t have happened at a better time for us, obviously”. And you saw what happened after that. It s just little things here and there that s preventing us from kicking this little streak to the curb.

The triple play, the first for the Nationals since they moved to Washington D.C. and changed everything about themselves, came on a night when the Giants continued to make small mistakes.

“Just to have a guy that has (Nunez’s) experience and has served in that role in the past and done well, we just feel like he could help us cover the tracks as we get 100 percent healthy”, Evans said.

“I mean … you can’t do anything else but what Craw did”, manager Bruce Bochy said.

A sellout crowd sat in stunned silence.

Few MLB players have had more publicized issues throwing the baseball than Zimmerman, yet it was his accurate throw that led to the third out. Crawford said it was a “tough read” for Span, who would want to score on a ground ball.

The Giants loaded the bases in the eighth with two walks sandwiched around a single. The Giants are 1-for-15 in those situations in this series and batting.

It’s a major reason for the Giants’ 2-11 record since the break, but not the only one. Samardzija limited them to just two walks and no hits through the first three innings.

“He’s not making pitches right now and he needs to execute better”, Rizzo said.

“It kind of is, really, when you get in these funks, what can go wrong, goes wrong”, he lamented. They nicked him up there three innings in a row.

Bryce Harper’s RBI double scored Trea Turner, who had singled, to pad the Washington lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Samardzija went with the latter – and threw a first-pitch fastball that Murphy crushed off the wall in right center field for an RBI triple. “You’re asking me some questions and the game just ended”.

Murphy made it to third standing up despite slowing his gait considerably and stayed in the game – but not for long. “And that one was in the middle of the plate and we put a bat on it”.

Peavy has won 152 games in his career, but only five in 20 starts this season. Since then, they are 1-8.

Given a lead, Max Scherzer cruised through seven. Blanco’s mental mistake in right helped the Nationals tie the game two innings later.

The Giants went into the day hitting. Six times during that stretch has he given up one run or less. “Put your big boy trousers on, be ready to go tomorrow and keep fighting”. When you re in a good winning streak, the ball bounces your way and everything s going your way. But the clutch hit continued to elude them Friday – and, along with it, the feeling of a win.

It ll turn around, he said. “But I always seemed to be in the bathroom when it happened”.