Nationals sweep Brewers
Alfonso Soriano put the Washington Nationals on his back and carried them to just the second series sweep at Milwaukee in franchise history.
Soriano homered twice and drove in five runs and Tony Armas Jr.
tossed six superb innings as the Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with an 8-4 victory.
After setting the franchise record for homers in the month of May with 12, Soriano continued his power display Sunday to help wrap up the Washington franchise's first sweep at Milwaukee since 2003, when the Montreal Expos took all three games from April 29-May 1.
Soriano opened the scoring in the third with a one-out solo homer off Jorge de la Rosa and gave Washington a 6-0 cushion with a grand slam in the sixth. It was the third career grand slam for Soriano, who belted two while with the New York Yankees in 2003.
"Sooner or later, he'll get you," Washington manager Frank Robinson said. "I don't have expectations for him. I understand what an individual can bring to a ballclub, and I hope he just goes out to do what he's capable of doing. I don't put numbers on him. He's off to a great start, that's what it is."
With 21 homers this season, Soriano is four off the major league lead held by St. Louis' Albert Pujols, who was placed on the disabled list Sunday.
"I don't even think about winning home run titles," Soriano said. "I like stolen bases, and I'd like to get a stolen base title, but I don't see myself as a home run hitter. If I do (lead the league in homers), I'll be happy about it, but it's more important for me to win games."
Playing left field for the first time in the majors this season, Soriano also came up big defensively, making a pair of nifty catches.
"We knew he was capable of doing the offensive part," Washington's Jose Vidro said. "Going out there and playing left field for us and doing the job that he's doing is why I'm really more happy for him than anything else. He's giving everything right now (defensively). Earlier in the year, he was taken out of the game in the sixth or seventh (for a defensive replacement), and now he's got confidence."
The blasts were enough for Armas (6-3), who yielded just an unearned run, two hits and a walk while improving to 3-0 lifetime against the Brewers. The righthander, who struck out four, retired the first nine batters he faced en route to his sixth win in seven decisions.
"He could have pitched more, but he had a little back and side trouble and I was fortunate to get six innings out of him," Robinson said. "I'm very pleased with the way he pitched. He's throwing strikes, changing speeds and he got outs. I saw his pitch count up in the fourth inning, but he was on a very low pitch count the first three innings. It was good to see."
Vidro collected three hits and Brendan Harris scored twice for the Nationals, who have won nine of their last 12 games.
De la Rosa (2-2) worked 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs, six hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
"The biggest negative of the whole game came on his last hitter, when he didn't throw strikes to the pitcher and set up a big inning," said Milwaukee manager Ned Yost, referring to a walk to Armas that loaded the bases for Soriano in the sixth.
Gabe Gross swatted a two-run homer for Milwaukee, which has lost eight straight. It is the club's longest slide since dropping 12 in a row from August 18-30, 2004.
"You have to proactively play yourself out of this," Yost said.
"It's getting the job done, and we're not doing it, but it's not due to lack of effort. But the bottom line is that we are not winning games, and there's no excuse for that."
The Brewers also lost right fielder Geoff Jenkins, who left the game in the fourth inning after colliding with first baseman Prince Fielder while attempting to catch a foul pop. Jenkins was diagnosed with a mild concussion and is considered day-to-day.
Soriano homered twice and drove in five runs and Tony Armas Jr.
tossed six superb innings as the Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with an 8-4 victory.
After setting the franchise record for homers in the month of May with 12, Soriano continued his power display Sunday to help wrap up the Washington franchise's first sweep at Milwaukee since 2003, when the Montreal Expos took all three games from April 29-May 1.
Soriano opened the scoring in the third with a one-out solo homer off Jorge de la Rosa and gave Washington a 6-0 cushion with a grand slam in the sixth. It was the third career grand slam for Soriano, who belted two while with the New York Yankees in 2003.
"Sooner or later, he'll get you," Washington manager Frank Robinson said. "I don't have expectations for him. I understand what an individual can bring to a ballclub, and I hope he just goes out to do what he's capable of doing. I don't put numbers on him. He's off to a great start, that's what it is."
With 21 homers this season, Soriano is four off the major league lead held by St. Louis' Albert Pujols, who was placed on the disabled list Sunday.
"I don't even think about winning home run titles," Soriano said. "I like stolen bases, and I'd like to get a stolen base title, but I don't see myself as a home run hitter. If I do (lead the league in homers), I'll be happy about it, but it's more important for me to win games."
Playing left field for the first time in the majors this season, Soriano also came up big defensively, making a pair of nifty catches.
"We knew he was capable of doing the offensive part," Washington's Jose Vidro said. "Going out there and playing left field for us and doing the job that he's doing is why I'm really more happy for him than anything else. He's giving everything right now (defensively). Earlier in the year, he was taken out of the game in the sixth or seventh (for a defensive replacement), and now he's got confidence."
The blasts were enough for Armas (6-3), who yielded just an unearned run, two hits and a walk while improving to 3-0 lifetime against the Brewers. The righthander, who struck out four, retired the first nine batters he faced en route to his sixth win in seven decisions.
"He could have pitched more, but he had a little back and side trouble and I was fortunate to get six innings out of him," Robinson said. "I'm very pleased with the way he pitched. He's throwing strikes, changing speeds and he got outs. I saw his pitch count up in the fourth inning, but he was on a very low pitch count the first three innings. It was good to see."
Vidro collected three hits and Brendan Harris scored twice for the Nationals, who have won nine of their last 12 games.
De la Rosa (2-2) worked 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs, six hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
"The biggest negative of the whole game came on his last hitter, when he didn't throw strikes to the pitcher and set up a big inning," said Milwaukee manager Ned Yost, referring to a walk to Armas that loaded the bases for Soriano in the sixth.
Gabe Gross swatted a two-run homer for Milwaukee, which has lost eight straight. It is the club's longest slide since dropping 12 in a row from August 18-30, 2004.
"You have to proactively play yourself out of this," Yost said.
"It's getting the job done, and we're not doing it, but it's not due to lack of effort. But the bottom line is that we are not winning games, and there's no excuse for that."
The Brewers also lost right fielder Geoff Jenkins, who left the game in the fourth inning after colliding with first baseman Prince Fielder while attempting to catch a foul pop. Jenkins was diagnosed with a mild concussion and is considered day-to-day.
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