WASHINGTON -AP- Gio Gonzalez allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, Howie Kendrick hit two solo home runs and the Washington Nationalssnapped the Los Angeles Angels' winning streak at six with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
Gonzalez (11-5) struck out four and issued three walks in lowering his home ERA to 1.79, now the best in baseball. The left-hander, who was three outs from a no-hitter July 31 at Miami, allowed his first hit two hits into the fifth against the Angels.
Los Angeles, which had climbed into an AL wild-card spot during its streak, lost for the first time since Aug. 7. Tyler Skaggs (1-3) allowed the two home runs to Kendrick and five other hits while striking out six in five innings.Kendrick has homered in three of his past four at-bats after hitting a walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning Sunday night against San Francisco.Playing their third game since Bryce Harper went on the 10-day disabled list with a bone bruise in his left knee, the Nationals got an insurance run in the sixth on a wild pitch by Bud Norris and an error on Angels first baseman Albert Pujols. That provided some extra breathing room when Cliff Pennington hit a home run in the eighth, the first run Brandon Kintzler has allowed since being traded to Washington from Minnesota.With Ryan Madson's availability in question after dealing with a blister Sunday, the Nationals went with Matt Albers in the seventh, Kintzler in the eighth and Sean Doolittle in the ninth. Doolittle picked up his 12th save of the season and his ninth with Washington.TROUT FEELS FOR HARPERAfter Mike Trout missed six weeks earlier this season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, the Angels center fielder is glad Harper's knee injury isn't as bad as it looked. Harper, who slipped on a wet first base on Saturday night, avoided any ligament or tendon damage.Trout said "it's good for baseball" that Harper will be back this season and isn't seriously injured."It was obviously a scary thing," Trout said. "You see a guy do that, it's scary. You think of the worst. But you hope the best comes out of it."After jamming his thumb on a base and watching Harper slip on one, Trout didn't think anything could be done to avoid those kinds of injuries, calling it "just a freak thing." Now Harper has to deal with the same kind of absence Trout did, except with the Nationals enjoying a comfortable lead atop the NL East."It's frustrating, but you can't do anything," Trout said. "For me and for him it's a freak accident. He slipped on a base, and I slid and there wasn't even a play. It was just a freak thing. It's obviously good to be back for me, and I'm sure he's working hard to get back."
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