On Monday night, Wandy Rodriguez became the 5th NL pitcher to reach six wins as the Astros toppled the Nationals 10-3 at RFK.
Before Wandy even took the mound, the lineup gave him a lead to work with. Nats starter Zach Day walked Willy Taveras to open the game. Willy T swiped second base, then advanced to third on a poor throw by catcher Wiki Gonzalez. After walking Craig Biggio, Day threw a wild pitch to Lance Berkman, allowing Taveras to score. Maybelline then unleashed a ridiculous blast to straightaway center three pitches later, hitting the ball into the mezzanine. Biggio's RBI double down the left field line in the top of the 3rd scored Taveras again.
Dealt a 4-0 early lead, Wandy was dealing early on. Five of the first six batters to face him fanned, three of them swinging. The shutout ended when Damian Jackson led off the bottom of the 3rd with a solo blast to left field. Bidge hit a 2-run single in the top of the 4th to extend Houston's lead to 6-1.
In the bottom of the 5th, Wandy began having trouble finding the strike zone. After getting the leadoff guy, he walked Jackson and Gonzalez, threw a wild pitch that advanced Jackson to 3rd, and then gave up an RBI single by Matt LeCroy that scored Jackson. Two straight walks later, the score was 6-3 with the bases loaded, 1 out, and Jose Vidro at the plate. Vidro hit into a 4-6-3 double play that ended the threat. Wandy tossed a 1-2-3 6th before leaving the game with three hits, three runs, five walks, and seven K's. Dave Borkowski, Trever Miller, and Dan Wheeler each threw a scoreless inning in relief.
Eric Munson and Preston Wilson drove in a couple more runs in the top of the 6th to make it 8-3. Berkman hit a sac fly that scored Taveras in the 7th, and Munson added a second RBI single in the 9th.
Biggio went 4x5 with 3 RBI. Munson and Taveras each went 3x5, with Taveras also scoring four runs. Berkman's homer ties him with Morgan Ensberg for the club lead with 14.
Fernando Nieve will face Ramon Ortiz on Tuesday night. First pitch is 6:05pm CDT.
