Nationals beat Astros 13-2
HOUSTON — Nick Johnson, Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn homered in consecutive at-bats and the Washington Nationals set season highs for hits and runs in a 13-2 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Washington’s 21 hits were the team’s most since the franchise relocated from Montreal in 2005. The Nationals last scored 13 runs in a game against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 22, 2008.
Rookie Craig Stammen (2-4) gave up nine hits in Washington’s fourth complete game of the season. Willingham added a two-run homer and an RBI double and Alberto Gonzalez had a pair of RBI singles for the Nationals.
Houston starter Mike Hampton (5-6) gave up nine hits in 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.
The Nationals joined the New York Yankees as the only teams to homer in three straight at-bats this season. Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera homered in consecutive at-bats against Baltimore at Yankee Stadium on May 20.
Hampton had won three of his last five starts, but the Nationals jumped on him from the first inning.
Nyjer Morgan led off with a single and scored on Willingham’s two-out double. Willingham scored on Dunn’s single, just the second time in six outings that Hampton had allowed more than one run.
Dunn came home on Josh Bard’s double, but Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada told Hampton that Dunn didn’t step on second base. Hampton threw to Tejada to appeal and second-base umpire Jim Wolf called Dunn out.
Michael Bourn scored runs in the first and third innings to tie it, but the Nationals opened the fourth inning with three straight singles to retake the lead.
Morgan drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Cristian Guzman tacked on an RBI single to put the Nationals ahead 5-2.
Paulino relieved and gave up a bases-loaded single to Ronnie Belliard in the fifth.
In the sixth, Paulino struck out Guzman before Johnson drove a 2-2 pitch into the right-field seats, just out of the reach of Hunter Pence. Willingham homered to left on Paulino’s next pitch, and Dunn worked a 3-2 count before hitting his homer.
Gonzalez and Stammen started the seventh inning with back-to-back doubles off Jeff Fulchino to make it 10-2. Johnson drove in Stammen with a single before Willingham hit a home run to left for his third multihomer game this season.
NOTES: Bourn stole a career-high three bases to raise his NL-leading total to 32. … Willingham has a 10-game hitting streak. … Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman rejoined the team after attending his grandmother’s funeral in North Carolina early Saturday. … Houston manager Cecil Cooper said Wandy Rodriguez will start the Astros’ first game after the All-Star break, at Los Angeles. The decision will give Roy Oswalt an extra day to recover after leaving Friday’s game with numbness in two fingers on his pitching hand. Oswalt said he didn’t expect to miss his start.
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