Nats down the Reds 7-3

The Washington Nationals kicked off the weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds with a 7-3 win Friday night.  Earlier in the season, the Nats took 3 of 4 from the Reds.

Goi Gonzalez racked up 9 strike outs in 5 innings to lead the Nationals to a 7-2 lead before he departed.  Through 5 innings, Gio allowed 5 hits, but walked 4.   He struggled in the 4th and 5th innings after fanning 6 straight batters din the second and third innings.  Gonzalez pick up the win to improve to 4-1.

Offensively, Roger Bernadina had a heck of a night, going 2 for 5 and driving in 3 runs including his 2nd homer of the season, coming in the first inning.  Bernadina is 3 for 9 with 23 homers and 4 RBI in his last two games.  Ryan Zimmerman went 3 for 4 and had a stolen base.  He raised his batting average to .257.  Adam LaRoche continues to carry the Nationals offense on his shoulders going 2 for 5 and driving in two more runs.  LaRoche doubled in Zimmerman in the first inning and singled in Zimmerman in the 4th inning.  LaRoche is now batting .333 on the season and knocked in runs 22 and 23 on the season.  Danny Espinosa hammered his second home run of the season, first since the opening series.

The Nationals can thanks some excellent defense from Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond, and R6yan Zimmerman in the infield for the win as well.  Some pretty impressive plays.

Overall, the Nationals hammered out 12 hits in 7 runs.

The Nats win improved the Nationals to 20-12 on the season.  The Nats become the sixth team in major league baseball to record their 20th win of the season.